Karibu – Welcome Home
Dear Readers:
I arrived home from Kenya June 23rd. There was no time for recovery from the 30+ hour long journey because we transitioned immediately into our house move. We’ve been logging 16-hour days ever since. Moving is a lot of work!
I have many wonderful safari memories and a portable drive loaded with 15K images to share, but little time to write yet. However, I can’t imagine a week without posting a story, so here’s a brief note about a very special welcome at our last stop on safari. More to come next week!
Return to Amboseli
I spotted dozens of dust devils dancing across the flat dry Amboseli lake bed as our 12-seater plane banked and turned to prepare for landing. Amboseli has been alive in my imagination since I left in January 2020. The elephants that call this region home transformed my life focus 2.5 years ago. I was eager to revisit the place and the animals that captured my heart and inspired my latest book The Wisdom of Elephants.
The rains were unseasonably abundant in Amboseli in 2019 and 2020. When I was there last it was lush and green. Now the land is dusty, brown and barren of all grass. The only sign of green left were the acacia trees and shrubs that have long tap roots. Hardly any rain has fallen in the past two years. Both northern and southern regions in Kenya are caught in a devastating drought. I could not get over the transformation of the landscape from lush savannah to parched dry earth.
Our guide Tom looking for elephants June 2022
As we drove the 35kms from the Amboseli airstrip to our lodge I wondered how the elephants were surviving. We saw some giraffes and gnus around the swampland, but not one elephant. Much of the wildlife has moved away to the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro to look for food. I recognized landmarks as we drove through the park; the tree where a big bull stood in the late afternoon light, the road where Pilipili and I waited and watched as hundreds of elephants marched towards us ….
January 2020
Clouds of dust kicked up from our land cruiser as Tom carefully navigated the sandy ruts outside of the park gates. I remembered how famous Big Tusker Tim and his buddies Craig, and Ganesh were browsing close by when I arrived at the nearby Tawi airstrip in 2020.
Big Tusker Tim and his buddies January 2020.
Is Craig around? I asked Tom hopefully. “I’m not sure,” he replied. “He was in the area, but I haven’t seen him lately.” I scanned the bushes through the dusty haze. “There he is!” I exclaimed excitedly. Indeed, there was Craig, his head buried in the dry bushes off to the left of the dirt track with 4 of his young bull elephant bodyguards surrounding him.
My heart leapt seeing this famous Big Tusker again. I felt hopeful and amazed at the resilience of these animals. Meeting Craig at the entrance to our lodge was the best welcome back to Amboseli that I could wish for.
The evidence of the impact of drought and climate change in Kenya is dramatic. I worry for the future of the elephants. My commitment to speak up about the importance of wildlife conservation and protecting our planet deepened as I watched Craig and his friends move from shrub to shrub scrounging for food – it was slim pickings. It is essential that icons like Craig and his offspring have the space and habitat they need so they can survive, or we will have world without elephants within a couple of decades.
A donation of $10 from every purchase of The Wisdom of Elephants goes to support elephant conservation in Kenya. Stay tuned for stories about some of the conservation heroes working on the ground to protect Kenya’s wildlife and natural heritage.