The Big Five

Much is made of the Big Five on safari: elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards and rhinos. But these are not literally the biggest animals. In colonial times, they were just the five hardest animals to hunt on foot. The label stuck, even though cameras, and not guns, are brandished at them today!

Unfortunately, the leopard evaded us in Kenya and we saw only four of the big five. According to Stephen's meticulous record keeping, we came across at an impressive 47 different species during our week in Kenya!

Here is the full list:

1 Lion (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru).
2 Cape Buffalo (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Aberdare)
3 Cheetah (Masai Mara)
4 African Elephant (Masai Mara; Aberdare)
5 Wildebeest or Gnu (Masai Mara)
6 Masai Giraffe (Masai Mara)
7 Hippopotamus (Masai Mara)
8 Crocodile (Masai Mara)
9 Crowned Crane (Masai Mara; Aberdare)
10 Lilac-breasted Roller (Masai Mara)
11 Marabou Stork (Masai Mara; Mount Kenya)
12 Red-Billed Ox-Picker (Masai Mara)
13 White-Backed Vulture (Masai Mara)
14 Ostrich (Masai Mara)
15 Vervet Monkey (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru)
16 Thomson Gazelle (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru)
17 Topi (Masai Mara)
18 Impala (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Aberdare)
19 Warthog (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Aberdare)
20 Olive Baboon (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru)
21 Waterbuck (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru)
22 Bat-Eared Fox (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru)
23 Black-backed Jackal (Masai Mara)
24 Spotted Hyena (Masai Mara; Aberdare)
25 Zebra (Masai Mara; Lake Nakuru; Aberdare)
26 Dik-dik (Masai Mara)
27 Flamingo (Lake Nakuru)
28 White Rhino (Lake Nakuru)
29 Grant’s Gazelle (Lake Nakuru)
30 Eland Antelope (Lake Nakuru)
31 Crowned Plover (Lake Nakuru)
32 White Pelican (Lake Nakuru)
33 Egyptian Goose (Lake Nakuru; Aberdare)
34 Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Lake Nakuru)
35 Blue Starling (Lake Nakuru)
36 Bushbuck (Aberdare)
37 Reticulated Giraffe (Aberdare)
38 Black-tipped Mongoose (Aberdare)
39 Suni (Aberdare)
40 Scaly Francolin (Aberdare)
41 Common Bulbul (Aberdare)
42 Streaky Seed-Eater (Aberdare)
43 Speckled Mousebird (Aberdare)
44 Large Spotted Genet (Aberdare)
45 Giant Forest Hog (Aberdare)
46 Coypu (Aberdare)
47 Hadada Ibis (Aberdare, Mount Kenya)

Night elephants

At around 11pm, the relative calm around the waterhole outside the Ark (which is floodlit at night), was shattered by a huge herd of elephants charging towards the waterhole – we counted at least 21. 

Among them were babies (several still suckling), all carefully protected within the centre of the herd. The elephants seemed on edge – at night they can’t see well, so they need to be on guard for predators looking to grab one of the babies! 

We spotted at least seven hyenas on the edge of the clearing, but one elephant would occasionally storm off to chase them away. The herd is usually led by females, but the largest elephant by far was a giant male with huge tusks – one was broken. The guides told us that he was originally part of another group, but had been accepted by this family on account of his size!

The elephants seemed to charge away anything that got close; fairly dopey buffalo were chased off, and even the mild-mannered geese pottering around the mud seemed to spook the elephants. Our whole group was mesmerized by the sight.

It was hard to take photos at night, but check out the video:

Life on the Ark

Staying in the Ark in Aberdare National Park is an adventure in itself, and the only way to really appreciate the wildlife inside the reserve.

Special buses trundle between the Aberdare Country Club and the specially designed lodge (which is 90% wood), perched on the edge of a waterhole and muddy salt-lick – it does look a bit like the Noah’s Ark of popular imagination, with a boat-shaped bow, long body and flat ‘stern’. 

Rooms are compact but cosy, and the four levels all have views of the waterhole – and heaps of animals that root around in the mud looking for salt.

When we arrived there were five long-tusked elephants, a herd of buffalo and a handful of warthogs and bush bucks, while a sleek-looking mongoose ran through the rocks.

At 5pm we strolled out to the wooden catwalk while the staff piled bread and fruit onto two hanging bird tables; because of the cooler, misty weather, only a few species turned up to the feast, while three tiny Suni – Africa’s smallest antelope – played on the forested ground beneath us.

Our feathered visitors included the yellow breasted common bulbul, the long, willowy tailed speckled mousebird, and the tiny streaky seed-eater.

Most of the action happens at night here; the hotel uses a buzzer system to wake up guests when animals approach:

One ring = elephants

Two rings = rhinos

Three rings = leopards

Four is for any other ‘unusual’ animals

We only got to see elephants, but that was a truly magical experience.

Reticulated or Rothschild giraffes?

Driving into the Aberdare National Park, we passed a herd of giraffe. The pattern on these bizarre, long-necked animals was obviously different to the Masai giraffes we’d seen before (more like pentagons than spots), and our driver David told us these were Rothschild Giraffes. On the way out, however, our local Aberdare guide Charles confidently labeled them Reticulated Giraffes. 

These are the Masai giraffe:

And these are the Reticulated/Rothschild giraffes at Aberdare. Can you tell the difference?

Aberdare National Park

Our third national park encompasses the Aberdare Mountains, home to the Kikuyu tribe and named in 1884 by explorer Joseph Thomson in honour of the president of the Royal Geographical Society. 

It was made into a park in 1950, and Elizabeth II famously became Queen here in 1952 (her father died while she was staying at Treetops Hotel). In the 1960s many Mau Mau rebels had hideouts here, but today the only danger is posed by the odd leopard (sadly, we didn’t see one!). 

On the way to the park, we stopped at Thomson Falls near Nyahururu, a famous  training hub for Kenya's champion long-distance runners. Samuel Wanjirŭ, the first Kenyan to win the marathon at the Olympics, calls Nyahururu home. Along the way, we saw a few atheletes training along the road.

The Aberdare National Park is home to 250 types of bird and 44 different mammals, from elephants to striped mice, but lions are no longer among them – they were relocated after concerns they were killing too many animals, especially the rare Bongo antelope. 

Black rhinos are also endangered here; thanks to illegal poaching - their numbers have declined from 450 in the 1970s to just 20 today (we didn’t see one of those either). The park is now surrounded by a 400km high-voltage fence to keep out the poachers.

Access to the park is strictly controlled via just two unique lodges, Treetops and our hotel, the Ark. To get to the Ark you start at the Aberdare Country Club, an English-style stone complex built in the 1920s, where we had lunch.



Most of the park is over 7000 feet up, and when we visited it was chilly, misty and damp – but very atmospheric!