Rainy season visitors: updated

            The rainy season is in full force, and with it have come strong jawed creatures to invade our space. Siafu, or safari ants, have been busy building tunnels all around camp. While these guys are famous for invading tents and swarming hapless researchers in their sleep, Serena camp has so far escaped this fate (knock on wood).

As long as none of the soldiers get their pincers in you, it’s quite fascinating to watch the ants build their tunnels.

            Another creature with impressive jaws has invaded our crossings, the crocodile. “Pile of Rocks”, usually a bumpy but dry way to cross Mugorro lugga, has been flooded for the past few weeks. Crocodiles have taken advantage of this and have moved in from the Mara river. We discovered this yesterday while trying to forge the crossing. Kecil responded to the surprise by saying “I refuse to run over a crocodile”, and we took another way home.

The crocodile that tipped us off to just how high the lugga had flooded.

           The rains just keep coming, and with them come a third powerful creature, hippos. Not only have they invaded "Pile of Rocks" Crossing, they've even invaded "Candy Cane Bridge", the bridge we took to avoid "Pile of Rocks" when the crocodiles became too much. 

See those red poles? Those mark the bridge, which the hippos are currently swimming over!

       Despite these new dangers, it’s been fascinating to watch the way the Mara changes with the rains. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

The escarpment has become a magnet for rain and fog.