Day 15 Dunia to Kimondo Kusini

Today I transfer from Dunia to Kimondo Kusini. Both lodges are run by Asilia and they have arranged a rendezvous point between the camps. We depart at 09.00 but not before Angel has asked me to write in the guest book. She opens a new page and tells me to “Write big and write lots”. I have experienced such incredible wildlife at Dunia and the staff, room, food and hosting have been excellent so it is extremely easy to wax lyrical. All the staff then sing me a farewell song and Angel asks me to read out my entry to them. I believe that this camp, which is staffed almost entirely by women, is a great success. When my husband Chris and I visited Botswana we stayed at a camp in the Linyanti called Duma Tau. It was a wonderful camp with a warm and welcoming ambience. It was run by Wilderness Safaris with mainly female staff. I understand Asilia saw this and thought that it would be a good idea to follow suit. I do hope that more such camps will be created in future to help empower African women, although I appreciate that it is a hard career choice for them as it means they are away from their families for long periods of time.

Following a 45 minute drive I see a vehicle parked on the road ahead. I am delighted to see that I now have an open vehicle. I find it difficult to game spot in the closed vehicles and taking photos can be uncomfortable. Of course open vehicles are colder and windier but I love it and feel so much more in touch with my surroundings. My bags are transferred to my new vehicle and I meet my guide called Holle. We set off for Kimondo which is a good 2-3 hour game drive away. The landscape initially is open savannah with occasional rocky outcrops. We spot a cheetah in the distance but it shortly disappears amongst the tall grass. Giraffes appear on the horizon and we enjoy watching their lolloping gait silhouetted against the skyline.

Eventually the plains give way to acacia scrub. This is tsetse fly territory and there are many of them. The vehicle is equipped with bug spray and an animal tail fly swat which are both required. Tsetses are nasty. The bite hurts and they have absolutely no hesitation in biting through your clothing. The best remedy is to drive fast and continually swoosh your fly swatter. Miraculously I avoid being bitten and am relieved when we finally drive out on to the plains.

There is a warm welcome as I arrive. The staff are smiling broadly, singing and clapping their hands. Kimono is a mobile camp which follows the migration moving between Kusini and the Serengeti Mara to the north. I am not sure what my tent will be like. I am thinking basic but it is very comfortable. There is a large king-size bed, ensuite with flushing toilet and bucket showers and a great view of the plains where herds of zebra are grazing.

A buffet lunch, fish goujons and assorted salads, has been prepared and tables are laid under a large shady tree. I enjoy a chilled glass of Chardonnay with a label saying “Serengeti The Migration”.

After lunch I sit in the shade and try updating my blog but the WiFi is not up to the task. Instead I edit photos until I recognise the lady to my left. It is Margot that I met at Rivertrees last week. We fall into easy conversation; comparing notes on our trip so far. It seems no sooner have I had lunch than it is time to set off on my next game drive.

There has been a report of two lions close by so we go looking for them. It does not take long before we spot two very full lions lazing under a bush. One of them has his mouth wide open and is actually snoring! It is highly unlikely that the lions are going to move for some time so we go looking for more active subjects.

We leave the lions and follow the road uphill to where the landscape changes into a broad expanse of green low-lying heathland. There is not much grass but instead short scrubby shrubs. The landscape is not dissimilar to British moorland. Birds abound here, spurfowl dart between the bushes, huge flocks of collared doves take flight as we drive across the plains. Apparently we do not need to stay on the roads here so the going is quite bumpy. There does not appear to be much game. There are occasional giraffe and some scattered impala and Grant’s gazelle. I spot a jackal which has caught a small bird which it hides in the bushes before re-emerging to look at us.

Jackals quite often follow larger predators so we survey the landscape with our binoculars. We are hopeful as Holle has heard that a cheetah was spotted (no pun intended) earlier this afternoon but despite our best efforts we cannot find it. The sun is beginning to set and I feel our chances of any further valuable sighting today is slim. Then suddenly there in the distance is a cheetah and she is definitely hunting. There are 3 cubs in tow sitting patiently in the scrub 50 yards behind her.

She suddenly bursts from cover and chases after an impala. They see her coming and elude her with indignant alarm calls. She nestles in the scrub and surveys the plains.

We watch and wait but believe nothing will now happen for a while as all the animals are on full alert. The sun is setting and we must return to camp. Then much to our surprise the cheetah starts stalking. Occasionally she runs swiftly, then she stops and sinks down into cover, the cubs trot along in her wake but have been well trained and remain a safe distance behind her, so as to not spook the prey. The chase is definitely on. Her head is fixed and she has sighted prey and continues to stealthily creep forward. I have my video set to record events and keep my eyes glued to the action. Then it is happening. She bursts from cover and sprints forward. I put my camera into video mode and make sure I am not zoomed in too much. I have her perfectly in my sights and am sure I can record the whole episode. There are several vehicles watching the action and annoyingly, as she nears her quarry the guides all slam their vehicles into gear and race across the plain in close pursuit behind her. Of course the upshot is that I saw everything that happened but stood no chance whatsoever of filming it, as I was tossed from side to side and had to hang on tight to avoid injury!

The cheetah has caught a large Grant’s gazelle. A very impressive sized prey for such a small cat. She is clearly experienced to have managed to raise 3 cubs to 8-9 months old. She has the gazelle by the throat and it dies swiftly with little struggle. The cubs immediately start to feed on the rump. Eating speedily is crucial. We can already hear hyenas calling. We sit and watch until it is almost dark then race back for drinks by the fire. What a phenomenal experience.

I have a member of staff allocated to me and he looks after all my needs (well maybe not quite all of them!). He meets me at the vehicle, walks me to my tent and prepares me a hot bucket shower. The shower is almost too hot but it is so great to wash away all today’s dust that I cope with turning it off and on to avoid first degree burns.

The camp is now fairly full. As a consequence dinner is a pretty noisy affair with some diverse conversations. I talk to an American couple who are lawyers and worked for the Obama administration. They are knowledgeable and forthcoming and provide a most interesting insight into the American political system.