The Spinders

Most of see them and ignore them even some going into an extent of killing them. Spiders exist in all over the world, both venomous and non venomous. In your adventure safari holiday is a must encounter bust most are unnoticed .Spiders form   a large and diverse group. They vary in size from tiny species less than 1 mm across, to giant exceeding 15 cm. spiders usually have unsegmented abdomen, strongly constricted at the end. With a group of finger-like spinnerets at the head. Spiders can be divided into two groups namely: mygalomorphae which are primitive and contain the big hairy spiders and Araneomorphae the true spiders. The difference between the two is the way the jawswork. The jaws of the mygalomorphae strike downwards, whereas the jaws of the araneomorphs oppose each other.

Spiders can live for a long time without food as long as they have access to water. External digestion takes place with use of venom ,which serves the function of immobilizing the prey and pouring digestive enzymes on them. These enzymes gradually digest the prey ‘s internal organs and the spider then sucks up the liquid. In order for successful mating to take place, the structure of the male palp has to be complementary to that of the female epigyne, much like a lock and key mechanism. 

Spiders produces silk which are produced by the abdominal silk glands and at least seven different kinds are known to exist. It is proteins with amazing properties, for the strongest types have a breath taking strain of that of steel wire of the same diameter. The silk produced can stretch to roughly double its length before it breaks. Spiders often recycle the protein by eating their silk before they rebuild a web. It has been shown that some species eat the silk as pollen gathers on it, as food source. Silk is produced as a liquid and is emitted from the spinnerets much as tooth paste from the tube. The spiders may climb to some point, lifts up its abdomen and releases a stream of silk which is called ballooning. This is caught by wind and the spider floats gently away. 

The longest lived spiders are those of the trap doors which may live for up to twenty years. Some common seen spiders in your Kenya safari adventure includes; of Araneidae family, cteniziade, eresidae and scytodidae.many varieties  exists in the world with black window spiders seen most with most  . They have a varying colour and other minor details but all of these species have similar lifestyle and all are dangerously toxic. Next time when you are in your safari holiday, have a look at them also since they are very interesting insects.

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The Making of Out of Africa

The Karen Blixen Museum was established in 1985 to commemorate the life of Baroness Karen Blixen, the talented Danish author, poet and farmer. Karen Blixen is the author of several books including the famous “Out of Africa” later documented into a movie with the same title. Karen Blixen lived in the Museum house, Mbogani as it was then known from 1917 to 1931.  She sold the house with the 6000 acres she owned to a land developer in 1931 when she left Kenya. 

The land developer split up the property into smaller acreage to create a housing estate which he named Karen after its previous owner. Mbogani house also changed named at time to Karen house. The house was rented out and later sold to a retired Colonel Lloyd who lived here until his death in 1954.  His daughter occupied the house until 1959 when it was bought by the Danish Government to present it to Kenya Government as a gift to mark the occasion of its independence in 1963. Included with the gift was a grant to build a centre for young women. Karen house was then used by the new college to accommodate the matron when it opened doors in 1966 until 1972.  

At about the same period, Karen’s literary works had captured the readers, a number of her admirers were already visiting Karen house, and the idea of converting the house into the museum had been born, however due to tasks involved this took several years.  The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) had considered prospects of developing Karen house as a museum by 1970 but limited funds could not allow.

Main attractions
The museum presents a glimpse of the life of the talented author and farmer through, photographs, paintings and displays of furniture and a Library of books.  There is a unique collection of agricultural tools, ploughs, wagons, coffee driers and first generation tractors that provide an insight into early twentieth century agriculture, technologies and transportation of goods. Three hundred bags of coffee were hauled by oxen from Karen Blixen’s farm to the Nairobi railway station from where they went to Mombasa for shipping

 Other attractions include

The Museum house is one of Nairobi’s old houses built in 1912, set with a magnificent view of the Ngong Hills.Nature trail into a relic indigenous forest found then in the area. Wonderful life forms: - Birds 116 species, Butterflies, Mammals (Hyrax and bush squirrels) and over 100 types of plants.

During the 25 years celebrations, the museum will be taking stock of its activities, and looking into ways of expanding and bringing out more stories of Kenya’s early history.

Karen Blixen was born in Denmark in 1885. She came to Kenya in 1914 to join her fiancé Baron Bror Von Blixen and they got married here on the second day of her arrival. Baron Bror Von Blixen had preceded her to buy a farm to rear Dairy cattle, but this plan changed, instead they engaged in coffee farming. However, the coffee farm did not do well due to unsuitable climatic conditions: - acidic soils, insufficient rainfall, high altitude, and other factors which included poor returns due to the world 1930 recession. 

Karen Blixen faced many challenges in Africa but her spirit never died; she suffered poor health, a failed marriage which ended in divorce in 1925 and the collapse of the coffee farm which left her bankrupt. Karen had invested so much in the farm: her heart was here, the welfare of her farm workers was in her, she kept on trying every year hoping that the returns would improve but this was never to be.Looking back on her life in Africa, Karen Blixen felt “that it might altogether be described as the existence of a person who had come from a rushed and noisy world into a still country”. 

Karen Blixen returned to live with her mother at the family home in Rungstedlund Denmark where she spent the rest of her days. It was at this stage in her life that she seriously started her literary career. Her first book “Seven Gothic Tales was published in America 1934, where it received the “Book of the month” award. “Out of Africa” was published in 1937. Karen continued to write a number of successful books and articles right up to the time of her death in 1962.


The Museum is most grateful to the Danish Government for the initial idea and donation of the property. NMK is also indebted to a number of Contributors over the years. Among them the Rungstedlund Foundation for the photographs in the building, the Kenya Museum Society which has made significant contributions to the Karen Blixen Museum over the years notably for: -restoration of the furniture, construction of lavatories and gate.  A number of Kenya Museum society members also donated a number of books and volunteered their time towards Museum activities. The first Museum guides were trained by KMS one of them is still with the Museum to date.  The Museum is located 16 Kilometers from Nairobi City Centre, it is accessible through both the Ngong and Langata roads, the Museum is at the end of Karen road. 

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The pride of maasai mara

Nyumbu Camp

Nyumbu Camp is located in the Ngila plains at the edge of Maasai Mara National Reserve overlooking magnificent view of hills and plains in a prime wildlife area (near Talek Gate). Game viewing starts right from the camp itself and the location is ideal to experience the wildebeest migration.

Accommodation

13 spacious canvas – medium sized, fully equipped insect-proof custom designed tents. Bathrooms are en-suite and are equipped with hot shower and flushing toilets. The Nyumbu camp is fully hosted by trained professionals from local community.

Food

The camp provides fresh and wholesome high quality food.

Guides

Safaris are under the guidance of trained Maasai guides

Activities

Game viewing drives in safari equipped vehicles.
Bush picnics.
Sundowners.
Bush breakfast.
Nature Trail walks.
Day-long hikes.
Cultural visits to local Maasai Manyatta.
Hot-Air Balloon Safari.
Flight to Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria for fishing and bird watching and camp fire evenings.

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The voice of Africa

African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus Vocifer)

The African Fish Eagle is a large bird; with the female weighing 3.2-3.6 kg (7-8 lbs) is larger than the male, which weighs at 2-2.5 kg (4.4-5.5 lbs). Males usually have a wingspan of about 2 m (6 feet), while females have wingspans of 2.4 m (8 feet). The body length is 63–75 cm (25–30 in). The adult is very distinctive in appearance with a mostly brown body and large, powerful, black wings. The head, breast, and tail of African Fish Eagles are snow white, with the exception of the featherless face, which is yellow. The eyes are dark brown in colour. 

The hook-shaped beak, ideal for a carnivorous lifestyle, is yellow with a black tip. Breeding season for African Fish Eagles is during the dry season, when water levels are low. African Fish Eagles are believed to be monogamous - in other words, they mate for life. Pairs will often maintain two or more nests, which they will frequently re-use. Because nests are re-used and built upon over the years the nests can grow to be quite large, some reaching 2m (six feet) across and 1.2 m (4 feet) deep. The nests are placed in a large tree and built mostly of sticks and other pieces of wood. 

The female lays 1 to 3 eggs, which are primarily white with a few reddish speckles. Incubation is mostly done by the female, but the male will incubate when the female leaves to hunt. Incubation lasts for 42 to 45 days before the chicks hatch. Like other sea eagles, the African Fish Eagle has structures on its toes called spiricules that allows it to grasp fish and other slippery prey.The African Fish Eagle is most frequently seen by the rivers, lakes and coasts of Africa south of the Sahara. It is most frequently seen sitting high in a tall tree from where it has a good view of the stretch of river, lakeshore or coastline which is its territory. 

Near a lake with an abundant food supply, a pair may require less than a km² of water to find enough food, whereas next to a small river, they may require a stretch of 25km or more. The breeding display consists of much soaring and calling with very occasional claw-grappling. Their main food is fish, sometimes dead, but mostly caught live. Catfish and lungfish are among the most frequent. They also catch and eat some water birds, including their young. The birds most frequently taken include ibis, waterfowl such as ducks, small turtles and terrapins, baby crocodiles, Greater Flamingos and Lesser Flamingos, lizards such as Nile Monitors, frogs storks, herons and spoonbills. 

They also eat some carrion. Live caught fish account for about 90% of their diet. Widespread in South Africa, the African Fish Eagle is particularly common in and around some of the Rift Valley lakes. The African Fish Eagle has two distinct calls. When near the nest its call is more of a "quock" sound - the female being, in all cases, a little shriller and less mellow than the male.

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Hyena that hunts

Scientific Name: Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena)
Size: 28 to 35 inches tall
Weight: 90 to 190 pounds
Lifespan: 25 years in captivity
Habitat: Savannas, grasslands, woodlands, forest edges, subdeserts and mountains to 13,000 feet
Diet: Carnivorous
Gestation: 90 to110 days
Predators: Humans
Swahili : Fisi

The hyena (spelled "hyeana" in some parts of the world) is Africa's most common large carnivore. In ancient Egypt, hyenas were domesticated, fattened and eaten, and in turn, humans have on occasion become food for hyenas. Reputed to be cowardly and timid, the hyena can be bold and dangerous, attacking animals and humans. Female spotted hyenas are dominant over the males and outweigh them by about 3 pounds. 

It is difficult to distinguish between the sexes in the field because external female genitalia have a superficial similarity to those of the male. Spotted hyenas are found in grasslands, woodlands, savannas, subdeserts, forest edges and mountains. Spotted hyenas are organized into territorial clans of related individuals. The center of clan activity is the den, where the cubs are raised and individuals meet. Hyenas mark and patrol their territories by depositing a strong-smelling substance produced by the anal glands on stalks of grass along the boundaries.

"Latrines," places where members of a clan deposit their droppings, also mark territories. Hyenas are social animals that communicate with one another through specific calls, postures and signals. Hyenas usually bear litters of two to four cubs, which, unlike the other two species, are born with their eyes open. Cubs begin to eat meat from kills near the den at about 5 months, but they are suckled for as long as 12 to 18 months, an unusually long time for carnivores. At about 1 year, cubs begin to follow their mothers on their hunting and scavenging forays. 

Until then, they are left behind at the den with a babysitting adult. The spotted hyena is a skillful hunter but also an opportunistic scavenger. It consumes animals of various types and sizes, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals' droppings. The powerful jaws and digestive tract of the hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients from skin and bones. The only parts of prey not fully digested are hair, horns and hooves - these are regurgitated in the form of pellets. The high mineral content of the bones hyenas consume make their droppings a highly visible, chalky white. Hyenas make a variety of vocalizations, including wailing calls, howling screams and the well-known "laughter" used to alert other clan members up to three miles away of a food source. Hyenas eat a great variety of animal products, vegetation and, according to campers, even aluminum pots and pans.

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