The Area
WILDLIFE
Rocky Hollow has some resident herds of impala, gerenuk, plenty of dikdik, warthogs and jackals. The hyena live up in the rocks behind the house and the elusive leopard comes to drink out of the horses' water troughs in the night. We have herds of up to 25 giraffe coming through most days as well as large herds of elephants. The big water dams are an excellent place to watch the elephant bathe and drink in the cool water in the middle of the day. Zebras, both common and Grevy's, graze for most of the year – but do leave us when things get very dry, along with the oryx. Riding a horse through a herd of giraffe or zebra is truly a great privilege, as is watching the elephants browsing in the brush or quietly resting in the shade of a tree. Lions have been coming though us and leaving some lovely tracks for us to follow, but we don’t often see them. The big rocky kopjes we have are home to lots of hyrax, and so the majestic Vereux eagles can be seen gliding by, watching out for lunch. The area is well known for its birdlife with many species to be seen, from the small black capped social weavers who eat millet off the bird table to the large bustards we find out walking or riding. A pair of eagle owls live in the valley below the house and we often see them of an evening.
PEOPLE
To the east and north there are some large group ranches and we are extremely lucky to live amongst the Laikipiac Masai. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, they have now started to change their lifestyles and live in permanent homesteads; some are made of stone and some are still traditional mud houses, and they keep a few goats and sheep and cattle when there is enough grass. A wonderfully gentle people, they are easy to get along with. As with all fast-growing populations, we have plenty of schools and the families like to live nearby as walking to school dodging elephants is quite difficult for the smaller children.
Many traditions are still kept alive, and Masai weddings are a very festive occasion with fabulous bead work and singing. Group ranches are owned collectively, and committees decide on land use. Plenty of sand harvesting in the dry river beds brings in much needed cash, but is fairly destructive in the long term.
Further south and west we have some larger ranches owned by Kenyans with anything from 1,000 to 35,000 acres. Most of these land owners are happy to embrace the wildlife and tourism and we very much hope to be able to help them do this by taking visitors there.
MARKETS
Market days are a huge social occasion and everybody comes in their smartest clothes. The traders from the big towns come out to the camel, cattle and goat sales, and lorries full of livestock are shipped out. There are also the market ladies, with sacks of cabbage, potato, tomato, kale, spinach, beans, maize meal, rice, sugar, tea, milk and anything else you may need. There are the traditional healers with bags of dried roots, leaves, herbs and and other things that you don’t really want to know about. The young chemists from the towns bring out livestock medication, some good and some not so good. Plenty of mechanics come out to service the many motor cycles, also known as Chinese gazelles, they are so plentiful. A fellow with solar panels and battery banks comes to charge peoples phones. My favourite stand is the photographer where you can have your photo taken in front of a large image of the Taj Mahal, The Eiffel Tower, the beach, or in front of a large red sports car.
LAIKIPIA
Laikipia is a wonderful safari destination with plenty of variety, stretching from Samburu and Mt Kenya to the Great Rift Valley escarpments. It has dry acacia bushland, and big open pastures, and the cedar and olive forests of the hills.
There is excellent game viewing, especially in the large rhino conservancies. With growing community involvement in tourism, the wildlife numbers are increasing as is the education and opportunities for the people of the area. Some of the best livestock in Kenya is bred in Laikipia, mainly for beef with Boran cattle being the most common. New grazing methods are being bought in to the ranches to utilize the pastures to its best ability. Sheep and goats are also plentiful and the Masai are learning about the new grazing methods. It has some of the most successful wildlife research programs running in Kenya, with lion, elephant, baboon, Grevy's zebra, and plenty of these species being studied.