Game watching from your bed!

The tourists in Amboseli are quite clever. They have found a way to see the park, and us, without kicking up lots of dust in noisy vehicles – they go up in a balloon. We see these a lot when the weather’s good. They float above us, silently, and we carry on doing whatever it is we are doing, completely undisturbed.

I suppose there will be more tourists coming from the place with the water hole, but not too many. They seem to have finished one of the cottages. Close up, it looks quite fancy, but from the distance you can hardly see it. And, what’s more, the tourists can lie in bed and look straight at Kilimanjaro. And they’ll probably watch us as we take mud baths in the water hole. They won’t need a balloon!

Sharing the water hole

Well, this morning I went for my usual bath and drink and found some other visitors. The place was packed with giraffe, all browsing around the area. I guess the water makes the leaves more tasty. And then, as I got closer, I noticed the birds – so many of them. Like me they like to drink and bathe. The water is so clean and fresh I don’t blame them for liking it. There’s enough of it to share.

I also noticed a neat little cottage, not far from the water. It’s not finished yet, but I bet, when it is, it will be a popular place to stay – it’s got such a great view of the water hole

Making roofs from straw

Back at the site I saw something else that was strange – people sitting in great piles of dried grass, hacking away at it, then tying it together. Some animals like to eat dried grass – humans, it seems, use it on their houses to keep the rain out. Actually it looks pretty cool, in more ways than one, and blends in well with the landscape. I can see these builders care about the environment.

And those brick making machines – well, they just keep going…

More mud baths

Each week when I go for my mud bath I see new things. This time there was a new building with a grass roof. It looks straight at Kilimanjaro. During the night I had a look inside. It’s big enough for me to sleep in, if I could get through the door!

And I’m not the only one taking baths in this place. One man seemed to enjoy his outdoor bath as much as I do. We're not so different after all!

Making myself popular

This week I took the family to the new mud bath. It was less muddy and more drinkable and we spent ages just drinking and cooling down. Mum was pretty pleased with me and says I can wander off more often if this is what I find.

The men were still there making bricks as usual and I see that the buildings are growing. There were also some tents and some new people who sat and watched us through binoculars as we drank. We stayed quite a while. I’m going to be pretty popular after this.

Making Mud Baths!

Been away for a few weeks, moving with the family around the park, so when I retuned to the ‘site’ (as I now call it) I couldn’t believe the activity – and the building. There are 4 brick-making machines now and thousands of bricks. That oven-thing wasn’t enough – there are lots more and they’re making bricks nineteen to the dozen.

But most important - I could smell water. I followed the scent, straight into a massive mud bath where I rolled around for a bit. It was fun and I’ll be back with my friends for more. There’s nothing like a good mud bath. While I was there the activity stopped and they all watched me. I pretended not to notice, but I’ll definitely be back!

Things are moving!

It was another week before I went back to visit the building site and things were moving. These guys don’t hang around. There’s a big green structure with water tanks on top – looks like a sort of HQ with people going in and out all the time. Word around the bush is that they’re building something for tourists, but I can’t see tourists sleeping in this thing – not posh enough.

In fact, as I got closer I noticed outlines in the soil, all curves and big spaces, under the acacias and all staring straight at Kilimanjaro. Something tells me this is the real thing. After all, if I were a tourist I would want to wake up to that great mountain.

I see it all the time of course, but I never tire of it. It’s the second biggest attraction in Amboseli, after the elephants of course. Most people come to see us with Kili in the background – makes great photos.

While I hung around a big meeting took place with lots of people including the local Masai. I’m told that the Masai get involved with tourism these days, earning rent from the land and from every tourist who visits. That’s good news – not only for them but for us too – now we can all live in peace.

Meanwhile the construction goes on and that brick making machine is working overtime.

Making bricks from mud!

Being only 11 I’m not so used to wandering off alone. In fact I’ve only just started. My mum lets me because she knows that in a few years I will have to leave her and my younger brothers and sisters to make a new life for myself. It’s scary but exciting at the same time. But I’ve got to get used to it. So I go off for the day and find my way back to Mum later. Seeing these strange men made me realise that I still have a lot to learn. I decided to go and fetch Mum and see what she made of it.

I was amazed at the activity when Mum and I got there the next day (with a few others in tow). There were men digging trenches and others making bricks. As we got closer they noticed us and stopped to look, but not for long. One thing really caught my attention – a metal machine which the men filled with soil from the ground and then pulled one part on top of the other. When they opened it out popped this

perfect little mud brick which the men laid on the ground in a neat row along with others that they had already made. Then they took each brick and shovelled it into what looked like a chimney with a fire at the front. Mum said that was how they made the bricks hard so they could be using for building.

So that was it! These men were building something.

 I can’t wait to find out what.

What's going on?

Just the other morning as I was searching for some tasty leaves, something caught my eye. Well, my ears and my nose mostly because they’re pretty big. Behind me, about 10 elephant steps away, there were people – not the usual people in red blankets with sharp spears who inhabit these parts, but new people – men – dressed in trousers and wearing shoes. There were lots of them, making noise but saying very little. Mostly they were concentrating.
Being an elephant around Amboseli is a pretty good life. We have space, food, water (usually) and best of all, we are protected from an elephant’s most feared enemy – the poacher. So when I see people I’m not afraid. They don’t want to hurt me – mostly they just want to watch me, and although it can get on your nerves at times – this lack of privacy – I put up with it. Because these people, tourists they’re called, are really my bread and butter. So long as they come to Amboseli to see us elephants living here (and there are many) we will be protected and our babies can grow up peacefully with their mums.

So who were all these people, ignoring me, concentrating on other things with their shovels and string and tents? Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it never killed an elephant. I needed to find out more …