Loisaba Conservancy

Our next stop is Loisaba, a conservancy in Laikipia County. Loisaba was an enormous cattle ranch owned by an Italian family until the 1970s. At that time the Nature Conservancy leased the land and transitioned it to a conservancy. The idea is that following a fifty year lease it will be turned over to the community.

The Kenya we experience is environmentally progressive. The conservation of land is impressive and there is a ban on plastic. Everywhere we go we get filtered water in carafes and dry our hands with cloth towels. Auntie Sarah would love it here.

We’re staying at the Loisaba Tented Camp, built in a plateau overlooking expansive plains. It’s more rustic than Finch Hatton but I’m not claiming it’s rustic.

We have lunch and set out on our first Loisaba game drive. John Scorpio is joined by Big John, our new driver. Big John is serious and our game drives feel like hunts. The goal is the “Big Five” or the five animals that were historically hardest to hunt: lions, leopards, rhino, buffalo and elephants.

Elephants! The mud here is red, so the elephants are too. One mama trumpets at us as we get close. As a fellow mama, I understand and just wish I could trumpet.

Loisaba is much more green and bushy. There are invasive cactus plants from Mexico that they are now trying to remove. A tough job when the animals enjoy the cactus fruits and then poop cactus seeds. Because as you know, everybody poops.

Giraffes, zebras and impala are everywhere. The impala remind us of our sweet dog Sonny, with their red-gold color and nervous flight instinct. There are endangered zebras, the grevy zebra, here which are bigger with thin stripes.

Back at the camp, we rest and run and chat up a British couple by the pool. We enjoy an enormous, three course dinner with Indian flavors, and collapse in bed.

Our second day in Loisaba is our luckiest. Soon after we exit the camp we encounter a female lion chilling on the road. Nearby in the bush, the alpha male is enjoying the zebra that SHE caught. The alpha gets the first go at the kill and the females and cubs have to wait around until he is done.

One cub gets hungry and tries to snatch a quick bite. Papa roars at her and she rolls on her back submissively. This is nothing like the Lion King! “It’s a bad deal,” Scorpio admits

We troll around until we spot a massive black dot on the hillside: Buffalo! We get close and Big John explains that this is a “retired general,” an older male who got kicked out of the breeding herd because he can’t keep up.

Big John explains that sometimes the old guys form an Old Boys Club, where they hang out by the water holes munching grass and presumably playing bocce and checkers. Our retired general is alone and an interesting looking creature.

We’re taken to an amazing breakfast spread under a weaver tree, a tree covered in nests of weaver birds. Hundreds of birds fly in and out of their nests while we eat yogurt and granola and omelettes.

And then we drive back to camp — past the giraffes, zebras and impala that we’re too jaded to notice — for a rest. Or rather for our Lang family runs and walks and abdominal workouts and yoga. It’s sometimes very tiring to be a Lang.

We have planned a horseback ride, but there’s thunder and lightning as we approach the stables, so it’s no go. We visit the horses who sniff our hands in search of snacks.

For our afternoon game drive, Big John is determined to find us a rhino but it is eagle-eyed Matt who spots it!

Loisaba was the recipient of 21 endangered black rhinos in March. They are indigenous to the region but hunted almost to extinction. Kenya is determined to bring them back. Each rhino has two rangers tracking it constantly and a plane periodically tracking from above. There is a shoot to kill order on poachers. A rhino horn still catches an extraordinary sum on the black market and poachers are still taking the risk. Mostly Somalis, Scorpio tells us with a sigh.

The rhino is up on a hillside munching grass, seemingly unbothered by the hullabaloo surrounding him. We wish him well and hope he has babies.

Next stop: hippo heaven! A family of hippos wallow in a water hole.

There are playful teenagers and babies that look like pigs. Big mama is mostly submerged but we see her eyes as she floats by and imagine her thinking ‘why do they wake up so early?’

We’re taken to a plateau with a bar set up and snacks. We have a view of two rhinos on an opposite ridge. These normally solitary animals are apparently mating and rhino mating is not something we want to think too hard about. We have drinks.

The next day’s drive is quieter, though we do see some lovely birds and a breeding heard of buffalo.

Our big event for the day is a mountain bike ride on treacherous roads. There was some grousing here. I will not say more. Scorpio shames any grouser when he mentions that there is a 94-year old man mountain biking nearby.

One more night at Loisaba and then we are on our way to Maasai Mara. We say goodbye to Big John, grateful to him for our time together, and for spotting FOUR of the BIG FIVE. Only leopards remain…