Two-and-a-half hours later – the road was good – we filled up on petrol and entered Tsavo West. We were all suckered into buying a few things on the way from the roadside vendors – Joy bought a basket for 100 shillings and a carving for about $4. I got a wooden elephant for 200 shillings, which makes the other ones look like a rip-off! Oh well.
We checked into the lodge and had lunch, overlooking the waterhole where we could see giraffes, water buffalo, impala and baboons. After that we went on our first game drive. The van top was up and every seat had a pair of binoculars in the back pocket. We were driving towards the Mzima springs, on the way encountering zebra, warthogs, ostriches, giraffes, impala. At the springs there were monkeys, hippos and crocodiles. On the way back we saw some kudu but not very clearly. Each of the vans seemed to take a different way back. We ran into difficulty with a broken tree blocking the trail (thanks to the elephants), so we reversed and tried a bit of off-roading, which although we managed to get temporarily misplaced (otherwise known as being geographically challenged), led to us almost bumping into a herd of elephants, about 12-15, including a few babies. They are magnificent creatures – and despite their size can move very quietly, which is why we got so close without realising.
Once back to the lodge we had dinner, and a smaller group of elephants came to drink at the waterhole. It all felt quite surreal. Another day and a half of this and then we return home.
Game drive at Tsavo
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