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?

[FlyTraveler]

@madaboutcheetah: I am just catching up with your report, Hari, great stuff! Love the face to face cheetah shots and the ones with the cubs. Fabulous male lions photos, as well. Really enjoying this report and looking forward for more!

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks for your continued generous comments - Thank you all .....

 

Just one from tonight. A sort of BW experiment I tried my hand at (not happy with the end result) ....... Anyways, this is the Mother Leopard that was hanging about at Double Crossing

[Safaridude]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

Yup, it's the same pack I saw at Sosian Ranch (actually just outside Sosian at Ol Donyo Lemboro) in February. Check out the exact same markings on the individual in the forefront in each photo. The white spots on the front left leg… a dead giveaway.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2014 by Safaridude

[Thursday's Child]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

Great report and photographs - do you know how old the wild dog pups were that you saw?

[Marks]

Simply awesome photos over the last few pages...sorry for bombarding you with "likes," it was just too hard to restrain myself.

[graceland]

Wow, those teeth on the dogs; had not seen that up close and personal with any of my dog sightings (Bots); Looks like LWC really went all out for you! And of course the cheetah; amazing.

 

This is a grand month of trip reports; I can't get a darn thing done but wonder how to get back!

 

I liked the black and white as well

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks for all the comments and likes - much appreciated.

 

@@Safaridude - glad you were able to i.d the pack that you and GW saw. I'm not too familiar with the geography of the ranches in Laikipia - but, I have a hunch Sosian is the neighbor? I heard from Steve that one of the biggest ranches/concessions in Laikipia is actually a ranch base for the Laikipia research team (Impala ranch?) we actually drove past it on the way from Nanyuki to LWC.

 

@@Thursday's Child - Thank You! - I think the pups were just coming out of the den around October 20th - that would put them at roughly 3-4 weeks then. Apparently, they don't den precisely same period every year like the packs in Southern Africa. I can't seem to remember details, but, these packs work more in terms of a certain cycle ( X months from birth of last litter) etc etc.,

[SafariChick]

 

First and last of that lot @@madaboutcheetah. Fantastic!

 

 

+1

 

+2 and also love the first set with the cheetah cubs and the cheetah/hyena interraction - and the dogs! and the beautiful skies and colors

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks @@SafariChick - I am looking forward to your report from Liuwa Plains ........ You are probably off soon!!! Safe travels and enjoy!!!! Bring back news of Lady Liuwa, dogs and cheetah for us!

[SafariChick]

Thanks @@madaboutcheetah - yes off to @@Sangeeta 's Sunday so in just a few days, then we leave for Lusaka on Monday!

[Safaridude]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

Yes, there is a cluster of ranches near LWC: Mpala, Sosian, Suiyan, Loisaba, Mugie

 

Those are the prominent ones, but there are smaller lots people have never heard of. The dogs are doing very well there.

[Safaridude]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

And yes, Sosian is the direct neighbor. At our wild dog sighting in Feb, Steve was there with his clients.

[IamFisheye]

Thanks for posting the LWC dog pics. I have a short solo visit booked for next march and now I'm really looking forward to it. You saw some grevys too, excellent.

[madaboutcheetah]

@@IamFisheye - You will love LWC ........... They are big on the dogs too ...... They will do all that it's going to take to track them down.

Grevy's and reticulated giraffe easy to find. I saw a single Beisa Oryx (no pics, sorry) ........... Of the northern species, I think only the Lesser Kudu and Gerenuk are absent here. I was told that there are massive Elephant herds by the river during the dry season. I was caught by early rains, so only sporadic sightings here and there..........

 

@@Safaridude - Thanks for the info!

Edited November 7, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Today's installment is the territorial Cheetah brothers ...... The olollolo boys.

 

My sighting was brief and late in the evening, as they were just resting off a full belly for probably the second day. Their territory is huge consisting of the reserve; Mara North; Lemek; coming back to Mara North and then the OMC. Look at them! They look like they are on steroids ...... Now, I've great love for my Cheetah brothers at Kwando - But, I need to find these guys on a hunt!!! I bet they bring down some big game ...... All that said, old man Murphy came into the picture as I mentioned earlier having spent a week in the OMC after i left.

[IamFisheye]

@@madaboutcheetah, We visited Ol Pejeta in 2011 on what we called our Rhino safari (combined with Meru). We didn't see any dogs although they do go through the conservancy from time to time. Beside the rhino we saw plenty of reticulated giraffe, only one Grevy, oryx (not sure what one, will have to check my photos) and had a wonderful Cheetah encounter (mother and youngster). Also denning hyena with cubs at dusk.

 

My solo trip is a specialised wild dog photo safari, so I hope we see the dogs.

[madaboutcheetah]

This isn't the only pack in the area - I think there are couple of others and Steve can also take you to the neighboring ranches if the dogs are running wild ............ they will obviously be on the move around that time frame.

Edited November 7, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[michael-ibk]

 

 

I bet they bring down some big game ..

 

I saw a FB post just the other day featuring these guys ... they killed a wildebeest.

[madaboutcheetah]

One more set from Laikipia Wilderness Camp to close out the wonderful 3 nights there ........ While following them on the hunt, we lost them initially, but, eventually tracked them down by the river where they appear to be finishing off the final bits of an impala that they possibly flushed into the river. I highly recommend doing the bum-crawl to creep closer to the dogs. I did one time with Barend and it was an awesome experience ...... The only other time I was this close on foot was at Kwando, when we were doing morning tea and the dogs flew by, right past us on a hunt.

 

Anyone going to LWC, I recommend a minimum of 4 nights ..... Just too much to do and see. If you are fixated on the dogs, I am sure Steve will do all it takes to find them for you!

 

If you are flying out to the Masai Mara from Nanyuki - bear in mind the Air-Kenya flight out is super early. I think 9 am or there abouts ...... Just enough time to drive out from LWC to Nanyuki after a quick early breakfast.

 

Since there is a lot of interest here for LWC - I need to add (no pictures, unfortunately) ....... During a night drive, we did see an Aardwolf. Another drive with Steve, we noticed all sorts of plains game being flushed out of the thickets and found a stalking Lioness (very skittish).

[SafariChick]

Love these last photos of the dogs - though to me, it looks like they are eating a big rootball or something! I love how dark some of them are, I find that appealing.

[madaboutcheetah]

@@SafariChick - I hope you see some dogs in Zambia next week .......

 

I am starting to think, this report desperately needs another installment of Plains game ...........

[Big_Dog]

Epic dog photos. East Africa's Lycaon are so much darker.
Two cheetah boys looked great, on the vibrant background. And that hyaena is a beast!

[FlyTraveler]

@madaboutcheetah: Oh, boy! Those wild dog images... I love also the gnu and zebra photos. Getting the gnus and the hyenas in the same frame is quite something!

Edited November 8, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[madaboutcheetah]

Epic dog photos. East Africa's Lycaon are so much darker.

Two cheetah boys looked great, on the vibrant background. And that hyaena is a beast!

 

Thanks @@Big_Dog ..... yes, not only dark - but, the older dogs look very very different (and scary ) - I think the younger dogs and yearlings have more of a resemblance to the Southern cousins of theirs? Just an observation - I could be wrong, of course.....

 

@@FlyTraveler - Thank You!!!

 

Question I have ...... I've seen plenty of images and TV footage from the Mara/Serengeti - where you have those fabulous complete Yellow/Red skies (dawn/dusk) in the dry season where there isn't a cloud in the sky. Perfect for all kinds of silhouettes ........ When might this be? What months???

Edited November 8, 2014 by madaboutcheetah

[Safaridude]

@madaoutcheetah

 

Kgalagadi and Central Kalahari - December to April