1. Christina and I inadvertently experienced a date from the show The Bachelor last night. We were out on our evening game drive watching a group of approx 50 elephants (yes 50, it was unreal) when our guide got a call on the radio in Swahili and suddenly we were off. It was getting close to sunset so we expected we were going for our evening drink. We were cruising across the plains when in the distance we see a lone tree with lanterns hanging from the tree. There were chairs already set out for us and our guide and a variety of chilled beer and snacks to eat. There was no one else in sight. After watching the sun go down we headed back to camp for dinner. Typically we would go back to our tent, drop off our things and head to the common fire pit for a drink. But last night we got back to our tent to discover a roaring fire out front and a table set up in front with candlelights. Our backdrop was the Kenya plains with the full moon shining and a brewing thunderstorm in the background. We had our own private server along with a security guard to make sure no animals interrupted (still no fences). It was a completely surreal experience and something we will likely never forget. If only there were fireworks it would have been the full Bachelor experience.
2. This morning we decided to mix things up and try a different form of safari. Our camp offers a bush walk as an alternative to the usual drive. We set off this morning with the manager of the camp Chris and Dennis. Dennis was our armed guard/local expert. Dennis had with him a nice shot gun just in case anything got out of control. The walk started off pleasantly, with the sun rising behind us, we walked across the nearby ridge. A little while into our journey Chris and Dennis printout some water buffalo in the distance. They also remind us that they are some of the worst animals to run into while out on a walk, but they are far enough away that we have no issues. We continue walking until suddenly we are told to freeze. Dennis and Chris had spotted two water buffalo that were only 15m (i.e. unsafe). We stood still for a moment before one of the buffalo turned towards us. Dennis then loaded the shotgun. This is when we knew this situation was not good. We managed to reverse course and find a place where we could continue on while under sufficient cover. We continued on thinking that this was going to be the end of our thrills. But only a little ways along we spotted in the distance a lioness transporting her 4 week old cubs. Typically you really don't want to run into lions when you are on foot, but you can generally stand your ground and be fine. Unless, of course, there are cubs. So we immediately cleared the area as we wanted nothing to do with the potential troubles that could arise. There are three things you don't want to run into while walking and we'd already managed to see two of them. Thankfully we avoided any elephants (the third thing to avoid) before we safely made it back to camp for brunch.
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