Situated on the equator near Nanyuki, about 260 kilometers/160 miles north of Nairobi, under the looming presence of Mount Kenya, The Sweetwaters Black Rhino Reserve is a 9000 hectare privately-owned game reserve, part of the larger, 46,000 hectare Ol Pejeta Conservancy Ranch, and enclosed by a monitored electric fence. It is located on the Laikipia plateau, a lava plateau used almost entirely for cattle and sheep ranching. The plateau averages 2000 meters/6560 feet in altitude and rolls down from the slopes of Mount Kenya, cut by the Ewaso Narok and Ewaso Ngiro rivers, to the Aberdare Mountains far to the southwest. The Reserve is located a few miles west of Nanyuki at 1800 m/5900 ft in altitude.
Sweetwaters Game Reserve was created in 1988 as a sanctuary for black rhino translocated from other sites in Kenya. The vegetation is a mosaic of grassland, Acacia woodland, Euclea scrub woodland and riverine woodland. It is the classic dry African savanna, with long rains from March to May, and short rains from October to December. July was beautiful, with cool evenings and warm days, and little if any rain.
The Reserve already contained a large number of carnivore and herbivore species before the rhino were introduced from other sanctuaries from 1989 to 1993 but, as a result of poor breeding, fighting and accidents, there was initially a 6% per year decline in numbers. However, since the beginning of 1994 the population has increased at an annual rate of nearly 10% to reach the current figure of 38 (as of 2004).
Along with the black rhinos, the Sweetwaters Reserve harbors growing populations of elephants, reticulated giraffes, cape buffalo, hippo, olive baboons, common zebra, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, impala, hartebeest (Kongoni), Beisa oryx, elands, common warthogs, bushbucks, reedbucks, steinbucks, porcupines, bushbabies, hares and other small rodents, and with a sustainable population of predators such as lions, leopards, spotted hyena, black-backed jackals, mongoose, aardvarks, and many other, smaller mammals. Cheetahs have been seen in the area, but during our visit none were seen in the Reserve.
There are 232 birds listed on the Ol Pejeta Bird Checklist, including common ostrich, black-bellied and Kori bustards, secretary birds, Von der Decken's hornbill, yellow-billed and Marabou storks, golden crown cranes, helmeted guineafowl, crowned plovers, white bellied go-away-birds, red-billed oxpeckers, little bee eaters, grey-capped social weavers, long tailed widowbirds, speckled mousebirds, African pied wagtails, malachite kingfisher, superb starlings and lilac-breasted rollers.
Among the trees growing in this area is the plentiful Acacia drepanolobium, the whistling thorn tree, so named because of the sound made when the wind blows over its thorns and galls. An important food source for rhino, elephant, and giraffe, much of our research involved monitoring the growth and damage sustained by these trees.
On the following pages are a few of the images made during our 15-day stay. It was a scientific study, and details are important in understanding the work, so I've included as much information as I can for those who are interested, but nothing compares to actually being there in the African savanna, and participating in such a rewarding and exciting project - or walking in the African bush with wild animals all around you. That's why we went.
Begin a visit to Sweetwaters by going to Page 1, or go directly to a specific page listed below, then simply scroll down each page to view the images and text. Click on any image to see a larger view. Continue the Site Tour until the end. The last page will take you to the rest of my web site.
