Sitting on the deck at the pool looking out at the
breath-taking view, I have also been watching a family of Marico sun-birds as
they busily and happily gather nectar from the wild flowers that are growing in
abundance. In the background, I can hear
the drone of bees as they too collect pollen from the acacia tree which is
so pretty at the moment, with its dainty yellow powder puff flowers.
The past week has been quite warm at Lamai, but two days
ago, we had a welcome storm which swept across the plains, filling the rock
pools and crevices and making life that much easier for the resident hyrax
families, mongooses, lizards which all give us so much pleasure.
One sadness for us is that out on a drive a few days ago, we
came across the young pride that live near the camp. We noticed that the young female had a snare
around her neck which was obviously causing her much distress. Vets from the Parks department kindly agreed
to come out with a view to darting her and removing the snare. However, on the day they were here, neither
the pride nor the young lioness were anywhere to be seen, despite search teams
being sent out with our guides. Then two
days ago, a young female lion was spotted just below camp. We weren't able to see if it was our girl
with the snare around her neck or not, and just hope if it is, she has been
able to feed herself and is not in too much pain, as in a case like this, the
rest of her family would almost definitely leave her to fend for herself. We hadn't seen this lioness for a couple of
months and presumed she and her brothers had followed the wildebeest herds out of the area in
November. After seeing her again, it is obvious that she wandered into the area surrounding the villages where she must have picked up the snare. Hopefully she stays close by now and doesn't wander
off again.
There have been lions seen almost every day in the area and
one pride has very small cubs, approximately 2 months old. It is a common sight to see either a male or
female lion lying resting on top of a rock, admiring the glorious view laid out
in front of him/her.
The lodge is being spruced and polished today, awaiting the
arrival of thirteen guests. There
is a positive vibe and air of excitement, and all our staff are worthy of a pat
on the back.. YES – Lamai Serengeti last night won the award for “Best New
Safari property in Africa”. We are all very proud and delighted!