With the vultures watching

The White-backed Vultures atop the trees by the side of the red road of Tsavo give the game away. There has to be something in the sea of grass. We stop. It’s stunning scenery – a low ridge of black lava outcrop, long luscious grass topped with purple heads and one of the conical hills that make the Five Sisters.

And then the tawny head pops up – it’s a lion.
The lion does the feline stretch, stands and walks to a carcass a few feet from it, followed by another. The third is seated under the shade of the thorn tree by the lava ridge. The vultures keep vigil waiting for the cats to give way.
It’s close to midday and we’re alone with the lions and the vultures. An hour later, the lions are still there and so the vultures keep their distance, patiently waiting for the cats to go away.

At this point we’re not sure whether these are lions or lionesses because the lions of Tsavo don’t support manes – something attributed to the thorny terrain. In 1898 the maneless lions of Tsavo terrorised the Indian construction workers killing – as per latest research some 30 indentured Indian railway workers. Theories abound why this pair of lions came for the builders who were in the process of constructing Tsavo Bridge. One is that the lions were used to human flesh because of the dead slaves on the slave route traversing Tsavo.
The rains have transformed Tsavo from dry scrubland to oceans of grasses and wild flowers in bloom. A light drizzle starts and heavy clouds hang on the Chyulus while Kilimanjaro is completely hidden. Maasai giraffes browse on the acacias, herds of hartebeest nibble on the plains with ostriches fluttering their large feathers and striding nonchalantly. But it’s the gazillions of butterflies that steal the show, lifting off the ground in animated coloured clouds.
The piercing shrill of an African fish eagle announces water. We’re at the clear water Mzima Springs fed by water percolating down the porous volcanic hills of Chyulu.

Skeletons and skulls of hippos and other wildlife are placed along the path. Shoals of fish swim in the pool while a tiny crocodile snoozes in a quiet bed of reeds. The springs produce 250 million litres of water a day with much of it piped by gravity to Mombasa.
In the underwater observatory that needs its murky glass panes replaced it’s quite something to watch two worlds at once – the underwater world and the world above it.
At the long pool by the ancient fig tree hippos honk and sprout water from their nostrils while the monkeys feed on the figs and the fish stay close to the surface to swallow any droppings.

By now it’s lunch hour and we take the turn to Kilaguni Serena driving past Shetani flow that erupted in the 1800s leaving a trail of black volcanic rocks. The vultures are now joined by a Tawny eagle – all waiting for their pick of the carcass.
It’s a jaw-dropping picture of the Chyulus at the entrance and while we lunch on a delicious buffet a herd of impalas stride to the waterhole to drink followed by a warthog who simply sits in the pool. In one frame we have two of Africa’s largest antelopes –a Fringe-eared oryx with its scimitar-pointed horns and the eland.

I think it’s a sculpted monitor lizard on the bird bath but then it moves. In 1963, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta stood at the same spot at Kilaguni Derena to marvel at the Chyulus and the wildlife from the verandah.

Driving out of the park we take the road via the Roaring Rocks in the hope of spotting the famed red elephants of Tsavo. There isn’t a single one around in the dramatic landscape we are in – the surreal sky and scapes. But then Tsavo West is 9,065 square kilometres and with the rains the elephants are scattered all over.
It’s too late to delve deeper in the Tsavo and we have to leave all that we would have wished to do – climb the volcanic Chaimu and up Roaring Rocks, visit the 1st World War Rhodesia Bridge, stand atop Poachers Outlook and dive into the lava cave at Shitani. It’s for another time and we make it at sharp 6 p.m. to the main gate at Mtito Andei before it closes for the night.
Travel to Tsavo

250 kilometers south of Nairobi. Log on to Kenya Wildlife Service for current rates.
Camp or stay at one of the few lodges in the park.
Carry your ID for entry otherwise you end up paying non-citizen rates.

Do you know? White-backed vultures are critically endangered, in the same league as black rhinos.
Customer
doxycycline mono buy doxycycline 100mg
https://stromectol.science/# ivermectin uk
[url=https://amoxil.science/#]order amoxil[/url] generic amoxicillin
Customer
buy zithromax canada zithromax cost or can you buy zithromax over the counter in australia
http://season-kutsu.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=zithromax.science can i buy zithromax over the counter
[url=http://sarah-garnsey.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=zithromax.science]zithromax pill[/url] buy zithromax online and [url=https://98e.fun/space-uid-4443190.html]zithromax cost australia[/url] buy zithromax canada
Customer
https://amoxil.science/# amoxicillin 500 mg price
[url=https://amoxil.science/#]generic amoxil online[/url] amoxicillin generic brand
Customer
dynacin minocycline ivermectin cost canada or stromectol price uk
http://jasmine-voyante.biz/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=stromectol.science minocycline weight gain
[url=http://italiancompany.info/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=stromectol.science]minocycline 100mg pills[/url] what is minocycline 50 mg used for and [url=http://www.btlsearch.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=7016961]ivermectin human[/url] ivermectin 6mg dosage
Customer
amoxicillin 500mg capsule cost amoxacillian without a percription or price for amoxicillin 875 mg
http://www.exceptionalbecauseyouare.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=amoxil.science amoxicillin 500mg buy online uk
[url=http://iamlocal1487.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=amoxil.science]buying amoxicillin online[/url] amoxicillin 500 mg online and [url=http://www.zpxsxk.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=2014689]amoxicillin for sale online[/url] amoxicillin 500 tablet
Customer
buy cheap doxycycline online 200 mg doxycycline or doxycycline 100mg capsules
http://kickingblog.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=doxycycline.science cheap doxycycline online
[url=http://ww1.pesretro.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=doxycycline.science]buy generic doxycycline[/url] purchase doxycycline online and [url=http://101.34.208.228/home.php?mod=space&uid=126001]generic doxycycline[/url] online doxycycline
Customer
buy doxycycline without prescription doxycycline without a prescription or doxycycline 500mg
http://harmonyc.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=doxycycline.science doxycycline hyc 100mg
[url=http://timeethics.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=doxycycline.science]doxy 200[/url] buy doxycycline online without prescription and [url=http://plixsite.net/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=1411073]doxycycline monohydrate[/url] doxycycline hyc 100mg
Customer
https://doxycycline.science/# doxycycline 100mg dogs
[url=https://amoxil.science/#]cheap amoxil[/url] amoxicillin generic
Customer
buy minocycline 100 mg tablets cheap stromectol
https://stromectol.science/# where can i buy stromectol
[url=https://stromectol.science/#]stromectol pills[/url] minocycline topical foam
Customer
https://doxycycline.science/# buy doxycycline online
Customer
buy cheap doxycycline online doxycycline 200 mg
https://stromectol.science/# buy minocycline 50 mg tablets
[url=https://amoxil.science/#]amoxil for sale[/url] how to get amoxicillin over the counter
Customer
buy doxycycline online 270 tabs price of doxycycline
https://amoxil.science/# can you buy amoxicillin over the counter canada
[url=https://zithromax.science/#]can you buy zithromax over the counter in mexico[/url] how much is zithromax 250 mg
Customer
https://zithromax.science/# zithromax prescription in canada
[url=https://zithromax.science/#]cheap zithromax[/url] generic zithromax india
Customer
cvs over the counter covid test humana over the counter
Customer
over the counter sleeping pills over the counter erectile pills at walgreens or appetite suppressants over the counter
http://wetilehomes.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com anthem over the counter catalogue
[url=http://sunukraine.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com]silvadene cream over the counter[/url] over the counter medication for uti and [url=https://tc.yuedotech.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=255912]is viagra over the counter[/url] omeprazole over the counter
Customer
[url=https://over-the-counter-drug.com/#]what is the best over-the-counter anti-inflammatory for dogs[/url] over the counter ear infection medicine
Customer
united healthcare over the counter essentials over the counter nausea medicine for pregnancy or over the counter diet pills that work
http://livesummerside.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com over the counter antidepressants
[url=http://parablesofjesusproject.org/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com]amoxicillin over the counter[/url] over the counter uti meds and [url=http://13.ireebo.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=84495]over the counter antibiotics for tooth infection[/url] arthritis medicine for dogs over the counter
Customer
over the counter ringworm treatment over the counter blood pressure medication or over the counter cialis
http://khmre.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com apoquel over the counter substitute
[url=http://30salads30days.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com]over the counter yeast infection treatment[/url] best over the counter ed pills that work fast and [url=http://sc686.net/home.php?mod=space&uid=2020590]over the counter nausea medicine[/url] wellcare over the counter ordering
Customer
over the counter viagra substitute over the counter muscle relaxers or muscle relaxers over the counter
http://justcreate.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com amoxicillin over the counter
[url=http://nrabin.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=over-the-counter-drug.com]over-the-counter[/url] rightsourcerx over the counter and [url=https://cardvilla.cc/members/449286.html]naproxen 500mg over the counter[/url] best over the counter nausea medicine
Customer
nausea medication over the counter tamiflu over the counter