What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Life in the Mara and Amboseli isn’t just about wildlife safaris, sundowners, and starry skies. It’s also about engineering — and the animals we never quite manage to out-engineer.  

Round One: Rock Hyraxes — Victory (For Now)  

Believe it or not, the rock hyrax is the elephant’s closest cousin. Don’t be fooled by their marmot-like size (a mere 2–5 kg); they share tusk-like incisors, peculiar reproductive anatomy, and an attitude far larger than their bodies.  

When we first built our tents on the ridge line overlooking the Mara, we had unknowingly designed the perfect ski resort for hyraxes, away from the safety of circling predators.  

By night, they’d scramble between the inner and outer tent layers, scratching and sliding down canvas like furry daredevils. They even perfected the art of urinating on the fabric — perhaps to reduce friction, as if prepping for icy slopes. Guests heard what sounded like a stampede of mice on skis, while the hyraxes lounged happily (and quietly) by day.

The solution? Our engineers finally sealed them out using kilometres of mesh and countless hours of hand-sewing. Guests now sleep soundly to the roar of lions, grunt of buffalo, and the occasional zebra snort — but mercifully, no midnight ski parties. The hyraxes are delighted to have the solace of under-tent protection and safety.

Round Two: Borrow-pit restoration — a respectable draw  

In the Mara, we inherited an unsightly scar: a borrow pit where murram had been dug decades ago for an airstrip. The challenge? Restore it while easing the dry-season water battles between Maasai cattle and wildlife.  

Our brilliant Head of Engineering, Cyrus, led the charge. With plenty of sweat and more than a bit of stubbornness, he turned that pit into a dam holding over a million litres of water year-round.

The result? Restored grassland, water for wildlife and cattle alike, and a new lease on life for the landscape. Our Guides say they have seen cheetahs and other cats in this regeneration area for the first time in many years.

Round Three: Bridges, Pipes, and Elephants — Loss (Undisputed)  

In Amboseli, our timber bridge once blocked floodwaters from Kilimanjaro, creating silt build-ups that neither vehicles cross, nor elephants could enjoy. Our solution? A steel-reinforced bridge spanning 12 meters, strong enough for a Super Tusker. Water now flows, grasses thrive, and elephants cross with ease. A truce, for now.  

But here’s where we’ve been utterly defeated by. We buried irrigation pipes six inches deep and planted 500 shrubs to stabilise the soil and plant greenery around the lodge.  

Enter: elephants

By night, in military silence, they plucked out 300 meters of hosepipe, carried it a kilometre away, and deposited it behind a tree – repeated nightly. The shrubs? Uprooted one by one and tossed into the river.  

Our 'irrigation system' is now us, armed with watering cans. The elephants, meanwhile, are smugly undefeated.  

The moral of the story? Bush engineering teaches humility. Every time we ask, 'Why don’t we just...?' the answer inevitably begins: 'Well, let me tell you a little story involving an elephant…'

And so the scoreboard reads: Hyraxes — beaten (for now). Borrow pits — rehabilitated (call it a draw). Elephants — undefeated champions.