I’ll start with the bad news. Over the full moon, which fell on the Easter weekend, our beehives were raided. Eleven hives were destroyed and the honey stolen to sell to local brewers who use it to make alcohol – changaa as it is known here. Even worse than our indignation at being robbed, is the fact that honey thieves never leave any honey for the bees that worked so hard to make it. Without that vital honey-filled comb, they won’t be able to reproduce. After the raid, we saw a swarm of bees huddled together in a big mob, clinging to an acacia tree branch, robbed of their home. I felt so sorry for them…in fact, I am furious!
Two of our beehives, burnt out and destroyed (above and below)
Wasted honeycomb which could have sustained a new generation of bees
The better news is that, with the river full again, the hippos are happy. One turned up opposite the house, scouting out the reed beds where we often see hippos spending the heat of the day. The following day, a mother hippo appeared in the same place with a small baby…I can’t believe this is the same mother and baby hippo that were living here before – the baby looks smaller, so I think this is a new one. Hippos are one of the only mammals (apart from whales) that give birth underwater. Imagine being a baby hippo and having to swim to the surface before being able to take your very first breath! It’s so lovely having the hippos right here by the house.
Hippo scouting out the reed beds opposite our house
Mother and baby hippo
Yesterday, the river was rising and falling every few hours, changing the landscape completely as huge grey storm clouds gathered overhead, preparing for our nightly downpour. (Today is another story again, but that will have to wait for my next post…)
There must have been rain to the west of us because the Mtito River started flowing, having been dry for over a month. From the house, we watched as it broke its way into the much larger Athi, crocodiles, herons, egrets and hammerkops congregating at its mouth.
The smaller, seasonal Mtito River starts flowing into the Athi (on the right hand side of the above picture)
A Crocodile and a Grey Heron wait for prey at the mouth of the Mtito River
Oh so elegant: a Grey Heron stands next to a Great White Egret near the Mtito River mouth
Unbelievably, the Bauhinia (bauhinia taitensis) are flowering again already, only six weeks or so since they were last out in bloom…In fact, the dry season has been relatively short as the last rainy season ended so late. Unlike last time, when the Bauhinia started flowering in dribs and drabs, with the sudden heavy and sustained rain, the flowers have come out en masse this time, like snow across the landscape. Do you know the feeling when something is so beautiful, it hurts to look at it? This is how I feel when I look at these blossoming Bauhinia bushes, with their pungent yet delicate scent like roses. Each flower-laden bough looks like a ready-made wedding bouquet. Even as they start drying out – ever so soon, for the blossom is short-lived, turning pinkish and shedding its petals like confetti after just 24 hours – they retain an aching beauty.
Our driveway, adorned with Bauhinia taitensis bushes in full bloom
Sweet-scented Bauhinia
Turning pink, as they start to dry out…
Other flowers are blossoming too, including the pink grewia lilacina and clumps of small yellow flowers which I think are triumfetta flavescens. The yellow-flowered creeper on our lawn (which shall remain nameless for the simple reason that I don’t know what it’s called) has produced a wonderful looking fruit that resembles a melon. In our balcony flowerbeds, the most incredible white lilies have self-seeded (pictures below) – they’re similar but not the same as the white lilies I photographed during the last rainy season. They took us completely by surprise – all of a sudden they were there on our balcony in all their glory, and the next day, they were withered and gone…but what a flush of beauty while they lasted!
Beautiful pictures. This is the first time I’ve commented on your site, but I’ve visited often and have looked at all the wonderful pictures of your fantastic home and childhood. What a lovely childhood you must have had growing up in this magical place. I was filled with envy looking at the old pictures of all the elephants off your balcony. I have so many questions: I always wonder when thinking about swimming in the river, how do you know there are no crocs while you’re swimming? Will you want to raise your children there? Your home seems so open. No glass on the windows, etc. Have leopards or other dangerous animals ever come into your home? I’m a total whimp, chicken and have always envied those daring enough to live their lives with complete guts and gusto. Good for you and I am anxious to learn more from your posts. Lisa
P.S. Poor bees. I feel sorry for them too. How will they recover and how will you keep the thieves from stealing all the honey next time? Damn thieves! Lisa
Hello Lisa – thanks for visiting my blog, and for all your nice comments. Yes, I had a fantastic and unique childhood, growing up in the Tsavo Park as I did…it’s funny how when you’re a young child, you have no idea that your life is any different to anyone else’s – then you start going to school, seeing more of the world, and you come to realize how lucky you have been, and what an extraordinary childhood you have had.
In answer to your questions: we would only be allowed to “swim” in the river in places where the water was calm and shallow, and my father would always be right there looking out for us and making sure no crocodiles were creeping up on us! We would never have been allowed in the water when the river was high (as it is now).
As a general rule, most animals are not aggressive (apart from predators that obviously have to hunt to eat) – they only become dangerous when they feel threatened and are trying to defend themselves. Therefore, providing you always maintain a healthy respect for an animal, you will not be in danger from it. I think when people start losing their respect for animals is often when they start getting hurt by them.
We have never had leopards come into our home – even though they often pass by in the night – and we certainly feel quite safe in the house. We can close up the house if we want to, but that is to prevent petty thieving rather than trying to keep out the animals.
To be honest, I think in the world today (no matter where you are), our own kind often pose more of a risk than animals do. This is my experience anyway.
Africa is not an easy place to live in many ways, but it also has so much to offer. In my life, I have always tried to weigh the positive against the negative: if the negative outweighs the positive, I try to change my circumstances by moving on, or making changes; if the positive outweighs the negative, however, I try to savor it as much as possible. This is why I am still in Africa: because – despite everything – it still brings me so much joy and is more a home to me than anywhere else.
And therein lies my answer to your question about children: yes, I think I would like to bring up my children here (if I am lucky enough to have children some day). I have been fortunate to have traveled and worked in many places around the world, and I have learned that there are risks inherent in life everywhere. I think bringing up kids in America or Europe entails a whole set of risks too – just of a different nature to those encountered in Africa – wouldn’t you agree?
I was brought up knowing both Africa and the West, and I think this duality in my life has been invaluable. I would aim to give my children the same kind of experience, if I could: so that they feel at home in both worlds, and ultimately can choose the life that they want to lead. To me, the greatest gift you can give your children is options. Do you know what I mean?
Back to the bees: the displaced swarms will probably be OK – they will find some other hive to move into (like a hole in an old baobab tree, for example) and will start all over again in that industrious way of theirs – but it just means the generation that was about to mature was lost…and with a diminishing number of bees around these days, any loss like that is not a good thing. Fortunately, it’s raining again now, and the flowers are all coming out again, so there will be food aplenty for the bees.
We are planning to get some more efficient beehives, and will build a lockable stone “house” for the hives – that will “fix” the thieves and will allow the bees to make their honey and raise their young in peace, while allowing us to harvest sustainable levels of honey without harming the bees. I’ll be sure to post photos of the new beehive project as it progresses – it may be a while yet though, as we have a few other projects in line first, including building an elephant-proof wall around our water tank!
Hi Tanya, I’m just catching up on your blog entries. Great stuff! Now, is colony collapse disorder not a problem with your honeybees? It’s a big problem here and prices on nuts and some vegetables are rising because of a loss of pollinators.
The hippo pics are fantastic! What an amazing place you live in.
s.
Hello Sheryl, and welcome to our Filming Wild blog.
I am not an expert on beekeeping, but there is definitely something going on with our bee population at the moment (certainly in our local area anyway), as in the past year or so, there have been fewer bees around. This may well be symptomatic of colony collapse disorder…We are planning to visit an organization in Nairobi called HoneyCare, who supply more effective beehives and run beekeeping courses – I’ll ask them what they know of this.
Beautiful pictures…hippos are by far one of my favorite animals…they are such wonderful creatures…I cannot wait to hear more about the pods that live near you.
I am sorry about your bees though…it is too bad people are so nasty!
Hello and welcome, Christine… I know, I am so angry about what happened to our poor bees. We have now repaired the hives, so the swarms will be able to move in again if they want…but of course it’s still too late for the generation that was about to hatch.
I’ll keep you posted on our hippo news!
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It must be very interesting to lead your life. I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing with those of us not fortunate enough to see these sights for ourselves. God Speed.