First African Safari: It was about time!

[CheetahFan]

Great job so far @Atdahl!

 

17 hours ago, Atdahl said:

Right off the bat we had our very first chameleon in a tree outside the camp.  It was playing hard to get though.  If anyone knows the species, please let me know:

 

I think it might be a flap-necked chameleon? It's not the most complimentary name for it, I know.

 

 

[Atdahl]

@CheetahFan, yes it could be a Flap-necked but the "flap" area just doesn't look prominent enough to confidently ID it.  But, I am OK leaving it as unknown since my research shows over 40 chamelean species in East Africa and I don't have the desire to go through each one...

 

 

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 4 (Part 1) - Onward to Porini Mara

 

We had a bit of a sleep in day today since Breakfast wasn't until 6:30AM.  It was very nice as usual and we were all ready at 7:30AM when the plane landed to deliver new arrivals and take us on to Porini Mara.

 

Of course, Kilimanjaro chose today to reveal itself and I really didn't get any pictures I liked except this one with our plane in the foreground.

 

 

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights between camps typically.  So, that means flying back to Wilson in Nairobi and then flying to another camp from there.  The flight back to Nairobi was fine and the people at the Wilson airport took great care of us again.  We were notified that we would need to change planes to get to the Ol Seki airstrip which serviced Porini Mara.  Two quick but hot, stuffy, and a little nauseating flights later we finally landed.  The air didn't work on either of the flights which made them a bit uncomfortable.

 

Our "layover" was at the Keekorok Airstrip where we got a chance to see the "terminal" before boarding our next flight:

 

 

 

Waiting for us at the Ol Seki airstrip were a couple Porini Lion representatives.  Unfortunately, they stopped the vehicle just after picking us up to talk about Porini Mara and just then the plane took off and shot a cloud of dust all over us.  They apologized profusely but it wasn't their fault and was really the only thing negative that happened our whole stay.

 

On the way to the camp I did get a look at our first Red-headed Rock Agama:

 

And it gave us a chance to enjoy some of the beautiful scenery.

 

 

Topi in the shade:

 

 

Porini Mara is located in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy. But, because Porini helped consult in the creation of the Naboisho Conservancy next door, Porini guests are able to take safaris in either conservancy which is a huge bonus. In fact, for most of our stay I had no idea which conservancy we were in when we were driving around.  The only exception was when we were near the airstrip, which is located in the Naboisho Conservancy.

 

Here is a map that shows these two conservancies plus the Olare Motorogi Conservancy where Porini Lion is located which will be our last camp:

 

The camp itself is located in an extremely picturesque setting with huge trees all around.  There is also a small river that flows around part of the camp that attracts wildlife.  In fact, Jimmy, the camp manager, showed us some trail cam shots of a lion kill that happened the previous week right next to our tent.  He also showed us photos of the hippo that likes to roam the camp at night.  So, those are good reasons why you can't leave your tent at night without a Masai escort.

 

We were housed in a family tent that had a common area separating the two sides.  While this really wasn't much of an issue it's not what we were expecting given the prices we paid.  But, the camp was full so we went with the flow.  It was impossible not to make noises heard across tents but luckily Tim and Andrea weren't bothered that we had earlier wake up calls than they did.  It's tough getting these aging bodies to wake up for the day...

 

Our half of the tent:

 

Our "Room":

 

En-suite bath:

 

I know you were hoping to see another picture of a toilet, but alas I didn't take one at this camp (photo, not something else).  Sorry, that's my attempt at "potty humor".

 

To partially make it up to you, here is the only photo of a bucket shower that I took. 

 

Oooo....ahhhhh:

 

Incidentally, the bucket showers were really not a problem.  Tim ran out of water once and so did I (We weren't in the same shower at the time...).  This was likely because we typically let our wives shower first because all we do is make daily sacrifices for them...

 

But, I have to say that my first "real" shower after the trip was extra long!

 

The common room between our halves of the tent:

 

Porini Mara Dining Tent/Lounging Area:

 

Camp Grounds:

 

 

 

We had our first lunch at this small table outside which was quite nice:

 

The first wildlife we saw around the camp were these cute little Vervet Monkeys.  They look very innocent don't they...

 

Well, don't be fooled by the innocent appearance.  They were smart, mischievous, and had a bit of an attitude as you will soon see.

 

As I mentioned, we had lunch outside and it was really nice.  Since I had brought my camera with me I started to wander the grounds after lunch and Karen went back to the tent.  The next thing I know, I can hear Karen excitedly talking from waaaay across the camp.  So, thinking she spotted something cool, I hustled back to our tent where she was talking with Tim and Andrea.   This is what happened.

 

She got back to the tent after lunch and saw that the screen zipper to the common room was up a bit.  As she entered she closed the zipper behind her just in time for a Vervet Monkey to come shooting out of our room and slam into the just closed screen.  Obviously, that was a bit of a shock.  But, she managed to open the zipper back up to try to give the monkey an escape route but it retreated back in to Tim and Andrea's side of the tent (neither they, nor us, closed the zippers to our individual tent sides.  But, we did from that point on).

 

Karen then left the tent to tell someone and ran into Tim and Andrea.  When they went back into the tent the monkey was gone.  She took some inventory and realized that the monkeys must have been in our rooms for a while because lamps were knocked over and bags were opened.

 

I showed up and was told the whole story.  So, I went inside to inspect the damage and figured out that not only had the monkeys taken things (a hairbrush, granola bar, and who knows what else) but they also left some presents behind to let us know how they felt about us.

 

Don't sit there:

 

Hmmm...that's not soft serve ice cream on the floor:

 

Look at all the little monkey prints on the bed.  That's not the kind of "monkey business" that should be going there...

 

It was at that point I went outside and saw that there were some monkeys in the trees nearby.  I raised my camera to take a picture and said "Hey, that looks like our Tupperware of cashews..."

 

 

Yup, that darn innocent little monkey had taken our happy hour cashews and when he was done he proceeded to throw the empty container to the ground in disgust.  Just for good measure, he went down to where it landed and looked in our direction to flaunt his prize right in front of us.

 

Is it giving us the thumbs up?

 

Understandably, the whole experience had caused a bit of stress for Karen but not much.  Since I wasn't there for the startling parts, I thought the whole thing was pretty funny and I got a good laugh about it.  In the end all was good.  The staff came and cleaned the rooms.  They also managed to find Karen's hairbrush in the bushes and the lid to the Tupperware container.  They never could find the bottom though unfortunately.

 

We ended up inspecting the zipper and figured out that it could be opened very easily by just pushing my pinky finger in to open up a hole.  Then a head and body could easily push it's way in.  So, we ended up putting some plastic ties on the zippers to prevent a repeat event.  A couple days later, the monkeys got into another tent at lunch time so at least we weren't the only ones.

 

Vervet Monkeys weren't the only mammals seen in the camp.  This Bushbuck and her baby were seen often as well:

[Atravelynn]

Quite the monkey tale!

[Kitsafari]

Noty monkeys!

I've been very lucky so far that no monkeys have been into our tents in all my safaris, so the monkeys did give you a very thrilling - albeit not very endearing - welcome to the bush!

 

I loved that video - those very young baby hyenas are adorable. I love hyenas, especially the young ones which are always up to all kinds of mischief. and yes I agree even adult hyenas are cute looking and not ugly, despite knowing how their table manners. 

Their calls in the night are one of the things that say Africa to me as I drift off the sleep. 

 

Still enjoying the TR by @Atdahl and group! I can sense the camaraderie present among the four of you in the report. 

[Zubbie15]

Really enjoying this report @Atdahl, and the lovely photos.  I think everyone has a bucket shower photo from their first African safari, it's just so different from what we're used to in civilization.  I always feel a little guilty once I go back to normal showers, realizing how much unnecessary water I'm using...

[optig]

@AtdahlIts funny but sad I have a lot of monkeys in my neighborhood here in Nairobi.I sincerely believe in someways they are smarter than we are because of their ability to slip into my apartment and steal fruit.Fortunately they have never left 'calling cards' in my apartment.I am happy you are staying in Porini Mara.

[monalisa]

@Atdahl Great picture of the red headed obama lizard! Here's mine! 

 

 

 

Ah the monkey mishap.. such a fond memory (at least in retrospect!) The whole thing was just so comedic.

I remember inspecting everywhere, mouth agape at the antics and nerve of these naughty monkeys

On our side the lamps were all knocked over, magazines strewn across the floor, my socks all pulled off the washing line, and of course, 4 or 5 "presents" around on the table, the floor, the chair.. thankfully not the bed!

I'll have to find the pictures of the monkey madness, but alas I've been super slack with the pictures.

Next thing I hear is there's a monkey outside with a tupperware of cashews 

 

[Atdahl]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:24 AM, monalisa said:

I'll have to find the pictures of the monkey madness, but alas I've been super slack with the pictures.

 

What, do you have a life or something?   Luckily, I have no such problem...  

[Atdahl]

At 4PM we met George and Tipa who would be our guides for the duration of our stay.  We really enjoyed both of them a lot.  They were excellent guides and good company.

 

We started out by driving to a nearby river where there were lots of rocks.  At that point, I asked George if they had any Rock Hyrax around and he said Yes.  He stopped the vehicle and looked around for less than a minute, pointed, and said "There".  Talk about great service!

 

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax:

 

 

Topi:

 

Unlike at Selenkay, the land around Porini Mara was more open with trees.  So, we started to see the iconic African animal behavior of them seeking shade.

 

 

Our first Banded Mongoose sighting:

 

The always beautiful Lilac-breasted Roller:

 

We woke up this Spotted Hyena lounging on a river bank and it wasn't too pleased about that.  To show its displeasure it proceeded to "fart in our general direction".  Since our general direction was downwind, we got the heck out of there...

 

We had more excellent giraffe sightings at Porini Mara.  They are just such an amazing animal to see in person.  I had a serious Jurassic Park moment at one point looking out into a grove of trees.  All of a sudden, one giraffe lifted its head and looked our way, then another, then another. Trade those giraffes for "veggie-a-suaruses" and it was right out of the movies.

 

We also saw an official tower of giraffes:

 

One of the little ones proceeded to walk under its mother and stand there for a bit:

 

 

Later, as we were driving along, George shouted "Slender Mongoose".  Sure enough, this mongoose was bounding full tilt away from us but I managed to get a proof shot of this lifer mammal:

 

Well, the lifers didn't stop there as we came upon a troop of Olive Baboons:

 

 

The next sighting we owe to our wonderful guides and some giraffes.  The giraffes were all looking in the same direction and for once that direction wasn't right at us.  So, the guides were pretty sure there must be lions in that direction.  Well, also in that direction was a huge patch of bushes. But, after driving around a bit, they were able to spot the Lions hidden in the bushes way before we did and then they managed to get the vehicle into position to see a couple. They knew the pride and told us they had cubs.  We were quite excited at that news.  However, most of the lions were sleeping and hidden by brush.

 

 

I named this one "Tommy Two Ticks".  Guess why:

 

We did manage to get an opening to see one of the cubs:

 

Since the lions weren't coming out of the bush, we drove over to see some elephants nearby.

 

 

Then we returned to the lions to wait.  After all, there were cubs!  It was here that we enjoyed our first real African bush sundowner.  At Porini Amboseli everyone did sundowners together at the watering hole viewing platform.  But, for the rest of our trip we had them out in the bush which I liked much better. Especially, when we could sip a gin and tonic while watching lions.  It doesn't get much better than that!

 

In the end, it was a hyena that rousted the lions.  It came running by with a bone in its mouth:

 

Once the lioness got a whiff she came out of the brush:

 

Instead of coming closer, the Hyena did the wise thing and kept running away:

 

But, with the lioness up now, the whole pride stirred and one by one they came out of the bushes.  Including the cubs...  Be prepared for lion overload...

 

 

 

 

 

It was great to see the lions being..well just being cats.  If I didn't know better I would think we were watching common house cats playing but with more deadly claws and less holier than thou attitudes.

 

It was great how they played and lounged right in front of us.  This was our best look at lions yet and I was a lot more enamored with them that I thought I would be.

 

 

Here's a wide shot that also shows the bushes they came out of. George mentioned that they like that type of bush because it has a natural insect repellent.  I jokingly called it a "no fly zone".  It turns out that these were the most bug free lions we saw the whole trip (Tommy Two Ticks not withstanding).

 

 

They did notice that we were there and would look at us from time to time.  Notice the reflection of our vehicle in the eyes:

 

The light was getting pretty low by now so I tried a creative moon, lion, elephant shot:

 

By bumping up the ISO I managed to continue to take pictures of this regal pride.

 

 

The diminishing light did nothing to deter the cubs from playing however.

 

 

 

 

 

At that point, the light just got too low for decent enough photos.  Plus, George and Tipa hinted that we needed to go.  Reluctantly, we did leave and we got back to the camp around 7:30PM.

 

What a great first drive at Porini Mara!

 

After a great dinner we went to bed very satisfied from both the food and the days entertainment.

[TonyQ]

Really enjoying your report. Amboseli and Selenkay look great and you had some wonderful sightings. And an excellent start to Mara.

Superb photos throughout and your writing is very engaging 

(and having more than one contributor is working well)

[lmonmm]

Aahh- the naughty monkeys (and baboons). Can't tell you how many camps I've been to who have had to come up with new creative ways to thwart their ability to get into tents. Smart critters- they really try to figure it out. At one camp in Linyanti I came back to by tent (the furthest from anything which is my favorite) and there is a guy "lurking" in front of my tent...turns out he was the "baboon deterrer" so I was quite happy with the "lurker". Every day they'd go up there so the camp would send someone to shoo them away. This TR is just so much fun to follow.....and the cubs....no such thing as cub overload

Edited April 24, 2019 by lmonmm

[Atdahl]

@TonyQ, thank you!

 

@lmonmm, thank you too!  Those monkeys sure are smart.  Porini may have to hire a "tent lurker" at some point too.   "No such thing as cub overload"...I am glad that you said that.  After the report is done, let me know if you still feel that way because (spoiler) there are a few more cub encounters coming up. 

[monalisa]

4 hours ago, lmonmm said:

.....and the cubs....no such thing as cub overload

 

3 hours ago, Atdahl said:

"No such thing as cub overload"...I am glad that you said that.  After the report is done, let me know if you still feel that way because (spoiler) there are a few more cub encounters coming up. 

 

@lmonmm I'm glad to hear this also as there will be cubs, cubs, cubs! Cubs from all angles, little cubs, big cubs, super cute cubs  

 

Speaking of which...

 

 

 

Look what we have here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who doesn't also love some good lion yawning photos

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings

 

 

 

 

 

And my fave super intense cub. It's staring at Alan standing up in the jeep. Note the chin drool as he sizes up his potential dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

And hyena yawn pics for good measure

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by monalisa

[inyathi]

@Atdahl 

 

Looks like you’ve had an excellent introduction to the wildlife of Africa, I’ve no doubt at soon as you got home you were already thinking about where your next African safari might be.

 

You’ve certainly seen some good birds and mammals, looking through your photos in post 22, your black-chested snake eagle caught my eye, because I’m not convinced that it is the snake eagle, it looks to me rather more like a martial eagle. It’s an easy mistake to make especially if you’ve never seen either before, because they do look quite similar, albeit the snake eagle is much smaller and less powerful, to me your birds looks like a bigger more powerful bird, the size of the talons and the bill along with the overall shape and the short but obvious crest all say martial to me. A great bird to see.  

 

@monalisa Great photos from everyone and a good advert for Kenya.

[Atdahl]

@monalisa, awesome shots!   We will definitely be pushing the limits of how many cub photos is too many in this TR and I have no problem with that .  I didn't know that lion was staring at me and smiling and drooling.  Maybe it was when we were having sundowners...

 

@inyathi, I like getting IDs correct so thank you for pointing out that Eagle picture.  I looked back at my notes and the first couple of days I wrote down what the guides said (but, that didn't last unfortunately).  I actually, wrote down just "Snake Eagle" for that bird.  So, it could actually have been a Brown Snake Eagle or possibly a Martial Eagle as you suggest since the guides may not have been correct.  I don't remember size and it's tough to tell the differences when just looking at the Birds of East Africa book.  Is your final opinion a Martial Eagle?

 

Alan

[Galago]

Also snake-eagles tend to have rather large heads, so I'm with @inyathi on this one - and well spotted too. Some brilliant photos and the array of bird shots in #22 is particularly stunning. I want to know how you got that sunbird to pose so nicely!

[inyathi]

@Atdahl yes I'm very confident that it is a martial, it's really just the martial and the black-chested snake eagle that have a similar dark brown and white colouration that could cause them to be confused, if I could see the front it would be totally obvious, since the martial is spotted whereas the black chested is plain white. I don't know what other birders here think, but to me it just doesn't look quite right for a snake eagle, to use birding terminology the jizz is all wrong. It's really that when I first saw the shot, I thought that's a martial eagle, but then I've had the good fortune to see quite a lot of martials and a fair few of the various snake eagles over the years, so I've kind of got to know the shape of a snake eagle, even so I did look at photos of black-chested snake eagles online, just to be sure I wasn't mistaken.

 

I was typing the above when your reply came in @Galago, so now I do know what one other birder thinks, I'm glad you agree.

[lmonmm]

@Atdahl and @monalisa  I will reiterate....I don't think there is such a thing as too many cub shots...not sure what others think, but I am loving them    Hope there are more!!!!

[Marks]

Really enjoyed your Amboseli section and looking forward to more from the Mara!

[Atdahl]

@lmonmm

On 4/25/2019 at 4:12 PM, lmonmm said:

I will reiterate....I don't think there is such a thing as too many cub shots

Thats good to hear.  Stay tuned...

 

@Marks, thanks!

 

@Galago, that sunbird was tough.  It was the only time I saw it the whole trip and it had some major back lighting.  Luckily, I was able to lighten it in post enough to get a decent shot out of it.

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 6 (Part 1) - Porini Mara

 

The morning schedule at Porini Mara was a bit different than at Porini Amboseli.  Here we had an option to go out for an early game drive, come back for breakfast and then head out for another short game drive.  Or, we could stay out all morning and have a "bush breakfast".  Well, of course we opted for the latter since a 9AM breakfast in camp would interrupt prime wildlife viewing time.

 

So, we headed out at 6:15AM with the whole morning ahead of us.  We had a nice sunrise to enjoy which hopefully was a good omen of things to come:

 

 

As we were driving, we came upon a couple hyenas that were finishing up an overnight kill:

 

This was the first of a few strange moments on the trip where we saw live versions of the dead animals watching the predators eat their kind.  I found this interesting since we have not seen that in our previous experiences with predators and prey elsewhere.

 

 

This next picture reminds me of a song.  "I want my baby back, baby back.  Chili's baby back ribs....with BBQ sauce".  Yeah, pretty tasteless I know.  Not unlike most food at Chili's actually.

 

 

When we saw the hyenas we were heading off to find the Lions again.  After a bit of wandering we did find them but they were on the move so we didn't get a chance to see great behavior like the night before.

 

 

 

Once the Lions disappeared into thick bushes we continued driving to see what was around.  The guides noticed some signs that indicated a kill was nearby.  They were right.

 

 

 

There were four lions on this wildebeest kill and the sounds and/or smells had attracted lots of animals looking for scraps.

 

Black-backed Jackals:

 

 

Secretary Bird (what a cool bird!)

 

Marabou Stork (NOT the coolest bird around, that's for sure)

 

Spotted Hyenas:

 

 

Some zebras nearby would look up from time to time to be sure the lions were still busy but over all they didn't seem too worried.

 

 

George thought that once the lions finished eating they might move off and allow the other predators to fight over what was left.  So, we waited awhile but as soon as one lion would move off the kill another would come back over.  Eventually, we agreed to leave and come back a bit later.

 

As we were driving along, my "always on" Arizona reptile radar got a hit.  I yelled "stop" and low and behold a deadly Black Mamba was slithering over some rocks nearby.  It was great to see this snake but it would be the only snake we saw the whole trip unfortunately.

 

 

We got really close to a mother and baby zebra.  How cute is that little one?  I love that their dark stripes are a chocolate brown at this young age.

 

 

 

At around 9AM George and Tipa found a nice spot to lay out our bush breakfast. It was on the banks of a river with some cool trees around.

 

 

Our first bush breakfast was very good and consisted of bacon, sausage, hard boiled eggs, beans and toast.  They also had fruit and some juices but none of us tend to eat cut fruit when we travel so George and Tipa got all the fruit each day.  But, Karen did mention that she loved bananas so if they could bring some that would be great.

 

After breakfast we drove past this man made watering hole that had a little bit of everything:

 

 

Looks like this Impala needs to find a "no fly zone" like the lions did yesterday:

 

 

Of course, I couldn't resist another baby zebra:

 

 

As was the case for most of our drives, we really had sightings one after the other.  Next up was a pair of mating lions.  The male had a bit of a limp but that didn't keep him from following this female around everywhere she went:

 

 

There was a bunch of scent marking but otherwise they just kept up the march to some unknown location for what we assumed would be a not very romantic rendezvous.

 

 

We weren't the only ones watching the lions.  A large herd of wildebeest gathered and faced the lions as they were walking.  Their message was clear...don't mess with us. We have the numbers.

 

 

We let the lions continue on past us but the wildebeest kept up the staring and confrontational grunts.  The lions are walking to the far right of this picture and the wildebeest watched them every step of the way:

 

The excitement wasn't over for us however since we next stumbled onto some cheetahs. More cheetahs!   It was a mother with 3 sub adult cubs.  They were doing what cheetahs do best....lounging in the shade.

 

 

They would look up once in a while which allowed for some more interesting photos.

 

 

 

Another one "eyeing" our vehicle:

 

I just love cheetahs!  I mean, look at that face!  Gorgeous!

 

With that last encounter, an amazing morning game drive was concluded.  Once again, I can't believe the wealth of quality encounters we had.  At the time, it was hard to believe that the trip could get any better.  But, it does...

 

Unlike at Porini Amboseli, there wasn't much bird life around the camp mid-day.  I still did my mini walkabouts but I have few pictures to show for the efforts.

[Atravelynn]

Good job with the reptile radar.  I think we absolutely are better at sighting animals we are most familiar with.  I have heard the term called "search image" in the brain.  Very cute zebra photos just in time for Mothers Day.

[Galago]

Great shot of the Black Mamba. It does move fast, doesn't it? I saw my first one in the Kafue last year and it zipped over the ground like greased lightning. And just love the baby pyjama donkeys.

[monalisa]

@Atdahl More great pictures! That last closeup of the cheetah face is fantastic!!

 

Here are my (mainly gory) contributions

 

Bloody-faced hyena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The phantom of the opera

 

 

 

Social weavers entertaining themselves with our jeep mirror. They kept this up the WHOLE lunch time.

 

 

 

That is one intense stare

 

Cheetah yawn

 

 

 

 

 

Black backed jackal

 

Marabou stork

 

Such a pitiable face

 

Topi and baby

 

Mixed vultures