The Talking Jungle

          As we drive through the zebra striped gate into Samburu National Reserve in Kenya, we are filled with anticipation! Almost immediately we spot a zebra, then an oryx, oh and over there is a giraffe! In an excited frenzy we direct our safari driver Jackson to get up close to all these animals, unaware that these animals are so common that in three days we'll drive by them as if they were simple street signs.
        
         We pull up to the Samburu Simba Lodge to unpack and eat lunch, but we can't do it fast enough, all we want to do is get out there and explore! So we hurriedly eat our lunch and head out to the Jeeps.

         During our afternoon game drive we spot many majestic animals. Elephants, Giraffes, Dik Dik's, Impalas, a leopard tortoise, and one of my personal favorites, the warthog. Not to mention the abundance of colorful birds in all shapes and sizes! My first impression is, "How can so much wildlife be in one singular place?". It amazed me how this ecosystem thrived in such bounty in an amazing display of coexistence and codependence. It was like something I never could have imagined.

           We end our afternoon game drive satisfied, but not quenched. For we had not yet seen any of the big cats of Africa...
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            The air is cooler, and the jungle takes on new life. So do we. As we set out on our evening safari we hope to find one of the big cats of Africa which includes the lion, leopard and cheetah. An hour goes by, then two, the sun starts to set and so does our hope of seeing a cat.
              
              As we start our way back towards the lodge we stop at the base of a tree filled with Vervet monkeys. They run and play, pull on each others tail and carelessly jump around the tree. We are laughing and thoroughly entertained by the monkey antics when suddenly the mood changes.

           The sounds of playful banter turn into shrill screams as the monkeys scurry up the tree in a nervous craze. What are they doing? I ask myself, but before I can even begin thinking of the answer our guide Jackson says, "There is a cat in the area, thats what the monkeys are telling us." I knew Jackson spoke Swahili, but now he speaks Vervet monkey too??

​            He watches the monkeys carefully to see where they are looking, and we head off in that direction.

      Now our blood is pumping! Jackson expertly maneuvers the vehicle through the rough terrain, at a very high speed I might add. When just as fast as we started the chase, he ends it. Jackson slams on the brakes and points out the right side of the vehicle, saying, "that's what we were looking for".
       
    My words can't describe the feeling I felt as I watched three beautifully spotted cheetahs walk in a single file line into the never ending African horizon. This is it. This is wild Africa. For some reason prior to seeing these incredible cats, I was not able to process the full majesty of the African atmosphere. But as I gaze upon the cheetahs' glowing coats, and watch them lick their paws clean of blood from their recent meal, I know one thing; I have arrived.

     That night as I lay my head down to sleep, the words of our guide Jackson run through my mind. "The jungle talks. All we have to do is listen, and we will be lead everywhere we want to go". Thankful for those monkeys deciding to speak to us, I close my eyes, excited for another day of discovery.