Laetoli; a new Elephant and a new year

A new Elephant for a new year, born on the 2nd of january and filmed on the 3rd, named Laetoli after the place of her birth.

Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominin footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). The site of the Laetoli footprints is located 45 km south of Olduvai gorge. Excavated by archaeologists Louis and Mary Leaky, the site is famous for its hominin footprints, preserved in volcanic ash and unearthed in 1978. “The Laetoli Footprints” received significant recognition by the public, providing convincing evidence of bipedalism in Pliocene hominids based on analysis of the impressions. The footprints and skeletal structure excavated at Laetoli showed clear evidence that bipedalism preceded enlarged brains in hominids. Although it is highly debated, it is believed the three individuals who made these footprints belonged to the species Australopithecus afarensis. Along with footprints were other discoveries including hominin and animal skeletal remains and Acheulean artifacts.

Christmas and New Year in the Bush

The Serian festivities came and went very quickly this year but just to give you all a few highlights:

Christmas Eve was spent out on the great Mara plains watching the sun go down, sitting around a lovely bush fire before heading back to camp for a scrummy roast ham dinner.



Sundowners overlooking the escarpment



 On Christmas Day we celebrated in the evening with Christmas carols, Crackers, Christmas lights and a Roast Turkey.

  

Christmas breakfast on the Mara River outside Ngare



Chrstmas table been laid out



Elegant looking table



Our African Christmas Tree



Santa at the bottom of our tree



Boxing Day we had the pleasure of a magnificent sighting of Zawadi right outside Ngare who was very relaxed and felt right at home with us there watching her.



Our resident Genet came to vist on Christmas day to see what Santa had bought - beef fillet! :)



Roisin getting a first class viewing of Zawadi



As elegant as ever

Then we skip a few days and it takes us to New Year’s Eve. We tried to do a dinner out under the stars but alas that did not last long before the rains chased us inside.

Ngare deck all set up before the rains came down

This however this did not dampen our moods and we set everything up inside and continued there and had a mouth-watering beef fillet.  

After dinner we had some Moran’s come in and do a little singing and dancing for the guests. They danced their way around the table before we all chinked our bubbly together and said Happy New Year (or Mwaka Mpya Wenye Mafanikio) and lit our sparkles to write 2012 in the air.

Wishing you all out there a year filled with love, happiness and full of adventure! Happy 2012 – bring on the good times! J

What an encounter

It was a fine morning there was not a cloud in the sky. The birds where chirping all around and actually everything was going on quite fine however there was something lingering nearby.



Just outside tent 7



Craig with only a rock for protection



What was that noise?

As I took John his insulation tape that he had asked for, the monkeys where making quite a scene up in the trees, just outside tent number seven. After a short discussion we thought that we had better go and investigate the scene. As we where silently sneaking through the bush we both picked up a rock just in case the situation was to turn ugly on us. As we carefully approached one bush in particular we were presented with a deep bellowing growl, which just seemed to penetrate strait through the body; resulting in shivers all the way down the spine. A few seconds later after we had all had some time too thankfully calm down I heard a roar of laughter from John.



Craig with fresh leopard tracks





Fresh track



Set of leopard tracks

What an experience we had, where else in the world could you run into a face to face encounter with the resident leopard (Panthera Pardus) only 100 meters from the tent.





Serian Staff Fun Run

It was a hot sunny day on the 1^st of December until just after half four when the dark clouds started rolling over. We were quite thankful for this, otherwise it would have been one hot 5KM run.



The course



The staff were eager to get out there and show us how it is done! We had about 25 participants ranging from old to young, men and women.  The start was down at the football field below camp. Excitement was building up until Adrian gave the go ahead and the race was on! We did a loop around the Serian hill, through some wet and muddy gullies and up the hill near where we have sundowners before heading back down to the football field to finish off.



Front runners



Over the hill



Support at the end



Soit – one of our night watchmen- did the 5KM track in a very impressive 18 minutes, followed closely by Okech –our tailor- and Marule – chief. First lady was given to Caroline who was not too far behind the front runners.



Soit - 1st place



Okech - 2nd place



Marule - 3rd place

1st Lady - Caroline (being supported to the finish line)

A very good run all in all, and the Serian spirit was flying high. Thanks to all who participated. J   

Team picture



Attempting Silver

Two members of our Serian guiding team are attempting to achieve their silver level guiding certificate, Jacob Masemo and Jonathan Koikai.

Jacob Masemo - Head Mechanic & Guide

Jacob Masemo our chief mechanic and general all around handyman has worked at Serian for a good number of years. He is keen to try and progress his understanding of bush life and challenge the other guides in to giving his clients the fullest experience whilst on safari in Kenya.

Jonathan getting ready to show you how its done!

Jonathan Koikai a local has worked at Serian for the last 6 good years. Hard working, cheerful and determined to give the guests the finest possible experience whilst visiting our secluded and stunning private Mara North Conservancy.

Currently immersed in a tough refresher course at the renowned Koyaki Guiding School they sit their Silver Level examinations on the 7^th December in Nairobi. We wish them all the best of luck!

THE ELEPHANT WITH A SORE LEG.

Our scouts – who patrol our 4000acres of walking land - notified us that there was an injured elephant on the hillside below our treehouse The Elephant was having problems with intense swelling on its front left leg.  

The elephant resting his sore leg

The two MNC rangers that reside in camp thought it was the same one that a vet had already attended to because a MNC patrol car had last seen that Elephant close to one of the crossing points about 3Kms upstream from camp and they hadn’t seen it the day that we were informed about its whereabouts.  

We then decided to go up to investigate the situation that the elephant was in - Nick, Ole Ngume, two MNC rangers, and all the scouts.



Save the Elephants came to support



When we found it was limping badly and was not moving much. Over a course of three days the Elephant had only moved only about 700 meters. The MNC rangers had informed the headquarters about its whereabouts and its condition of the front left leg.

Checking his leg

On the 25^th October I was given a report from the MNC rangers that there was a vet coming to try and help the elephant. When the vet arrived we were waiting about 300 meters from the Elephant so that he could get a good shot for the dart to tranquilize it so it could be treated. The vet recognized the elephant and knew that it was the same one he had only recently treated.



Almost done with the check up

They gave it a large dose of anti inflammatory injections although the injury is still unknown, the vet and his assistant thinks it has a broken upper leg, although they also say it may possibly be a snake bite! Let’s hope that the elephant soon recovers from his injury.

By Nick Wootton