Daleen Turner
Daleen Turner lives in Cape Town, where she runs a small consultancy company specialising in leadership and management training. She participated in our last Great Walk and sent us the following description of her safari.
The Great Walk of Africa with Tropical Ice Ltd.
July 24th - August 6th
After checking in at the super Hemingways Hotel, I enjoyed a much needed afternoon nap before I met my Tropical Ice host and fellow foot safari-friends for a briefing at 17h00: A couple from the US (North Carolina), a couple from the UK (Cambridge) and another lady traveling solo who is from Canada (Toronto). Our guide from Tropical Ice, Iain, is great! This will be his 96th walk in Tsavo, so at this stage, I was pretty sure we were in good hands - certainly experienced hands!
Iced water down his back is Daleen's reaction to one of Iain's jokes
On Monday morning our group of 7 left Hemingways at 5:50 am to ensure that we arrive at Wilson Airport in time for our 7:30 am flight. The 1-hour journey on the 12- seater Cessna Caravan flew us to Tsavo National Park where we were welcomed with a solid breakfast at Kilaguni Lodge. At the lodge, overlooking a waterhole, we were treated by a visit from buffalo, zebra, waterbuck and one warthog.
After breakfast we met the Tropical Ice team that will become our friends over the next 12 days, walking 160km from west to east, across Tsavo National Park. We arrived at camp and could not stop oohing and aahing over our mobile camp site. I had my own tent that will be moved to each camp as the journey continues. On the photos you will see the attention to detail with regards to my comfortable bed and bedside table, basin (warm water in the morning), mirror, shelve and outside sitting area. Don't miss the long-drop and hot shower that was also moved each day to the next point. Super cool!
At lunchtime we realised that we will enjoy plenty of fresh, healthy, colourful and scrumptious meals prepared by chef Kahiu for the next 10 days. I was ultra-impressed at how Kahiu and his team were able to prepare 3 fresh meals per day in a very simple kitchen. Never did we have the same dish (lunch/ dinner) twice and the premier standard was sustained until the very last meal. Not only did we eat well, but we always had access to ice cold Tusker beers, sodas and fresh water.
The 160km foot safari over 10 days started on Tuesday 26th and each day we saw plenty of wildlife on foot:
• Hundreds of elephants, varying in age, from babies to juveniles. We saw elephants on foot at least 3 times a day, often 5 times.
• Lions were sighted by me three times (yes, on foot!) - A lioness in the distance, a male and female rather close-up and two young ones within 10 meters.
• A gorgeous leopard about 200 meters from us (yes, still on foot!), who is up to this day unaware of our presence.
• The most beautiful, petite gazelle (second to a springbuck of course) called gerenuk or giraffe gazelle.
• Many pods of hippos and single crocodiles, fortunately, all either in the water or above a safe cliff.
• Buffalo herds as well as a few moody, lonely and dangerous "old men".
• Giraffes were sighted a few times, some single and once a tower of 8.
• More towards the west side of Tsavo we saw plenty of dik-diks, a very cute and fast antelope - too fast for my camera finger.
• Troops of baboons and vervet monkeys visited on occasion.
• Herds of zebra, waterbuck, impala, oryx, kudu, hartebeest, and peter's gazelle.
• I am still working on my knowledge of birds, but I can mention that I enjoyed the fish eagles (both the sights and the calls) the most.
As we walked each day the 6 of us were bookended by Iain in the front, two Samburus, Washii and Tioko (second and third behind Iain) and two more Samburus, Ekutan and Lokorio at the back. I wish I had the words to tell you how talented these 4 Samubu men are. They spotted animals that I could hardly see with my mid-range binoculars (mind you, even the top end binocular-owners had a hard time!). The leopard that was spotted by Tioko was at first only part of a tail and part of a leg in a tree (before the magnificent animal stretched and we could also see the rest of his/her body from the back). How he saw that I will never be able to grasp. And so, I can give many examples of wildlife and birds that were spotted in the distance, and we marvelled at their eyesight and knowledge of the landscape each time.
For me there were three rather scary moments:
1. when we had to almost-scramble along a cliff, a mere 50cm from a huge puffadder - all my friends know I have huge respect for snakes!
2. when a 30-year-old elephant male surprised us from the riverside and was not impressed with us being on his path.
3. when I thought we trapped a male and female lion within 5 meters from us and only later learned that they had plenty of room to escape from us.
Most of the afternoons we had plenty of time to siesta / read / digest what we saw in the morning / enjoy our comfortable camp. Most of the late afternoons we went on game drives and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the roof of the Land Rover, an experience that made me feel free and adventurous. The game drives allowed us to get closer to especially the lions and elephants. Our evenings were equally special as we sat next to the campfire, listening to Iain's stories while the Samburus sat at a polite distance, watching out for any possible danger.
What I enjoyed the most of this trip was no doubt the company. The 6 of us had so much fun, tears of laughter, joking and pranking each other. A close second was Iain's stories of previous trips that left me jaw-dropped more than once. You are a great storyteller, Iain, just work on your jokes and you will be ultra-cool!
Asante sana Tsavo, for allowing us to walk on your sacred red soil, following the trails created by hippos, widened by elephants. I am forever grateful to have had the privilege to spend 12 days in your belly. Asante sana Tropical Ice, for this unique and unforgettable expedition, for giving us all a new appreciation for Africa, for keeping us safe, for your attention to detail, for excellent gourmet meals, and for treating us like kings and queens.
I did not have a good time, I had a GREAT time!
