Each morning while we were in Merrueshi, Kwenya, Moloke and Loorpapit took us out for walks at dawn.
We gathered in the Opoloi for coffee in the dark and then set out to look for animals as the first light tinged the red soil.
These morning were magic; my pictures are mostly in my memory because my camera is not powerful enough to capture the animals at a distance.
Almost immediately we saw five giraffe - four adults and one young one. It was a thrill to see them on foot and not from inside a car. Then dik dik explode from the brush and race away.Grand and Thompson's gazelles feeding on the lower branches of the bushes, goa, plovers and weaver birds taking flight.
We walked through the gathering light, mostly in silence, with the warriors pointing to an ostrich or a gazelle or a monkey in the distance. They have amazing powers of observation, catching the slightest hint of movement, pointing with their spears until we finally catch sight of the animals coming into focus.
One morning, as the rest of the group went to Amboseli on safari, Tim and I stayed behind and set off on a 2.5 hour walk to find zebras, which had been spotted near the camp the night before. We didn't find them on this outing (although they showed up later back near the camp), but we did see lots of giraffe - the same group of five we had seen the day before, and others in pairs and alone. One seemed intensely curious, staring at us as we moved closer and closer, finally backing away when we seemed too near for her comfort.
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