10:02, 10 July, 2011

The next morning we headed out to South Territory. During a prey transect, we realized that several of the tommies looked very preggers, so we looked up how often they give birth in the behavior guide we had with us (Estes’ guide!). I’m glad I’m not a tommy; females have a gestation of about five and a half months, and come into estrus two weeks after giving birth. Therefore, they are virtually pregnant year-round. No thank you.

There were loads of giraffes around South that morning, one that looked as though it couldn’t be more than a week old. Two full-grown male giraffes were snuggling; they were in no way boxing, but quite clearly being very affectionate with one another, rubbing necks against each other and touching faces. This was extraordinarily unusual since giraffes don’t often touch one another, or even stand overly close outside of fighting and mating. We thought they might be brothers, but I honestly think it is more likely that they’re homosexual giraffes. Homosexuality has been documented in giraffes before; actually, there is a lot of scattered evidence of homosexuality in animals. I think there would be more if it wasn’t viewed as controversial, and if some researchers didn’t forget their purpose and look the other way. Whatever the case, the giraffes were very cute.

That afternoon Lia and I were sitting at the table working on our projects, when we heard a familiar thunder-like rumble. Elephants were walking in from the Breakfast Plain! I stood on a rock and watched one of the biggest walk in towards camp. Just after resigning back to my chair, resisting the urge to go closer for my parents (who would probably prefer not to have a trampled daughter), Philiman walked by with his animal-shoo stick. “Unaenda kuwaona ndovu?” I asked. (Are you going to see the elephants?) And when he replied yes, an excited “Tunakuja?” (May we come?) Philiman smiled from ear to ear, and said “Karibu sana.” (You are very welcome). I felt perfectly safe with Philiman at our side, and we crept down to the edge of camp, where we crouched down to see a group of five beautiful elephants beyond the bush, one a little baby following close behind an enormous matriarch. They couldn’t have been more than 30 meters away, and such a love for them swelled up inside me; I think I felt as happy as I ever have. They are inconceivable, and the feeling of being there on my feet so close to them- I could try all day, but language doesn’t extend that deep. “Wanajua tuko hapa?” I quietly asked Philiman (Do they know we are here?). “Wanajua,” he answered (They know). And we sat there and watched them in perfect peace.

Eventually Philiman became worried about the elephants coming any further in should they steal some of our food, and he tossed two rocks up in air in their general direction. Two rocks, and those Jurassic creatures went running into the bush. I was sure sad to see them go, but they obviously weren’t too traumatized, because they were scattered across camp all night long. Poor Dave didn’t sleep a wink because one was pulling on his tarp. If only that had been our tent!

I have named the other lions in the group of seven, since I FINALLY sorted out the problem. The adult female’s name is Evacassidy (compliments of Lia), and then there are a bunch that could be either males or females (it’s hard to tell sometimes when they are subadults), so I tried to pick names that could be gender neutral: Radin, Fray, Script, one that looks convincingly maleish Ben Folds, and of course there’s still Denver and Ingrid. I also finished naming Murdoch’s pride, which incidentally might be simultaneous with Evacassidy’s gang, because Ingrid was hanging around with them the other day! It didn’t look like her from afar, and I was very surprised to discover that her whiskers and scars matched perfectly. But along with Murdoch and Carole King, there is now Nada (named for Nada Surf), Aretha, and Macy Gray. And the next male I find is going to be named Elvis for my dad. I told him he needs to name one since Joe has Coltrane and Mom has Daisy May.

That night Lia and I got substantial giggles, elicited by two tommies that were chasing each other across the tall grass of Happy Zebra so that only their horns were visible, going this way and that in sync over the plain. Nearby was a male impala that ran a ridiculously tight ship. I have been noticing that some of the males are very obsessive about their gigantic harems, herding the females into a perfect clump and immediately reprimanding anyone who dare step out of line. On the drive back to camp a herd of five zebras, four adults and one young one, ran unusually along the road in front of us. It was the Kentucky Derby of zebras! For a good stretch they raced one another in our headlights, taking us back to the time before color TV.

So much for using the choo yesterday morning- elephant blockade. Getting to sleep in until six o’clock made up for it. Sleep in until six-hah! What is this world coming to? Kay pointed out that it is fruitless to head to North before that since it’s right below us, yet the sun doesn’t rise until at least 6:15. A dik-dik playing topi stood atop a termite mound at the end of the driveway, making it look like Mount Everest. Down on Breakfast Plain, the tense ungulates alerted me to the presence of Shakira and Joplin. I am finding that antelope behavior is the best clue to the presence of lions; when the big cats are near, they are all still as statues, facing one direction and huffing periodically. Excellent. I owe them one.

The baboons were back yesterday afternoon! Did I resist watching them? No. I was just about to hit the snooze button for the third or fourth time during my nap (imitating Dad), when a baboon scream did the impossible and caused me to elatedly hit off instead. They tolerated my presence today!!! Initially one with a juvenile riding jockey ran off in alarm, but I sat patiently on a rock without moving, and then noticed who I think was my female from the other day. She was not perturbed, and went about eating her berries, gracelessly sliding out of one tree and into another, branches cracking everywhere. Pretty soon a bunch of her comrades, probably noticing her lack of alarm, came to eat in the trees closer to me. Some were more timid than others. A couple began to vocalize, making a low contented-sounding bullfroggish noise. I watched until they moved away. Baboons captivate me. Looking one in the face is so similar to looking at another person.

Post-baboons, we drove to the Mara River to witness some researchers affiliated with Amanda and Chris electroshock the river. This is a process in which a current is run through the water, making fish jump out, at which time they are caught in nets. Nicholis Ingle, it has a lot to do with measuring allochthonous carbon; thanks to our relatively painless ecology homework assignments, I actually knew what that meant. Put simply, the researchers were measuring isotope values within the fish to know the source of the carbon in the river, or something like that. It was so neat being down by the river- luckily there were no crocodiles around. However, a gigantic hippo did lumber into the water. The river was thoroughly rushing- just gorgeous in every way, big gray rocks everywhere. It was especially neat being near it after seeing the movie African Cats. There’s something awe-inspiring about seeing a place in a movie and then actually setting foot there. Beside the river was a wildebeest graveyard; tens of skulls and bones littered the bank. Returning to the car, we stopped to get a picture by a similar skull, and a skink crawled right into the foramen magnum. What an opportunist, making a house out of a skull!

I talked to Weni (sp), one of Moses’ two wives who is staying in camp, for the first time yesterday. Although she smiled and waved sometimes, I figured she only spoke Maa, because she had made no attempt to talk. Turns out she speaks Swahili, and is much more amiable than I would be if I had to share my husband.

On obs last night, fate would have it that I caused Lia’s novel object jerry can to be crushed under the car. Luckily it wasn’t completely ruined, and is still usable. When I set it out for the hyena Boracha to find, it rolled right under the tire, and Zach didn’t register when I said to wait before pulling the car over it. Quite comical in the end; Lia was a good sport, thank goodness. She revamped her project, because Kay thought the cub thing contained too many variables for analysis. Now she is measuring single adult responses to the bucket. The other morning, the hyena Chutney took a particular liking to it, and carried it off a ways before we retrieved it. It’s so fun watching the different reactions; some hyenas are so timid and frightened, barely edging up to sniff it. Others, like Chutney, decide to just pick it up and carry it away.

Cheeseburger night take two came after obs, just as delicious as the debut. Amanda found a snake when she was heading back to her tent to get Tuskers. Chris just shook his head and said, “I hope she doesn’t pick it up, that’s what she usually does,” while most of the rest of us ran over in excitement. It was very small, making it difficult to identify, especially after it fell into a big hole. Amanda thinks it was a baby black mamba after looking in her reptile book, but she admits to being notoriously bad at identifying things. I wish I knew for sure.