Lewa Wilderness is a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. Francis Mepukori is a guide at Lewa Wilderness, here is his account of what you can expect day to day of a safari holiday in this fantastic lodge.
I have been working at Lewa Wilderness for seven years having grown up in an area called Leparua very close to Lewa. Herding my family’s cows and goats as a young boy, I grew up learning all the sights and sounds of the bush. I began working as a waiter at the lodge but was given the opportunity to fulfil my dream and train as a guide. One of my favourite parts of my job is seeing guests – who are now my friends – coming back year after year.
Guiding is great because you never know what you might see. I remember a day recently when my guests had enjoyed a picnic breakfast under a beautiful acacia tree with elephants, rhino, giraffe, and zebra all within view of our picnic. After breakfast, some of the group opted to ride camels back to the lodge whilst the others came in the vehicle with me. It was only a short ten minute drive to the lodge and as it was mid-morning and starting to get hot, I was not expecting to see much wildlife.
Suddenly, I spotted a lioness in the long grass close to the river. There was a big herd of zebra coming to drink that she was watching. I was just explaining to my guests where the lioness was, when an elephant came towards the lioness and trumpeted loudly to warn the other animals there was a predator. The zebras turned and ran but it was too late for one. Another lioness we had not yet spotted was closer to the river, and together the two lionesses were able to bring down the zebra. As soon as I saw the lionesses start running towards the zebra, I turned my vehicle off the road and drove the short distance to the river so that my guests had a good view of the action. It all happened very fast from my first spotting the lioness to the actual kill.
The lionesses then started calling to their six cubs who were waiting patiently under a tree nearby. It was wonderful to watch the cubs making their way down to the river, frolicking and playing together. The happy pride of lions then settled down to enjoy their breakfast! My guests took lots of photographs and were so happy to see such an amazing sight.
This is why I love guiding. Every day is different and sometimes the unexpected can happen!
If you would like to know more about a holiday at Lewa Wilderness, contact our travel experts submit your enquire here or call 020 7843 3500.
