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Kenya the fabulous; Wild dogs of Laikipia; Malaika the show-stopper;Fantastic Mara Toto and Who said cheetahs are not seen too much in the Mara?


madaboutcheetah

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madaboutcheetah

INTERLUDE: LAIKIPIA WILDERNESS CAMP

 

I do realize that this is a bit sloppy with the trip report going back and forth ....... but, I thought I'd give a break to the Mara with this first post from LWC.

 

My first visit outside the Mara with regards to travels in Kenya. LWC was a breath of fresh air wrt their approach - it's a place for the outdoorsy type; with an accent on walking safaris primarily - although they do carry out a wide variety of activities from swimming to Canoeing/kayaking to rock climbing and camping out........ Very homely atmosphere and top notch guiding with Steve Cary at the head of things and more than able support from his guides Barend and Mugambe (sp?) ........ Lovely home cooked food and a varied lunch and dinner setting every day. What more can one ask for! Steve and Annabelle are gracious hosts and they along with their two boys and Two dogs provide the sort of atmosphere that is tailor made to a super stay!!! The scenery and vistas is simply stunning ....... Again, I have lots of iphone images that I need to edit.

 

Plains game a little more skittish here and I think I was just perhaps a week or so late with the early rains dispersing the game a little bit. One of my points of interest was the Northern Species; I just got a little bit of an appetizer and I would definitely hope to return one day. I did see a few Grevy's; reticulated giraffe; a single Oryx and the Vulturine Guinea fowl. Unfortunately, the light for photographing the guinea fowl wasn't too flattering. So no images that i was seeking out ....... Next time!!!

 

I was fortunate that they had the resident pack of dogs at their den site and so obviously they would be the highlight in terms of the viewing at LWC. The pack is I think 20 plus adults and 12 puppies..... 5 of the dogs are collared(i think that's what Steve mentioned), so when you go out on drive - they do carry the antenna to check things out to see the where the dogs can be tracked. Dogs are super relaxed and can be approached on foot if you bum-crawl.

 

Getting to LWC - I think you can easily drive from Nairobi. However, you can also fly into Nanyuki and drive to their ranch. I would recommend a minimum of 4 nights. There is just too much to do and the atmosphere is simply AWESOME!!!

 

Sometime in the future, I hope to be able to go even further north to Meru and Matthews Range. I'd rather go to Samburu (i think) to get relaxed photographable Plains game than to go to some of the fenced in conservancies .........

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Kenya definitely rocked for you Hari.

 

Love the photos of Malaika's cubs and The Rani - Hyaena sequence, and all the others too.

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@@madaboutcheetah

We are thinking of going to Laikipia Wilderness combined with Mara - so your report is wonderul for us - lots of pictures for LWC please!

 

I think you could make a fortune selling the picture of the to cheetahs face to face - ideal for a card (valentine?)

The pictures of the cubs are beautiful!

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Agree, the cubs sequence I want to see forever....just brings a smile to ones' face :)

 

Happiness in the Mara for all.

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Great shots MAC - you really nailed the the sequence with the hyena. @@Safaridude, that pack of dogs would have been the same we saw at Sosian in Feb?

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Great shots MAC - you really nailed the the sequence with the hyena. @@Safaridude, that pack of dogs would have been the same we saw at Sosian in Feb?

 

There are several packs in the area, so you never know, but it's most likely the same pack… since @@madaboutcheetah says there are five with collars (unless there is another pack in the area with five collared).

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madaboutcheetah

Thank You all for the kind words and encouragement. Much appreciated!!!

 

@@TonyQ - You will love LWC ....... Will definitely post more segments - dogs etc etc., I have lots of scenic shots on the iphone - I need to figure out how to edit and post them here.

 

@@Game Warden and @@Safaridude - Steve did mention that there was another pack that was denning at the neighboring ranch ....... There are several packs in the area, apparently and all of them are collared? - Will have photos of some of the adult dogs later on - you might be able to recognize them if it was indeed the same pack you saw earlier in the year. I am just amazed that a pack this size hunts primarily Dik dik to sustain itself ........ WOW.

Edited by madaboutcheetah
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Great pics of the dogs, Hari, that alone must have made LWC worth it! And just love Malaika´s little ones of course ... how often did you go South to see them? And did you always find her?

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks, @@michael-ibk .......... Thank You!!!

 

I'm trying to get my bearings right wrt direction and I think you are right (South will be Look-out/Sand River/Serengeti border) ...... ;)

 

It was a long ways from Mara Toto - She was in the approx vicinity of the immediate look-out area that entire week - I went 3 times. Spent One full day morning to evening when there were relatively few cars (ranging from 2-3 to just our car); One day left her lunch time as she and the cubs were going to snooze off their impala lunch; another day left after a brief stay as there were too many vehicles and then Daniel found me another female cheetah that we had to ourselves without any other car .......... No problem finding her - You know how all the guides are connected and networked ..... find out where she was left at last night and track her first thing in the morning (would take about 20 minutes still).

Edited by madaboutcheetah
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Great stuff. Lovely to see all this and very happy you are continuing with the writing, even if you are hopping around a bit!

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madaboutcheetah

Thanks so much @@pault - I am enjoying your Uganda adventures too ........ btw, also look forward to your report from Ruaha ;) ; as you know - I've been intrigued by it.

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madaboutcheetah

A quick couple that I just edited this evening - (Whole lot of Malaika that still needs editing :) ) - the BG in the last couple of images here illustrates the look-out plains in all their beauty.

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Edited by madaboutcheetah
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Thursday's Child

Lovely photographs - looking at these I can understand why you're @@madaboutcheetah.

Edited by Thursday's Child
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armchair bushman

Ooh man, MAC. These are ALL super photos. I want more. The dogs, the hyena shoving Rani off, the Fat Eared Box....
Love them.

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The last picture with the 3 cubs running around is just so brilliant!

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New location, photos still awesome! (Sorry for the like-storm also!)
Hyaena theft sequence was amazing, I also highly encourage the idea of spending time at a hyaena den - would be eager to see those photos!
Dogs beautiful and dark in East Africa, the Notch relative Lion hugely impressive too.

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madaboutcheetah

Dear All, Thank You so much for all the kind comments and your interest in this thread. Much appreciated!!!

 

Right now, we are heading back to Laikipia Wilderness Camp to the Wild dogs and their den as requested by @@TonyQ ........ Photography-wise the terrain was a challenge and on a couple of instances I needed to quickly go to Manual Focus - overall a very fun photographic challenge. Thanks so much to Mugambe(sp?) for his tracking skill and enthusiasm. Steve and Annabelle were also extremely gracious in their effort to ensure that I was able to concentrate on my photography wrt the wild dogs.

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madaboutcheetah

(Continued) ....... If you take a look at the images, there is a slope/ridge on the other side of the rocks and several of the dogs would be hidden there and away from Photographic opportunities - yet, no complaints ...... there still were some moments where I was able to capture some of their interaction.

 

I promise, will get back to the cheetah editing tomorrow (today has been one of those doggy dog days!!!)

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Edited by madaboutcheetah
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After all that editing MAC, you must be dog-tired...

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