My BBC moments: following Mara predators... and not only :)

[SafariChick]

wonderful cub photos and the little hyena cubs, so cute! Love the baby giraffe too!

[pault]

@@bettel. Thanks for the happy news.

[Marks]

What a fun and playful lion sequence!

The little hyenas are even cuter, though, especially the first and second pictures.

I wish it worked . Can you imagine "There are not too many pangolins here" and then you see three ?

 

 

Well, it can't hurt! I might make this a regular mantra just in case...

[KathBC]

The lion cub sequence is beyond adorable! I could watch them for days.

 

Excellent photos bettel!

[madaboutcheetah]

@@bettel - did Elena mean Rani the cheetah, perhaps? Look forward to your pictures.

[xelas]

@ bettel

Joining the long list of your admirers, both for photography and for writing skills! There are never too many photos posted when they shows the animal behaviour.

Edited September 10, 2015 by xelas

[loafer247]

Hi All - not to hijack the thread but thought I'd try and clarify the cheetah picture in the Mara at the moment (based on talking to Elena and the guides). These are the females with cubs at the moment:

 

Imani (currently near Rekero) - 4 cubs

Malaika (currently near Lookout) - 4 cubs

Miale - 2 cubs

Nora / Nolari (same cheetah) - 3 cubs

Rani / Musiara (same cheetah), currently at Olkiombo - 3 cubs

Rosa - 2 cubs I think

Kakenya (currently in Mara Triangle) - 4 cubs

 

One of the guides at Intrepids saw 11 cheetah cubs yesterday afternoon!!

 

Certainly if you are a cheetah lover the Mara is the place to be right now.

[madaboutcheetah]

Hi there @@loafer247 - OMG. Thanks for the updates. Too bad - won't make the Mara for a while ........

 

So, did the missing male cub re-unite with Malaika?

Edited September 10, 2015 by madaboutcheetah

[dlo]

Great pictures all around and especially love those hyena pics. Love those leopard shots as well.

[Game Warden]

@@loafer247 Perhaps you could start a new topic entitled something like Masai Mara Cheetah Updates? That way it won't be lost in a trip report and can be updated in future.

[bettel]

@SafariChick, @Marks, @KathBC, @xelas, @dlo

 

I appreciate your support a lot!!! Thank you very much. It motivates me to go through pictures faster

 

@madaboutcheetah

 

You are right! It is Rani, I was not attentive when typing

 

@loafer247

 

OMG! Thank you very much! This is VERY useful! I was actually trying to find a list like this but without any success.

 

 

 

Day 2 (continuation)

 

At the reserve gate we were the only car, so the guide came back in 5 minutes, which was enough for me to say “no” 350 times. I think each woman tried her luck (a few times). I wish they had believed me that I did not have money at all. It would have been easier for everybody.

 

As soon as we entered we noticed lions, then more lions and more lions. And it was within one square kilometer. All of them belonged to the famous Marsh Pride. The last pair of lions was on their honeymoon, so we spent a few minutes with them. I will not lie; I did not understand what was happening with dominant males at Marsh Pride. On the one hand the guide said that these were new young males (around 7 years old), and on the other we saw a few sub adults of 2.5-3.5 years in the pride. If these were new males, why they did not push cubs out, and if these were their cubs, what age these males took over the pride?

 

 

Mating couple was probably at the end of a three-day marathon. Lions are usually fast, but these were momentary. One-two-three and everything was over.

 

 

As soon as we pulled away from the pair, we met another couple.

 

 

There was a filming group with them. More lovers? If yes, we did not see it. After sitting with them for an hour we lost patience and proceeded to the crossing.

 

And here is the prehistory.

 

Last two months before the trip I had been asking everybody about crossings. Eternal Shakespeare's "To be or not to be" does not go to any comparison with my suffering on "to go or not to go to watch the Mara crossing." On the one hand, the Mara River crossing is one of the most dramatic events in the animal world. On the other hand, since I am not the only one who knows about it, it gathers human crowds of approximately the same size as wildebeest herds. I was also told that sometimes cars block wildebeest ways fully and poor animals break their necks and legs trying to go around. Not something I wanted to participate ever.

 

At the end, we decided that the guide would keep in touch with other cars and they would tell us, how many cars were there.

 

We received a message that wildebeests were gathering at a crossing point and there were not too many people around as many had left for lunch. The other crossing was just over so everybody was there. We were the second car to arrive to this one (fantastic! But there were around 20 cars at the end of it, everybody behaved well as rangers were also there) And as soon as we arrived, wildebeest started to move. Luck is clearly with us!

 

That was amazing!

 

 

It was a pretty large group of couple thousands and more and more wildebeests were joining the herd:

 

 

 

 

The light is refracted in clouds of dust, the air is shaken by mooing animals and stamping of hooves.

 

 

 

 

 

Those who made it were gathering at the exit:

 

 

The entrance was full of acrobatics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of crocs on the bank:

 

 

One hartebeest joined the party

 

 

And some zebras

 

 

 

I was hoping for the vegetarian crossing as we could not see crocs in water. However, when a group of zebras started to cross, one croc arrived. Oh, please no, please not a zebra. Zebras are horses and I have a soft spot for them. I had almost fallen out of the car! No!!!!! One, two, three zebras crossed. Phew! Then a few wildebeests, some of them actually ran over the croc but one was unlucky . A split second and s/he disappeared under water. No splash, no movement. Total wow, but bittersweet!

 

 

 

 

 

The life continues:

 

[michael-ibk]

Fantastic report as always, Bettel! I want to be in the Mara! You were really lucky with that crossing.

[xelas]

@@bettel

 

Is there any more quintessential Mara crossings photo than the one with the wildebeest and the crocodile on it? Not for me, there is none. And such is your last photo from the crossing series! Proper NatGeo stuff!!

Edited September 10, 2015 by xelas

[Peter Connan]

Wow! Stunning photos @@bettel!

 

I particularly like the fifth photo of the Wildebeest crossing series.

[Game Warden]

@@bettel, there are quite a few photo topics that need updating with some pics...

[Marks]

Stunning crossing photos...a great reminder of exactly why the crowds are there!

The crocodile in mid-snatch is a sad moment, but so very well captured.

[Earthian]

@@bettel

 

wow. what great pictures of the crossing. i waited for 2 hours but the wildebeest did not cross.

[Kitsafari]

Wow! Stunning photos @@bettel!

 

I particularly like the fifth photo of the Wildebeest crossing series.

 

x2

[Kitsafari]

wow what a stunning start to the Mara adventure, and more thrills after that. your trip brings me back to OMC which I totally loved! Hope adrian and Rosh are well, and Wifi of course.

 

That's a great set of lioncubs pictures and the hyena cubs were so adorable. the crossings brought memories back but you captured them so well. great pictures @@bettel. it looks like mara will become your regular safari haunt now, add to kirkman's?!

Edited September 11, 2015 by Kitsafari

[twaffle]

Brilliant

[pault]

Well that crossing was a nice surprise for you. Now you know, and you have great pics of it too. Probably not going to be your last one though? You're lucky I wasn't there or the zebra would have got it for sure - zebras always get it when I am there, and I am very fond of them too. The hartebeest was a real surprise.

 

The "Marsh Pride" lions seem to have occupied a huge part of the Mara. Others can tell you better than me but I know various other prides are at least partially Marsh offshoots, so perhaps that has something to do with the puzzling dynamics. Maybe it was a freindly takeover?

[bettel]

@michael-ibk, @xelas, @Peter Connan, @Marks, @Earthian, @Kitsafari, @twaffle, @pault

 

Thank you very much for all your comments. I appreciate each of them a lot!!!

 

@@bettel, there are quite a few photo topics that need updating with some pics...

 

I need little bit more time , The report is the first priority lol

 

i waited for 2 hours but the wildebeest did not cross.

 

I heard it happened a lot. We witnessed couple times how wildebeest herds gathered for crossing and then there was a leopard or lion hunt and the whole huge heard ran away. it was probably very disappointing for those who waited there.

 

it looks like mara will become your regular safari haunt now, add to kirkman's?!

 

Yes, that will be a tough choice now. Or maybe not, unfortunately AndBeyond started to charge single supplement all year round so I might just have to go to Kenya all the time

Probably not going to be your last one though? You're lucky I wasn't there or the zebra would have got it for sure - zebras always get it when I am there, and I am very fond of them too. The hartebeest was a real surprise.

 

If I am ever in Mara in September again, I will definitely want to see another one , it is addictive.

As for zebras I guess it is not only you, me too, stay tuned , it is coming in future updates

 

The "Marsh Pride" lions seem to have occupied a huge part of the Mara. Others can tell you better than me but I know various other prides are at least partially Marsh offshoots, so perhaps that has something to do with the puzzling dynamics. Maybe it was a freindly takeover?

 

Maybe, I saw one of this males playing with a male sub adult so I was curious what was going on

 

Day 3. Morning.

 

The morning began as usually when it was dark. At 6:15 am Masai came to escort me to the vehicle. While I was walking behind him, I was thinking about the bear rule: "You do not have to run faster than a bear, you have to run faster than your friends." Based on the speed of the walk, if something happens, the bear will have to deal with me.

 

After a 15-minute drive from the camp we got stuck. I was forced to enjoy the sunrise (I am not complaining). By the way, for the whole my stay at Mara it was almost the only sunrise without heavy clouds.

 

 

Our car:

 

 

 

We found our lionesses with cubs. They were all full and not going to do anything except maybe snoring. So we decided to check what else we could find. Oh my God! I could not even imagine that one day I would voluntarily leave lions, even if they were sleeping only after couple minutes. I am getting spoiled too fast.

 

As soon as we pulled away from the group, we met mating lions. It was very funny couple. She was absolutely illogical: she would walk somewhere then turn around 180 degrees and walk back, suddenly would change a comfortable place in the shade for an open hot sunny spot, she would walk in circles. The male was the most talkative lion ever, he was quietly growling all the time (literally all the time). It was very funny to imagine what he was trying to say: "Now?", "Honey, you have rested for 20 minutes, it is time now, please!", "My dear, we have walked past this wildebeest three times! Yes, I'm sure. I can recognize not only her face but her tail too!", " Babe, it is too hot and sunny here, let's go to the shade, we're not lizards "," Dear, you should finally decide on a direction, even warthogs are laughing at us". Because we had to follow her decisions too, I was on a male side:

 

 

 

This picture could be called "Their Majesties are looking at their kingdom," but it is more like "Love comes and goes, but hunger stays with you"

 

 

 

 

A lot of face expressions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lions we checked jackal cubs:

 

 

 

 

And a giraffe:

 

 

And couple elephant males:

 

Edited September 11, 2015 by bettel

[Peter Connan]

My goodness that was funny!

[Marks]

Very funny lion conversation!

The scratching jackal appears to be giving you such a shifty, sideways look - love it.

[vikramghanekar]

Fabulous pictures. All this in just one full day! Only in the Mara!