Lions, Leopards and the Lipault Ladies

[Kitsafari]

@@Kitsafari Re the Porini map in post #2, I've spoken with Jake Grieves-Cook and it's no problem at all.

 

He gave me this link as well, which is a piece about how the conservancies were established.

 

Matt

Thanks for checking Matt! I was worried for a while, wondering if I should remove it first. And I'm glad he provided the link to a map history of the conservancies as it will mean I won't need to provide background to the conservancies!

[Game Warden]

And, not wanting to hijack this report, but for further background on the Emakoko you can read my interview with Anton and Emma here.

[marg]

Well...we have been waiting for this report. Keep it going!

[KathBC]

Yes keep it coming ladies!

 

@@Kitsafari - I also love going to Sheldricks for the mudbath no matter how many people are there especially since on my visit most of those were very young school children who squealed with delight every time the muddy elephants came near.

 

Those bags look awesome but still think I'd need a larger one!

[graceland]

Yes keep it coming ladies!

 

@@Kitsafari - I also love going to Sheldricks for the mudbath no matter how many people are there especially since on my visit most of those were very young school children who squealed with delight every time the muddy elephants came near.

 

Those bags look awesome but still think I'd need a larger one!

@@KathBC

 

I am going to let @@Kitsafari and @@SafariChick continue on....as all know here, I am mighty" chatty"...so I need to stop; step back and let them relive their first ever Mara trip from their view... I've been to the same camp so I am just repeating myself anyway

 

So I am here to comment on BAGS.....I am telling you seriously, you do NOT need more. Mine was the smaller version, 20" vs.22" and I still had plenty of space left - it was not full....Emirates is pretty tough....8KG, which I think is 11lbs? and I made it, and did NOT wear some of the clothes over the 8-10 days so it can be done. Laundry facilities are important though when you chose a camp.

 

On the return I weighed in at 11Kg; I thought (being crazed by then) it was 11 POUNDS and proud of it; but the agent said, No you are over by 3KG; but she let me carry it on anyway with a smile..... I told her it was books....and there were a few photo books from Mara Plains. Plus I had other stressful issues which I may talk about at the end....maybe.

 

I am sure they will be back soon.

[SafariChick]

Hello! I am really letting Kit chat about the first few days mainly and then I will helm the next few.

 

@@Kitsafari I love your photo of the rhino "welcoming" you at Nairobi National Park. I will share my own thoughts on NNP and Emakoko later since I stayed there at the end of the trip.

 

I adore your photos of the eles at Sheldrick – they are just the most adorable things! Love the last one of them all covered in mud especially! I agree that the morning visit is just as fun as the evening one, in some ways even more so.

 

Yes, it was James who picked us up at Mara North - my notes say so! The beginning of the trip is a bit of a blur for me too but I will try to contribute a few photos in the parts that Kit is primarily writing and then I will take over more after the first section that she's taking the lead on.

 

Ah all the babies we saw were so cute! And the Lipault worked out very well for us all - I love my purple, which is my favorite color - it really stands out, no question whether that suitcase is yours when you see it! Too bad @@pault you weren't part of the Lipault scenario, but I loved your attempts to determine if it was an acronym!

I wrote down that on the first day there we saw mongoose, spring hare, ostrich, and twelve hyenas resting in the area where a hippo carcass was lying. They didn't appear to be feeding on it, but perhaps they had been earlier? But I don’t seem to have photos of any of these things, just some of the same animals that Kit posted photos of, so I will let her continue and if I see I have anything different to add, I will chime in!

Edited March 9, 2015 by SafariChick

[madaboutcheetah]

Ladies, welcome back ............. great to see the report. Sorry, I have only been in and out of safaritalk lately and have more travel this week ........... Nice to see the report and all sounds fabulous!

[twaffle]

I have been saying for years that the Mara North Conservancy at the beginning of the year is a gem of a place to visit, so I'm glad that it delivered for you all. James has a wicked sense of humour, as I'm sure that you found out and I thought his guiding was excellent. I love the three different voices on this trip and am really looking forward to every instalment.

[pault]

Li'l pault is a BAG! Should I have known?

 

You could both leave space and chat away @@graceland.

[graceland]

Li'l pault is a BAG! Should I have known?

 

You could both leave space and chat away @@graceland.

Oh yes @@pault, you know me well; I will jump in and chat away...

 

Meanwhile you can explain how you've managed to design such a popular carry-on bag, only to be found out by naming it after Mrs. Pault..".LiPault."

 

Don't think we did not manage to figure out how you've been writing off all those safaris in the name of "research"

 

I am sure safari related reporting is forthcoming from the ladies. They have serious notes and pics. I just provide color commentary

 

(I do have a quick vid of the tent at Serian that I will slip in somehow later)

[CDL111]

What a great start to the report, love the pics of the ellies and the children looking on.

[Kitsafari]

I have been saying for years that the Mara North Conservancy at the beginning of the year is a gem of a place to visit, so I'm glad that it delivered for you all. James has a wicked sense of humour, as I'm sure that you found out and I thought his guiding was excellent. I love the three different voices on this trip and am really looking forward to every instalment.

 

I agree, @@twaffle. of the three areas we were at, personally for me, I love Mara North the best. the land is so pretty, and so diverse in landscape and it isn't lacking in any species or game viewing, and it is far quieter and relaxed than the reserve.

[Kitsafari]

@@graceland, your pictures of Air Kenya are bringing back memories. i remember that little shop we passed going to the washroom, then going to an open air shelter to wait for our flight to Mara North, although that flight is a blank for me. I think I also emptied the contents in my brain when I fell sick. yucks.

 

and that 's a beautiful pix of the 3 zebras, which I completely missed.

[TonyQ]

I have been looking forward to this. It is a great start and I am hooked. I love the baby elephants in the mud!

[Kitsafari]

I found a new species one morning as we drove out the long rocky road out of camp. A huge herd of animals almost as large as the topis that dot the land. But made up of a variety of colours of brown, black, white. The colourful cows of Masai made a startling contrast to the uniform colors of topis, Buffaloes, elephants, gazelles and impalas. The Masai herders are allowed under the conservancy arrangement to bring their cattle in to graze certain parts within the daylight hours. As part of the livestock grazing management, the Mara North Conservancy maintains specific zones and periods in the area for livestock grazing.

I like such an arrangement.

 

 

Beautiful cattle but looking rather thin.

 

@[member=Game Warden] has a link provided by Porini Camp on page 1 that gives a graphical history of the conservancies.

 

 

But on Mara North itself, here’s a snippet from http://www.maranorth.com/community.html

 

The Mara North conservancy is a partnership between eleven member camps and over 800 Maasai landowners. The aim is to create a best practice, world-class conservancy with long-term commitments to the environment, wildlife, and local communities. The Landowner Committee reports to all landowners for their final approval. Twice a year, full community meetings are held whereby all landowners are able to voice their opinion on the way forward.

In 2008 the founding members of MNC decided to approach the local Maasai leaders to jointly find a sustainable long-term solution for the conservation of the area. After many consultations, held under the shade of acacia trees, 750 Maasai landowners decided to lease their land to the Mara North Conservancy, which was officially established on the 1st of January 2009. This new partnership established a truly innovative approach, whereby the MNC member camps guaranteed to pay fixed monthly lease payments to the Maasai landowners, regardless of tourism ebbs and flows, for the privilege of carrying out their game drives within this exclusive wildlife area.

But tourism earnings are being harmed. Bookings were affected after the terrorist attacks in Nairobi and the coastal Kenya areas. The Ebola scare had hit as well. Serian managers admitted that bookings were more than halved for 2015, and were looking at probably closing Ngare if the bookings continued to deteriorate. It is now the low season, so it is not only until April or May when the lodges will know if the tide has turned as bookings for the migration season from July start to build. Hopefully by then the ebola headlines and attacks become faint memories. The good thing is people have short memories.

there we were - three single female travelers making through Kenya safe and sound. Surely that speaks volumes of how safe it is to be there! So fear not, travelers - the safari regions are indeed no more worse than being on the streets in New York or Hong Kong or in Singapore.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

We were out at 6am every morning in Mara North and the Reserve and we had breakfasts in the bush everyday. And we had one sundowner on the first day. There might have been one on the third day, but I never missed it as there was always something interesting that kept us glued to the car.

The first morning was glorious. James brought us to the Hyena Lugga. Ahead of us we saw 4 stationary cars and we immediately thought Big Cats. Out of the corner of his eyes, James the guide-who-misses-nothing saw a huge mane. He swung the car up the slope and there we had a fabulous view of the Pride Male, surrounded by four most adorable cubs and the female lion.

 

@@SafariChick and @@graceland have lovely photos of the cubs, i’ll share a video which I thought I didn’t get but was pleased to find it when I downloaded it!

 

 

As the mother led the cubs back to the hiding place, we rejoined the rest of the pride lying around the lower ground.

 

 

 

 

 

here's a video of the cubs. I think James meant to say the cubs were 3-4 weeks rather than 3-4 days old.

 

Edited March 9, 2015 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

The rest of the pride and the cubs: according to James - this is the chili peacock pride (prob spelt it wrong) with a total of 44 lions all split up. IN addition to the baby cubs there are 11 other cubs that are 4 months old. There are 2 male lions, the one at the scene is about 6-7 years old.

 

 

 

[bettel]

Oh, these are the cutest cubs ever! What a start!

[michael-ibk]

Enjoying this report immensely, you obviously had a great time. But it´s downright scary to read that a successful operator like Serian seriously has to consider closing camps because of all happening in Kenya and Africa in the last year or so.

[SafariChick]

@@michael-ibk I think they just meant closing it until high season comes? But I'm not sure. Here are some photos I got of the little cubs - I have some of the bigger cubs too I can post in a little while.

 

 

 

 

Here the mama was taking them off to hide them, we think, as she probably wanted some "me" time (or hunting) and didn't trust Dad to watch them!

 

 

[SafariChick]

Here are some of the bigger cubs - there were four different Moms in the pride that were the mothers of these 11 cubs - it was nice that they all had similar age playmates and one of the Moms could watch them while the other Moms took a rest! I think James said that any of the Moms would nurse any of the cubs too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2015 by SafariChick

[bettel]

I think I would not be able to resist the strong wish to steal one of those smaller cubs ... and older ones

[graceland]

 

I have been saying for years that the Mara North Conservancy at the beginning of the year is a gem of a place to visit, so I'm glad that it delivered for you all. James has a wicked sense of humour, as I'm sure that you found out and I thought his guiding was excellent. I love the three different voices on this trip and am really looking forward to every instalment.

 

I agree, @@twaffle. of the three areas we were at, personally for me, I love Mara North the best. the land is so pretty, and so diverse in landscape and it isn't lacking in any species or game viewing, and it is far quieter and relaxed than the reserve.

 

Another vote from me for Mara North and for Kenya as a travel destination.

 

I particularly enjoyed February as opposed to my first September Migration Themed Kenya Safari back in 2010. I like the greening of the grass, the warmth in the mornings, all the babies we saw suckling and playing - lots of playing; and of course a significent lack of vehicles at sightings.

 

We three with James made a formidable team; united by being Safaritalkers and our love of the wild, along with a guide who had an established harem; taking pride in his job- proclaiming daily - I LOVE MY JOB!

 

The date stamp on this photo of a young giraffe is on our drive from the airstrip.

 

Over the next 8 days we saw more babies than I could have ever imagined.

 

This was one of the taller ones..

 

There would be many to come - small furballs, with tails to chase, brothers and sisters -and maybe a few cousins rough and tumble, running and rolling; eating and drinking. A bounty of babies. Oh I think @@Kitsafari and @@SafariChick are posting them as I type!!

..

-

Edited March 9, 2015 by graceland

[graceland]

Serian did mention to me that Ngare Serian would be used only in High Season. Reason being is it is totally separate from Main Camp; separate kitchen; staff, askari -- and to keep them on year round when most green season visitors chose Main Camp is not economically feasible.

 

For those who I know will be visiting Serian in the coming months, here is a FAST clip of my tent...lovely view of the river, though it was so much lower than in September I barely recognized it. Full of hippos and other creatures which can be entertaining, and a bit loud...

 

Hope this link works....

 

 

 

 

 

That should keep you dizzy for a while!

 

Yes those cubs and their families were adorable. Great shots, ladies!

[Tusker]

Serian did mention to me that Ngare Serian would be used only in High Season. Reason being is it is totally separate from Main Camp; separate kitchen; staff, askari -- and to keep them on year round when most green season visitors chose Main Camp is not economically feasible.

 

For those who I know will be visiting Serian in the coming months, here is a FAST clip of my tent...lovely view of the river, though it was so much lower than in September I barely recognized it. Full of hippos and other creatures which can be entertaining, and a bit loud...

 

Hope this link works....

 

 

 

 

 

That should keep you dizzy for a while!

 

Yes those cubs and their families were adorable. Great shots, ladies!

 

Is that the tent down all the stairs?? If so, I stayed there a few years ago. Not so bad in the morning, but going down after dinner one night after several tuskers and some rain was fun.