Golf will never be the same

Have you ever experienced a wild dog hunt on your local golf course?

I visited Aberdare country club in January this year and got an unexpected surprise when I stumbled onto a pack of wild dogs when visiting one of the spots that we use for bush breakfasts. Since then they have stayed in the area close to the country club and have now started hunting on the golf course.

Some recent golf enthusiasts got a pleasant although unexpected surprise when their golf game was completely overshadowed by the fact that they became the center of an Impala hunt. The wild dog pack charged past them while hunting an impala on the golf course.

Photograph by Chris Johns

These long-legged canines have only four toes per foot, unlike other dogs, which have five toes on their forefeet. The dog's Latin name means "painted wolf," referring to the animal's irregular, mottled coat, which features patches of red, black, brown, white, and yellow fur. Each animal has its own unique coat pattern, and all have big, rounded ears.

The dogs have a peculiar rather playful ceremony that bonds them for a common purpose and initiates each hunt. They start circulating among the other pack members, vocalizing and touching until they get excited and are ready to hunt. They start the hunt in an organized, cooperative manner. When prey is targeted, some of the dogs run close to the animal, while others follow behind, taking over when the leader tired. They can run long distances, at speeds up to about 35 miles per hour and are formidable hunters.

The African wild dog, typically roams the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. But this large pack obviously prefer the golf course of Aberdare country club as the golf course is set within the 1300-acre game sanctuary with free roaming  giraffes, zebras, Elands, Impalas, Warthogs, and baboons.

Marasa Africa “A world where the unforgettable happens” lived up to their slogan when it comes to the Aberdare country club. I’m sure golf at this club will never be the same.

It is a very rare site to encounter or see these animals hunt. The African wild dog is an endangered species due to habitat loss and poaching. It uses very large territories (and so can persist only in large wildlife protected areas), and it is strongly affected by competition with larger carnivores that rely on the same prey base, particularly the lion and the Spotted Hyena

 

 The Aberdare Country Club, only a two and a half hour drive northeast from Nairobi, is nestled on a slope of Mweiga Hill in the Aberdare Highlands, part of the Great Rift Valley. This captivating site was the homestead of an English couple that decided to settle in Kenya. Almost a half century later, their home, "The Steep", was renamed the Aberdare Country Club and opened for guests. Considered a heritage property in Kenya, The Aberdare Country Club has retained the charm of a private home with the simple comforts of a country inn.

Below is some footage of them hunting Impala on the golf course. Golf will never be the same.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=438537046244448

For more exciting trips and an exploration of East Africa contact Premier Safaris or Corne Schalkwyk and travel with us.

The Wilder Shores of Love – By Corne Schalkwyk

 

I was not expecting – while travelling through Africa – to stumble upon a romantic story of a European couple that wholeheartedly inspired and enthralled me. But this is exactly what happened when I visited Chobe Safari Lodge in Uganda.

 

Located in the Murchison Falls National Park, this five-star lodge is undoubtedly the gem in Uganda’s crown of tourism destinations. With breath-taking panoramic views of the Nile River, coupled with the sounds of its frothing rapids, the lodge will indeed set a new standard of excellence in Uganda.

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to join well-known author and anthropologist Julian Monroe Fisher on the second phase of his “Great African Expedition” to retrace Sir Samuel Baker’s early exploratory route through what is today known as Uganda. We were also joined by the great-great grandson of Sir Samuel Baker, David Baker, who shared some delightful titbits from the Baker family history.

The events of Florence Baker’s life read like a novel. Born in the 1840s into an aristocratic family who was murdered in the Hungarian revolution, Florence fled to the Ottoman Empire with her nurse. She was next heard of living in a harem, barely in her teens. In 1859, she was presented at auction, and it was in this most unlikely of settings that she met her soul mate. A widower and committed abolitionist, Sir Baker attended a white slave auction in Bulgaria and rescued the beautiful blonde girl 20 years his junior. Despite having being bought by the local pasha, Baker stole her away and the couple fled back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

They lived in central Europe for a while but Baker was intrigued by the escapades of his friend, the explorer Speke, and his quest to find the source of the Nile, and so developed a great yearning to go to Africa himself. This led to a life of danger and excitement, as well as a passionate exploration of the uncharted interior of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.

Their expedition into the African wilderness was to be no less dramatic than Florence’s early life. Sam and Florence were to suffer years of deprivation and conflict with local tribes before their fortitude brought them the ultimate victory.

 In 1864, Baker and Florence finally arrived at the shores of a lake in what is now Uganda, and identified the place where it was joined by the White Nile. Baker christened the lake “Albert”, after England’s late Prince Regent. Upstream, the couple discovered the mighty Murchison Falls, where the Nile flows through a seven metre-wide cleft in the rocks to plunge 45 m below, forming a spectacular rainbow. Baker named the falls in honour of the then-president of the Royal Geographic Society, Sir Roderick Murchison.

After their incredible adventures, notoriety of the unwed couple turned into fame: he for his discoveries, she for her resourcefulness, and together for their unconventional romance (they later married).

Today, those enchanted by the romance and derring-do of Africa’s great explorers can sit in unrivalled luxury in Uganda and let your thoughts drift back to a time gone by while you take in the whimsical Nile that inspired many a paragraph in Sir Baker’s dairy.

For more information on the Explorer in Residence programmes with Premier Safaris or accommodation at Chobe Safari Lodge, email reservations@premiersafaris.com