A 4
Island Moon
End of an Era:
Susan Powell Retires from the Back Porch
April 11, 2013
My Very Scary African Safari Encounter
A ride in a “canoe” with a lake full of hippopotami By Mary Craft
Susan Powell threw a heck of a retirement party for herself last Thursday at her bar the Back Porch. Her partner Glenn Martin and his son Matt have now taken over operations. We’ll miss you Susan! Enjoy!
I recently went on an eight day safari to Kenya with my brother Steve and son Alex. We had a personal guide so although we had an itinerary we were able to stray from it. One of the days we made a detour was when our knowledgeable and ever smiling guide suggested a boat tour on Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley.
feet swoop down for a fish. We saw a group of hippos off in the distance with just their eyes showing above the water. Then we came to another group of five hippos basking in the sun onshore and we were getting closer and closer. The driver had stepped on the fuel line and cut off the engine and we were drifting toward
The first to head into the lake The drive there was a steady climb up and we had many opportunities to stop and take in the breathtaking views, as well as pictures with “you are at the equator” signs. The boat tour is popular as a birding destination but even more so for viewing its large population
these very territorial animals. I said distraughtly “Don’t wake them up please”. The boat hit an embankment near them and two went into the water where they can stay up to six minutes. Now even more distraughtly I say “Back up! Let’s go, they are the number one killer of man”! Alex grabbed the long pole and pushed us away from shore while the driver used the
Our guide taught us much about the region and the animals.
Our clumsy captain... What’s lurking beneath the lily pads?
of hippos. I expected a landing site with a good size boat full of tourists with binoculars but I was way off. We turned off a village road down a narrow tall hedge lined bumpy dirt road that at the end opened up to a forested area and no lake in sight. There were a few local men standing amongst several vehicles and what looked like a canoe on foliage in the background. I said “OK, this is scary. We are going to be on a lake for an hour to see hippos and this is the boat?!” The boat was so small I thought the men were going to carry it over to wherever the lake was so I was confused when I saw my brother ahead of me stepping onto the boat. I yelled “Where’s the water”? His response was “Right here”!
engine cover to paddle. (Seriously, no oar?!) He was able to start the engine while the hippos were still underwater and we rode off with hearts pounding.
What lake?
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The murky water was thickly covered with lily pads. There was nothing official about this operation on a public lake and we saw no other boats until we got further out into the lake.
The Great Rift Valley
The three of us sat in a row on the boat with the driver manning the outboard engine at the rear. It is a very large lake surrounded by forest with giraffes, zebras, antelope, buffalos and monkeys. The giraffes were originally brought here in 1985 to film “Out of Africa” and remained to breed here. The “Born Free” couple lived on the shore of this lake and it was where the wife was killed and later her husband by poachers.
Old nightmares become new ones
If I knew then what I know now I would have never gone on board. At the time, to keep me calm, Steve told me they need to walk on the bottom which I bought. They are actually fast and excellent swimmers due to their webbed feet. Their jaws open wide enough to hold a 4 year old child. Some of the people killed had their heads bitten off by those large strong jaws. Even other animals are fearful of them. If a rhino is challenged by a hippo it will back off. What is really crazy about all this is it made me remember how as a child growing up in Chicago I had nightmares about hippos. Now I know why.
Close encounter of the hippo kind It was a relaxing serene trip and we even saw an African Fish Eagle with a wing span of six
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Mary Craft with her son Alex at the Equator
Look of relief after our escape
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