2 weeks to go!

Having read both the books I bought for the trip already, I recently ordered a few more (don't you just love Amazon's secondhand bookshop). When I got home from work last night there was "Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna" waiting for me. Excellent. I finished 'Tick Bite Fever' on Tuesday night which is the story of a white man growing up in 1970's Kenya, so I was eager to get started on this new book which is the story of a lad called Joseph who also grew up in 1970's Kenya, the difference being that Joseph is a Maasai warrior (Lemasolai is his Maasai name) and the book tells about his life roaming the open plains with his cattle and his family. I devoured it in 2 hours flat! What an incredible guy and what incredible people the Maasai are. Cattle are their life and cow's milk and blood their staple diet. Of the hundreds of cattle in their herd, the Maasai can identify each and every cow by name and family. The book gave a great insight into their world, their culture, beliefs and values. The one that stood out the most was that of the 'pinching man'. Every Maasai village has one and it's the person that naughtly or disrespectful children are sent to. A man they fear from a very young age, a man who is permitted to pinch as hard or as many times as befits the crime to teach young Maasai the lessons they need to learn. According to Lemasolai, no Maasai ever forgets their first session with the pinching man!

Happy New Year!

16 days to go and I still need to collect my anti-malarial prescription – going to suffer the VAT increase now as a result – oops.

I did a packing dummy-run at the weekend – camera bag was 8.5kgs and my suitcase was also 8.5kgs - I really can’t see what else I can leave behind. I had only included what was on the basic kit-list as it was! Definitely not going to fit the laptop in either which is a real annoyance.

I have been following a couple of Masai blogs over the holidays too and it seems the weather in Kenya is currently hovering around 28degreesC and getting down to 13 at night which is pleasant. Lovely and sunny too for the next 10 days. I can’t wait to get out of the cold, the wet and the depressing darkness of Britain in January.

22 days to go - Christmas

Thanks to Sarah for this excellent book by David Hosking and Martin Withers. I already owned a lonely planet guide to Kenya and a pocket Berlitz guide, so I have spent much of this afternoon cutting and sticking together the best bits from both of them into this new wildlife guide, (every ounce saved in weight is going to count!). I was also lucky enough to be given some gift vouchers for Park Cameras in Burgess Hill which I think I will take a trip to tomorrow and see if they have a sale on.
Going through the books and watching the DVDs etc. I think I have come up with what would be my ultimate top five species to see;
1) Leopard (as have never seen a wild one)
2) An Aardvark - just because they are the funniest looking thing on earth! but it's going to be difficult as they are strictly nocturnal.
3) Flap-Necked Chameleon - it can not only change colour, but can change it's pattern too.
4) Masai Giraffe - as opposed to the Reticulated or the Rothschild's
5) Caracal - one of the most sleek and slender, simply a beautiful cat

29 days to go - Clothing and the dreaded mosquitoes

My blood has been an irresistible attraction to mosquitoes in every country I have ever visited and I can’t convince myself Kenya will be any different, so I’ve been browsing on e-bay for clothing this week. I’m really looking for lightweight, insect-proof stuff which I can impregnate with DEET to keep the mossies and ticks at bay. I have no intention of getting out of the vehicle whilst in the bush, but back at the camp at night and under only canvas, I can’t see how I will escape them. The Kenyan website gives the following advice;
Insect and tick protection
"Wear long sleeves, long pants, hats and shoes (rather than sandals). For rural and forested areas, boots are preferable, with pants tucked in, to prevent tick bites. Apply insect repellents containing 25-50% DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) or 20% picaridin (Bayrepel) to exposed skin (but not to the eyes, mouth, or open wounds). DEET may also be applied to clothing. Products with a lower concentration of either repellent need to be reapplied more frequently. Products with a higher concentration of DEET carry an increased risk of neurologic toxicity, especially in children, without any additional benefit. For additional protection, apply permethrin-containing compounds to clothing, shoes, and bed nets. Permethrin-treated clothing appears to have little toxicity. Don't sleep with the window open unless there is a screen. If sleeping outdoors or in an accommodation that allows entry of mosquitoes, use a bed net, preferably impregnated with insect repellent, with edges tucked in under the mattress. The mesh size should be less than 1.5 mm. If the sleeping area is not otherwise protected, use a mosquito coil, which fills the room with insecticide through the night. In rural or forested areas, perform a thorough tick check at the end of each day with the assistance of a friend or a full-length mirror. Ticks should be removed with tweezers, grasping the tick by the head. Many tick-borne illnesses can be prevented by prompt tick removal.
To prevent sandfly bites, follow the same precautions as for mosquito bites, except that netting must be finer-mesh (at least 18 holes to the linear inch) since sandflies are smaller."

Janet has kindly given me the remains of their insect repellent (25% DEET) from their trip to the Mara in September and I think I still have some left in the van from our time in Australia, (where’s Linc and his Dugong fat when you need him!).

I am also going to forget the risk of rabies and spend the money on more SD cards instead. I weighed by camera bag last night and without my laptop it’s already 8 kilos!

31 days to go - and where am I going exactly?

I think I am staying in the Northern tip of the park near the Governers camp where the BBC crew film Big Cat Diary and Big Cat Week. But as yet it's only a guess.

Kicheche have two camps, Mara and Bush, and they are marked below, I'm not sure yet if we stay at both or just one.