Fiona’s real estate business, Fastrack, has grown well. She and her partner have quickly been recognized as the people to call if one is looking to settle in the up-market suburbs of Nairobi, either for renting or purchasing a property.

My young family now makes it harder to stay away from home for extended periods, however, safaris have continued to keep me busy. There has been a dramatic revival in tourism in Kenya with all time highs in numbers of visitor arrivals in the country. While some guides have objected to the numbers of tourists out there looking for wildlife, I see this as the saviour to wildlife and wilderness habitats. Pressure on the wildlife areas from population growth in the country continues to increase every year. We need greater wildlife based revenue earnings to compensate for these increased pressures to continue to protect these fabulous habitats. I continue to be actively involved with Campfire Conservation, designed to increase the benefits realized by the Masai communities living with wildlife along the boundary of the Masai Mara. I also continue to sit on the examination committee of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, now recognized as the bench mark for guiding standards in Kenya.

Favourite safari destinations for Onsafari continue to be Shaba and Samburu in the north; Lewa Downs and Loisaba in Laikipia; Lake Nakuru and Naivasha in the Rift Valley; and the Mara in the west. There have also been visits outside Kenya to Tanzania – both the northern circuit of Ngorongoro and Serengeti, as well as the southern circuit of Selous, Ruaha and Mikumi. Visits to the Chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, and Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda are also proving extremely popular. Apart from the photographic safaris this year there was also the highly focused visits by students from Michigan State University, and another safari with a group of artists. The MSU visit involved 15 students and 3 instructors for a period of 3 weeks and was an educational event for zoology undergraduates focusing on behaviour in African mammals. The artist safari attracted 10 artists intent on learning the finer points of oil painting with international wildlife artist Simon Combes.

Wildlife encounters through the year continue to capture the imagination of all visitors. Memorable parts include the wilderness of Shaba; the herds of elephants crossing the river in front of camp in Samburu; the big tuskers in the shadow of Kilimanjaro in Amboseli; a cheetah taking up residence on the roof of our Toyota; viewing lion, cheetah and leopard before breakfast on a drive; and many, many others.

We arrive in camp in the Mara and are unloading bags from the vehicles. I have just shown a couple of visitors to their tents when I suddenly realize that there is a hippo right in the center of the site in the trees, amongst the tents. I immediately shout to the guests who have gone to the tents to stay in their tents and out of site. Other guests I instruct to get back in the vehicles. This is a highly dangerous animal very close to us.
…we realize there is a hippo in camp…
I am with Kenyan born wildlife artist and experienced guide, Simon Combes and a group of 10 artists from the USA on a 15 day safari to various parts of Kenya. The campsite in the Mara is brand new, having been cleared just prior to this safari – nobody has ever camped here before, and it seems this hippo is a bit surprised to find us here. This is a dangerous animal, however, and we cannot tolerate it here amongst us.
r wreaking havoc in the kitchen, the hippo breaks away…
We notice a hippo in camp…

After a few minutes with the hippo making no signs of leaving the trees in the middle of the campsite, I decide with Simon that we will shout at the hippo and throw rocks at it to try and encourage it to leave. Upon doing so, the hippo immediately charges us, Simon and I each get behind a solid African Greenheart tree, the hippo crashes into the tree in a full blown charge behind which I am standing, taking a big chunk out of the tree, but then retreating once more to the center of the site. We then decide that driving into the site with a vehicle, engine revving should encourage the animal to leave. Simon duly gets into the Landover and drives towards the hippo making as much noise as possible. The hippo immediately charges the Landover, crashing into the left front wing and biting heavily at the vehicle, leaving a large dent and ripping off the bull-bar protecting the front and side of the vehicle. After this attack the hippo again retreats but to a different area of the campsite. Unfortunately the thicket that the hippo heads for this time is also the location of the kitchen. A few members of staff who have been crouching, watching the proceedings from here, scatter - mostly diving into the truck. On entering the kitchen area, the hippo wreaks havoc, smashing up tables and chairs, general kitchen equipment and completely destroying the store tent and a staff sleeping tent.

Eventually, Simon manages to get around to the kitchen in the Landover with bull-bar dragging in the grass and makes a determined effort to herd the hippo out of the site. The hippo eventually is encouraged to break away around the bushes, running past the unhitched trailer and stationary Toyota with most of the group crammed into it, and heads for the Mara River not too far away - all with continued encouragement from Simon in the Landrover. The rest of us reappear from behind whatever we have decided was a secure place, or climb out of the Toyota and camp truck. We laugh and talk excitedly about the experience.

It was indeed a highly memorable experience, with its imminent threat of danger, but I was very glad that nobody was injured and that none of the more valuable equipment was damaged.

List of damages due to rampaging hippo in campsite: 1 African Greenheart tree; 1 left, front wing of landrover + bull-bar; 1 kitchen store tent; 1 staff sleeping tent; 2 wooden tables; 1 camp chair; 1 crate of Tusker beer; 2 plastic buckets; 3 plastic tupperware containers; 1 steel cooking grill; 1 salad bowl; 2 ceramic plates; 1 cheese grater; 5L cooking oil; 2Kg sugar; 3 honeydew melons; 2 paw-paws; 1 punnet strawberries.