The Leopard of Malewa

We have visited Malewa several times over our many journeys to Kenya.  This is the beautiful area where Jason, Joyellen's brother, and his wife, Lisa, and 3 children live.  Whereas Jeff and Joyellen live on the edge of the Rift Valley with forest around and above and a picturesque valley below, Jason and Lisa live in the bush of Kenya.  The bush, where Sikes monkeys run across your roof early in the morning to eat berries from a tree growing next to your house;  the bush where a poisonous puff adder snake slithers across your lawn;  the bush where tree hyraxes interrupt the quiet of the night with their combination sounds of a deep creaking noise followed by cries which sound like a human baby;  the bush where a genet cat will pose for you in a tree late at night despite a bright flashlite illuminating the scene;  the bush where a leopard takes up residence in the area and can be often heard and sometimes seen.

This is the guest house where we all stayed while visiting Jason and Lisa.  The home is owned by the CEO of Heart of the Bride, the parent organization for which Jason and Lisa work.  Heart of the Bride helps support the House of Hope orphanage which is owned and operated by Joel and his wife Susan in the nearby city of Naivasha.  Joel is a graduate of RVA.  Jason runs an experimental farm operation designed to raise food, both flora and fauna, that will help provide food for the orphanage in an environmentally safe way.

This picture shows the outdoor grilling area and the comfortable back porch convenient for afternoon tea and restful reading.  Our bedroom window is to the far right and as you can see is next to the tree with the monkey- friendly berries.  A couple mornings we were awaken by Sikes monkeys romping across our roof to have a breakfast of berries.  When they jumped down onto the roof, the sound was similar to a bowling ball dropping onto an alley and rolling toward the pins.   Who needs an alarm clock?  TIA!

This is the view out our bedroom window.  What a way to start the day!  The circular enclosed area is a fire pit.  Due to the goodly amount of rain this season, the yard and surrounding garden areas are green and lush.  Notice the natural arch in the background formed by the branches of two adjacent trees.   Members of our daughter church, The Journey, from Muskegon have made several short term missions trip to work at the HOH and stayed in this house.  Great place to relax after a hard day's labor at the orphanage.

 Many of the plants surrounding our guest house yard were planted after the wild bush growth was cleared away.  Hard work has given way to beautiful results as displayed here.

An advantage of living in a sunny, tropical area is that one can enjoy beautiful plants and flowers year 'round.  There is no winter when plants die or go dormant waiting for a renewing Spring.  Hence, they can grow healthier and bigger.

One afternoon Louise and I had come over to Jason and Lisa's house from the guest house.  We had just settled down.  I had taken off my "bush shoes" and put on my sandals when the cry went up, "The dogs have treed a leopard!  Anyone who wants to see it come on!"  Jason, Jeff, Andrew, Aaron, and Laura answered the call.  Did Grandpa and Grandma want to come?  Sure, why not?  No time to lose.  "Come on!"  Off we went.   One problem.  No time to change shoes.  We both left for the bush wearing sandals.  At least I was wearing socks.  We hurried across the yard of the neighboring cottage and across two shambas (small gardens) before entering the bush pictured above.  We were soon walking on a path barely visible.  Eventually, we were practically crawling on our hands and knees through and around a tangle of branches and vines. The sound of the three barking dogs grew louder.  Suddenly, we arrived at the spot where the leopard was treed.  The dogs were agitated and constantly moving and occasionally barking under a particular tree.  Jason, Jeff, and the boys and Laura were crouching low and looking up and pointing to some upper branches of the tree.

Jeff pointed to an area up in front of me.  "There he is.  Do you see him?"  Oh sure, I can barely lift my head up in all this underbrush and entangling vines and branches.  My camera is dangling from my neck further pulling my head down.  For the past 15 minutes I have been intently focused on the ground and now I'm supposed to see an Africa animal God created to be camouflaged up in a tree.  I managed to aim my camera in the general direction of Jeff's pointing arm and finger.  I flicked the camera to manual focus and began to search the forest canopy for  the elusive leopard.  Suddenly, there he was.  I took careful aim, held my breath, and triggered the shutter.  The picture above is the result.  The leopard's head is to the right and turned away from my view.  The leopard's right flank is pictured from shoulder down to his rump at the lower left.  At this moment, Jason's three dogs decided that enough was enough.  "Let's get this guy down from the tree and have a go at 'em."  They started to bark and growl in a cacophonous unity and jump up and down beneath the tree.  You can imagine the reaction of the leopard.  HE DIDN'T LIKE IT!!  Now things start to get dicey.  The leopard starts to change his position on the branch.  There is a rustling and movement of branches.  I can't see him anymore.  Suddenly, from what I would judge was a distance of some 20 feet away, the leopard emitted a rather loud, menacing growl. Jason, still crouching, looks our way and says calmly, "You might what to back up a bit."  DO YOU THINK?!  Louise and I begin a strategic withdrawal.  Laura is nice enough to lead the way for us.  We've hardly moved what I would consider a safe distance (mainly, back at the house) when Jeff yells,  "Dad, bring the camera!"  Where?  Back to from where I had just retreated?  Laura saved me from a developing quandary.  She offers to take the camera to Jeff.  Great idea.  Better for a girl experienced in the bush to head back toward a leopard than a city slicker in sandals (but I was wearing socks!)  I handed the camera to Laura and she slipped silently back into the bush.  How did she do that?  Louise and I continued our withdrawal.  Now I have no built-in compass.  I definitely was not sure as to the proper direction back.  Louise, on the other hand, confidently forged ahead despite having a stick poke her in the foot, drawing blood.  (Oh, great, a trail for the leopard to follow.)  At one point, my shirt was snagged by a protruding branch and my forward motion was halted.  Louise came back and disengaged my shirt.  Ever the seamstress, she examined the rip and informed me that she could repair the tear, but it might show a bit.  As she is talking, my mind is thinking, "What if the leopard had leaped down from the tree and is now beating a retreat toward us?  We would be between him and his escape route.  THAT WOULD BE AWKWARD!"  Fortunately,  that was not the case and Louise led us to safety.  (Medical update:  Louise's foot is fine.)

A month earlier, this same leopard was spotted by Jason.  He was able to get a wonderful picture of the cat which provided us with a great adventure.  At right is the leopard that was only about 20 feet from us in the bush.  We had met the Leopard of Malewa and lived to tell about it.  Some African adventure, huh?








Will write again because ... there is more to come.