From Meru To Mara

[michael-ibk]

After a proper breakfast we drove North-West again, across the Olare Orok, and towards the Mara river. A few nice sightings on the way:

 

 

 

White-Backed Vulture

 

 

No longer spotted - Muddy Hyena.

 

The crossing point at the Mara was very active, a big herd was close to the river, and we got excited - would they cross?

 

 

Just two zebras inmidth lots and lots of wildebeest - we would watch these two for hours, they´d always stick out like two odd men out.

 

Crossing, one of the super-exciting, uber-awesome safari experiences, that´s what they tell you. And yes, it is, but our patience was sorely tested. Wow, these gnus are really expert suspense-builders, making it very hard on their devoted fans. A few steps forward, inching closer and closer to the water, tensing their muscles, ready to jump in - and then just one animal in the herd will turn around for some unfathomable unreason, and every single one of the others will inevitably follow suit, again shattering all hopes that now they would finally go into that damn water!

 

And repeat that again. And again. And then again.

 

"But who knows what's in the minds of the wildebeests?", Lynn wrote. I think nothing much except "follow the gnu which is changing direction at all cost".

 

 

This Hornbill didn´t mind the spectacle and was calmly taking a walk between thousands of nervous hooves.

 

I´ve seen "horror" pics of crossings with hundreds of people in attendance. It really was not that bad, there were maybe twenty other cars, but that´s already more than enough unfortunately. No one knew of course where they would enter, and so every time the herd was moving a bit all cars were changing positions, frantically jostling for the "perfect spot".

 

James didn´t, he told us there were two likely entrance points, and we would just stay at one and trust in a 50:50 chance. And it looked good. They came to the river again, just in front of us, we had a super position. Less than five metres for the gnu leader to the river - perfect!

 

 

And then, of course, one gnu got scared again, turned around and all of them would follow. *sigh* And as bad luck would have it, just five minutes later they jumped into the Mara, but not in front of us but at exactly the other spot. It took a while until we were in a viewing position again, and it was a second-row one. Less than ideal, but it was still an impressive spectacle to watch.

 

 

 

 

The first tranche safely reached the other side. Well, most of them.

 

 

Very bad pic, sorry, but the only one with a croc in it, so I put it in. The others were understandably scared and held back.

 

 

(Our two zebras still with them.)

 

But then they plucked up courage and followed their friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One happy croc.

 

We were happy, too - but not quite ecstaticly so. Yes, it had been an awesome experience seeing the poor, brave gnus fighting for their lives, against the current, evading crocs and hippos. But the number of other cars, even if not too many and most well-behaved, gave the crossing kind of a circus-like feel, not so much a wilderness one.

 

Maybe I´d think differently if we had had a better position, who knows. While it felt somehow important, and yes, good, "ticking off" a crossing as a must-see safari experience I however enjoyed many of our other Mara sightings more than this. The morning spent in the middle of the herd, with no other cars around, even for example. This was also why we decided not to try for crossings again the next days.

 

Almost all other cars left after a while, a part of the herd was still on our side. We were waiting for quite a long time, hoping for a more "private" experience, but this time patience was not rewarded, the herd moved away from the Mara eventually.

 

An intense, almost scary thunderstrom forced us to drive back to camp anyway. Our evening "goodie" was a sigthing of a male cheetah in the rain, probably Hodari again. At least the two connected dots on the right hindleg @@loafer247 mentioned can clearly be seen, I think.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

It had rained the better part of the night, but in the morning the weather god was looking favourably on us again - a beautiful sunrise heralded the new day.




We drove around between the Olare Orok and the Talek river and could prove our Samaritan side - one car, with other Mara Bush Camp guests, had got stuck in the mud, and we had to help them out. James tried to just push them out with our car, but to no avail - he needed the cable winch to get the job done. (So he was the Samaritan of course, we just watched.)

We were rewarded for our good deeds with a lovely, exclusive 30-minute sighting of some of the younger members of the Ol Kiombo pride.

 

 

 

 

 

Life is good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally playtime was over, they crossed the Olare Orok where we couldn´t follow them anylonger.

 

 

 

 

The Grant´s Gazelles on the other side quickly vamoosed.

 

We moved on, smiling - what better way to start a morning than with actice lions in the morning sun?

 

[Marks]

Lovely lion photos. Glad to hear the crowds didn't ruin your crossing experience even if they still detracted.

I particularly like the musclebound eland strutting amongst the wildebeest.

[michael-ibk]

So, what better way to continue a morning like this than with a beautiful ...



Cheetah!



A female, somewhere East of our camp between the Talek and the main road leading to Fig Tree. Miraculously, she was all ours for most of the following hours - we´d admire her from 07:30 till 10:30. One other car arrived at 08:30, but just stayed for 10 minutes and then left again.

A bit more patient was this car:



A film crew for the BBC. James told me their names, but unfortunately I forgot. Who knows, maybe the next "Africa" series is in the works here. They kept us company for half an hour, but then drove off again. They have an offroading-license. Apparently it´s USD 200,-- per day, but they are no longer issued to regular tourists, James told us.

Ostriches passing by:





"Our" cheetah was pretty lazy at first, just enjoying the morning sun.



But still, she clearly valued personal hygiene.

Every once in a while she´s get up a bit and scan the area in all directions.



These Crowned Cranes didn´t like her one bit and expressed their displeasure loudly.

So Madame Cheetah decided she´d have a hard time sneaking up onto anything unnoticed, like the Tommies not too far off, and decided to take a nap again.



But then, almost two hours after we had found her, she got up and changed into stealth mode!

[graceland]

Life IS Good, especially for you in the Mara, Michael.!

 

Great Wildies experience just sitting amongst the herd. We, too left the crossings after two; so many distracting visitors hooting and hollering!

 

Love the earlier snaps of the ellies with muddy feet - looked like they had on boots (and the sweet baby elie; adorable)

 

But as always- the lion sequence - perfect

and coming upon the cheetah posing for you!

 

Very good; life is very good when in Africa

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @@graceland - and I´m sure it will be super-good for you when you return next spring.

Our Madame cheetah had spotted a Tommie fawn. See them, run after them, kill them - the little ones don´t stand a chance, and it was all over in less than a minute. (Too far away for pics, though, and James didn´t want to disturb her while hunting.)

She apparently wanted to show us what she had got and returned with her prize, straight at us:













Lunch time now.

Every minute or so she stopped eating and thoroughly checked for potential danger in all directions.







Content that no predators were in sight she resumed feasting.

"Mmmmmh, little Tommie liver - excellent!"









She took her time with her meal, but after about half an hour she had consumed most of the fawn and left.



A parting shot:



The lady knows how to pose, especially for the BBC car who had returned sometime after the kill:





"Yes, I´m gonna be a star. " Edited December 6, 2014 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

One clip I forgot to insert earlier - Mme Cheetah and the Cranes:

 

[Caracal]

Thoroughly enjoying this superb report with wonderful photos of the spectacular and widely differing scenery and wildlife on your itinerary.

Looks like you chose well with the Aberdares - I stayed at the Ark in 1996 and have memories of buzzers going off during the night and people running down corridors in response to see what wildlife had been spotted at the lodges waterhole ... hmmm!

Great you saw that giant forest hog - noticed the bushbucks you've seen seem to be darker lacking the spots and possibly larger than the ones I've generally seen in Africa.

That scenery along the Uaso-Nyero river is spectacular and one of the favourite places that I've visited in Kenya.

Wasn't aware of the changes to Lake Nakuru's water level.

I like the term business of banded mongoose. They always look busy and purposeful.

[Treepol]

Mara Bush Camp looks like a real safari gem, I have added it into my notes for future reference.

 

You certainly enjoyed a quality cheetah sighting, even seeing a hunt! I particularly like the photo of the Crowned Crane, another of my favourite African birds.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks, @@Caracal - the male Bushbuck featured in the report was especially dark, others were lighter and had more spots. But all of them were definitely much larger. I read about the "buzzer experience" at the Ark and Treetops, that was precisely why I was looking for something different. Wouldn´t mind a night at one of the waterhole lodges in the future, though - but only as part of a longer Aberdares visit. Yes, Uaso Nyiro (or however it is spelt, read tons of different ones) is breathtakingly beautiful, as is most of Samburu - loved that place!

 

@@Treepol

 

Thanks, we were lucky having found Mara Bush Camp. I also love Crowned Cranes, I remember reading books on African animals as a little kid, and these birds always felt like true "Africa icons" to me, more so than some of the Big 5.

Edited December 7, 2014 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

The rest of the morning game drive was very relaxed. I wanted to find Malachite Kingfishers, and James knew where to find them, in a small somewhat swampy area close to the Talek. (They are found at slow-moving waters or ponds.)

 

 

We did find three. Fantastically beautiful tiny colourwonders, and we watched them for almost an hour. Mainly with binocs though, they were still a little bit too far away (and too quick) for our cameras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to camp we found another special bird - a Saddle-Billed Stork.

 

 

The yellow eyes tell it´s a female.

 

 

When we started our game drive in the afternoon the weather had deteriorated again, dark clouds were looming over the Mara once more.

 

 

Our crossing point, Olare Orok river.

 

Today we followed the course of it, and James soon found us a Verreaux´s Eagle-Owl, hidden deep in the tree´s leaves. (Me, I could have stared at that tree for hours and would not have found it. )

 

 

 

Impala herd. Not as numerous in the Mara as in many other places, but still seen regularly.

 

 

Coke´s Hartebeest are harder to find, but one particular herd stayed close to Rekero for all our week in the Mara and we would mostly see them when passing through there.

 

 

Hildebrandt´s Starling

 

 

Most Bohor Reedbucks were very shy and secretish, but this female was relaxed enough.

 

Again we had to come to the aid of a car stuck in the mud. The roads can be treacherous here, what looks like a small puddle after the rains can actually be a deep hole. (I´ve no experience with self-driving on safari, and I wouldn´t like to try in the Mara - quite different from Samburu, Meru or Nakuru where driving seemed much easier.)

 

After James got the other car out the passengers hurried to get into it again - a lioness suddenly turned up alarmingly close. Lucky for the humans, she already carried her personal snack.

 

[michael-ibk]

The lioness rarely paused with her prey (which looked oddly at peace, almost more like a cub being carried around), she determinedly walked with it, obviously having a specific destination in mind.



That destination was her family, the Ol Kiombo pride.



They are never hard to find, with the very young cubs they cannot move around too much and so are always staying close to a creek near Rekero. The female lay down inmidth her family and carefully started licking her meal.

 

We couldn´t quite understand why she had come here. Quite clearly she had no intention of sharing, every time of of her family members would approach her (and the meat), she would viciously gnarl, spit and hiss and even defend her prey with agressive paw swipes.



"All mine!"

 

Perhaps she just wanted to have a quiet place, protection against hyenas. Still, it all felt quite mean, a bit "Look what tasty stuff I have here, Mmmmmmmmmmmmh, it´s sooooooooo delicious, but I will eat it all on my own. Nothing for you, all for me - this is my precioussss."

The others didn´t take too much offense, though, and the young ones had better stuff to do anyway - playing around with Mum.

 

In the meantime, some of the older ones crawled closer and closer to the lioness with her warthog, and their beseeching looks eventually won her over, and she shared at least a bit.

 

The babies preffered a different kind of nourishment anyway.



All of this squabbling and playing around was apparently much too noisy for the pride´s pashas, they were sleeping 500 m away in the bushes.

 

We drove on on to look for leopards in the more forested vicininty of the rivers, but no luck this time. I was pretty dismayed at this sight:

 

 

James, obviously embarassed, told us that all this waste had been washed up here by the river and originated from outside the reserve. I was not convinced, why would it all be here in one place, so far deep inside the reserve. Shameful anyway.

 

At the confluence of the Talek and the Olare Orok lots of hippos were doing their grunting thing, and the crocs were busy getting bites out of a very dead hippo.

 

 

 

It was so inflated that we half expected it to fly away like a balloon.

 

The end of another beautiful day in the Mara.

 

[FlyTraveler]

@@michael-ibk : I keep enjoying this trip report (as all of your other TR-s), you make me feel like revisiting Mara...Like very much the close up of the Saddle-billed stork, all my photos of these birds are from far away... Fabulous cheetah experiences and photos!

 

 

P. S. Just saw the fantastisch photos of the Ol Kiombo pride with the cubs and the sunset silhouettes. Great stuff!

Edited December 7, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[graceland]

Oh do love the lion sequence; I'd much rather watch the cubs tumbling and playing with Mum rather than the lioness pulling and gnawing on

the warthog,

but that's just me

 

..and of course the end of your day in the Mara with the silhouettes, quite lovely.

The litter quite disturbing.

 

 

I am going to just re-read your entire report over and over; it is so jam packed. Love it. Thanks for sharing so much so perfectly!

[Treepol]

@@michael-ibk really enjoyed those lion shots, especially the cub lying upside down against Mum's flank. Two malachite kingfisher's in one shot, now I am really envious!

[TonyQ]

@@michael-ibk

Beautiful pictures of the cheetah, and of the lion cubs playing.

The warthog baby was just the size of a snack.

It is interesting your perspective on the crossing - and your preference for being surrounded by the large herd.

 

The litter does look like it is washed up - but a lot of it is small plastic bottles (which I imagine would have belonged to tourists?)

[Marks]

One animal messily devouring another animal shouldn't be "cute," but I feel like cheetahs never got that memo, as they somehow pull it off nearly every time. Sounds like your patience beat out the film crew that day!

[Geoff]

I'm only up to page 5 but so far the sightings have been excellent. Great gerenuk images.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Geoff

[SafariChick]

Continuing to love this report, and the Mara parts are whetting my appetite for my upcoming trip! Love the cheetah, lion (those cubs!) malachite kingfisher photos, and that close-up of the saddle-billed stork is wonderful - love them!

[pault]

Enjoyed catching up with your travels this morning. Only up to Nakuru so far but you are having a very good time with lots of exciting sightings. You really got a lot of firsts and a tremendous variety of animals and habitats.. And I think you spotted so much interesting. This would be a great report to read for someone who wants to know what Samburu and the Aberdares and Lake Nakuru are like now. Actually I wanted to know too, and now I know.

[twaffle]

The litter is a revolting, what a shame. The Mara certainly gave plenty of interesting sightings, enjoying it all very much.

[Soukous]

Thanks for a wonderfully entertaining TR @Michael-ibk

I stayed away for a couple of weeks so I could enjoy your entire Mara stay in one sitting.

your spotted cat sightings were exceptional.

[Sangeeta]

@@michael-ibk - thought I'd come back first to an old favorite before starting on the many new TRs I want to read. Being quietly surrounded by a herd of wildies is so special. Your videos are all charmingly filmed - loved seeing them, esp the tumbling lion cubs. This was a hugely rewarding trip.

[madaboutcheetah]

Michael, that's terrible that that much trash is washed up into the Mara.... Not good.

 

You got that perfect Silhouette into a RED Sky!!! Awesome...

A Saddle Billed Stork - never seen one in the Mara (then, i guess i should spend more time around the river and less time on the plains )

[michael-ibk]

All good things come to an end. Our last full day on this safari started with a beautiful sunrise.





This Tommie enjoyed it.

So, what to do? Should we go see Malaika and her cubs again? (No, couldn´t top our time with her, better keep those perfect memories.) Try for a crossing? (Did hardly cross our mind.) Visit a well-known Rhino, which was easily found by all camp´s guests the previous days in a certain area? (No, we were happy with our sightings in Meru and Nakuru already.)

We decided for something a bit more unconventional than big herds or cats:



Spotted Hyenas. There´s an active den near Governor´s camp close to the airstrip (in the North-West of the reserve).

 

Admittedly we had not just come up here for "just" Hyenas (plenty of them around everywhere in the Mara) but for their babies. The clan here had a few very young cubs/pups (?), and early morning was a good time according to James to get a glimpse at least.

We waited for more than 40 minutes, undisturbed by other cars, few people bother about Hyenas. It was fun watching a jackal sneaking around the den and then successfully stealing some goodies.





After a while our patience was rewarded and a few tiny dark hyena babies peeked out of the den.



We never saw more than three at the same time, but impossible to tell if there were three or more. Clumsy as they were, always tripping over their own feet and falling into their den again, they would rarely stay in sight for more than a few minutes at a time.





Despite appearances, this must be a female. Males have no role in the upbringing of the offspring and are not allowed near the den. So this is a female "pseudo-penis", I think.







Who says hyenas can´t be cute?



Whenever one of the young ones wanted to be a little bit adventurous and tried to wander out they were quickly brought back by their guardians.

We had a great hour watching the little ones who always entertained us with the endearingly clumsy way their were trying to move around.

Edited December 12, 2014 by michael-ibk