Eight Glorious days in the Mara- a new appreciation for a quintessential safari destination

[madaboutcheetah]

Your ADD cheetah male still is pretty young. Possibly inexperienced ...... Thanks again, enjoying your report and sounds an awesome trip!!!

 

I hate it when safari operators advertise their "cheetah on the roof" sighting in their publications .......

[armchair bushman]

Great pictures and great report! Thanks for this. Especially as these are the first pics I've seen of Mara toto.. Tent design is a bit plain jane and boring but the interior is really nicely done.

[AKR1]

Lions: We saw many lions on this safari and below are a few interesting sightings.

 

First up- one of the four sons of Notch, the legendary elder statement of the Mara.

 

The beautiful lion without any social skills.

 

We had heard lions roar close to camp from about 3 am onwards at Mara Toto.

 

In the pre-dawn darkness we found a female about 2 kms from camp in the Masai Mara. She was roaring, making contact calls and a male lion shows up.

 

 

I'm beautiful and I know it.

 

Where is this girl?

 

Yes, it's looking good, but I'm beautiful so I will be cool

 

Just a little closer

 

 

 

He finds her and she is, let's just say very co-operative. Then without any warning, our beautiful male decides to mark his territory, ignoring the fact she is right behind, and sprays her right in the face. Even Ping says this guy is an idiot.

 

That's it- he blew it big time.

 

I did'nt mean to.......

 

Ok I'm sorry. The sun is coming up and it will be too hot soon.

 

 

How about it?

 

We lionesses put up with a lot from you dumb males. But being sprayed in the face is crossing the line. Leave me ALONE.

 

Fire and Ice (Photo below by AAAfrica:

 

Dammit#$!!

 

Picky girls$#@!@#

 

 

OK then I'll take a nap: (Image below AAAfrica)

 

Image below Sharmajd:

The female heads off after spotting a Topi drinking nearby, but she moves too slow and the Topi is gone in a flash. Another missed kill but its a beautiful location in lovely early morning light

 

 

 

We saw a large number of lions including the star Notch and several of his sons in the main reserve. We were told Notch is reputed to be the world’s most prolific dad having sired over 150 cubs (source Ben). He is now 13 years old and is still producing cubs- he was seen with a young cub. Although we had seen two of his four sons earlier, our encounter with Notch came at the end of our trip on the last full day in the main park from Naboisho. We saw him near a decomposing hippo carcass covered with vultures and hyenas that Notch and two of his sons had killed. Notch was sitting under a tree nearby alone and in severe need of a bath- he looked pretty bad covered with hippo innards and flies. He is on his last legs given I only saw one incisor intact in his lower jaw and very few other teeth. He is an extraordinary survivor given his age -Notch and his four sons have taken over six other prides in the Masai Mara from “Main Crossing, Topi Plains, not far off from the Marsh pride, Double Crossing right to edge of OOC, and still moving on”.

 

We came across this hippo kill that Notch and his sons had made a day or two earlier and it was really stinking at this point.

 

And then, under a nearby tree, stuffed full of hippo, Notch himself. Age 13-14 years.

 

The flies loved him:

 

Image below Sharmajd:

 

Just one fully working lower tooth.

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

But the most important part of him is still fine

 

This may well be the last year for him, but people have been saying that for years. Ben said he was recently seen with a young cub, his latest prodigy.

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Marsh Pride/ Musiara : We spent a delightful afternoon with about 12 members of the Marsh pride not far from Governors camp. The cubs were playing and climbing small trees near the edge of the swamp under watchful eyes of the females while the males slept nearby. We had invested about an hour waiting for the sleeping pride to wake up, and several Governors vehicles came by where we witnessed some amusing behavior. One guy in a bright red shirt leaned right of the car – way, way out while taking pictures of the lions with a small P&S camera. He did this repeatedly and was appalling close to the lions. His guide presumably did not tell him not to do this because he did it several times. Another vehicle came by with a lady using an iPad for her photography, complete with LED flash, at least she stayed within the vehicle. It would have been a great ad for Apple and the iPad as a camera. Hey, her camera monitor was 10 times the size of even a pro body DSLR.

 

 

 

The Marsh pride has been having some problems with grazing cattle that illegally comes into the Maasai Mara from MNC and when lions kill cattle, often the Masaai kill the lion

 

 

 

Image below Sharmajd:

 

The action started just as Ping had predicted with the cubs, but what was particularly enchanting about the scene was the fact that a large herd of elephants were drifting really close and at least one curious cub left the others and moved away 100m really close to some huge elephants, with the female lion not looking particularly concerned and the elephants ignoring the cub. In the far distance a bull elephant was chasing an ostrich repeatedly. The male lions continued to sleep.

 

 

 

Ok mom I'll come down. Can you catch me??

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Image below Sharmajd:

Image below Sharmajd:

 

 

Photo below by AAAfrica:

By AAAfrica:

 

By AAAfrica:

 

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Image below AAAfrica:

Image below AAAfrica:

Hey it's them lions again.

 

 

You cubs are much too close to the Elephants- get back.

 

 

Image below AAAfrica:

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Image below by AAAfrica:

 

 

 

As the light faded and all the Governor’s vehicles left to avoid being fined for missing the curfew (their camp was 5 minutes away). the advantage of being at Mara Toto was clear- a camp in the center of the Mara’s vehicle had left 30 minutes earlier. The lions moved into hunting mode and the entire pride took off determinedly with us following till it was almost dark and then bolting north for the MNC where we made our way in the dark back to MT.

 

 

This is where we finally had to leave as the lion pride was in full hunting mode. Bad luck this was not in the OOC, good we could still see them and get to the OOC without ranger trouble.

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Females and cubs of the Offbeat pride in the main park. Saw some really bad behavior on the part of some guides who cut off the lioness trying to hunt and got really close to the cubs. Ping phoned the warden who got there as we left ( this was mid-day and really bright which resulted in poor pictures)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cub Scouts (photo below by AAAfrica):

 

Conga line (AAAfrica):

 

Photo above and below by AAAfrica:

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[twaffle]

Nice lion action. Nice proactive behaviour by your guide on reporting bad behaviour.

[Atravelynn]

That is quite a cheetah-lion tale you have. To raise her cubs to the current age, that mother cheetah is not often clueless. To further justify the actions of the cheetah saving drivers, I wonder if the presence of the vehicles in the first place distracted the mother cheetah so she did not notice the approaching lion. But your shots seem to show the lion is not far from the cheetah. Great expression on the lion's face. So many lions in the trees or trying to get up for you! The photo of the male with the flies on him is both disturbing and exceptional. Lots going on in the Mara for you!

[AKR1]

Ridge Pride: We saw two males from the Ridge pride at a buffalo kill in the northern part of Paradise Plains quite close to Governor's airfield in the main park. The buffalo had been three quarters eaten from the inside and Ping thought that it was at needed at least four lions to have eaten so much as the buffalo was quiet fresh having been killed only hours ago. The interaction between the two lions was interesting- they more or less ignored each other even though they were brothers and there was no nuzzling or other common acts. One of them was very possessive of the kill and charged vultures who tried to get there even managing to kill one large vulture. The other ignored the kill and headed up a hill- this lion kept wanting to use the car as shade and Ping did not let him although he got within 2 feet of me. Suddenly we see two other male lions up the hill and this male charges them- they submissively roll over and we realize they are quite badly injured with one of them bleeding from his private parts, common injuries when male lions attack other males. Ping’s theory which I do not know how he reached was the first two males had killed the buffalo and subsequently the males we first saw showed up and attacked and severely injured them taking over the kill. After a bit the two injured males bolted with one of them barely able to walk due to the mauling he had received in a sensitive area. We came back and spent some time with the male guarding the buffalo who now decided to pose in bright hot sunlight near a stream at a very photogenic spot. I noticed the number of flies on him was a lot less because of the hot sun, compared to his brother who was lying in the shade and being really bothered by hordes of flies.

 

We first saw these vultures right at about 1 pm- harsh, unforgiving light

 

 

The buffalo carcass which was only a few hours old

 

Chasing a Jackal away:

 

 

The two lions who may have made the original kill near a tree uphill about 150 m away from the kill site:

 

Lion # 1 from the kill site goes to deal with these guys who behave very submissively. We see they are severely injured.

 

And painfully take off. The poor fellow's private parts have been mauled and he can barely walk.

 

The victor takes over the tree

 

And marks it

 

Coming back to the buffalo and his brother

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Separately, on the way back a couple of miles away we saw this guy who Ping told us had encountered the wrong end of a machete for stealing a cow and is now known as the "pancake male"

 

Image below by AAAfrica:

 

Image below by Sharmajd:

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Naboisho- Enesikira or KGS (Koiyaki Guiding School) pride- this is the pride of 22+ lions that hangs around Naboisho Camp. We spent some time with the pride close to camp in a heavily scrub vegetation area. The cub behavior was delightful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two stunning male lions in the Reserve :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very ISO image at night with a red spotlight:

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[PCNW]

Loving the report and photos. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[francescodelv]

hi akr1. thanks for share pics. the 2 dominant males are 2 son of notch. If you see my trip report can confirm my opinion. after kruger/sabi sabi in march, we return in september in that part of MM

[AKR1]

The lioness Joy who left the Marsh pride with her two adult sons last year and now is in the Talek area

 

 

Joy's two adult sons, Hasani and Matajo.

 

Lioness in the OOC

 

Image below by AAAfrica:

 

Sunrise in the Masaai Mara, Notch junior walks across like the king surveying his domain (Ok maybe too dramatic)

 

 

Two images below by Sharmajd:

 

 

 

Elephants:

We saw several herds of elephants in the main park and the conservancies. I counted one herd of 75+ in the main park spread over what looked like a hillside close to the Mara river. A memorable sighting was in Naboisho with a fast moving group that reminded me of elephants we had seen in Amboseli in summer 2010- I can’t pinpoint why this particular group brought back the Amboseli memory but it looked a bit like the photographer Nick Brandt’s Amboseli work (incidentally we had run into him at Tortellis camp back then). I also loved the lion elephant interaction described above with the Marsh pride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the main park-the elephants were spread out and I counted about 75 but cannot find a shot showing a larger group right now

 

 

An female elephant in Naboisho who was born with a deformed leg but has managed to survive and even have calfs:

 

 

A magnificent bull in the OOC

 

 

Masai Mara

 

Four images below by AAAfrica:

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Buffalo:

Some big herds of 250+ in both the main park and in OOC. We had one memorable early morning excitement involving buffalo and what we thought were lions in the MM park. A big herd was running full tilt and Ping sped towards them saying lions must be chasing them. By way of background, just before we had reached, the previous guest (who were Mara Toto’s first guests) had seen a start to finish lion kill of a buffalo. Ping has an amazing 8 minutes video that he showed us on this) but did spot a bloody calf who was making distress calls and Ping said almost certainly the calf had been attacked by lion. We raced there and only found a few hyenas near the location in center of a huge low grass field and tried to locate the lions for 30 minutes driving back at least 2 miles, but came up with nothing.

 

 

 

Buffalo with a choir

 

Choral singers from Buffalo (AAAfrica):

 

 

You looking at ME

 

 

The injured calf protected by the herd

 

 

 

Sometimes after the panic and adrenaline subside it leads to other things

 

 

 

 

Feather in the cap (photo by AAAfrica):

 

Horn while in traffic (AAAfrica):

Patentheses (AAAfrica):

 

Nosey bird (AAAfrica):

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[madaboutcheetah]

AKR1, How come you spent a whole lot of time in the park vs the OOC? What are the traversing rules from Toto into the OOC, from what you gather?

[AKR1]

Full traversing rights to OOC (till Mara Plains opens in June), Mara North and the main park. We found the main park very productive but did spend significant time in the three conservancies as well- of the 8 days I would say 2 days in the park 3 in the conservancies, this is exclusively and the rest split between the two on the same day. Why the question?

[madaboutcheetah]

Was wondering what the traversing rules would be once Mara Plains opens for business in June? I asked that because, last year in Feb/March the OOC was the most productive area and where there weren't too many cars. Both Mara North and the MM were too busy.........

[pault]

Catching up with the trip reports now. That was really a very nice 40 minutes. What a great trip - so many things seen. Caught all the important moments on camera too - some great shots in there.

[SafariChick]

Enjoying this report very much. Very interesting to hear about Mara Toto and love all the lion action, especially the cubs, and the lion/cheetah story.

[twaffle]

Incredible large herd of buffalo. It may be the one we also saw in the Reserve, but from a distance. The elephant with the deformed leg is an great testimony to endurance.

[AKR1]

Giraffe:

Although there were giraffe all over, the highest concentrations were in the Naboisho conservancy followed by Motorogi. Naboisho is known for its large towers (herds) of giraffe and it certainly delivered. I counted several sightings of 25-30 individuals scattered over the area but mostly visible by looking around from one spot. We also noticed Giraffes are great sentinels with large groups of zebra, impala, Topi and other game that are preyed on by predators mostly lions, hanging close to giraffes. On more than one occasion we witnessed a careful lion stalk, blown by an alert giraffe. It reached the stage when we saw lion stalking game with giraffe nearby we just left knowing the giraffe would never allow the lion very close.

 

 

 

 

 

They can move fast when startled

 

 

A garden of Eden scene- the picture does not do justice to just how beautiful it was, And this came with some frustration- we had invested several hours looking for a leopard that Ben said was definitely around and several times all the giraffe were looking one way but we bever managed to see the elusive, master of disguise, Naboisho Leopard. This spot is a rocky salt lick right on the Ol Kinyei border

 

 

Vulnerable position drinking water. They each took turns with the other two keeping guard.

 

 

Next three photos below by AAAfrica:

 

 

 

Motorogi Conservancy:

 

 

 

 

Two sentinels keeping watch on the entire valley below, high on a hillside

 

 

The giraffe's in Motorogi were really comfortable as this one can be seen sitting down, a very vulnerable position if lions are around:

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Plains game:

 

Eland, I did not realize how fast they can move and the fact they are the size of buffalo:

 

 

 

 

 

Northern reaches past Motorogi near Masaai land

 

 

Photo below AAAfrica:

 

Zebra crossing (AAAfrica):

 

 

 

A new brood

 

 

 

Naboisho:

 

Prime Leopard Country Naboisho, but no luck

 

Topi at dusk, OOC- they have amazing eyesight

 

Wilderbeast, OOC

 

Image below by Sharmajd:

 

Kori Bustard, one of the largest birds in Africa

 

 

Photo below AAAfrica:

 

 

Beautiful scene, OOC not far from Mara Plains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Motorogi:

 

Dont make a fool of yourself in front of the humans. They maybe from the new Branston camp (literally across the hill)

 

Masai Mara

 

Mara North

 

Fighting Topi's OOC

 

Image below Sharmajd:

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

A few panoramic landscapes

 

Low grass fields Masai Mara between the Mara and Talek rivers

 

Naboisho:

 

 

 

 

Guides:

I really liked both Ping and Benjamin who were quite different. Ping has a very comfortable demeanor and a good sense of humor while Ben is a little more serious but opens up after a bit. Both are very knowledgeable and I appreciated them saying on the rare occasion they were not sure or did not know details about a specific animal (belonging to which pride, exact age, etc.), but almost always they knew the precise details. Ping was the better tracker and I vividly recall an extraordinary job of locating the leopard “Yellow” in the OCC, going by hard work, perseverance and finally sound, as we had not had good luck the previous day in this endeavor. Ben tried his best as well on leopard, but despite checking all the areas did not appear to have the 6^th sense that Ping demonstrated. In fairness, the animals in Naboisho were more skittish and appeared less habituated to vehicles than the OOC, Mara North and certainly the main park. We had really good luck in the MM park one of our days at Naboisho, and I felt Ben really shined there with excellent knowledge and use of contacts. On contacts, Naboisho camp does not communicate with other camp’s vehicles in the conservancy by radio and one has to work much harder and do all the work solo there unless the camp itself is full and several camp vehicles are around. While Great Plains only had one other vehicle out, Ping has an excellent “cell-phone” network and seems to know seemingly everyone in the area including the wardens. On more than one occasion in the main park I felt we were being followed once other guides saw Ping as they all knew his tracking reputation. On the other hand, Naboisho has full access to their sister camp Rekero in the main park and with three Rekero vehicles out, there was a clear benefit there.

I was very happy with both our guides on this safari.

 

I will say, in my experience, Ping ties Hobbs (at Little Kwara, Okavango) as the best guide I have had on safari. Also, Ping’s territory is much larger than a single conservancy, even one as large and diverse as Kwara.

 

Ping

 

 

Ben, in his favorite spot on one of the many long waiting periods

 

Image below Sharmajd:

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[AKR1]

Koiyaki Guiding School, Naboisho: Ben told us he was a graduate of the very first class at KGS many years back. On a the subject of female guides in the Mara, Ben seemed very supportive although agreed its particularly tough being a woman amongst so many male guides. He counted only five female guides in the Mara including the conservancies at this time- turns out one of my safari mates had stayed at &Beyonds Bateleur camp and had a female guide driving their vehicle named Sophie that he said was excellent. Of course Ben knows her and agreed she was very good. From what I could make out of the conversation, &Beyond (formerly CC Africa) seems to have been more progressive than others in hiring female guides.

 

 

Camp Managers: Our camp managers at both camps were superb. Thank you Richard, Lorna, Roulef and Helen for giving us complete flexibility on our 13-14 hour days and the wonderful conversations around the bonfire/dinner. Our agent Bill Given’s handling of logistics was perfect with minimal waiting times and everything as requested. Bill’s recommendation of Embakoko lodge on the last day in Nairobi turned out to be excellent and we did see black and white Rhino, albeit at a distance. The lodge itself is stunning and very upscale with period photographs of old Nairobi and the park on the walls. The food and service was excellent and the fact its located about 25 minutes from the international airport makes it a perfect location for the last day, or the first day assuming you have a full day in Nairobi on the way in. Emma and Anton were also great hosts and despite the short time (8 hours) there, it was a wonderful farewell to our safari.

 

Richard & Lorna, Mara Toto

 

A lovely surprise lunch hosted in a beautiful spot in the OOC by Lorna & Richard

 

Roulef (left) and Benjamin (right)

 

I cannot find a picture right now of Helen as she was always running around being the perfect hostess producing settings like this and even better meals:

 

Final Thoughts:

 

While this safari was short, just 8 nights, I estimate we were actually on game drives in excess of a 100 hours, something I assume people who follow the normal model of a 3-4 hour drive in the morning and another couple of hours late afternoon, would need twice as many days to clock that much time. Of course, the early morning and late afternoon times are generally more productive and clearly far better for photography product outcome. However, I was surprised at how much we saw during the 11 am to 3 pm time when we rarely saw other vehicles, especially during lunch time that many camps require their guests to return- we actually saw vehicles from name brand camp(s) leaving at say 12 ish from an exciting sighting and both Ping and Ben laughed it’s their “fixed camp lunch time” or dinner time later in the evening. Having complete flexibility to spend the entire day in either the main park or conservancy and have freshly made, very good lunch brought out to us (at Mara Toto this included any location within reason in the OCC, Mara North or the Main Park, and at Naboisho camp only their conservancy, but their sister camp Rekero serviced us in the main park) was a huge plus at least in terms of what we look for in choosing a safari camp. Perhaps the single most exciting encounter of this safari for me of the leopard Olive hunting impalas who finally chased her off, occurred in a busy area in the main park, but was an exclusive sighting likely due to all other vehicles having returned to their camps for lunch. Of course the private vehicle and top notch guide are the two others legs of this three- legged- stool- safari -model, so to speak. While one may miss the pleasure of relaxing in camp and enjoying a long leisurely lunch with more choices, given the distance travelled for the relatively short number of nights on safari, this is the preferred model. On the other hand, this only works for a “boys outing” as we have been doing, and when our families come on safari, I would follow more of a traditional or modified traditional model; however the private vehicle and best-in-class guide requirement remain.

 

Edited February 28, 2013 by AKR1

[francescodelv]

beautiful trip report AKR1

[twaffle]

Well done on an excellent report, great summary.