Dear Reader,

Welcome to this issue of the Menengai Holidays Safari e-bulletin

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Publisher:                   Menengai Holidays Ltd

Editor:                       Daniel Njaga

Researcher:                Lydia Meitex

Feedback:                  bulletin@menengaiholidays.com

Website:                    http://www.menengaiholidays.com

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The Menengai Holidays Safari e-bulletin is a newsletter on topical highlights and snapshots on travel, wildlife and environment in East Africa.

In this edition, we focus on the new fossil find in Kenya that is shattering the established dogma on human descent. Is the human family tree ripe for a new branch? The destination item focuses on Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park. One of Kenya's smallest parks has been branded to become a safari gem. On Natural history, we focus on the Hyena; hate them or like them, hyenas have a majestic presence in the African jungle; myths and revulsion notwithstanding! 

Good reading and wishing you an enlightened travel always.

                                         In this edition...                       

           Snap Shot: Baby Talk No Child's Play

           News: Rewriting Human Descent

           Destination: Buffalo Sanctuary Beckons

           Natural History: Hyena's 7th Commandment

Verbatim from Our Customers:

"Dear Daniel

Thank you very much for such a wonderful honeymoon safari; we got back safe and sound and really enjoyed our time in Kenya.

Geoffrey was both an excellent guide and host and please do pass on our regards and the photograph we promised him which I have attached.

I will not hesitate to recommend Menengai Holidays in future and wish you all the best for the future.  Kind regards"

James & Vicky O'Dowd, UK, July 2007

SNAP SHOT

Monkeys "baby talk" Infants

Baby talk is a universal maternal phenomenon; practiced by people all over the world whatever their language. Everyone does it because babies respond to it and scientists believe it's has strong biological roots. Now it seems humans are not the only animals that use baby talk to their offspring as monkeys also go "gaga" over babies.  New research reports that monkey mothers make unique vocalizations to interact with infants and get their attention.

No child's play

The findings of this study, led by Dr Dario Maestripieri from University of Chicago, are published in current Ethology journal. The purpose of baby talk - called "motherese" - is unclear. In humans it appears to be better at attracting infants' attention than normal speech and some experts believe it may help to teach babies basic function and structure of language.

"The calls appear to be used to elicit infants' attention and encourage their behaviour. They also have the effect of increasing social tolerance in the mother and facilitating interactions between females and babies in general" says the report.

Courtesy: World Science; National Geographic and Sky News

NEWS WATCH

Evolutionary Dogma Shattered

The human family tree is no longer firmly rooted in science in the wake of a ground shaking discovery of two new fossils in Kenya, challenging the straight-line story of human evolution.

Traditional evolutionary theories of the human genus called homo suggest a successive progression where Homo habilis gave rise to Homo erectus from which modern humans, Homo sapiens, supposedly descended.

Homo erectus is commonly seen as the most similar ancestor to modern humans, differing by having a smaller brain. But the new found upper jawbone and skull from two separate skeletons, suggest that Homo habilis was not a direct ancestor of modern humans and that Homo erectus was less modern then previously thought.

Missing Link

The findings suggest that the two species lived side-by-side for half a million years in eastern Africa, "it has the potential to remove Homo habilis from the direct ancestral line to us modern humans" said the study's lead author, Fred Spoor of University College London.

The new fossils were discovered by the Koobi Fora Research Project, an international group of scientists directed by mother-daughter team Meave and Louise Leakey, and affiliated with the National Museums of Kenya.

Their co-existence makes it unlikely that Homo erectus evolved from Homo sapiens, explains Meave Leakey, one of the lead authors. Instead, both species must have had their origins between 2 and 3 million years ago.

Share with us your views on this report: bulletin@menengaiholidays.com

Courtesy: Koobi Fora Research Project and National Geographic

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Archaeology Safari?

However the findings have strengthened the theory that Africa, and Kenya in particular, is the Cradle of Mankind and Kenya will continue to be an academic Mecca for archaeologists and palaeontologists across the world for some time to come. Contact us for all your archaeology safaris to Sibilio National Park, Koobi Fora, and Olduvai Gorge; Olorgesailie, Kariandusi and Hyrax pre-historic sites.

info@menengaiholidays.com

Travel Quote

"...Don't go where the paths may lead you; go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail..."

Svalbard Villmarkssenter, Norway

DESTINATION

The Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park - Up Close and Buffalo

The recently reframed Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park makes for a nice day trip from Nairobi, being located just 65 km from the city. The name refers to the solitary mountain standing in this park and rising to a height of 2,145m. The park covers an area of around 20 square kilometres. The name is Masai and means "Mountain of Buffalo" - about 250 buffaloes can be found on the slopes today though the population has been receding due to land use changes and alleged poaching by neighbouring communities. The Kikuyu people call the mountain Kia-Njahe, or the "Mountain of the Big Rain", and consider it as one of the homes of the Supreme Being, Ngai. In Swahili it's known as "Kilima Mbogo" - also alluding to large buffalo herds.

Ol Donyo Sabuk is a mountain park located to the South East of Thika town, 65km from Nairobi and 5km away from the Fourteen Falls. It comprises of slopes, ravines and the 2145m summit from where Mt. Kenya, Kilimanjaro and surrounding lowlands can be seen.

Roosevelt's hideout

Visitors should approach the park via the lovely Fourteen Falls on the Chania River. The park offers great views of high mountains like Mt Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Visitors can reach the top of the solitary mountain in the park using 4X4 vehicles. The graves of Sir William Northrop Macmillan (1872-1925) and his wife Lady Lucie lie near the summit. The American had arrived in Kenya in 1901 for big game hunting, and had played host to Roosevelt during the latter's 1911 safari.

The couple is known for starting the Macmillan Library in central Nairobi. Their former home in the park has now become the Sabuk Guest House under management of Kenya Wildlife Service. The guest house is ideal for family and corporate groups for medium luxury accommodation.

Antelopes galore

Visitors to the park also have the chance to see animals like the baboon, colobus monkeys, bushbuck, impala, and duiker and a variety of birds.

To those who love getting close to Nairobi and who would love to see bird's-eye point of view and getaway from the bustle of the city, Ol Donyo Sabuk is the ultimate panoramic experience!"

Accommodation

The park has several camping sites with basic facilities like water and washing rooms. There is also the guest house with a capacity to host up to ten people in 4 bedrooms. However, Thika town is close by and good standard accommodation easily available just few minutes drive from the park.

Contact us for travel arrangements to Ol Donyo Sabuk for family and social weekend getaway: info@menengaiholidays.com

NATURAL HISTORY

Hyenas: Target of Myths and Legends

One of the most heavily vilified and sometimes reviled mammals in Africa, the hyena is a unique animal. But it is heavily reviled due to several myths borne of human ignorance.

First, they are said to be hybrids between cats and dogs. It is for this reason they were excluded from Sir Walter Raleigh's list of animals in the Noah's ark since he believed God saved only thoroughbreds! The second myth is that hyenas are hermaphrodites. This myth is borne of the fact that hyenas have no palpable sexual dimorphism; that is female reproductive organs (the feature mostly relied on to sex animals) resemble those of the male making the two sexes virtually indistinguishable. The clitoris in females is enlarged and extended to form an organ of the same size, shape and position as the male penis and can also be erected! Their labia have folded up and fused top form a false scrotum that is not discernibly different in external form or location from the true scrotum of males. It even contains fatty tissue forming two swellings easily mistaken for testicles.

It is because of these many myths about hyenas that the animal came to acquire such a lowly status among humans. In a discussion on "Hyenas Myth and Realities" 3 decades ago, a prominent naturalist, Jay Gould, once remarked: "I freely admit that the hyena is not the loveliest animal to behold. Still, it scarcely deserved the poor reputation imposed upon it by our forefathers!" We cannot agree more; hate them or like them; hyenas play a very significant role in ecosystem functions in African savannas.

Ecological Health

Ecologically hyenas play a very vital role in the savannah ecosystems, which they inhabit. Like several other African carnivores, hyenas are important for the health of hoofed animal populations by cropping out the weak and sickly as prey items. Their predation helps to keep the balance between these herds and their food resources as well as eliminate weak genes in the population. It is quite ironical that the very animal associated with ill health is actually one of the key agents of ecosystem health!!

The exceptional powerful jaws and teeth of Hyenas combined with large size and a digestive system capable of dissolving bones and even teeth within hours, give these animals the ability to utilise the remains of large vertebrates more completely than other carnivores. Sometimes they are referred - sarcastically of course - as "park cleaners".

The Elusive Bone

Hair is practically the only animal product they cannot digest, alone among carnivores, hyenas have solved the problem by disgorging hairballs (like owls) along with hooves, pieces of horns and bones and grass. Among the Kikuyu community, the patella bone at the knee joint is reputably known as "karema hiti", that is the bone that defied the hyenas' greed and munching acumen. The anecdote is based on the fact that the hyena would literally consume any body part and the patella would remain as the only trace or evidence of hyena feast. Interestingly even the patella does not elude the hyena because it is too hard to handle; but too slippery to fit in the grip of the hyena's jaws!

Hyena's 7^th Commandment

Another legend that demonstrates how hyenas are associated with greed is the so called hyena's "7^th commandment". According to this "commandment", a hyena takes what is available first without any qualms about the details. Hence when you are told to adhere to the hyena's 7^th commandment, you are being cautioned against losing ay chance or opportunity

For more information on Hyenas, please click here.

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Hyena Safari?

Hyenas are widely distributed in most of national parks in east Africa. However they are more easily seen in popular destinations like Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Samburu and Serengeti. Contact us for more information and your arrangements for safaris if you want to see hyenas.

Drop us a note: info@menengaiholidays.com

ECO BITS

Did you know?

• That although hyenas are often described as "dog-like" carnivores because of their tendency to resemble a dog, it is biologically more closely related to cats and mongoose than dogs?

• That, while largely believed to be scavengers, hyenas are primarily hunters and are known to get up to 80% of their food through hunting? It is because of this myth that hyenas have been associated with greed and saprophytism, values that lack positive tributes among humans.

• That hyenas do cooperative hunting in groups or clans in order to catch larger prey.

SAFARI BOOKINGS - Mara Safari

Interested in a "migration safari" this year? We know how you can do it. Accommodation in Mara range from simple to complex as it were. However most facilities are full mark during the season and one would be advised to be less choosy. Bookings are subject to availability.

Drop us a note: info@menengaiholidays.com

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Always choose Kenya as your first choice travel destination and let us show you the rest.

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