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A Rhino’s Adventures in Africa by Rita Shaw


As part of my first trip to Africa, I organised a week with a small group through Kenya. About six weeks before I was due to leave, I was advised that the trip had been cancelled as I was the only person booked on them – I wouldn’t have objected to being the sole guest, but I guess commerce is commerce! Because of the change, instead of doing the full week in Kenya, I flew in a small plane to just the Masai Mara for a few days. This was a wonderful introduction to the bush and, as an extra bonus, I didn’t have to be driven for many hours on a major highway which was in reality a gravel road held together by potholes.

For my first afternoon game drive in the Mara, it was pouring with rain. I was with a couple of young English guys, also on their novice drive and, for some reason, our guide stopped the vehicle close to a strange sort of stripy orange rock. I couldn’t figure out why he was interested in this rock until it suddenly stood up, leisurely stretched, and then shook itself all over, spraying water everywhere! This magnificent male lion was obviously feeling extremely miserable about the seemingly endless deluge of water falling from the sky. It’s really tough when you don’t have any means of protection from the weather! I must say that I became extremely excited with this sighting as I had managed to video the lion vigorously shaking the water from his mane and spraying it everywhere. The guys were so busy chatting to each other that they didn’t manage to capture the moment at all.

The usual reason for people to go to the Mara is to see the annual wildebeest migration, however, by the time I arrived at the beginning of August, it was finished for 2008. Timing for the migration all depends on when the rains come – sometimes early, sometimes late, and sometimes there can be a double migration in one season. One day, I might decide to go back for a full-on migration experience … especially now that I know quite a few people who organise small group trips specifically designed to maximise the excitement of seeing the masses of wildebeest and zebra crossing the Mara River. I think, these days, that I am also more prepared for the enormity of this experience. Many visitors to Africa, as I did, visit the Mara on their first trip, without any real comprehension of the magnitude of the annual migration. Although I have watched thousands of hours of television footage of the migration, watching it in person, breathing in the dust and trying to absorb the thousands of wildebeest and zebra just doing what they do naturally, must be absolutely spectacular!

Strangely, there were some African animals that, before that trip, I had never even thought about seeing. In the Mara, we saw a female ostrich walking near the road. Using the logic of, if there is a female walking, there is a male behind her somewhere, sitting on their eggs, my intrepid guide found him sitting on a clutch of 13 gigantic eggs. He was perfectly fine with us driving up close to him, but literally threw a hissy fit when a second vehicle came up behind us. It was amazing to watch him stand up, flap his very large wings, hiss at us, and prance around to try to scare us away – it didn’t work! My guide did panic a little though, as he thought the ostrich might try to peck me through the opening under the pop-top roof. This was a really cool sighting but, because he was so upset, we decided to leave him in peace to protect his unhatched babies.

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