Each evening we get an illumination of lights at sunset with the rains slowly edging closer!
Rain rain where art thou? March passed at ol Donyo lodge and it was uncharacteristically dry! We had some unexpected rain in February and it seems to have delayed the long rains. The rains are amazing here, from the main mess you can see for hundreds of miles with a 180 degree view out on to the plains and Kilimanjaro. The view is stunning and we watch the rains far away in the distance creep along the horizon occasionally blessed with a lightning storm as well. With rain comes life and the brief rain in February showed us how quickly the plains can change from golden to emerald green in no time at all, fresh sprouting grass brings in herds of zebra and wildebeest and the birdlife seems as excited as we are for the fresh change, with over 330 species of birds the plains are a multitude of colour and flashes and the birds swoop by snatching up bugs.
The elephants too are waiting for more rain, it is this time of year where they make the long trek to meet up with the breeding herds and mate. The rain creates natural waterholes across the plains making the journey for the elephants possible. The trek is slow as they spend 15 – 16 hours a day on eating and can consume anywhere from 140 – 270 kg and they drink up to 200 litres of water a day, but can go up to four days without water and will use their tusks to dig wells if necessary, an elephant can smell water from 5 km away so they are always aware of where the next waterhole is, and of course they remember it for the journey next year as well! Here at ol Donyo we are monitoring the elephants that come and go in a profile book, we are hoping that after the rains and when the elephants return, we get some new residents adding to our already impressive bachelor herd.
Chef Joshua taking buckets of fruit collected from ol Donyo’s backyard to the kitchen to create some ‘marula magic!’
The elephants aren’t too upset that the rains are late because they have the amazing marula fruits to feast on, and this year they are in abundance, so much so that we made a few items ourselves for the guests enjoyment. We made marula jams and chutneys but our biggest success was marula membrillo which is a firm paste usually made from quince and served with firm cheese. This Spanish classic worked really well with the high acidity of the marula and our favourite dish was breaded brie with homemade bacon and marula mebrillo!
Magnificent Marula Success………………..
Our biggest lion pride has been giving us some small glimpse into their world and have been spotted a couple of times this month, it seems that the cubs are doing very well and enjoy play fighting and snoozing whilst Nemasi, our collared female patiently looks on. Melio our biggest male is also looking amazing, his gaze is ferocious and when he stares at you, you can just feel his power. We are looking forward to more sightings when the game makes its way across the plains grazing on the new grass.
The striking stare of Melio.
One thing we have plenty of sightings of are our resident giraffes! We are blessed with so many iconic views of the giraffe slowly and gracefully traversing the plains with Kilimanjaro as a back drop and the giraffe are really enjoying the fact that there are fewer elephants at the lodge waterhole as usually the elephants really enjoy hogging it whilst the giraffe thirstily await their turn. To watch these beautiful animals slowly inch down and contorting in what seems like a very uncomfortable position just to get a drink and then whip their heads up leaving a trail of droplets suspended in the air is something to experience, and better still, experienced just 10 feet away in our acacia wood hide.
A journey of 10 beautiful Giraffes make their way in front of the faint majestic Killimanjaro.
We are taking full advantage of the green season and are doing lots of projects around the lodge and creating even more unique features than ever before for our guests. Our ol Donyo guides have also been on a one week eco-training course and have brushed up on knowledge as well as perfecting their already fantastic customer relations and interaction, there is no stopping their passion and drive now! A special thanks the Eco-Training guru, Chris Stamper, who helped to instil even more enthusiasm into our guides then ever before.
Eco Trainer Chris Stamper on left and ol Donyo Guides getting ready for a ride alongside the wildlife.
We at ol Donyo have started posting on Instagram and would love for you to follow us and our postings, we post shots from our guides and guests of animals, food and the daily fun from behind the scenes at the lodge. Follow us here! http://instagram.com/oldonyolodge
Soon we will be posting photos of our new harvest as we have seeded for the rains and we will have our kuku house (chicken coop) full with 13 new lovely ladies this week so guests will soon be enjoying fresh Chyulu hill eggs for breakfast!
The Chyulu Chicken Coop is now OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
April showers will make for some interesting stories so be sure to check in with us next month…..