A lion looking at the sunset, Nairobi where you can see such a view is still attractive
I have lived in Africa for many years, but I think Nairobi is particularly attractive among them.
Nairobi is the capital of the Republic of Kenya and has a population of 3.5 million.
Although it is close to the equator, the altitude is as high as 1700m, so the climate is comfortable all year round.
Almost every day of the year is a good day for cycling.
Recently, many high-rise buildings and condominiums have been built, and many shopping malls have also been built. Compared to the townscape 20 years ago when the manager started living, it has changed completely.
In the midst of such urbanization, lions and other wild animals still inhabit Nairobi in the wild as of 2023.
Besides lions, leopards and cheetahs also live in the wild.
Other herbivorous animals such as rhinos, zebras, giraffes, and many other wild animals other than elephants also live here.
Nairobi National Park lies just a few kilometers from the city center in a national park where wildlife lives.
The area is 117 square kilometers, which is difficult to understand in numbers, so when superimposed on a map of Tokyo, it is roughly equivalent to the size of Ota Ward (60.8 square kilometers) and Setagaya Ward (58 square kilometers) combined.
They are a little similar in shape.
It's big compared to the wards of Tokyo. However, the manager has lived in Africa for a long time and his sense of scale has changed.
Compared to something like Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, Nairobi National Park is very small, and from my personal view of the African axis, the densely populated areas of Tokyo feel like a gigantic diorama made with extreme density and delicacy.
The Serengeti National Park is smaller than Shikoku, but when combined with the Ngorongoro Crater and the surrounding ecosystem, it is still much larger.
Compared to Japan, the scale of Africa, such as the size of the grasslands, is an order of magnitude.
In terms of the size of the sea in Japan, the scale is not staggering.
It can be said that the manager was fascinated by the incomparable scale of the land inhabited by such wild animals and moved to Africa.
Reliable partner Rankle 75 type
This national park gate is located less than 5 kilometers from my home. Somehow, isn't it closer than Inokashira Park where I went to observe grebes? At that time, I was riding my bicycle straight through.
The recent construction of a bypass road has made it very accessible from my home in Nairobi.
Anyway,
The top is a 1991 model, 75-type Rankle, toe loop carrier, and a companion that the janitor has been with for over 20 years. This time the safari was done with his wife and three children.
Even now, I am particular about using bias tube tires, leaf springs and bias tires, and a solid and rigid ladder frame body.
The feeling of overcoming rough roads is completely different from today's cars.
When he was a child, he was often taken by his father to sit in the passenger seat of a truck (3 tons). .
I don't really like the fluffy feel of a passenger car,
Such an unusual manager, pervert.
I will talk about it in runkur story around here,
This is my first blog post in a long time, and I will be introducing the wildlife that inhabits Nairobi National Park from a tourist's point of view.
This safari was done in December 2022 last year.
Dense forest spreads out when you enter the main gate of Nairobi National Park.
The king of forest raptors, the crowned hawk-eagle, is also a common sight in the forest.
In addition, many birds of prey can be seen, including the tufted mountain eagle.
As you go through the forest, the altitude gradually lowers and the visibility opens up, and when you go down, a vast grassland spreads out.
There is a fairly large dam called Nagoromon Dam on the boundary between the grassland and the forest.
There are many such dams in the park.
Nagoromon Dam
It has become an indispensable water source to quench the thirst of wild animals.
It has not rained in Nairobi for more than a month, the grasslands are dry, and the importance of water sources must be increasing.
Hippos and crocodiles are usually seen when going to this dam.
Hippos relaxing in the water during the day
Hippos spend most of the day in the water.
When the sun goes down, they come out to the ground and eat grass for their meals.
In the evening, I come across some that are above the ground, but they're pretty big!
Wild animals come to water places to quench their thirst.
They come in order, as if there is a timetable.
In fact, it looks like they are keeping their distance and timing.
Hartebeest came to the dam to drink water
First of all, we were greeted by a herd of about 20 hartebeests.
I came to the dam to drink water.
Instead of going straight to the waterside, I watched the dam from a distance for a while to see if there were any scary lions. After confirming that there are no scary guys, I head to the waterside.
Nile Monitor Sunbathing on the sun-heated rocks
This is a very large lizard, a Nile monitor that is often seen near lakes and rivers.
Body length easily exceeds 1 meter.
Relative to its size, prey can be seen eating frogs, small insects, snails, and crabs.
Many wild birds can also be seen on the waterfront.
The park has a high elevation of 1780 meters on the northwest side of the main gate, and the elevation decreases toward the southeast, with the Cheetah Gate (currently closed) at the southeast end having the lowest elevation of 1510 meters.
The distance from end to end, main gate to cheetah gate is about 23 km.
The higher elevations on the northwestern end are covered with forest, but soon become grasslands, and the lower the elevation to the southeast, the drier the grasslands. A long and narrow forest spreads around the river that flows through the park.
The vegetation is rich in variety, from forests to grasslands and waterfronts, and you can see many kinds of wild birds.
A long time ago, I went on a bird-watching tour with a group of bird-loving friends from morning until the gate closed in the evening.
There is a wide variety of birds, including forest birds, grassland birds, waterside birds, and shrub birds.
A spoonbill dances behind a rhino that comes to drink water
The picture above is a spoonbill, and the name is a heron. A kind of ibis. In Nairobi, it is common to see several species of crested ibises.
As its name suggests, the spoonbill has a flat, spoon-shaped beak.
If you have a chance to go to Nairobi National Park, I recommend that you stop for a while at this Nagoro Mon Dam and observe wild animals and birds.
Move location after waterside
A stream of books runs through the grasslands.
In the dry season, the water does not flow and there are many puddles, but there is a long and narrow forest around.
I saw a black rhinoceros at such a riverside.
A black rhino parent and child approached without noticing the existence of the car
This is a black rhinoceros, an endangered rhinoceros, but breeding is progressing smoothly in Kenya, and it is said that there are more than 100 inhabitants in Nairobi National Park alone.
I hear that the white rhino is about half that amount.
The black rhinoceros picks and eats the branches and leaves of thickets, so it rarely appears in the thickets.
Rhinoceros that you often see in the grasslands while running through the park are mostly white rhinos. White rhinos that inhabit the grasslands are few in number in the Nairobi National Park, but they live in open areas and are often seen.
He has poor eyesight that he judges his surroundings more with his sense of smell than with his sight.
In the photo above, I saw a black rhinoceros walking towards me from afar, and when I parked my car and waited, it approached quite a distance without noticing the presence of the car.
As always, Sai has really bad eyesight! I think It's true that I'm blind.
When he approached the car, he seemed to notice its presence, perhaps because he smelled it, or because he sensed its presence. After being cautious for a while, he left with a trot.
The figure of a child rhinoceros behind.
If you look at the breast of the mother rhinoceros, you can see a large cut mark, is it a fight with a fellow, or a fight with a lion to protect the child?
He tells us that life is not easy.
Wild figures, zoo animals, and animals in zoos that shine only after surviving these threats, even if their bodies are unscathed, the auras emitted from their bodies do not feel any brilliance.
white rhinoceros, with a mouth shaped for feeding on meadow grasses
The top is a white rhinoceros, and the shape of the mouth is suitable for eating grass in the grasslands.
A comparison with the shape of the mouth of the black rhinoceros above reveals a clear difference in its shape.
Furthermore, it is optimized for the position of the head and the location of the food. The white rhino is on the ground, and the black rhino is about shoulder height.
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Anyway, it's getting late today, so I'll write the continuation in the next blog.
I'm planning to revise the article I wrote this time and add photos, so please take a look at it again.
to be continued
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