We saw seven lions today. Not together, all in one sighting, but throughout the day. Two males, four females and a cub. One of those females in a dramatic show of strength and survival showed us what it is to live in the Maasai Mara. The drama started with a couple of adult hyenas chasing a two-month-old gazelle. They appeared to have lost it into the heavy bush. But then they ran into the bush and started whooping and squealing,…
The sky was still orange and slightly dark. Dawn. We pulled up between two Land Cruisers carrying tourists. Behind us, a caravan of vehicles. When the vehicle engines stopped, there was silence except for the shutters of real cameras. Walking unfazed — like the leopard from the day before — was a magnificant adult male lion. He looked straight ahead. He could care less about us. So many emotions ran through me. I felt blessed, excited, a bit sad. And…
We received a PowerPoint presentation on our first night at the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservation Project in Karibu, Kenya. There were names of organizations: The Mara Predator Conservation Program, The Mara Raptor Project, The Wildlife Conservation Program. There were acronyms: SELU (Spatial Ecology and Land-use Unit), WTC (Wildlife Tourism College). There were statistics: 64,000 acres, 850 landowners. I won’t lie. It was hard to sit through. It took me back to my days at Ford Motor Company when I not…
Four years ago, my good friend, Marti, and my sister, Barbara, stood at my dining room table with me in front of an open suitcase. My flight to South Africa was the next morning, and I was not ready. They started picking from the various stacks of clothes and gear and forcing me to make decisions. This week, as I packed for my upcoming trip to Kenya, I thought a lot about Marti, my dear friend of over 40 years….