An elephants tale

February 1979, Una one of the elephant cows in Amboseli gave birth to her first calf which turned out to be a male. Four years later, The Amboseli trust for elephants named him Ulysses. The trust always names the elephant calves four years after they are born, this is because their survival chances are higher after they turn four. 

This is a short story of Ulysses, one of the big tusked bull elephants in Amboseli eco-system. Growing up, Ulysses stood out. He is unique and his personality was different. In the mid 90's, Ulysses was the first of his age group to leave his maternal herd to live the life of a bachelor and join the 'mens club'. He grew up to be a fighter, he is not known to back out of a challenge. He's even broken his left ear in a fight with another bull elephant. His broken ear is one of the ways to identify him these days, but he's not the only bull elephant with big tusks and a broken left ear - Palmer also has a broken ear. Now at the age of 42 years, he's become more calm. Last week, I had the privilege of spending almost an hour with this magnificent bull. I was blown away and at times I didn't even pick up my camera to take pictures. He is majestic. What made this sighting even more special was the fact that I was the only one there. It felt special and I could not help but imagine how the super-tuskers looked like when they roamed freely. The fact that such bulls still roam the Amboseli plains freely and as wild as they could be. This gives me some hope that the future generations will get to see, protect and photograph such amazing elephants.

Amboseli trust for elephants has been monitoring and researching on elephants since 1974. Founded by Dr Cynthia Moss and her colleague Harvey Croze. According to research by the research teams in Amboseli, Una was born in 1964 to the UA family. She died in the year 2006 from unknown causes, and she left five living off springs - four females (Undine, Usha, Utwo and Undo) and one male (Ulysses). Undine was born in September 1985, Usha was born in May 1990, Utwo was born in February 1997 and Undo was born in June 2000. Ulysses and his four sisters still live in Amboseli as wild and free elephants. You can get to see them when you visit the Amboseli National park. 

Enjoy the pictures of Ulysses... Until next time, keep safe and take care!

Curiosity of an elephant. 

A competent road inspector.

A trip to Amboseli

Last week I visited the Amboseli national park, in the southern part of Kenya. This is the land famed by elephant herds, the majestic Mt Kilimanjaro and most recently the flamingos have become a good addition to the over 400 bird species that call this place home. The landscape is mostly flat land, and its stunningly beautiful. This also makes it great for photography. An additional surprise to many travelers is Lake Amboseli, and it happens to be in the middle of the park. The lake attracts many animals and birds. There are many swamps as well. The water flows from the Kilimanjaro into these swamps and lake, and in some places the water is crystal clear. 

All covid safety protocols are adhered to. Hotel staff, park rangers and guests are all wearing masks and sanitizing. Maintaining social distancing has become a new norm. At the park gates there are hand washing stations as well. You will find this in place in the camps and lodges too. 

The Amboseli was virtually empty, I could hardly see any cars on game drive. However, this did not take anything away from the magic that's always in store when on safari in Africa. I enjoy my game drives, even if I don't see any of the big five. I am a birding enthusiast as well so I can be easily distracted by birds. On this particular drive I entered the park through the Kimana gate which is on the eastern side of the park. Tim, the charming bull elephant and famous big tusker died close to Kimana gate. 

After driving for about 10 minutes looking around for animals, I heard a bird like call and I immediately stopped to check around on what it was. The call was constant as I scanned around the plains searching for what it was. Then from the corner of my eyes I caught some movement in the distance. I stop the vehicle and looked, a slender spotted cat in the distance. I obviously could recognize the bird like call and I knew what animal it was. I was thrilled to bits to see a cheetah. It was far to get any good pictures but I still savored the moment. Cheetahs are fast declining into extinction with only about 7,000 individuals left in the wild across the globe. This was a mother cheetah, and I suspect she was calling out to her cubs. I could not see any cub and after about 10 minutes I lost sight of the cheetah as she walked into the tickets. That brought to an end my short appointment with the spotted cat. I love photographing cheetahs, they are more active compared to lions and leopards. They have slender bodies that are built for speed and they are very photogenic. Moving away from the cheetah sighting, I had incredible elephant sightings, an Amboseli trademark. There were lots of other animals that are always interesting to observe and photograph like zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, buffaloes, flamingos and pelicans.

Here are some of the pictures from that drive. I still am in Amboseli and I will share with you more pictures and stories... Until next time, be safe!

A cheetah in the distance

Zebras and Mt Kilimanjaro