When we undertook the Kenyan safari, we were anticipating animal encounters but were in for a real surprise at this unique island where we walked with the wildlife. Now, that sounds pretty exciting…isn’t it?
Come along …let me take you on the Walk with Wildlife experience.
Taking a boat safari on Lake Naivasha, we reached Crescent island.
Aerial view of Crescent island (file photo)
Crescent island…an overview
Crescent island is one of Lake Naivasha’s best kept secrets. It is an ancient volcano which has been partially submerged giving it a crescent shape. The unique feature of the island is that it oscillates from an island to a peninsula depending on the water levels of Lake Naivasha.
Originally used by Masai people to graze cattle, this peninsula was under private ownership for some time when the owners developed it into a sanctuary farm and thereafter, it was taken over by a consortium in 1969. Film companies were attracted to the natural beauty and films like “Living Free” were shot here. How ever, it came into the limelight after the movie “Out Of Africa” was shot here in 1985. Animals like zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, waterbucks, impalas and lions were taken to the peninsula for the film. About three years after this, the peninsula was cut off from the mainland and became an island where these animals were trapped.
Crescent island is an important tourist destination today where tourists can walk up close to these animals by taking a boat safari on Lake Naivasha.
That experience forms the core of this episode. Come on and get ready to walk with wildlife….
Once we were at crescent island we alighted from our safari boat on to a swampy area that was reinforced with sand bags. It was a little bit of a precarious walk on the sand bags and we finally reached the island. Local guides instructed us on the guidelines to be followed when we got up close to the animals and also about the unique flora and fauna of the island.
Walking on the sandbag reinforced swamp passage to the island
Soon, we reached the main island and we were walking through thick ground foliage and our guide instructed us to avoid certain dangerous plants like the stingy nettle below…
Walking through thick ground foliage and the dangerous Stingy Nettle
Another thing we had to be careful was about the bees. Some peculiar looking wooden beehives were seen on the trees.
The peculiar looking bee hives made of wood
Some interesting inputs on plant behaviour.
The island vegetation consisted mainly of acacia trees with yellow bark. Now, this is the main food of the giraffes and when the giraffe chews on the acacia, it communicates to the surrounding acacia and they produce tannins which the giraffes find repulsive. An effective way of self preservation indeed!
The acacia trees and their yellow bark
As we walked further inland, we were close to some giraffes who were grazing peacefully. The giraffes were shy and moved away but were not alarmed by our presence as they were used to human proximity.
Click on video to walk with the giraffes
He shied away …but not before I got a picture!!!
Soon we spotted a lone waterbuck resting and decided not to disturb him….
The resting Waterbuck
A herd of impalas attracted our attention soon….
Impalas were looking at us!!!
Our guide noticed a herd of zebras at a distance and we soon headed there…
Zebras
Up close, they were not bothered about us and continued grazing…
The beautiful zebra lines!!!
And he posed with us…
By now, the sun was going down and we had to walk back to our boat. So reluctantly we walked back and boarded our boats for the return ride to the resort when the sun gave us another treat….
A beautiful sunset on Lake Naivasha
We alighted from the boat and took our vehicle back to the resort with wonderful memories of a day spent with animals..
Hope you enjoyed this episode. Next week we are in Masai Mara, the wildlife hub. So you can look forward to more exciting encounters.
Till then, do subscribe ,comment and give your feedback.
Travel-along.in 