SEPTEMBER 2005
Ol Seki Mara Camp opened on the 12th July to a full house for the migration season. The game has surpassed our own high expectations and this wilderness area in the Northern sector of the Koiyaki group ranch just gets better and better. Cheetah have appeared within yards of the camp and elephant are seen almost daily. Our three resident males include ‘Broken Tusks' who has adapted to his disability by using his trunk and fore-feet most effectively. However, our 'Elephant highlight' has to be the herd of over 50 not far from camp. Not many guests can boast a tower of giraffe whilst they sip their early morning coffee! Hippos in the nearby pool are a firm favourite with our younger guests. Lion roars reverberate from the valley below and have often been seen from the deck of the library tent. A sighting from the library tent, of lions chasing baboons last night enabled us to track them and newly arrived guests were treated to an impala kill within hours of reaching camp!
Two weeks ago, lunch was happily interrupted when the resident baboons alerted us to a leopard below the dining tent – despite the delicious food, all appetites were lost in favour of watching this rare sight!
Night drives have offered sightings of cheetahs, bushbabies, porcupine, striped hyena and bat-eared foxes – delighted guests return satisfied and ready for Evan's legendary food!
Guests have been thrilled by the number of bird species seen at Ol Seki, particularly when the Fig trees come into leaf and fruit. To date, we have identified over 40 species of birds just around the camp…. and we are still counting! The horticulturalists amongst us have been particularly excited by the number of succulents in the area.
We are fortunate to have the expertise of Letilet, an Il dorobo whose tales of his hunter-gathering days, told from his former cave dwelling below the camp, continue to fascinate our guests. A nearby traditional Maasai enkang offers visitors an opportunity to understand a little more about the Maasai culture. Recently we were the only guests to be treated to an intriguing pre-circumcision ceremony – Emasho Orkiteng whose dancing rituals and beautifully beaded leather garments were admired by all.
Balloon Safaris out of Keekorok and forays into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve have yielded spectacular sightings of the Wildebeest migration and river crossings as well as numerous big cat and jackal kills.