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

[Game Warden]

Thanks for a cracking report Like the way you presented the images as well, and final thoughts. Good points for planning. Matt

[PersonalPangea]

AKR1 thank you so much for a fantastic and in-depth trip report. Loved seeing your photos and accounts of all the action. I can look at cheetah all day long - they always have been, ever since I was a kid and way before I went on safaris, my favourite animal. Just goes to show, and I'm sure all STers know, that outside of the migration season is still packed with animals and action! So glad you enjoyed Mara Toto Camp, the tent and camp design and thank you for putting the team to the test.

 

Thank you to the STers who have put questions to me for the Mara Toto interview and apologise for the delay in answering them. There are some cracking questions and I'll reply to them all very shortly.

[PeterGermany]

Great report AKR1 and some amazing pictures!

 

Mara Toto Camp looks phantastic. It is also very good to see, that Cheetahs and esp. several cubs have made it so far. Fingers crossed! I also think it was good to give the Lookout Female and her 3 youngsters a bit of a helping hand (there were 4 cubs in the beginning, she sadly lost one).

 

The Mara never fails to deliver!

 

For those being interested. Here is the story of the buff kill ... and the injured lion. The area where it happened is basically Marsh Pride territory (and Notch and his gang have not been close to this area for at least 2 years). The buff has been killed by 5 nomadic males. At least 3 of these young males are originating from OOC. After they had fed on this kill for almost a day, the 4 Pride Males of the Marsh Pride charged in and chased them off. Two of them chased 3 up Rhino Ridge, the other 2 chased 2 down towards Paradise Plains ... and got hold of one, gave him a severe beating (that is the injured one...not too bad though). Intersting that these two intruders came back to check on the kill again.

 

[Double Dare]

These trip reports are just not productive! I spend way too much time reading them and dreaming of going on the same trip. At this rate, I have about 15 must do trips! Please make your trip reports less enticing so I don't add anything else to the already long list.

[safariguy]

Excellent report! Gosh, this was a great way to end the day by reading the great thread. Thanks so much for posting the great text as well as photographs.

[AKR1]

Thanks Andy. By the way two of us were carrying your Gura Gear bags!

 

 

A few more photographs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

 

 

Image below & above AAAfrica:

 

Image below AAAfrica:

 

Trunk.. ated reflections (AAAfrica):

 

Photo below AAAfrica:

 

Bat eared fox in motion (AAAfrica)

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[Game Warden]

 

Fantastic! Can you add your birds in flight to this topic and respective birding ID topics. Thanks. Matt

[Safaridude]

Phew, I am exhausted! That's a "full metal jacket" 8 days. 100+ hours!

 

Congrats on a great trip AKR. Thanks for sharing your intense experience.

[Alex The Lion]

Thanks for sharing this great trip report, your photos brought back some wonderful memories.

 

We had two weeks at Mara Plains this time last year, and loved it. Once other things in my life have played themselves out, will probably the place I visit on an annual basis.

 

My wife and I were in camp when the Joubert's were deciding on the new location of Toto, so great to see it take shape. (We also had a great chat over lunch about the quality of OOC game viewing)

[ovenbird]

Thanks for such an informative and detailed report...complete with a good dose of humor and superb photos. The report on Mara Toto is most welcome!

[wilddog]

Only just caught up with your great trip report. Very informative on the camps and the differing areas/concessions, and as for the wildlife, you could not really ask for more. The images really give a good feel for the green season and show beautifully the numerous, intimate and exciting sightings you had.

 

Thanks.

 

A return to the Mara, but in the green season, it is now on my wish list.

Edited March 1, 2013 by wilddog

[SafariChick]

Love the last bunch of photos you posted - beautiful!

[graceland]

Bravo! (I've been saying awesome way too much for my age!)

 

 

As always you bring your trip to life with the photos and detailed commentary.

 

Back to Mara in Green Season seems like a good idea ~ it is soooo beautiful.

 

 

Some of your photos should be post cards ~ I'd love to send a few out!

[AKR1]

Thanks for the complements everyone.

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[Sangeeta]

Well, AKR1, ones takes a few days absence from ST at ones own peril these days Just logged in today after several days and see not one but numerous new TRs...and thought I'd start with yours because it would be the shortest. But that was an idiotic assumption since it turns out you saw enough for 16!!

 

Wonderful report. Not that I can lay any claim to photo critiquing, but much as I liked your photos from Bots, these are even better. You're up and up on that front! A very well written account of your trip - esp liked the title. These were indeed 8 glorious days and yes, it is lovely to go back to old favorites every now and then and appreciate anew what a special place the Mara can be.

 

Now to read the other posts... STers have been much too busy for me

[AKR1]

A few more panoramas (Note taken with an iPhone 5!):

 

The short grass plains of the main Reserve, between the Mara and Talek rivers:

 

 

Naboisho:

 

Edited March 2, 2013 by AKR1

[Kavey]

Oh how MARVELLOUS! Full of wonder and delight, love the way it's structured by different aspects / animals and so beautifully illustrated. One of the best reports ever!

[AKR1]

All photos below in this post (74) by Sharmajd.

 

Airplane, Gazelle and Sunset (Naboisho).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by AKR1

[twaffle]

What a lovely sequence, thanks for posting this final series of images and thanks to your photographer friend.

[AKR1]

I have updated the report with new pictures and repositioning other pictures in the correct order.

[Sangeeta]

I want to be in on that picnic!!

[Game Warden]

Lovely wrap up with that final series. Supershot of the plane flying away, reminded me of the byplane sequences in Out of Africa.

[robertk40]

I love your pictures, they are awesome. Would you be so kind and tell me what kind of camera and lenses you used?

[AKR1]

@@robertk40 I used a Canon 6D and 7D with three "L" zoom lenses: my old trusty 100-400, 24-105 F4 and 70-200 F2.8 II. The pictures from my safari mates were with Nikon equipment. Full frame D4, D3S and 800E with 200-400 F4 and 600 F4.

However, I will add I am just an amateur photographer who takes pictures just for my own enjoyment. If you compare my pictures to someone like @@twaffle who uses similar equipment, you can make out the clear difference between a pros work and mine. My safari mates who like me are strictly amateurs however, are technically better than I and you can see that in their work.

I love your pictures, they are awesome. Would you be so kind and tell me what kind of camera and lenses you used?

Edited March 14, 2013 by AKR1

[robertk40]

^{AKKR1, I knew it I knew it from the beginning ,these pictures have to be made from the best equipment on earth. They all look super. I call myself too as a amateur photographer using my old Nikon D90 with Tamron 11-16 F2.8 and Nikon 18-200 and of course my favorite travel companion "bigma" sigma 50-500. African safari has been on my bucket list for a long time, but after seeing yours and Twaffles pictures decided that summer 2014 will be our Kenia safari time and time for a new photo equipment. I wonder how you deal with so many big and heavy pieces traveling and on the road. How many people helping you? and after all what do you do with those pretty photos: you put them in a photo albums if yes who you use ( I'm using mypublisher.com) or make movies or DVDs.}

^{Wonder where you planning your next trip? if you need strong back caring them around you can count on me}

Edited March 15, 2013 by Game Warden