20 Aug 2016> Samburu natl park, Kenya> Shaba game reserve actually (th setting for both Born Free + Out of Africa), were we sleep now. Drove up from Isiolo .. about 1 hr north .. delt w/ th whole racket of paying th game reserve fees (aint cheap, but we reckon for a good cause, no?) .. stayng @ th Shaba Sarova lodge on th Ewaso Ngiro river .. chill'd then went for an evening game d'rive .. to Buffalo Springs .. rite away spottid a lion on th prowl (above) .. + then another + then a group of 3 .. along w/ th typickle assortment of z-bras (of th rarer Grevy variety), giraffe (of th reticulated or Somali variety), warthogs (tons of 'em, but as always hard to git a foto of much xcept them butts running away), impala + plenty other horn'd grazers/cat food, ostridge (of th somali variety), gerenuk, oryx, a jackal, ∫um buffalo even (sposedly not so common in these parts) .. tho no elephants + no leopard (tho we tryd our damdist to find 1) ..

vu from our room

crocs in th river (not far from where dem herder boys above swim)

Oryx + acacia w/ weaver nests

warthogs

Grevy's Z-bra

yawning lioness

w/ a cataract going for th David Bowie look

sleeping juvenile male

buffalo on th run

sniffing us down

anudder sleepy cat

gerenuk (½-way to giraffe)

somali ostrich

Somali giraffe

warthogs @ sunset

21 Aug> morning game drive .. saw elephants off th bat rite as we left our lodge .. then lots mo throughout th day, as well as a few mo lions + th typickle hodge-podge of wildlife, tho th leopard still eludes us this trip (spottid b4 in th Mara) d'spite searching far + wide (our guide sort of a bored deadbeat so we did most of th hunting) .. back to Buffalo Springs + then a'cross th rever int' Samburu natl reserve hoose claim to fame = th recent Inurnet spectickle of th lion that adoptid th baby oryx (wich we talk'd about in this post on cross-species adoption) .. did spot a group of 4 cheetahs all napping under a shady tree so coont see them so well + th 4 other jeeps park'd near them dint help nun .... strange beehavior when u stop to think waht aliens mite make of ∀ll this .. us humans ∀ll gawking + geeking out ova wild animals just fo sake of her .. lo + b-hold 1 of th human characteristics that gives us hope for humanity .. that naturel curiousity to eye-witness w/o killing no cat .. not to hunt or for inny utter sensable reason 'cept to just look-see fur themselves in ℝeel life .. elitist + decadent sure, but waht mite save menny of these animals from xtinction .. cant think of inny activity we git mo kick outta than going on a game drive .. tho wish we cd do her walking or on a bike (wich we did sorta do once in Hell's Gate) .. + funny name for her .. «game» .. as if a game? .. + meat that tastes «gamey»? where dose that come from? as if fun to hunt, not fur ℝeal but just a game? for that matter, wah about "drive" .. sounds an awful lot like pig-latin for river ..

@ th pearly gates

coming down off th mounden

ostridges

sighmese giraffe

chilling cheetahs

oryx in axion

beachmaster baboon

chewing cud

> got back to our lodge + elephants rite there on th other side of d' river from where we wride this! .. watch'd 'em a wile .. bathing in de river + slinging mud ova them skins .. @ 1 point they went outta their way to straddle a log + rub them bellys + belch long + loud .. thought may'b axidental or randumb til th other 2 queue'd up todo th x-act same thing .. self-burp + stomick rub (this after emptying th contents of a mudhole all over themselves .. a veritable spa) .. then we got mob'd by baboons .. troup of about 40 pillaging thru th trees .. 1 big male wait'd for us rite outside our door + dint run away nun when we show'd our face .. sat on our porch all defyant a'staring back .. not our faverit critters .. then later some samburu dude came + chuck'd some smelly fish scraps form th kitchen down on th banks + 1 x 1 crocodiles emurged from th river to partake .. we aint so crazy about crocs neither ..

vervet monkey

baboon on th run

dial-a-croc