CAPTIVATING NATURE

Grosbeak weaver/Thick-billed weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons)

- The thick-billed weaver constructs a distinctive nest which is compact, woven with thin strips of reeds and hung between the upright stems of reeds.

-  It is globe-shaped with the entrance (unlike other weaver nests) near the top and facing to the side.

- The male weaves the nest with fine material leaving a neat impression, but the weave is in fact not as complex or developed as that of other weaver species.

- The initial entrance is large, but when a female has chosen the nest the entrance reduced to a narrow opening.

- Thick-billed weaver colonies may involve a single male, or may contain several males, and is usually established in a reed.

- Thick-billed weavers are polygamous, in that a single male attempts to attract and mate with several females.

-  A male may attract up to six females, and up to three nests may be active in any male's territory at once.

-  When found at low density there are many apparently monogamous pairs, but they normally nest in small colonies.

-  After mating the female normally will lay a clutch of 3 whitish pink eggs, spotted with red, purple and brown.

-  The incubation of the eggs is carried out solely by the female.

- This lasts 14 to 16 days and the chicks are fed by regurgitation by the female until they fledge, though occasionally the male may also feed the young.

- The chicks fledge after about 18 to 20 days in the nest.

- The nests are vulnerable to predation and recorded nest predators include the white-browed coucal, house crow and the Nile monitor.

- After the nests have been used by the weavers they may be commandeered by climbing mice, or used for breeding by the orange-breasted waxbill or brown fire finch.

    Did you know that:

-  Male impalas produce a scent from a gland on their foreheads to advertise their status to rivals.

TREES/SCRUB

         Common Name:  Castor Oil Plant

          Swahili Name: Mbarika

                           

 Usage and treatment

·         Part used- Roots bark,leaves, & fruits

v  Castor is a plant that produces seeds (beans). Castor oil is produced by pressing ripe seeds that have had their outer covering (hull) removed.

v  The hull contains a deadly poison called ricin. Castor oil has been used as medicine for centuries.

v  Castor seeds without the hull are used for birth control, constipation, leprosy, and syphilis.

v  Castor oil is used as a laxative for constipation, to start labor in pregnancy, and to start the flow of breast milk.

v  Some people apply castor seed paste to the skin as a poultice for inflammatory skin disorders, boils, carbuncles, pockets of infection (abscesses), inflammation of the middle ear, and migraine headaches.

v  Castor oil is used topically to soften skin, bunions and corns; and to dissolve cysts, growths, and warts.

v   It is also applied to the skin for osteoarthritis.

v  Some women put castor oil inside the vagina for birth control or to cause an abortion. Castor oil is used in the eyes to soothe membranes irritated by dust or other materials.

v  In manufacturing, castor seeds are used to make paints, varnishes, and lubricating oils.

v  Ricin from the hull of the castor seed has been tested as a chemical warfare agent. Weapons-grade ricin is purified and produced in particles that are so small they can be breathed in.

The smaller the particle size, the more poisonous the ricin. You may remember that ricin was found in letters sent to some Congress members and the White House, and in the possession of people linked to terrorist and anti government groups.

HARTLAUB’S TURACO (Tauraco hartlaubi)

The Hartlaub’s Turacos (Tauraco hartlaubi) have been at the Great Rift Valley Lodge since mid-November 2018, having flown in from the neighbouring Eburru forest during the recent drought. The colourful turacos love to feed on the fruits of the Chinese berry, the Rhus natalensis, pepper tree and fig tree.

The turacos are in the bird family Musophagidae (literally ‘banana-eaters’), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away birds are commonly known as loeries.

They are semi-zygodactylous. This means that the fourth (outer) toe can be twitched back and forth. The second and third toes, which always point forward, are conjoined in some species.

The turacos are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers.

They are medium-sized arboreal birds endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, where they live in forests, woodland and savanna.

Their flight is weak, but they run quickly through the tree canopy. They feed mostly on fruits but will also eat leaves, buds and flowers, occasionally taking small insects, snails, and slugs.

As their name suggests, turacos enjoy bananas and can become tame as to be hand-fed. They are also partial to grapes and pawpaw (papaya).

They build large stick nests in trees, and lay 2 or 3 eggs. The young are born with thick down and open or nearly-open eyes.

Great Rift Valley Lodge and Resort Fun fact

Trees/shrub

Common Name: Cape ash

Scientific name: Ekebergia capensis

Swahili Name:   Kundambara

    

                 Uses and treatment

·         Part used: Leaves, fruits, seeds and stem

v  The wood is locally valued for furniture. Used for light construction, poles and tool handles. It is suitable for light flooring, joinery, interior trim, ship building, vehicle bodies, sporting goods, toys, novelties, vats, food containers, boxes, crates, matches, turnery, veneer and plywood. It is also used as firewood and for charcoal production.

v  The bark, roots and leaves are widely used in traditional medicine. Bark decoctions, infusions and macerations are taken to treat gastritis, heartburn, dysentery, epilepsy, gonorrhea and as vermifuge.

v  Applied externally to ulcers, abscesses, boils, scabies, acne, pimples and itching skin.

v   A powder prepared with the bark is sniffed against headache, colds and sinusitis.

v  A root decoction is taken as a diuretic and to treat kidney problems, dysentery, heartburn, headache and respiratory complaints.

v  The root is chewed as an expectorant. Charred pulverized roots are sniffed for treatment of headache and blocked nose.

v  Leaf macerations are used internally or externally to treat headache, fever, cough and skin complaints, and they are taken as a vermifuge.

v  The wood is used by Zulu people to facilitate childbirth.

v   Decoctions of various parts used traditionally in central Ethiopia as an anthelmintic for the treatment of livestock

v  Bark and roots have been used as poison.

v  In southern Africa, the bark has been used for tanning.

v  The fruit is edible but usually not much liked.

v   The foliage is browsed by livestock in the dry season.

v   Planted as an ornamental, particularly as a roadside tree, but also as a garden tree for its attractively coloured fruits and for shade.

v  It is occasionally planted for soil conservation, as a windbreak and as a shade tree in coffee and banana plantations.

v  The flowers are a source of nectar and pollen for honey bees.

Fun fact:

     

Visit us at Great Rift Valley Lodge to see the natural phenomena that was discovered by the road constructors 6 km from the lodge. The lava channels are amazingly deep and wide. The road construction had to be diverted to KSARANI shopping centre.   

Written By: Kilonzo, naturalist at GRVL                     

           

GRVL Fun Facts

Trees/shrub

Common Name: Broad-leaved Croton

Swahili Name: Mfurufuru

Usage and treatment

Part used: Leaves, fruits, seeds and stem
 Attractive tree often planted to provide shade in plantations
 Stabilizes and enriches the soil
 Seeds are used as a fish poison
 A vegetable salt is prepared from the ashes of the burnt leaves
 Most parts of the plant are used to treat various conditions
 The juice from the leaves is used as an anthelmintic to rid the body of parasites and toxins
 A root decoction is used as an anthelmintic for tapeworm
 The juice is also for dealing with skin problems, applied on wounds to hasten clotting and treat sores, warts and ringworm
 The leaves or young shoots are eaten to treat fever and oedema
 A boiled leaf decoction is drunk, or the ashes taken orally, as a treatment for cough
 A decoction of the young leafy shoots, combined with Justicia schimperiana, pepper, butter and milk, is used in the treatment of jaundice, and for an eruptive disease resembling small-pox
 An extract of leaves is used against itchy scalp, as a purgative, to treat malaria and venereal diseases
 The bark is an ingredient for effective purgative and vermifuge
 The seed is eaten to procure abortion
 A preparation of the seed is instilled into the ear as a remedy for ear-troubles
 The crushed leaves and seed mixed are drunk in water as a remedy for tapeworm.

Fun fact:
 Eburru forest has diverse habitats
 It’s home to 188 known species of birds
 Here are some of the most beautiful ones

Doherty's bush shrike

Eastern double-collared sunbird   

By Kilonzo, senior naturalist at the Great Rift Valley Lodge

Morning Encounters, Voyager Ziwani, Tsavo

I started the usual morning nature walk with our guests Jennifer and John and headed towards the plains. As we were crossing the airstrip, I heard elephants trumpeting. I thought the elephants were crossing the river into Tsavo West National Park and we rushed to see them. We spotted the herd from a distance and they were feeding on the acacia trees.

Close to the plains, we saw lion spoor. The lion must have walked early morning. Looking at the plains, there were elands, wildebeest and zebras. They seemed nervous and l guessed it must be because of the lions. 

As we turned toward Sante River, I spotted an orphan baby elephant walking alone towards Ziwani Camp. I immediately called the David Sheldrick Trust in Nairobi to report the this because a baby elephant on its own means it must have got separated from the herd and was lost.

On the second day, we left with picnic boxes for the Shetani Lava and Mzima Springs with a game drive en route. We saw a lot of wildlife, mainly plains game, but only the spoor of the cats. After a picnic lunch at Roaring Rocks which has a superb view of the Ngulia valley, we returned to camp late in the evening.

The following day, we started very early in the morning because Jennifer and John were leaving for Europe. It was their last day in Kenya. After crossing the Kitani River, we saw a male leopard walking majestically and growling to announce that this was his territory. “It’s my first time to see a leopard on the ground,” exclaimed John. It was a perfect finish to their holiday in Kenya.

Heritage Hotels (Kenya) manages one luxury camp on the western edge of Tsavo West National Park - Voyager Ziwani Camp. Located on a private sanctuary on the western edge of Tsavo, the camp sits on a secluded dam on the Sante River – home to turtles, crocodiles and hundreds of basking hippos.   Reports and pictures by Stephen "Chameleon" Lekatoo, Voyager Ziwani Camp ©Heritage Hotels Ltd, Kenya. http://www.heritage-eastafrica.com/