Ol Kinyei Conservancy From Porini Mara

Ol Kinyei conservancy is one of 15 in the world, accorded a place on the IUCN’s green list. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has awarded Ol Kinyei, Lewa and Ol Pajeta, in Kenya, that accolade

My friend and I stroll from our tent, which is one of six, that meander on the banks of the

Olaitole stream. We sit medieval style at the mess table, eating wild honey gathered by locals from the surrounding bush and listen to the international banter - all excited.

We are on the eastern side of the conservancies north of Maasai Mara

National Reserve.

This morning, we walk around the property with Jimmy Lemara, a senior guide and a wizard of plants.

His father was a herbalist, and he fascinates us with his deep local knowledge accompanied by latin names that roll off his tongue as if they were his native language.

I’m familiar with at least one – Acokanthera schimperi, the poison arrow tree, which is in itself a double edged sword. On the one hand, the ripe fruits are bitter-sweet to taste and an important famine food. On the other hand, when unripe, the fruit and seeds are highly toxic with many cases of accidental poisoning of children and birds. All parts of the plant are poisonous with the only treatment of arrow wounds being excision of flesh and sucking out the blood. The plant contains glycosaid oubane which in small doses is used to treat cardiac arrhythmias. It has been found to have strong anti-microbial properties and help heal wounds.

Nearby is a shrub of Rhus natelensis, which is an anthrax anti-dote. Maasai apparently will still eat meat from livestock that died of anthrax poisoning. Castor oil plant contains ricin, a potent toxin; and so we learn that pretty much all medicinal plants have the potential to kill.

He continues to tell us of other paradoxes. The Croton megalocarpus was introduced as a forest tree but it killing the orange leaf croton. We see Carissa edulis’s red berries turning purple and I remember a jam I can buy in Nairobi. The African Olive is sacred and can only be used for toothbrushes not to be cut down for bomas –fencing, as ancestors live in it.

There’s an undeniable passion for

CLOCKWISE: Sunset; King fisher; Gnu with calf

plants in Jimmy Lemara’s voice, the same fervour of feeling that Simon Nkoitoi has for his homeland.

Ol Kinyei conservancy is one of 15 in the world, accorded a place on the IUCN’s green list. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has awarded Ol Kinyei, Lewa and Ol Pajeta, in Kenya, that accolade. Simon Nkoitoi, the senior warden here told me this. He’s in charge of a conservancy that is effectively managed and fairly governed. He is also the founding principal of the Koiaki Guiding School in Naibosho where both boys and girls are trained for camp tourism internships. Porini camps have sponsored many of their own guides

to attend Koiaki school. Simon Nkiotoi adds that the company has good community relations, also providing night time bomas – enclosures for domestic animals – with chain link and gates using posts made of recycled plastic that do not encourage deforestation.

On our game drive, we observe a family of Hyenas. Two young ones play fight, waiting for their mother near their den. Hyena mothers are some of the most attentive. She will have just one to three cubs who rely on her milk exclusively for six months. And she may continue to nurse them for up to a year. Despite being pack animals, even related hyenas will not cross suckle, meaning it’s all down to the mother. Further studies in collective problem solving and complex social behaviour have shown that hyenas show signs of intelligence that rival that of chimpanzees.

We watch a cheetah with her cubs for a long time. The cubs are curious and come from behind their mother every so often to see what we’re up to and wonder what the point of all our gazing is.

Before the great ball of fire begins to set in the sky we are lucky to come across the rare sighting of bat eared foxes. Mostly nocturnal and mating for life, this family has come out to catch the last rays of sunshine.

Babies are everywhere on the plains. We are visiting at the end of February. The Loita Wildebeest are calving in Ol Kinyei, the same time as the main Serengeti migration calving is happening in Ndutu. Almost all the females are pregnant, giving birth or have young calves. This attracts the big cats and there’s a lot of action at night, which may be glimpsed on a nightdrive from Porini.

Porini camps in Ol Kinyei and Selenkei adhere to one tent per 700 acres. In the 18600 acres here, there are just 25 double tents for visitors. There is also just one four wheel drive per 1000 acres. There are no tourist partners here either, only Porini vehicles, which makes this conservancy very exclusive for game viewing. Even their tents are temporary, another two camps are

FROM TOP: King fisher; Hyena Cub; Buffalo

mobile and set up only for the high season. Their whole approach is modern and eco conscious with refillable toiletries, steel water bottles and fire briquettes in use.

Porini Camps are managed by Game Watchers Safaris. Visit www. porini.com.

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9 Hole Golf Course / Golf Hotel

The 9 hole Golf course sits on 108 acres and is located in Thika, 7.5km from the Thika superhighway, 5km from Thika Garissa road and 1km from the Greater Eastern bypass. It overlooks the scenic Kilimambogo mountain. It contains a 5 acre dam meant for recreational facilities.