{"id":1679,"date":"2018-05-20T08:40:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-20T13:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2025-03-01T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T20:21:46","slug":"1679","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/2018\/05\/20\/1679\/","title":{"rendered":"Scout Camp Again–on the Equator"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scout Camp on the Equator
\nMay 20,2018
\nI\u2019m literally in the southern hemisphere, having crossed the equator, in a TENT.
\n\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>Crossing the equator resulted in a discovery of a young entrepreneur. Stationed alongside the road, at the equator, is a sign indicating that you are in the middle of the earth. There\u2019s a pull off with shopping opportunities. The owner of stall #8 came over to take my picture with the sign and introduce me to a young man who\u2014for a substantial fee\u2014demonstrated that water does indeed swirl differently north and south\u2014and at the equator, where it drains straight down. Plus, for an additional fee, he signed a certificate verifying that I had indeed been there. As the retail experts say (and it used to be true), the three most important things in retail are \u201clocation, location, location.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 10 kilometers east of there (almost on the equator) is the Sweetwaters Tent Camp. But it\u2019s not like the Scout camp we usually attend. There\u2019s concrete floors with carpeting, and an in-tent bathroom and hot shower, along with electricity and wifi (these improvements would \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>definitely benefit Canyon Camp!), with a buffet lunch just after I got here. Right now, I\u2019m looking out at a watering hole where I\u2019ve seen rhinos, water buffalo, and the ubiquitous warthogs. They told me there was a pride of lions last night. In between the two game drives a day, in other words, the animals are invited to come visit us. I\u2019ve issued an invitation, but since it\u2019s Sunday, they must all be in Church said one of the waiters. It\u2019s also a little chilly and overcast.<\/p>\n

In the distance out my front veranda, is Mt. Kenya, the second highest peak in Africa. The camp is fit for a khan, and, indeed, I learned today that the owner of the camp, and the other hotel in this 90,000 acre game preserve, is none other than Aga Khan.<\/p>\n

I knew I was going to like this place when the attendant arrived last night and put two hot water bottles in my bed, which kept me toasty all night. That\u2019s another addition I\u2019d recommend for Scout camp, albeit on cool evenings.<\/p>\n

The 90,000 acre preserve offers some really good game drives. On our first drive yesterday, we saw 4 lions in one group, and two in another. That\u2019s the first sightings of a cat I\u2019ve had on this trip. On a night drive yesterday (9-1130), we watched a pair of lions for nearly half an hour. The guide said they pair for four days then find someone else, but these two for most of the time looked like old marrieds, not honeymooners. They couldn\u2019t have been more than 15 feet from us. At night, we also spotted a zebra herd that\u2019s an endangered species.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another endangered species here, the northern black rhino; the only two still in existence\u2014both female\u2014are sequestered in a large, fenced-off area. The ranger-scientists here are hoping the ladies can birth via in vitro; otherwise, assuming I see some today, I will have looked at the last representatives\u2026.<\/p>\n

The preserve also houses a chimp sanctuary. Having worked hard to see chimpanzees in the wild, I was a little dismayed to be taken to a 250 acre fenced area that housed 39 chimpanzees, until I learned that these were orphaned or injured chimps. One, for example, about 30 years old, walked mostly upright\u2014because he\u2019d spent his first nine years in a small cage in \"\"<\/a>Abu Dhabi, which gave him no room to play. They really are clever. We watched our guide throw some peanuts (it really was like a zoo, with a big cage!) that the chimp could not reach. He wound up finding a stick which he used to move the peanuts close enough to grab, without touching the electric fence. They are also like fraternity members; they\u2019re cliquish. Newcomers are put in quarantine for 4-6 months before they\u2019re gradually introduced to the group, and still the groups fight if they get together. The chimp area is split by a river, and since chimps don\u2019t swim, the sanctuary can accommodate two groups, one on each side of the river. Even separated, they fight a lot, said the guide, and we could hear them in the bush, as George was contesting power with the current alpha chimpanzee.<\/p>\n

The camp sits in the central highlands, one of the most fertile areas in Kenya, and the home of the Kikuyu, one of some 40 tribes that together constitute the country. Jomo Kenyatta, the first president, was a Kikuyu as is his son, who is or has been President.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019ve got one more game drive, then an overnight and the long trek back to Central Illinois Regional Airport\u20143 hours to Nairobi, a midnight \"\"<\/a>flight to Amsterdam, a flight to Atlanta, and thence home, hopefully \"\"<\/a>Tuesday.\u00a0 \u00a0With a little time in Nairobi,\u00a0 I got a chance to visit the home of Karen Blixen, author of “Out of Africa.”\u00a0 I think watching the movie is going to be one of the first things I do when I am acclimated back home again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>By Thursday, however, I bet I could have my bags packed and be ready to \u201cbring on the adventure\u201d again!<\/p>\n

I saw some interesting uses of Coca Cola advertising.\u00a0 Churches go better with Coke?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scout Camp on the Equator May 20,2018 I\u2019m literally in the southern hemisphere, having crossed the equator, in a TENT. Crossing the equator resulted in a discovery of a young entrepreneur. Stationed alongside the road, at the equator, is a sign indicating that you are in the middle of the earth. There\u2019s a pull off … Continue reading “Scout Camp Again–on the Equator”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-east-central-africa-2018"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1679"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8448,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1679\/revisions\/8448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}