Stator, The GSR travelling mascot.

[steve murdoch]

That wily old bear looks right at home at the controls of that boat.
Thanks for the travelogue, Tatu.

[londonboards]

Hey nice pics and thanks for taking the time with the dialogue.

Get home safely.

[sinkankan]

Thanks for the great photos & background! I think someone pushed that canon out the window and into the water. What a history that fort has. Cheers!

Reminds me of the Spanish fort in Ghana, they have a guard there 24/7 to stop the locals pinching the cannons for scrap.

[tatu]

Reminds me of the Spanish fort in Ghana, they have a guard there 24/7 to stop the locals pinching the cannons for scrap.

They'll find a way... There is a very similar fort to this but a fair bit bigger in Luanda Angola at the top of the hill overlooking the harbour which was a pretty cool place to visit I forget when I was there but it was the time the war kicked off the second time, there is an old Harvard plane and all kinds of guns in various states and many just littering the place dropped in holes

Thanks for the great photos & background! I think someone pushed that canon out the window and into the water. What a history that fort has. Cheers!

They must'v shoved it pretty hard because its a fair way outwards as well

[tatu]

So Mrs Chris says she wants to see some baby ellies because she's read about the Sheldrick Foundation that looks after orphan elephants and rereleases them into the wild, So as I had not been on the Mombasa Nairobi sleeper for man, many years, (about '67 was the last time) I thought 'cool train up, fly back' should've listened to my friends when they snickered and laughed, anyway....
No telephone at Mombasa station but I managed to get a private number of somebody that worked in the booking office. The booking office is not a busy place....





The train leaves the station seven hours late and is..in a bit of a state..

First stop is at Voi, the railway was built by the British many years ago and honestly nothing has been renewed or maintained since independence and truly it's on its last legs about to be replaced with a spanking new Chinese system that has been done in double quick time...






That is the new track in the background... Just to say, there are no stray dogs and cats in Mombasa or very much living on the train route.
It's a pretty cool project...



The train pulled into Nairobi only fourteen hours late and it was not very much how I remember it, everybody was hot and tired but the hotel was pretty good, Stator was done in and was straight to bed...



Plans were a bit changed but we still managed to fit it all in, first was Giraffe Manor where Stator made a new friend...



We didn't stay long as it was the orphans that were the time constraint and you can only see them for an hour each day and it's rigid...





I added a couple because it really is quite a special spectacle...
This small one is the newest arrival and you can see how shy she is...



More to follow...

[tatu]

Some of the tales that are behind the arrival of these poor traumatised creatures are truly tragic..



This poor one had been attacked by villagers and the mother killed.



Like I said, some added because its special...





The morning was over so quickly so off to catch the flight home, I wanted to stop at the Aero Club to see if any of my old friends were about but as time was tight didn't really have time but I did snatch a snap of the old Merlin Spitfire engine that has been on display since I can remember..



Then to catch the plane,
Stator had his own seat right behind the pilot as it is only a Cessna







All too soon landed safely back at the coast and it was over...



This is a small strip not too far from my house, tomorrow we're taking off into the Bundu, (swahilli for bush).
More to follow....

[steve murdoch]

Great stuff, Tatu.
What is the future of the baby elephants.
Do they all remain on site or can they be re-introduced to the wild later in life?

[Charlie G]

I'm lovin this. I may have seen a little documentary of that wildlife trust.

[tatu]

They stay for as long as is necessary, usually till they're 3and a half years old then they're reintroduced back to the wild in usually Tsavo I have a friends that work with them there and if I can wangle a look I will but its not easy, there is a blind Rhino there I believe that has been there for a long time. The place is owned and run by Daphne Sheldrick and her daughter as Daphne is getting on a bit now.
The best thing is to adopt an elephant as a way to contribute to their support which can be done on line and is one of the much more worthy charitable causes which we will be doing ourselves are all privately funded because the good od K gubment isn't at all corrupt and don't care about the dwindling resorurce that is tourism. (You might'v detected a note of sarcasm)? (I have not heard what the Chinese want in return for all their huge investment) There were quite a few Americans there which was a surprise because they don't travel here like they used to in the old days. Kenya does little to rebuild or help it's floundering tourist industry which after all is all it's really got.

[tomo]

Wow !, that bear is certainly getting to see some amazing places. Thanks for showing him around Tatu. Good to see those little elephants are being looked after in the sanctuary, but can`t help worrying about their future once returned to the wild. I`m guessing poaching is the main problem ?.

[tatu]

Wow !, that bear is certainly getting to see some amazing places. Thanks for showing him around Tatu. Good to see those little elephants are being looked after in the sanctuary, but can`t help worrying about their future once returned to the wild. I`m guessing poaching is the main problem ?.

Poaching is always a bad problem, I heard some very disturbing things a day or two back, I have heard many stories about who is behind poaching and there can only be one end. They say the black rhino is extinct the rest are not so far behind. I have just got back from Tsavo and am disappointed about the dwindling numbers of animals. Tsavo means "Place of death"

I just googled it and wiki says "Slaughter"..Take your pick...

[Gramma Peppermint]

I was very touched by the elephant pictures. I think most of us were...
Thank you Tatu for this fantastic journey with Stator, and sharing so much with us. Be careful and be safe please...
Gramma

[tatu]

I was very touched by the elephant pictures. I think most of us were...
Thank you Tatu for this fantastic journey with Stator, and sharing so much with us. Be careful and be safe please...
Gramma

You are kind, thanks for the kind words too.

[rustybronco]

Chris, I must catch up on this thread tonight if possible.

One small tid-bit that has never mentioned before. The purple scarf on Stator was my dog Morgan's. With someone (Simon and Deb?) buying the purple hat for him, we figured it would be nice combination when taking pictures of him at my house. We didn't have the heart to ask for it back as it looked so good and everyone thought we donated it to the cause. So there it has stayed, un-washed, on a bear that Stan passed along traversing the globe.

[tatu]

I had promised my wife a Safari into Tsavo as we haven't been for a few years. Everybody knows what a Safari is, it is less well known that it's Swahilli and it means 'journey'.

I have this knackered old Toyota that never seems to give up even though it has a rubbish weak engine and couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.
These are just some pics that we snapped along the way.
First, turning off the main road we go into the Sokoke forest, a few years ago as I used to travel these roads I used to see elephant, leopard, baboons, all kinds though I suspect they're likely still there, we didn't see any this time.



Then out of the forest and hours of this... Horrible hard roads with mean corrugations that smash the cars, busting suspension, body mounts and cracking even chassis.


Stator meets an anthill, I had a friend that used to prospect for precious stones, and he was telling me that these would be a good place to look because the ants carry them up and throw them outside as they build their underground labyrinths...


Then into Tsavo via the back gate, I had picked up our smart card and paid the park fees in advance at Malindi a week before.


Stator meets an acacia tree, the Giraffe munch happily on these and the thorn grow three inches, plays havoc with your paintwork, if you care about it.



So we cruise around a bit and wind up at one'v my favourite spots, Lugards Falls pronounced 'loogards' a lot of Tsavo is really hard rock huge pieces of I guess granite. There are usually Crocks at this place and if you fancy a stroll along the river you can arrange an armed ranger, as kids we used to fire our catapults with home made clay balls at the crocks basking in the sun, kids eh? Mean buggers...


Stator close to the river...


Time to head to the camp..


More to follow.....