Cowgirls & Pirates: Safaris for a Globalized World

Art in Nairobi

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 12:00:12 -0700

On our recent trip to Africa, my husband and I wanted to explore the art scene as well as the amazing wildlife experiences. While in Kenya, Susan connected us with Mutheu, a Nairobi resident with a wide knowledge of the local cultural community. Not only was Mutheu a warm and intelligent person, but she also planned a thorough and thoughtful itinerary according to our interests. We toured a truly interesting array of galleries and we were invigorated by our immersion into the art and artists of Kenya. We can’t recommend our ‘art safari’ more highly.

Lush Life in Ngorongoro

Sun, 07 Jul 2019 09:29:08 -0700

From Sarah:

Today, July 7, was our day to see the famous Ngorongoro Crater. It’s a unique place - the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater wall is about 2,000 feet high, and the caldera’s area is about 100 square miles. It’s big enough to support huge herds of wildebeest and zebra, but compact enough that from anywhere inside, you can see that you are surrounded by a high, steep barrier. The name Ngorongoro is derived from an onomatopoeic Maasai word meaning “cowbell.”

Inside the crater, we saw our first Thompson’s gazelles (until now, we had only seen Grant’s); numerous new bird species; and our first intact lion pride, with five cubs - not tiny ones, but young enough to still be under the pride’s care. They were too far away for me to photograph with the iPad, but Dov got some good shots.The short grass and limited extent of the caldera means that wildlife are easy to spot, and very accustomed to safari vehicles. We came very close to quite a few animals. I’ll let the photos I took speak for themselves.

Botswana, that same day

Sat, 29 Jun 2019 10:34:33 -0700

June 26, continued

Afternoon game drive:
A Burchell’s starling - a spectacularly iridescent crow-sized black bird
A lone male waterbuck
A marabou stork & white backed vultures picking at a hippo carcass (the same carcass will feature in future posts)
A group of elephants at a pool, of which the closest was a bull in musth (a heightened level of testosterone indicating readiness for mating)
Three spotted hyenas in the shade of a bush
Vultures drying their wings, much the way cormorants do
An African jacana (lily trotter)
A great egret
A long toed plover
A salt lick dug by elephants
An African fish eagle
More buffaloThen our guide heard from other guides via radio that some lions had been spotted. We took a long drive to see them, and found two gorgeous males, in their prime at about 6 or 7 years old, looking very much alike, and probably brothers. Our guide said they were from the same pride as the cub we glimpsed this morning.While viewing a magnificent sunset, we watched elephants in a dry pan.During dinner back at the lodge, a hippo came up out of the pond to scratch himself on a dead tree.

Lunchtime Chatter: Battle of the Hippos, the Crunching of Bones

Sat, 29 Jun 2019 08:24:42 -0700

June 27 - last full day at Sable Alley

I’ve posted long lists of the animals we’ve seen just to give you an idea of the richness of Botswana’s wildlife. But I recognize that they could get boring after a while, so I’ll just give you the highlights for this day.During our morning game drive, we had the privilege of witnessing an extended battle between two male hippos, vying for the attentions of a nearby female. I got a photo of the action, which I’ll post when I have a better connection.Later, we encountered the same trio of wild dogs we saw yesterday, but now with full bellies, and looking very contented.Heading back to camp for brunch, we came upon a bull elephant in musth, standing on the road right in our path. Our guide stopped, backed up a bit, and then revved the engine a few times, which eventually persuaded the bull to relinquish his position. That was probably the scariest moment we’ve had in Botswana, but we didn’t feel all that threatened. In general, I have to say that I have felt far safer in the wilds of Botswana than I do on the streets of an American city.During our afternoon game drive, we saw a sub-adult spotted hyena eating at the same hippo carcass we saw yesterday, surrounded by vultures. There was much less meat today. The sighting was accompanied by a pungent smell like overripe cheese, and the sound of bones crunching. We returned to the spot again later on in the drive, and this time our hyena friend had been joined by three others. All four ate together remarkably peaceably.Our next highlight was much more charming: a pair of lesser striped swallows busily engaged in building their mud nest on the underside of a dead tree trunk lying horizontally next to a clearing.

Just Another Day in the (Okavango) Delta

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 14:14:09 -0700

From Sarah:

Unsurprisingly, my notes post faster and more reliably than photos. I’m still catching up on the latter, but in the meantime, I just HAVE to tell you about this morning’s game drive. Our guide has been in the business for over 30 years, and he told us this is the first time he’s seen this.

The first part of the morning was fairly uneventful, though Dov got some good shots of various animals (including a suckling elephant calf) and birds (including a stunning bee eater). Then, while we were stopped for a mid morning snack and coffee, another jeep pulled up, and the guide told ours that his party had seen a leopard nearby. Needless to say, after our break, we headed in the direction of the leopard sighting. There are not many in this area, so we had not necessarily expected to see one.After a long search, we finally caught up with the leopard, and were able to observe and photograph her for a long time. Then she moved off, and we followed her - only to stumble upon two lionesses resting under a bush. Thanks to our guide’s expertise, we then found the male lion a short distance away. Meanwhile, as we were admiring the lions, the leopard appeared again, and climbed up a nearby tree.Lions will steal leopard kills, and even kill leopards, so leopards normally keep as much distance as possible between themselves and any neighboring lions. So not only did we hit the jackpot in terms of big cat sightings, we also observed something that, as I said earlier, even our guide had never seen before: leopard and lion within yards of one another. Amazing!Dov got some wonderful photos today. Mine are nowhere near as good, but I will try to get them posted just to give you all a taste of what we saw.A wild lion pooped 25 feet away from me today. And I saw a leopard climb a tree, at the same distance. I’m overwhelmed with awe and gratitude.

quotes from a vagabond writer....

Fri, 17 May 2019 11:47:26 -0700

“When one realizes that his life is worthless he either commits suicide or travels.”

Loved this quote from Edward Dahlberg, a forgotten novelist of the twentieth century. Dahlberg came to his vagabondage honestly. Born with the century in 1900, he and his mother Elizabeth (no mention of a father) lived as vagabonds until 1905, when she began operating the Star Lady Barbershop in Kansas City. (Was it a barber shop or something else? It's unclear.)

Edward bounced between Catholic and Jewish orphanages until he was 16. Still, he managed to attend Berkeley and Columbia, where he earned a B.S. in philosophy. (Was it the Jewish and Catholic ferment?)

He served in the U.S. Army in World War I, losing the use of an eye after a rifle butt smacked him. In the 1920s, he became part of the expat scene in Paris (where else?) His first novel, Bottom Dogs, was based on his experiences in the orphanages and travels in the American West. It was published in London; D.H. Lawrence wrote the intro.

Using his advance money to head home, Dahlberg headed for Greenwich Village. He visited German in 1933, where he wrote anti-Nazi articles for the London Times, warning German intellectuals, Jews, communists and anarchists that they should get outta Dodge.

In 1934, he published the first American anti-Nazi novel, Those Who Perish. He was considered a proletarian novelist in the 1930s; by the 1940s, he became a spokesman for a fundamental humanism, becoming a mover and shaker in the Stieglitz Group, which promoted international human rights. He spoke out against the mistreatment of African-Americans, Indigenous Americans, Jews, immigrants, and workers, and was arrested several times.

After reading Dante, Shakespeare, and Thoreau, he abandoned social realism. He moved to the Danish island of Bornholm, and then to Mallorca. His books from this era sound racy: The Flea of Sodom, The Sorrows of...Read More

How Cowgirls and Pirates Started

Mon, 10 Apr 2017 21:03:35 -0700

Why are we starting an African safari company dedicated to saving elephants, rhinoceros and lions when our own country is in crisis? That’s what we’ve been asking ourselves at Cowgirls & Pirates.

The short answer? Because commitment to biodiversity means, in the words of Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich “saving all the parts.” At Cowgirls & Pirates, we’re just as passionate about phone-banking U.S. politicians to save health care as we are about bringing travelers to meet African conservationists and Maasai warriors working together to save lions.

Cowgirls was founded by Susan Zakin, author of Coyotes and Town Dogs: Earth First! and the Environmental Movement. Burned out after a decade of trying to sell stories about the extinction crisis to New York editors whose experience of the outdoors was limited to weekends in the Hamptons, she signed up to teach journalism in Madagascar. As she came to know the country, she realized that the truism about Africa was indeed true: nature and culture felt connected, more so than we perceive in the U.S., where “development” insulates us from nature.

Zakin started spending more time in Africa. After marrying a Kenyan guy, she helped him start a fair trade safari company on the island of Lamu off the Kenyan coast. Last year, she decided to reinvent the business with an ambitious goal: connecting travelers with the best and the brightest African conservationists.

“In some ways, African conservation is more advanced than ours,” Zakin said. “I see these trips as a way for people to share ideas and experiences, and to learn from each other.”

In the 1980s, Zakin said, people in developing countries changed the game for conservation, insisting that local communities had to be involved in efforts to protect wildlife, land, and water.

“This wasn’t simply a matter of social justice,” she points out. “It was practical. When...Read More

Cowgirls Speak Out!

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 12:26:44 -0800

Cowgirls Speak Out!

On America's Inauguration Day, we pledged to defend people and the environment by calling Rep. John Faso (R-NY) early and often, pressuring him to protect laws that make our country strong. He represents our hometown in the Hudson Valley, birthplace of American landscape painting.

Horseback riding among the elephants by Betsy

Wed, 07 Dec 2016 15:31:02 -0800

As a solo & new traveler to Africa, Susan's creative thinking and deep experience yielded a perfect, unstressed trip to several largely unspoiled locations in Laikipia, Kenya. Good planning and local contacts allowed me the freedom to enjoy myself entirely.

In Laikipia, the choice to stay at Suyian Soul gave me a rustic setting, open-air accommodations, abundant wildlife and the opportunity to interact with one of leading conservation families of the region.

At Sosian Lodge, my night camping out under a world of stars added to the magic I experienced in Africa. Horseback riding kept us alert as we navigated past elephants and other wildlife.

What was truly different was my visit to the Mpala Research Center, which never would have happened if I'd chosen a "typical" safari. Talking to the people there gave me insight into the importance of ongoing scientific research on complex environmental and wildlife issues to local and international communities. And, never last or least, the food was consistently very good!

I'd call Cowgirls and Pirates a blend of whimsy, wonder, nature and culture. And I'd do it again.

Betsy Loyless

Environmentalist