Karisia Walking Safari Blog

Ngong Race 2011

2011-09-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

A most excellent race held each year in Ngon just outside of Nairobi:

http://karisia.zenfolio.com/p348197064#h6f40a9a

A Great Laikipia Mountainbike Weekend

2011-04-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Just some images from an Easter weekend of Mountainbiking through the wilds of eastern Laikipia:

Mt. Elgon and why Kenya has an image problem.

2011-04-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

What a trip. I'll just start with that and move on to ranting later. Mt Elgon was the focus with stops at Lake Baringo, Kakemega and Kembu. All were phenomenal. Phenomenal and cheap. A week of safari for what some might pay for a night at a luxury camp (game drives not included).

Kerry and I as well as Steve and Annabelle Carey (from Sosian) set off for Mt. Elgon on March 28th stopping on route for the night at Lake Baringo and then at Kakamega and Kembu on our return . At Robert's camp we rented Heron House for what must be one of the best deals in Kenya. Who says safari has to be expensive?
In the evening we went for a nice birding boat trip where we saw a number of great water birds, Crocs and Hippos:

In the morning we organized to go walking with an excellent bird guide named, Francis Cherutich (0723163267) who is pictured below. In just a few hours we found over 70 species, a few of which I had never seen before and a few others that I was able to briefly photograph:

From Baringo we drove west over Kabarnet and continued on to Eldoret. From Eldoret we headed northwest to Kitale and then Elgon. The entire drive without stops probably took about 6 hours. Only the road from the Eldoret highway cutting up to Kitale was under construction but really, for Kenya, it was not that bad at all. All the other roads were a pleasure, beautiful and in good condition. Kabarnet has to be one of the most stunning towns in Kenya placed on a set of highlands that bisect the rift. We wanted to find some White-headed Turaco's in some of the indigenous forest along the way here but sadly we couldn't find one.

Mt Elgon in the 1980s received over 10,000 visitors a year. Now the yearly visitation is a pathetic fraction of that (in the three days we were in the park we were the only visitors). In the 1980s Kenya and its guide books suggested to its visitors that Elgon was a fascinating destination but those selling Kenya after that began to change the tune. As the safari industry grew and as it left its roots as an operator run business an international sales force took over. They dictated a new direction, one that was easy, palatable and most importantly free of the unexpected mishaps that once defined a true safari. Mt Elgon had been forgotten while the flush toilet had become a standard element in any luxury camp. This is business and we can not blame the agents that are selling safaris that are less risky but we can blame ourselves as travelers for not looking deeper beyond the glossy travel magazines, the infinity pools and the ubiquitous woman doing yoga on some windswept rock face.

In my opinion Kenya has concentrated too much on just selling the big five. Everyone should see a lion or an Elephant when they come on safari but then they should also be told about other safari experiences that can so deeply enrich their visit. Costa Rican visitors are told from the beginning about the Morpho butterflies. People who visit that country's rain forests are taught about the leaf-cutter ants and about many other interesting aspects of the ecology. Morpho butterflies and Leaf-cutter ants appear on nearly every brochure selling Costa Rica but ask the average tourist to Africa to name one butterfly or one ant and they'll have trouble. Their minds have been filled with empty facts like the gestation period of the Lion and other Big Five Trivia that guides memorize from study books. How boring (and trivial), especially when instead one could be learning about something utterly unique that few other visitors know about. A shield volcano 140km northeast of Lake Victoria for instance:

Safari in Kenya has in my mind begun falling back on only a few expensive destinations. Samburu National Park and The Masai Mara are great places but there is so much more to Kenya that nobody ever sees. Lake Baringo is one of those places that receives very few visitors but which has countless possibilities for adventure. Elgon is in the same boat. Sure the rains are long in the west but at the good time of year a hike up Koitoboss must be one of the most beautiful hikes in Kenya. Millions travel each year just to witness the Redwood Forests in California. Why then not the Podocarpus Forests in Kenya? Have a look at this tree below. Is it not worth a ponder? What about witnessing a herd of Elephants bumping into one another in the near pitch blackness of Kitum Cave? Is that not at least as interesting as a herd of Wildabeest swimming across the Mara River?

While I'm all for peace and getting away from the crowds, its sad to see a park like Elgon so underutilized, especially since fewer visitors always corresponds with fewer investments in the park's infrastructure and enforcement (While we were in Elgon we saw a wounded poachers dog (a leopard may have gotten it), many illegal firewood collectors and signs of a large fire evidently caused by honey gatherers.

Still we had an incredible time adventuring about Elgon and my rant above is really only to encourage more people to visit this special park. On our return we stopped for a night in Rondo Retreat in Kakamega Forest and enjoyed some great birding as usual finding eventually two pairs of Bar-tailed Trogons in addition to 50 other species, all in only a morning's walk.

From Kakamega we returned via Nakuru stopping for the night at Kembu, another excellent little camp. We rented a very cosy, clean little cottage, again for a remarkably affordable rate and enjoyed a great tour of the farm when we woke in the morning. From Kembu we drove home commenting the whole way on what a great holdiay we had just had and all without draining our little bank accounts.

Nile Perch Fishing on Lake Turkana

2010-12-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of December some friends and I embarked on a Nile Perch fishing expedition to Lake Turkana. An utterly unique place, Turkana is, at least for now, unspoiled by development or environmental problems. This of course will likely change when Ethiopia completes their Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric project (funded by China) on the Omo River that feeds the Lake. The Lake is naturally very saline because it has no outlet and a very high evaporation rate and so the series of dams upstream will in all likely hood alter the ecology of the lake itself (because so much more of the evaporation will now happen upstream). Why Kenya has not fought more forcefully against these hydro projects is a mystery (some have said our Prime Minister has shares). In fact Kenya signed up to buy power from the dams before an environmental impact assessment was even complete. The answer is likely that the leadership in Nairobi do not regard the pastoral people (about 300,000 live around Lake Turkana) of northern Kenya as citizens worth fighting for.

The Rumaruti / Maralal to South Horr road is also scheduled to be tarmacked and upgraded with money evidently from Iran. While this will be welcome by most people it will certainly change the nature of Turkana as commercial fishing or commercial tourism might become more possible. As it stands now though, Turkana is a hard place to do business in. Things can go wrong, roads can become impassible with rain, gun battles can erupt over livestock and when cars break down they are a long way from a garage - its all really not for the light hearted traveler or those seeking an easy no-problems vacation.

Despite all that, turkana is an absolutely wonderful place with a desolate, wild beauty. The fishing was great too. Josh Perrett who runs Arid Adventures a four wheel drive rental company and who has circumnavigated the lake with camels, brought a little aluminium boat with an engine, ideal for trolling. We were typically only able to stay out for 3 or 4 hours in the morning before the wind would pick up and we would retreat to our camp. Then in the evening we usaully could get in a few more hours In that time though we would usually come away with about 10 or so fish that would range from 10 lbs to the biggest which was 55lbs (Sadly this was not caught by me but by Steve Carey from Sosian).

The Flyfishing potential up here is huge and in the more protected National Parks along the lake you might expect to have the best chance hooking into a big Perch. I tried a bit while in the South but the wind picked up fast and it was often times too tempting to join Steve and Josh in trolling from the boat. Still though, many people have caught these fish on a fly and so it is very possible. The big Tilapia that travel in great schools are also catchable with a fly as well as very tasty.

While trolling around we saw lots of evidence of local Turkana Fisherman and their longlines. We chatted with these guys and were very impressed with some of their catches. One guy caught the following fish that we estimated at about 120lbs.

Neither Steve or Josh could lift the fish by themselves. The fisherman that took this fish said that he would get about 6000 shillings in Loingalani for the dried fishing bladder while he would only get about 4000 for the dried meat. Evidently the Chinese are buying these for soup and for making beer and wine -??????. Read more here: (http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/t0606b/T0606B06.htm) The fisherman told us that he would expect to catch a fish of this size once a week with many smaller catches in between. This meant that this fisherman as well as all the others were making an excellent living (way above a Kenyan average wage) from this fishery. Something that really impressed me was there were still more fish to catch. While I'm sure that the local fisherman are making a significant impact on the fishery I was astonished at the resiliency of the fishery. I would love to know to what extent the Perch are using the deep water - if their developed swim bladders have everything to do with an ability to operate at any depth in the lake. I wondered if there weren't still swarms of monsters in the deep green depths of Turkana forever out of reach of the local fisherman and their low tech equipment. I imagine there are but at the same time I imagine that will soon change. Moral of the story: Now is the time to visit Turkana.

Flyfishing For Zambezi Tigerfish: Zimbabwe Trip Report

2010-11-06T04:24:00.000-07:00

We had such a good time flyfishing for Tigers in Zimbabwe that I wanted to briefly write up our experience. Our trip was mostly a holiday but it was also an exploratory reconnaissance - we have been toying with the idea of incorporating flyfishing as another element to our walking safaris. Africa has some excellent flyfishing, be it Giant Trevaly off the coast, trout in the mountains or Tigers in the rivers and for the not so fishing-compulsive spouse there is always the rich wildlife and beautiful landscapes.

Kerry, myself and Mark arrived in Zim on October 26th. One of the first things that we all commented on was a total lack of people. Zimbabwe is home to only 11 million people (Kenya is around 40 million) and 25 percent of them of them are abroad in South Africa trying to get work. Compared to Kenya the streets were empty.

While the Zimbabweans that we met complained about the roads and the services declining, we found them still to be an improvement on Kenya's. While some things in Kenya are definately doing better, namely the economy, freedom of speach, landownership etc., Zimbabwe still has a lot going for it. The supermarkets now are as stocked as ours in Kenya and the potential for the country's tourism industry to begin a steady return are certainly there. The underlying fact that the wildlife is still intact (a bit more poached but intact) and that Zimbabwe's people are still very kind, generous and literate (every person we encountered spoke excellent English) speaks coninvincingly of this potential.

By speaking to the Zimbabweans we met along the way we began to gather that the White Farmer's who lost their land did so more because of the political threat they posed rather than the valuable land they owned (some farmers had been funding the opposition and this did not go down so well with Bob). That land is now largely fallow and it has been for years. The fields that supplied much of Africa with corn, tobacco and other crops are now thick with weeds and the countless silos stand empty and derelict. Many of the new owners (politically influential friends of Mugabe) are now trying to hire white farmers to come back to manage the property and get the crops going again. The farmer's reluctance is understandable and there exists an unwritten rule that in order for a white farmer to work what once was a white owned farm they must ask the permission of the past owner.

The Tigerfishing on the other hand was less depressing and the lower Zambezi was absolutely stunning, far more beautiful than I expected. Chikwenya, where we stayed, is a conservation area bordering and downstream of Mana Pools National Park. While the lodge needs a bit of work (vehicles, generators and boats all in need of some serious attention) and the management needs an overhaul, the fundamentals are there for an incredible fishing, walking or gamedriving holiday.

Tigerfish are fearsome predators and they are capable of taking quite large prey for their size, including their own kind. For this reason we found that smaller fish were up in the tree and stump structure, some larger fish were nearby but in some deeper water and the largest strikes were in open water off sandy drop offs. We needed to get our flies down fast to compensate for them rising with a very fast retrieve.

We had the above flies tied in Nairobi (400 for about 200$) and while they served us very well we wished we had tied more of the heavier patterns with weighted eyes. These patterns did very well as they got down to some of the larger fish. We used 5' leaders with usually about 6" of fishing wire below a 10 or 12 lb tippet. Our Rio Intermediate sinking lines served us mostly well but if i was to return i might try a faster sinking line in addition for some of the drop offs. Thanks to Derek at First Light Anglers in Rowley, Massachusetts for getting us our lines and other paraphernalia shipped out from the States.

The boats that we were in were good and sturdy but they were certainly not equipped for the Flyfisherman. We were constantly catching up on all the motors, anchors etc. Our guide had taken a few Flyfisherman out but not many. The majority of people on the river are drifting with the current and dragging bait along the bottom. A method of fishing that to me is not too far off the excitement of watching the grass grow. When we first arrived the guide wanted to also set us up on natural drifts but this made getting the right drift, depth and retrieve difficult. It also meant that the motor was constantly being started to move us over fish or out of the way of trees etc. After pestering the management we were able to locate an anchor that wouls stick at some depths but was light enough to drag a bit at some depths. This allowed us to stop or slow enough to work an area a bit more and get our lines down for a nice deep retrieve. In a perfect world these boats might be equipped with one of those small battery powered engines that saltwater and bass guides use.

It is safe to say that we are hooked. To return to the Zambezi to flyfish for its Tigers amidst its unbelievable bounty of wildlife would be a pleasure. While it is likely that we will not stay again at Chikwenya we have found some good mobile camping operators and Fly specific guides and we look forward to putting together another trip with them for another year.
Cheers, James Christian
Karisia Walking Safaris
http://www.karisia.com