Day 2 Angama Amboselli

We were up before the crack of dawn to go find Craig. Craig is a famous super tusker elephant. He is one of the most friendly and famous elephants. He is known for his kind temperament and large tusks.

Craig is 53 years old, and has never encountered poachers. He is calm because of this and is friendly to people.

We were all hoping after the incredible lion siting yesterday that we would have the same luck finding Craig. Craig’s location is asked to be kept a secret. The locals do not want poachers finding him. They asked us to turn our location services off our phones in order to keep him safe.

We drove through heavy brush and large potholes. Come to find out the potholes were elephant tracks. The off roading was like nothing I could have imagined. We literally drove over bushes and through the thick vegetation.

As we were slowly making our way through the bush, we spotted a couple of elephants. They were smaller and their tusks were not full grown. We then saw Craig, his back was to us, but his size was immense. Although we could not see his face or tusks, the guides knew it was him. We made our way up to him, and he was majestic.

We followed him as he continuously ate his way through the bush. He was incredible!!!

We were so close to him we could touch him. He was never bothered by us even though we were right next to him for most of the morning.

After our morning with Craig our fantastic crew from Angama Amboselli set up breakfast for us in the bush.

They set up a little table with stools and we sat under an Acacia tree next to a dry river bed. The day was beautiful. The sky had scattered clouds with bright blue skies behind them. On either side of us there were giraffes and zebras.

The breakfast was served to us in little tins that included warm breakfast sandwiches, bacon, sausage and muesli. We had hot coffee and fresh fruit as well. It was perfect!!! We sat enjoying our breakfast and talking to our local guide John.

When breakfast was over, we loaded back into the truck and headed toward the game park we had flown over the day before.

As we drove through the park, we were looking for cheetahs, and as we were looking we would spot different birds. Who knew the birds would be as interesting as the animals.

There was one bird that we stopped and observed through our binoculars for quite sometime. He was a Secretary Bird. He is a black and white bird with a crown on his head of black feathers that stuck outwards. That was interesting, but what really had our attention were his legs. He had very long legs that looked like he was wearing black leggings and high heels. He walked in a very funny manner, and then started kicking his legs backwards. I think our lack of sleep made us a bit punch drunk, and we could not stop laughing as his legs kicked backwards and he progressed forward.

After our laugh attack, we moved on further into the park. The area was marshy and wet. There were animals everywhere. We saw hundreds of elephants, zebra, gazelle, baboons, wildebeests and flamingo. We saw Ugandan birds with bright yellow crowns, and a little bird with huge feet. He is called a Jesus walker because his feet allow him to walk on water. We continued along the watering hole, and came across a new animal to add to the list, we saw our first hippopotamus.

The hippos were in the water bobbing up and down. You would see their ears pop up and then their eyes. There were about 7 of them in this particular watering hole. After sitting there watching, we moved along. We then spotted another hippo outside of the water. He looked to be relatively young, and was a distance away. We could see him perfectly through our binoculars. Unfortunately, we could not get close enough for a photo.

When the hippopotamus are laying down they almost look dead. They are so still, and resemble something between a rock and Jaba the Hut from Star Wars. They are a giant blob with eyes and ears.

We had a discussion with our guides about hippos and their demeanor, he said they are never friendly, and in fact very aggressive. They are very territorial. The guide said that he and some other guides had mistaken one for dead. He said they quickly learned that was a mistake not to be made again. He said they had to run for their lives.

We continued driving, and in a different body of water we saw the most beautiful flamingos with white backs and bright hues of pink and coral. When they flew you could see the bright color under their wings and on their legs. They were long and graceful flying along the waters edge.

The day continued to amaze with the beauty of nature and the sights and sounds on the savanna. Not only did we see beautiful beasts, but the clouds broke and Kilimanjaro showed herself. We first saw her glacial peaks floating amongst the clouds. By the early afternoon her outline appeared. She is like Craig, massive!

Our day was long, but worth every second. We returned to Angama Amboselli, and enjoyed a very late lunch.

As day turned to evening, we sat near a fire pit and started hearing voices from afar. They were growing nearer, and it was a group of 10 young men. The men were Masai Warriors. They performed song and dance for us. After they completed their dance, they explained to us their culture. They left in a similar style to their entrance singing and celebrating.

We sat by the fire and star gazed. The dark night sky allowed us to see more stars than imaginable. The day ended with a traditional Kenyan meal of barbecue goat and local fare. We all relished over our time spent with Craig.

As I do with Great Race, I need to say thank you to Anastasia Africa and the team there that put this incredible trip together for us.

I also want to thank the team at Angama Amboselli. Your lodge and hospitality were over the top. The property, rooms, food and most importantly people were wonderful.