Jump to content

Another bloody safari - Mara and Ol Pejeta October 2015


pault

Recommended Posts

We'd miss Olare Motorogi, Kicheche Bush Camp. Aki and Nelson and were a bit apprehensive about our next adventure. In fact the night before my wife had been thumping me and asking why I only booked three nights at Kicheche. However, by the evening we were sitting around the Serian Nkorombo camp fire with our new guide, Jonathon strumming acoustic guitar and the Serian staff on bongos and harmonies, giving a rousing rendition of "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." Even the hippos joined in. What a night!

....or something like that.... My memory can be fuzzy, but we did need a linking story and the truth seems far too prosaic.


In fact the reason that Jonathon and I could quite credibly have returned to that scene (minus us) that evening was that my wife was camp bound. Three tsetse bites on her foot had caused it to swell up to double its normal size and she needed to rest it.. We'd have been panicking if we weren't used to this happening. Anyway, she arrived at Nkorombo, set right on the banks of the Mara Riiver, checked out the general vibe of the place (chilled, man....) saw our tent was adjacent to a hippo pool and decided this was the place to get her foot back to human size.

Before that we had driven from the airstrip and started the process of adapting to a new vehicle and guide.

He's not called Nelson. He's too tall. The vehicle is too high. He drives too slowly. He talks more than Nelson. The vehicle doesn't have rests for beanbags or my ground pod (which I wasn't using, but that wasn't the point). He speaks too clearly. He's getting to know us - he should know us already! There is nowhere to put my lenses.

He's quite engaging. He is spending time to suss us out while there isn't so much to see. He's nice, perceptive and very experienced. I like him. The vehicle has plenty of space for lenses if you look for it. The roof can be half shut for my wife and open for me. He's right - what's the rush? Why would we be driving faster?

It took a day to adapt to the different ways of Jonathon, but it was a relatively smooth process. I never did fully adapt to the vehicle though, as it just didn't work for the way I usually like to photograph things. But Serian have a number of different types of vehicle and we could easily have changed (yes, they have pics of them all if you need to guarantee a particular type). We didn't because this one suited my wife perfectly and she liked it very, very much. So I bit my tongue and adapted myself.

What I couldn't adapt myself to was my back giving me problems. For the next two days I would be in intermittent agony. Nothing new, and I have to say I am used to working through it, but we made a fine couple. We should have asked for wheelchairs.

Aboard with Jonathon, I made the first spot. Three young male outcasts, resting after a heavy meal. Trouble for someone in the not-too-distant future if these three stay together.

 

i-Tkhx44L-XL.jpg

 

 

They had a kill in the bushes and were sleeping the meal off, so we left them after only a shoirt while.

 

And then we finally met Maiaika, arguably now the most famous of Mara cheetahs, and her three remaining sub-adult cubs (from six at birth over a year earlier, so pretty good success).. They were hanging out near the main track north from Nkorombo area to the airstrip and mara North throughout our stay, so we'd see them again (but not really look them out as they always came with a bit of an entourage of vehicles (not bad by Mara standards at all, but always someone or three or more).

 

They were in the shade of some bushes and the light was harsh by now, so I knew what to do.... we'd try to get better pictures later.

 

i-WDRNWFR-XL.jpg

 

The rest of the drive was reasonably quiet and it was clear that right now Olare Motorogi had more wildlife than the reserve, and even a bit more grass.

 

Serian Nkorombo has been described multiple times and it has a beautiful location. It's really pretty luxe and mobile in a "if you have a big enough truck" sense, but if you come here after the main Serian camp (and especially ngare Serian) this might not be apparent to you Simple though - I like. The area around camp was very quiet at that time, but it is within easy reach of a lot of interesting locations so that wasn't of great concern. More interesting is that it is right on the river banks, and you can watch carcasses rolling down the river for hippos, crocodiles and birds all day. All sorts of stuff comes through, near to or across from the camp.

 

From our tent we watched a big old crocodile eye up a Sacred Ibis, but the ibis was a bit too wary... and from the hippo pool the occasional intrepid walker emerged - usually but not exclusively (at night) on the other bank.

 

i-cJ7VsWn-XL.jpg

 

I left a bit late for the evening game drive because my wife wasn't coming (and it was so nice sitting by the water anyway). We looked for a leopard (would do this without success for a couple of days) and saw the usual suspects, but we were just pottering around - not really very serious this evening.

 

 

Buffalo with jaunty hat

 

i-wm7Rpzt-XL.jpg

 

 

Synchronised mowing activities...

 

i-C2PDM8s-XL.jpg

 

Lonely and expressive tree

 

i-WsfDdS8-XL.jpg

 

 

Jonathon clearly hadn't guided @rwaffle in the past since he appeared surprised at my interest in taking photos of trees, but he quickly caught on to the type I was interested in, and disappointed if I declared the light wrong or something. But I was being very fussy this afternoon because my back was hurting and that was a bit depressing. How would I get through 6 more days of photography with a sore back? And I really didn't want a sore back anyway. So I was being judicious about using the camera and careful not to strain myself further when shooting. I was the 80-year old photographer. A lot of things I just passed on - it had to be "right". Jonathon must have thought I was going to be a real tough one to please

 

I reduced my photography age to around 67 when we saw this though - needed to as it was getting dark and shutter speeds were low.

 

Malaika and cubs relaxing on lugga bank

 

i-4zbc7wT-XL.jpg

 

The Angel(in Swahili, Malaika) herself

i-MTdT4Wx-XL.jpg

 

They got up and we followed them for a short distance - of course there were a couple of other vehicles there (is Malaika ever unobserved during daylight?) - htey in the lugga and we on the banks, finding it hard to get a view through the bushes and long grass oin the lugga banks... but they were only moving to get a drink before dark.

 

One last shot between the bushes before it really was really time to shut down the cameras and head back to camp.

 

i-RKqCZjc-XL.jpg

 

 

Well, even though it was only a short drive (couple of hours) that had been a relatively quiet start. Almost genteel . It wouldn't last.

Edited by pault
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the afternnon and further over dinner we got talking with a nice Swedish couple (she originally from Brazil and I imagine @@johnkok met them later) who were there with their two kids. They were transferring to Serian's main camp next day and she (and kids) wanted to leave camp late, after breakfast. He really wanted to see a crossing. There had been none of note for a while, but I told him that I thought there might be one next day - not because i am some kind of wildebeest whisperer, but simply because of what I had mentioned before - the wildebeest were leaving Olare Motorogi and heading south as we did. There was also some movement in the reserve itself, and since I knew just how many wildebeest there were to come from Olare Motorogi it made sense to me. Plus, if we are there, they cross - that is just the way it is (Jonathon had become increeasingly sceptical as i explained this to him earlier, on our drive). So, I told him if we were near the river the next morning and it looked like a crossing was coming, we'd radio teh camp and he could come out with their guide. I don't mention this because it is an interesting story, but because (like the tsetses in Olare Motorogi, it will have consequences later. Karma in action.

 

Matt will be interested that I told them to check out Safaritalk.... are you there?

 

Anyway, we slept well and next morning at 5 my wife's foot was considerably better - still an alien appendage, but a smaller one.

 

 

We left at 6 and met some hyenas heading in the opposite direction. Nelson's suggestions rang in my ears (imagine, just lijke the brief flashbacks in a martial arts movie "The early bird will catch the worm, grasshopper; but the low bird will catch the serpent.")

 

 

i-g776MSq-XL.jpg

 

i-jLsMMPX-XL.jpg

 

And with a more coventional positioning of the early sun....

 

i-QJ7jBMp-XL.jpg

 

Jonathon was a bit taken aback by all the positioning and repositioning he had to do so early in the monring - for a couple of hyenas - but he got into the spirit.

 

 

After the hyenas we started looking for the leopard again, as I had the previous evening. We saw dik-diks, mongooses, impalas and a scrub hare ... but no leopard. Jonathon appeared disappointed but we weren't - leopards are leopards and it was incredible that we had an average of over one sighting a day to that point It couldn't and shouldn't last.

 

We did shortly spot a lion wandering, but purposefully, across the plains in fromnt of the Oloololo Escarpment,, and following it, found part of a pride. Probably part of the Ridge Pride, but could also possibly be Marsh Pride in this area.

 

i-6k4rVLj-XL.jpg

 

The pride were repositioning themselves to try to get a littel more relief from the huge number of flies around, and also from the heat of the morning, which was builidng.

 

i-57kmJZQ-XL.jpg

 

But we had been fortunate to capture the last movements of the morning . Soon all six lions were in shade and asleep. So we drifted on, notiicing an unusually large number of topis (and that is a very large number if you are in the Mara). Not too much going on, but all very pretty, despite the growing wind and occasional dust devils. Our eyes were caressed, our ears were whipped.

 

 

Saddle-billed stork and tree

 

i-qb8qj6J-XL.jpg

 

Since nothing special was happening we decided to have a slightly early breakfast next to the Mara River. We discussed our promise to call the camp if a crossing was looking likely and Jonathon said we were close to a couple of crossign points so we could go and havea look after breakfast. Of course there was no intention to see a crossing ourselves - not that we would speed away if one happened.

 

There were a couple of huge crocodiles in the river; one an absolute monster who might have just eaten a buffalo.

 

i-RrL8kZq-XL.jpg

 

 

Prehistoric and almost a fossilised look to the tail.

 

i-3GzmJtn-XL.jpg

 

 

After breakfast we followed the riover for a short way. There were quite a lot of wildebbest around but thtey didn't look like they bwere any more likley to cross than not cross, so we didn't call the camp.

 

 

There were also some Thomson's Gazelles around, A youngster.

i-5gN7FSk-XL.jpg

 

 

Then we came around a bend and there was a large herd of topis moving towards the river. Unexpected, but Jonathon was pleased for us. When they go they go, not like the wildebeest, he told us. He called the camp.

 

i-3jjs322-XL.jpg

 

We got into the topi megaherd (well a few hundred of them, so maybe megaherd is exaggerating, but I was impressed - enough to take some shots.

 

i-cc5wtKF-XL.jpg

 

But within a minute the herd started moving and so we buzzed down to the river bank. I think there was just us a a couple of other vehicles around - and they like us must have just come accross it by accident as the massing came out of nowhere. And when we got down to the water, we saw that there was a lot more than just topis involved. For the first minute the dust churned up turned day to night as a mass of wildebeest aooeared from nowhere to cross first.

 

 

i-pmndPDm-XL.jpg

 

 

There were also topis and gazelles crossing

 

 

i-G2dQ8wH-XL.jpg

 

 

i-FFqrfZZ-XL.jpg

 

 

And on the bank some elephants who had presumably come to water, were caught up in the storm, flanked my a mass of topis.

 

i-7h6qHS7-XL.jpg

 

 

There weren' hundredds of topis - there were thousands. They were powering accross and up the banks, leaving no time for the gathering crocdiles to strike. Once over the other side, they climed, regardless of how steep it was. And very impressive climbers they are too - like goats - although sometimes it was too steep even for them.

 

 

 

Wall Walking - no tricks or prespective things here; that's them trying to traverse a vertical slope

 

i-WLRSqXW-XL.jpg

 

 

And with the worst of the inital dust clearing, it was time to look at the wider picture. Not a huge crossing by any means - over in 15 monutes max, but a particualrly pretty one I thought. Still deciding on the right colours and expsoure for these so don't read anything more into the inconsistencies than that.

 

i-tTJv4Lq-XL.jpg

 

 

 

i-H7xsGZV-XL.jpg

 

 

i-ZBBPhgC-XL.jpg

 

 

 

i-cCqcv6p-XL.jpg

 

 

So many pictures - again I reckoned you could handle this many given teh genreal "prettiness".

 

One zebra foal got it from a crocdile of course. One gazelle lost her horn but not her life. The topis and wildbeest got across without losses.

 

 

We drove away, but soon came accross another, larger group of wildebeest gathering. This one was going to be pretty big, so jsut because we had nowhere else to go at theat time, we decided to wait and see what happened.

 

A number of wildebeest got really keen and ran for the river, only to stop at the crossing point and look down, then retreat, sometimes taking the whole herd with them towards another crossing point nearby (double crossing). This kept on happening, and when after 45 mionutes they had only teased and teased we took advantage of all the vehicles moving over to the other crossing point in anticipation of a crossing there, to have a look what was happening.

 

i-MbLkqHs-XL.jpg

 

 

There was a dead wildebeest in the middle of the river with a crocidile feeding o it. No wonder the wildebeest wouldn't cross.

 

i-tLmsZV2-XL.jpg

 

 

As time passed of course the number of vehilces rose and rose. We decided we would leave.

 

i-W9dgvL6-XL.jpg

 

We heard later they crossed after 5 1/2 hours. It was a big crossing and a leopard took down a wildebeest, but we didn't regret leaving. Something maybe better for me later anyway.

Edited by pault
Link to comment
Share on other sites

fictionauthor

Wow @@pault I love learning about all this. Great atmosphere in some of these crossing photos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

madaboutcheetah

@@pault - exceptional images of the mixed crossing - especially love that vertical!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@pault

 

Exceptional crossing. Not often one comes across a mass herd of topis. And to have a topi, wilde, Tommie, .. crossing. I am totally envious. And your photos are fantastic. Totally worth whatever re-positionings you needed.

 

I do not recall any kids showing up at Serian Main Camp - although there were quite a few sub-adults popping up over the 7 nights we were there. There were a two (?) who were building a hide (this was their gap year or something). Maybe my wife will remember some. As I said, if I do not take a photo, I usually forget :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@johnkok. Haha No these were cubs! Not important. And thanks - yes , tommies and topis was my dream. I would like to see a few thousand tommies but I think I can retire from crossings happy now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@johnkok. Haha No these were cubs! Not important. And thanks - yes , tommies and topis was my dream. I would like to see a few thousand tommies but I think I can retire from crossings happy now.

 

If I had a "Wall Walking" topi shot, I reckon I would retire from crossings satisfied and happy too. That sighting and shot is to die for man!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What to say?!? The cheetah face looking under the belly of the other cheetah; or Malaika and Cubs on the lugga; maybe the amazing sight of topi clambering up the side of the cliff (who sees so many topi anyway!); perhaps the 'pretty' crossing with the elephants in the background ...... I don't know what to say except an exceptional set of images. Perhaps the best of them all would be the rugged, windswept tree, perfection. ;)

 

I had met Jonathon, highly regarded in Serian circles but no, never guided by him. I think the departed Daniel was the poor guide forever scarred by my 'tree quest', but charming throughout.

 

I've never even seen a tsetse in the Mara, but I've never been to Olare Motorogi so perhaps that's where they hang out. Your poor wife, not nice at all.

 

Your trip report lives up to the reputation you've made over many years ... a sheer joy to read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

''.....we'd try to get better pictures later.....''

Then he posts this. Jeez!

 


 

i-WDRNWFR-XL.jpg

 

Exceptional crossing with the topi,zebra wildebeest et al. The wall walking shot is superb. I too would retire from crossings after that!

Edited by CaroleE
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fabulous images and story-telling @@pault ! Those crossing photos look like epic paintings and the topis trying to walk on the vertical wall was amazing. It sounds like not too much loss of life considering the masses crossing, which is good to hear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@CaroleE I know - it sounds terrible, buit it's just poor writing. What I meant was that I knew that I had to take only shots like the one posted (which completely bypasses the extreme light/extreme shade problem) and leave the usual, wider shots of the four together for another time.

 

@@twaffle Thank you. Jonathon is very good. I had kind of asked for a guide other than James, as he had received so much love on Safaritalk already. Now Jonathon will get some deserved love in this report.

 

You often don't see the tsetse in the Mara - sneaky devils (my wife knew of one bit but found there were actually three when the swelling went down) - but yes, I think a couple of places in Olare Orok are slightly prone. During the migration period, there must be many in the Mara - it's not like they need a passport to come over from the Lamai Wedge in Tanzania. But I've rarely come across them. Since there are other biting flies around i guess most visitors wouldn't even register them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@johnkok wait, did you just refer to human children as "sub-adults"? I love it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@johnkok wait, did you just refer to human children as "sub-adults"? I love it!

 

Having had to ship my own two sub-adult cubs hither and thither, and paying through my teeth for their tuition and what-have-you's past their juvenile years, the answer is "yes" :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A very dramatic crossing - you do really feel for these animals - and great photos throughout!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i-g776MSq-XL.jpg

 

This picture is stunning.

I also really like the photo of the croc's tail. It almost looks like an archipelago or some distant coastline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Without enough events to weave in, the stories are bound to become less and less amusing - assuming you found them amusing to start with - and drive-by-drive becomes overly lengthy. So I'll cover the rest in more or less chronological order, but as relatively straight little illustrated tales.

 

 

I've mentioned the wind and dust before, but I think I need to do it again as it did affect what we did. and how we felt. Most days in the Mara ( and before that at Ol Pejeta) there had been strong winds - not dangerously strong, but consistently strong, and bringing dust and noise with them. And they were hot when it was hot and cold when it was cold - rarely any relief in them. With the flat and very open nature of both the Mara and Ol Pejeta, and generally hot weather, they got quite wearing. Sometimes I couldn't hear what Jonathon said and sometimes I couldn't even hear what I was thinking. Beautiful, desolating and, as time went on annoying. I had less and less desire to spend all day out, especially since we were seeing plenty in 7 hours. We had a fantastic time but it actually got tiring some days. I might have needed a break to go another week. Two weeks of that is substantially different to one week of it. Delirium isn't all that far away.

There, it's out..... pault is weak... or maybe just getting older - poor bugger better not fall asleep out there or the hyenas will have him. But he didn't miss a game drive until......(story to be told).........

The afternoon of the crossing we could have headed back to the river after lunch - they hadn't crossed by 2 - but instead we decided to go out at 4 and look for something else. There wasn't that much to see. Some wildebeest late for the crossings, something else I don't remember.... nothing to this evening until we saw that there were some lions going for wildebeest crossing a lugga - hiding inside the lugga and trying to snag one as they crossed... our attention drawn to this by other vehicles there watching.

 

But the wildebeest sussed what was going on and that seemed to be the end of what had honestly been nothing very much. On we go? I wasn't keen to stay as vehicles were beginning to attract vehicles and there was little to see anyway. But Jonathan didn't think there was little. He, and some other guides saw potential. They weren't looking at what was happening but at what might be going to happen.

 

Some lions were resting in shade much further along the lugga and wildebeest and topis were walking from another direction and heading that way. Some of these lions were young and thin. They looked like they needed a meal. And sure enough one skinny one started to stalk the wildebeest.

i-6zdmqbf-XL.jpg

 

There was quite a lot of a reaction to this from the vehicles around, many of which were clearly just there because there were lions around and they had little better to do. Now there was a hunt. Fortunately this was a huge open area and the geography of the area kept people from moving too far too quick, so there was no feeling of crowding and the hunt was not in any way obstructed... Simply over-observed. It was a bust anyway... the hungry young lion was too eager and went too soon. End.

 

i-k8SzdsR-XL.jpg

 

I really wanted to move on now, as I had taken maybe five pictures since we arrived and couldn't see any more; or at least I saw none that didn't feature other vehicles in them. But somehow Jonathon persuaded me to stay a little. And then a lone, old wildebeest bull appeared.

 

I think most of the guides knew what was going to happen. The bull was too old to outrun the lions. As the vehicles properly moved out of the way and took up vantage points on the hill above the bull I thought it was like the bloody Roman games; everyone baying "kill, kill" as the lions emerged from the bushes, as yet unseen by their senior citizen victim, wandering to his gruesome, public death. Except of course they didn't bay at all... that was just a moment of delirium blowing in on the wind. And in any case, my potential moral crisis wasn't interesting enough to distract me from the hunt. It was enough to make me tell Jonathon to drive downhill, perhpas further from the lions, rather than getting in line with the crowd to be a few meters from the kill. So I had to shoot all this between vehicles (I think there were about 10, but I can't be sure) buzzing around behind the hunt getting their own best views. Did I make the right decision or did I blow an opportunity?

 

The bull saw the lions only when it was too late to get away. But he didn't just run. He was old but he had some spirit still, and he soon turned and faced the lion in pursuit, head down. The lion hesitated, now unsure.

i-MzqWMsS-XL.jpg

 

 

Then a second lion joined the hunt and the wildebeest again ran

i-HkQDnwM-XL.jpg

 

 

Face off doesn't work against two, and the end was clearly near.

 

i-fF3DQ79-XL.jpgi-GNzF4KP-XL.jpg

 

 

i-s9vPNP6-XL.jpg

 

Finally, with the bull down, Jonathon could stand being so far from the action no more, and I agreed we should move in.

 

i-vKZkHVS-XL.jpg

 

The hungry young lions could eat well, and I could reflect on the mixed emotions of my first successful lion hunt... unless I forgot one somewhere?

 

i-JJqJ382-XL.jpg

 

 

Except that no time was given for reflection. Even before the lions had started feeding Jonathon was telling me someone had spotted a caracal some way from here. Should we go or should we join the rest of the guests at Nkorombo for a special sundowner arranged for that evening? We couldn't really do both.

 

About 20 minutes later we were staring at this... and more specifically the hole under the rock, bottom center. Do you see a caracal?

 

i-CgbsvRd-XL.jpg

 

No? Well when we looked at the hole, bith Jonathon and I thought we could see ears, a head, maybe a paw. But afterwards we really weren't sure - we both knew what imagination can do. And no matter how long I look at this picture all I see is a hole. There is something in there, but I think it is just rock.

 

There was a caracal. It was in that hole. It just didn't seem to be visible. It was hellishly difficult to get to it from the direction we came from too - driving over some big, big rocks.

 

You cannot win every time.

 

We did make it to the special sundowners, just in time for the last five minutes of light. And proudly told everybody about the half-imaginary caracal.

 

 

Warning: Snake lovers look away...

 

 

The next day we were switching from Nkorombo to Ngare Serian, and decided to leave at 7 and then make a full day of it. After goodbyes (or see you soon, since they rotate staff between camps at Serian) first thing we asked Jonathon that morning was "Ground Horbill vs. African Puff Adder. Who wins?"

 

Actually that's not true, but he did take us to see this.

 

When we arrived (before this photo) we are not sure whether the snake was still alive. It appeared to be, but it was taking such a hammering from the beak of a juvenile Ground Hornbill that it was hard to tell what was causing the movement. In any case the sun was behind them and they were in really thick, long grass. Anyway, by the time we could manouver to get the scene in decent light and with sufficient breaks in the grass, an adult had taken over and the snake, although it still had its jaws, seemed to be missing at least part of the top of its head.

 

The hornbill was taking no chances though and giving it a good shaking and flogging. By holding the snake in its beak like this, even if the snake were alive and kicking it could only harmlessly bite the hoornbill's beak I guess. They held like this and also the middle of the snake, with the long beak meaning the snake wasn't close enough to strike. And then there was the mad mega-pecking. Nothing would want to get pecked aggressively by a ground hornbill, with its huge, hard, sharp serrated beak.

 

i-f2xz9Ds-XL.jpg

 

 

i-kqdWMmg-XL.jpg

 

 

i-BWZ76hB-XL.jpg

 

 

And then the snake was no more....

 

i-JN5CDVT-XL.jpg

Edited by pault
Link to comment
Share on other sites

madaboutcheetah

You got two awesome kills in one evening!!!!

 

@@pault - Malaika photos at some point I hope? No rush though ..........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phew! I somehow missed this report until just now. What a treat to read it all in one go (well all of the story so far)

As always @@pault it is an absolute pleasure and the inspired writing compliments (or is that complements?) your beautiful photographs.

more please

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is interesting to read about your thoughts when seeing the lion hunt and the killing of the wildebeeste. Especially the uncomfortable comparison with the Roman games.

 

Iimagined that I could see the Caracal in your picture!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@CaroleE I know - it sounds terrible, buit it's just poor writing. What I meant was that I knew that I had to take only shots like the one posted (which completely bypasses the extreme light/extreme shade problem) and leave the usual, wider shots of the four together for another time.

 

Oh ok then we forgive you. But only this once :)

 

Congrats on your first successful lion hunt. If that is a good thing to say. Especially as I'm with @@TonyQ re the comparison to Roman games. Uncomfortable because it is pretty close to the truth. You just know most people (everyone?) who saw it was delighted when that poor old wildebeest arrived and they knew they would in all likelihood see a kill.

 

I had a good look but I'm not convinced I could see the Caracal. I think in the end my eyes starting playing tricks on me and I was sure that there was a head or an ear in there!

Edited by CaroleE
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is interesting to read about your thoughts when seeing the lion hunt and the killing of the wildebeeste. Especially the uncomfortable comparison with the Roman games.

 

Iimagined that I could see the Caracal in your picture!

It was interesting to me too, but that's what I thought of.... i blame it on that whistling wind!

 

It's almost there isn't it? In the shadows where we're not looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Towlersonsafari

What a splendid report.I can see the caracal, but as for about a month after getting back from a trip I can spot baboons in car parks and buffaloes in fields in the UK That means it probably isn't there.It is a strange dilemma about watching a hunt very exciting until the the final moment when you are hit by a profound sadness even though you know its part of life

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@Towlersonsafari For what it's worth, I was actually quite content with that bit. The wildebeest was on his last journey whatever happened and at least some of the lions really needed a meal.

 

After the hornbill and puff adder action our journey from the reserve to Ngare Serian in Mara North continued. Unsurprisingly, we decided we would go and have a look at what Malaika and her cubs were up to,hoping they would still be in the same area as we saw them drink, and knowing that if they weren't all we had to do was turn on the radio and listen, or exchange the news with a couple of other guides along the way (although there were not that many vehicles out today - it was lovely and quiet). Here I will take the opportunity to mention that Jonathon is one of the guides who likes to listen to the radio a bit. Doesn't mean he will follow up on what he hears, but I think he likes to build a picture of what is out there. Normally I would have asked him to not bother with that, and I am sure he would have been happy to comply (we discussed this later along with other things - we found him a very open and very interesting guy) but since the wind was making considerably more noise that the crackle of the radio, and radio traffic was very sparse anyway, it didn't bother us.

 

But without the assistance of radio or even the Mara-traditional exchange of news with other guides (another thing about the Mara that can can seem a real pain when you are in Mr Grumpy mode and you happen to pass three vehicles in 5 minutes, but in reality that rarely happens unless you are sticking to the busiest areas - and that would be the root of the problem for me, not the exchanging of pleasantries) we found Malaika and her cubs, close to where we had last seen them and hiding from the now hot sun under a bush. Ho hum.... some sighting I thought. Oh, one of the cubs is sitting up.. what excitement!

 

My wife needed to check them all out head to toe through the binoculars, and with cheetahs she can take pleasure from the slightest interaction or behaviour - how they react to a fly on their nose for example, or how they scratch an itch, so we stopped for a look. I took a shot for the record but this was looking like a 10 minute sighting at best. We couldn't even get relatively close as they were on the other side of a lugga and the situation would not warrant a serious off-road detour even in our eyes, never mind the eyes of the rangers (the applied rule in the Mara Reserve is no off-roading unless the situation definitely warrants it, which is annoyingly vague if there are lions on a kill 100 meters off road, bur quite clear if there is a hunt or if cheetahs are napping under a bush in the late morning heat.... I am not sure anyone even knows what the actual rules are any more).

 

One sat up! The height of the excitement.

 

i-rqK74rG-XL.jpg

 

But you probably know the chances are that I am stringing you along here, or I wouldn't have written so much. I'll tell the occasional shaggy dog story (a story with no real conclusion or a joke with no punchline if you are not familiar with the expression) just so you don't know for sure what is coming (and because the shaggy dog story is the essence of much of safari - "and then, all of a sudden, the lion flopped down and went to sleep"; "we came around the bend and in the beautiful evening light there, at last, was the rear end of a warthog disappearing into the long grass") but I try not to test patience too far.

 

And so, all of a sudden, something happened! Glory be! A lone wildebeest came over the brow of the slope at the bottom of which was the lugga, bush and cheetahs. Now three cheetahs sat up. But Malaika stayed where she was - that wildebeest looked a little bit big for her cubs to handle I think. Interest then for us, but a little disappointment. If only the wildebeest were smaller we thought.

 

Then, another wildebeest appeared.

 

i-LrfxQ87-XL.jpg

 

 

And they turned right, parallel to where the now stiff and twitching cheetahs were, and walked past without seeing.

 

i-ZXjdDkj-XL.jpg

 

One of the cubs started following, perfectly hidden by the contours of the land and the long grass towards the bottom of the slope. Mother and the other two followed him.

 

i-WqcLj77-XL.jpg

 

The next part went perfectly to plan for the young male.

 

i-DZRr69q-XL.jpg

 

i-5FkcWZq-XL.jpg

 

 

But the next step was something he clearly hadn't mastered yet, or he had perhaps been watching how lions double his weight did it.

 

i-2x58qqz-XL.jpg

 

i-Xv6WBRq-XL.jpg

 

Like a bullfighter he was dodging the horns, but he was not getting the job done. Fortunately a sibling was there to help, and Malaika herself appeared. Game over?

 

Not quite!

 

i-c4G4JtM-XL.jpg

 

i-6CSf7V8-XL.jpg

 

They were making a real mess of it, but Malaika wasn't there to help - she was circling the scene, watching like a wresting coach.

 

 

 

The throat! Get the throat!! Don't lick it. Bite for goodness sake!

 

i-2rpqt4n-XL.jpg

 

 

Eventually the third cub showed up at a brisk walk, and they managed from this position to somehow get the wildebeest calf down to the ground between them.

 

i-SsMV8Vn-XL.jpg

 

The wildebeest hitting the ground was the signal for us to move in closer, and by the time we got there things were looking almost orderly and the poor wildebeest was being mercifully put to sleep in the proper, quick way.

 

i-Kv9Xx4t-XL.jpg

 

One of the cubs claimed the kill and moved it to a hollow where it was no longer easily visible to passers by or vultures. That part the cubs were very good at - impressive how quickly they stashed the corpse. And after a bit of pawing and chewing the cubs remembered they weren't very hungry and returned to their bush for the shade. Anyone arriving now would see only what we had seen when we arrived.

 

 

We carried on to Mara North seeing lions and then some cattle herders. Jonathon, wearing his elder hat I guess, gave them a good talking to for being stupid enough to let their cattle wander into a very bushy area that is one of the known haunts of the Marsh pride - he was really quite mad at them, and not as you might imagine for allowing their cattle to wander into the reserve, but for not knowing this was an area to avoid and just wandering around like they didn't have a care in the world instead of getting their cows out of there now. After the dressing down the two herders jogged off with a bit more urgency to retrieve the cattle, looking around warily.

 

We had lunch in a beautiful grove of trees next to Elephant Pepper camp (what a beautiful location they have) and found some dik-diks and mongooses, although the good time for photography had passed long ago at the Ground Hornbill sighting - look at the haze in the mongoose shot - it was a very hot day.

 

i-RJ8fbP9-XL.jpg

 

 

i-MNTgXfQ-XL.jpg

 

We had already seen more than we had expected for the whole day before 11 am, and with it being so hot and windy nothing much was out in the open, so we decided we may as well head for the camp a bit early and explore Mara North properly tomorrow, starting at 6 am.

 

Roisin (manager) had shown me a cool picture of the Serian dog, Wifi (joke: yes we have Wifi, would you like to play with him?) on the rope bridge when he was a puppy (there's one from the series on the website) and I thought I would get a picture of my wife from a similar angle as she would doubtless be a little wary of the bridge - the picture of Wifi that Roisin has on her phone is slightly different from the one on the website I think and he looks very wary - it was his first crossing. So when we came to the famous bridge I was first across. What I had not taken into account is that since I started having problems with my left ear I have suffered from occasional and mild vertigo (not fear of heights per se, which is actually called acrophobia, although of course that can result too, but a loss of balance) and I took across both my cameras with me - some weight and not balanced. By the time I reached the middle of the bridge I was moving at a snail's pace and really struggling. My wife had everything nicely balanced in her backpack and walked across like she did it every day. I took the picture but it isn't going to see the light of day - the feeling of humiliation when I saw the look of concern on the faces of the Ngare Serian staff waiting to welcome us doesn't need to have a permanent record. My wife hasn't stopped laughing since.

 

After that I only carried stuff on my back (or asked the staff for help) and everything was fine. I actually enjoyed the crossings.

 

Ngare Serian is much too good a camp for the likes of me. The location is just beautiful, the tents are tented mini-palaces and the staff are attentive and plentiful. I'll probably say more about the place later when I am in a better mood with it. At the moment I am not best pleased with them because my wife doesn't want to go anywhere else now - except Kicheche Bush Camp of course (but only as long as we go to Ngare Serian too apparently). Disaster! Damn you Roisin! Damn you Alex Walker!

 

i-4QgdRSS-XL.jpg

 

 

i-gd8xrRB-XL.jpg

 

 

And very important to Mrs K - the view.

 

i-LTx94SD-XL.jpg

 

Welcome to Ngare Serian.

 

i-2K7Xc6K-XL.jpg

 

I'm not moving further away just because you've moved in.

 

i-NRTNLQK-XL.jpg

 

For those of us still actually interested in the safari (i.e. involves moving, dear wife) Mara North was not as active as Olare Motorogi as of early October 2015. Of course this varies, and it certainly wasn't dull. After the preceding days it seemed a little pedestrian to be honest, but looking back it was anything but that.

 

We were a little unlucky with the weather. It didn't rain but it was cloudier and we didn't get the same quality of sunsets and sunrises as before - which is a real shame as there is no better place than Mara North for big skies - the topography is fantastic for getting things on the horizon - even better than Olare Orok because there is less vegetation and so you can get cleaner shots.

 

Good morning from Mara North - both scenes would have been spectacular with a little less cloud and a little more sun.

 

i-jk566B9-XL.jpg

 

 

 

i-PWG8wH3-XL.jpg

 

 

Although there are three huge lion prides in the conservancy (with one, the River Pride, having most of their territory across the river, outside of the conservancy) there is still a lot of space and hyenas have filled those spaces in large quantities. We'd see hyenas everywhere, except in the Cheli pride's territory (we'll meet them later). If you wanted to study the Spotted Hyena, there would be no better place.

 

First morning we passed a hyena den. It was too early to shoot anything in the shade (almost dark)but some of the pups came out into the weak light to check us out and see if we might stay still long enough to have a go at our tyres (we wouldn't).

 

Not shy, checking out the rubber.

 

i-3CPZW4D-XL.jpg

 

We'd visit dens 3-4 times and I'll post some more pictures later maybe. Everybody needs to see hyenas at the den to understand a bit what they are all about. Unique animals. I loved this old girl - how many years has she been roaming the plains and what has she been through? Never seen a hyena this old I think, and she's still going strong.

 

i-4Ss6Nkq-XL.jpg

 

 

The first morning out we found the Oloololo boy in the early light (unfortunately more blue than golden that morning) wandering but not looking around as much any more. He seemed to be adjusting to life alone and, importantly, he looked in good shape.

 

i-qmTjFK4-XL.jpg

 

 

This is still his territory, even if he has to mark all the trees alone now.

 

i-C8HNZXQ-XL.jpg

 

He had a following of jackals and gazelles, seeing him on his way, but he found a tree he liked and stopped.

 

i-R6dnrGr-XL.jpg

 

Do you see him? He hoped not I would guess as he was looking around to see what there might be to hunt.

 

 

i-k2ZpxvF-XL.jpg

 

i-TXkhx3g-XL.jpg

 

 

Unfortunately the gazelles weren't giving up too easily and he decided a rest might be better, until the gazelles forgot him. And sure enough the gazelles did seem to forget him quite soon after, but by then Oloololo boy was in the land of nod.He was still there in the land of nod when we passed back that way nearly 5 hours later.

Edited by pault
Link to comment
Share on other sites

madaboutcheetah

Awesome sighting and images @@pault .......... Also, love that BW

Btw, did Jonathan have any insight on what happened to the 4th cub? Thanks ........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy