As already noted, the two camps that we stayed at in Amboseli were actually located in the contiguous Selenkay Conservancy. Today we were due to fly out to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, located in the Laikipia region of the country, and which is not linked into any National Park. However the game viewing, although low on the conventional lions and elephants, turned out to be extraordinarily varied and spectacular.

On our way to the airstrip we came across the bizarrely constructed Secretary Bird (). In part its name comes from what looks like a whole bunch of pens and pencils sticking up from behind its ears, but for me the real reason behind this name is its prim and proper way of strutting along.

On arrival at the airstrip we flew back into Nairobi's (internal flights based) Wilson Airport, and then straight out again to Nanyuki, close to the equator. Nanyuki serves as a British army base, in addition to being a thriving African town (). Our drive to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy took us directly over the line of the equator (more of this later), and even before entering the reserve we came across an elegant Grant's Gazelle (), together with a Jackson's Hartebeest ().

At the entrance to the Conservancy itself we crossed over a bridge characterised by the notice below () (which reads "NOTICE: This bridge is rated for a maximum of 11 TONS. Elephants are therefore requested to cross TWO at a time only"). Presumably the vehicle behind us (), below, was well within this limit, even if the elephants don't always obey this.

      

On our way to Porini Rhino Bush Camp we passed an open area filled with a wide variety of game - warthog, lots of baboons, and so on (). For some reason, it never fails to surprise me to see different animals mixed up together in this way. Presumably it's due to a history of seeing them in individual compounds in zoos and the like. It seemed equally strange to see a herd of domestic cattle blocking the road ahead (), in what is essentially a wild game area, but in Kenya especially the two communities are very much forced to cohabit in the same area.

Porini Rhino Camp is similar in many ways to their Amboseli Camp, with basic tented accommodation (), below, with cold running water, bucket showers and solar power generation only. However, and as usual, the actual accommodation was more than comfortable (), below, as indeed were the communal areas (), opposite.

     

An evening game drive yielded little more than a number of sightings of typical plains game (), but again most interesting due to the variety of species observed.

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