And look! They even had lions (my favorite)- see this fuzzy looking log?

We spent the first hour of our trip in a game drive. We learned to identify different antelope species (Grant’s and Thomson’s Gazelle), and learned the minute differences in tribes and subspecies of Giraffes and Gnus. We continued our drive through the grass and scrub lands of Amboseli until we reached the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) housing. There we piled out of our land cruisers and took a break to sit and lunch with some pesky baboons The van drivers rested and we wandered around for an hour before heading off to Observation Hill. 

 

On the way was the first time we encountered elephants in Amboseli. We were so close to the groups of elephants we could hear their low frequency communications; one female opened her month a gave low “bllaaaaaaarggghhhh.” It’s one thing to see elephants- you can do that sitting in front of your television. Unless you’re at the circus it’s impossible to touch them. But to hear them, it was simply incredible. 

 

Elephants are actually quite troublesome in Amboseli. Families of elephants- especially when in overabundance, tightly concentrated and in one location for long periods of time- can have a terrible impact on the environment. They split, snap and strip trees as they browse. Slowly b

but sure, they can create grasslands from woodlands. 

 

But everything looks perfect from far away. The view from Observation Hill was incredible. Clusters of Acacia trees the dotted the dust swept grasslands, which melded into marshes salt and peppered with hippos and egrets. From there I could sit all day and appreciate Africa for the gem it is, before the inevitable return to working through its problems. The view from that perch stayed with me through the afternoon, which we spent speed-counting and recording wildlife. It floats in my mind through classes and homework. It keeps me going, that there is hope for this place, as open and wide as the plains where the sun touches the land.