Snakes... answers...

Answers....

the very beautiful snake in the house  is ... (of course)... a brown house snake (black faced),
 the less than beautiful fat snake is a highly venomous puff adder..... this is a large one.. and .... have to admit, very dead.....
the small shoelace snake is a baby red spitting cobra...
the  little black snake is blind snake...

Did not manage to get a picture of the most beautiful green tree snake......

Snakes.. part three

.....and the final two snakes for the week... answers tomorrow....

Snakes... part two

Not such a good looking snake... and a good deal more dangerous....
What is it??

Snakes..... can you identify??

Snake identification quiz..... picture one.... love them or hate them you have to admit this one is a

beauty... Guard snake or attack snake? Should i be entering the house in bare feet? Friend or foe?

African Hunting Dogs... hunting....

Yesterday morning  I watched Wild dogs hunting up from the water tanks, over the reception car park, past the Chief's House and into the valley. I counted 24 , but there were probably several more in this large pack. A high number - and probably ready to split very soon as they were all adults. Whilst I watched they killed 4 dik diks in what was, for them an enormously successful hunt. Not for the dik diks. Watching their hunting organisation is always formidable. and listening to them call is one of the most evocative Laikipia experiences. Technology did not smile so happily-  as after the first two pictures my phone died!

Wild Dogs looking down on me from reception rock

Solomon In Philadelphia

After a year of  visa trips to Nairobi …. and  a good few setbacks along the way…. Solomon finally achieved his dream of getting to the United States  in November 2012.

Thanks to his amazing  hosts and sponsors who stuck by him throughout the visa shenaningans he had the trip of a lifetime in Philly.

Cooling off between the race and the totally amazing after party

Highlights  were , firstly of course , Race Day - whilst Solomon did not achieve the race time he would have hoped- he used his usual indomitable spirit to finish despite a recurring injury and  enjoyed every minute of the race in a  magnificent city.  We all extend our congratulations to him! The second highlight was his trip to Washington DC where he was presenting to the African Wildlife Foundation,  about the conservation work at Lentille. By all accounts he spoke eloquently and passionately about the improvements in the conservation lands, cattle management and development work across the Group Ranches. Food and Friends  were clearly the other highlights – pancakes and pizza looming high on the list!! 

Checking out the Washington landmarks ....


All in all solomon could not have had a better trip and the friendship offered to him has put Philadelphia firmly into his Friendliest City category. 
Thank-you so much  to all who made this trip possible

Looking Back ……..and Ahead….

Apologies for distinct  lack of blog posts… whatever happened to the second half of 2012??.. …it  rushed past in a whirlwind of Lentille projects. Expansion of the new Narupa  Conservancy,  new campsite,  new health centre,  new bore hole, new  pipelines,  new conservation resource centre, new secondary buildings, new boarding houses for Ngabolo , new classrooms for Nkiloriti and Parkuruk, a new NGO and American Not -for -Profit,  not forgetting our own ‘new’ house. So many  ‘news’:  Meanwhile our old projects also expand and develop apace in education and healthcare. So when in December we were inspecting the  ‘Oh So Smart’ 24 bed ‘hospital’ complete with operating theatre and x ray room it was only partially tongue in cheek that I what year we would be  planning the  housing development…….. oh, and  the golf course. And so it is in Developing Economies  that suddenly you are forced to look into the future and see how quickly Change creates Change. As ever our prime task   is to ensure that changes created can benefit the greatest number so that economic development can allow  communities  to better help themselves…. Together  with the smallest carbon footprint and most positive ecological impact.

It is perhaps fitting that at the end of 2012 The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille , as the driver for the community development projects, received a Virgin responsible Tourism award for alleviation of poverty.  This has been a team effort by the lodge staff/the community and of course our stalwart friends across the globe and as we look forward along the road of 2013 we sincerely thank ALL  partners in this process. Whilst we do not ever look towards breaking out the golf clubs-we do have a myriad of  further plans to extend the legs of the three legged stool of conservation /business and development projects that has been our model for Ol Lentille, to create self reliance and sustainable development.  We are constantly aware of how much there is to be done on all fronts and, as we extend into new areas, sometimes we feel as if our work is a drop in the ocean- but as we all know the ocean is made of drops.

Naiperere school pupils at the new Conservation Resource Centre- the faces of the future- balancing modernity and tradition

Wishing all our friends a very, very Happy and Healthy 2013, with enormous thanks to every one of you-  from all at Ol Lentille!