We arrived at the Samburu Game Reserve in central Kenya on May 13 or 14th (looking for my travel journal with the exact dates) The trip was set up so that we had the same guides for the whole trip, Joshua and David. The game parks that we were visiting were pretty far from each other, so on travel days Joshua and David set out ahead of us in the Land Rovers and we flew a Caravan Flight with Martin (the coolest pilot in the world). So, when we arrived at the Samburu airstrip, we had surrogate guides for the afternoon. Gladwell was our guide for the afternoon on this particular day. He picks us up from the airstrip and tells us how sad he is that the river (that runs through camp) is dry, and has been since December. With a dry river bed, things can be dangerous for the animals. Elephants are okay, because they can dig holes for their water, but the other members of the African Animal Community are pretty SOL. This was saddening news to hear, because May is supposed to be the rainy season for Kenya. The Climate Crisis coupled with humans moving into the bush and tapping the water systems upstream for their own use is slowly killing off a lot of indigenous wildlife. Gladwell assures us that the Game Reserve and the individual camps are doing their best to provide water for the animals. We get to camp and try to make light of the lunch by the (non)river and our (non)waterfront views from our tents. We were having an afternoon cocktail at the bar near the (non)river when out of nowhere this Land Rover comes screeching in...
"The river is coming!!" he says waving about wildly, camera in tow, "we followed it all the way down here, there's a wall of water!"
Puzzled, we all looked at each other for a split second and then raced to the river bed, cameras in tow as well. We looked towards what would be up river and sure enough, a flash flood! It had been raining up in the mountains for the past couple of days and the water had just made it down to the flats.
I had seen such a thing on the Discovery Channel, but I always thought it was a time laps camera, I can tell you, if it is time lapsed, it's not by much! It took all of fifteen minutes for this river bed, dry and cracked, to become a river. The Uaso Nyiro River, meaning Red River, or Muddy River, is never blue... but it sure is a beautiful sight to see!
Nature sure is an amazing thing!
(I did get this on video- when I get the final product made I'll share it with you guys)
That being said, it's soap box time for a second: The Earth has the ability to and will repair herself from all the damage humans and her other inhabitants have done. Mother Earth is a powerful being and she loves her children, however, if we don't take care of her, she's going to kick us out! So please please please, when traveling especially, respect the Earth, do what you can to make up for carbon emissions and waste you have created. Reduce what you use, Reuse what you can and Recycle everything else! I would love for my grandchildren to be able to see such a sight one day, and I know you wish the same for your offspring and future offspring.
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