The Offbeat circuit safari in Kenya, January 2016

[mapumbo]

We decided to try to find the rest of the Offbeat Pride that had been missing for several days and had gotten split off from the two young lions we saw in the morning. David and Kapen thought they should be on the other side of the river. We crossed over the river and Kapen spotted a Bateleur Eagle on a nest.

 

We drove out into the open and came on a group of zebra.

There was a Secretary Bird in a tree nearby.

The zebra were accompanied by a Kori Bustard

[mapumbo]

Further on we found these topi babies.

 

Secretary bird with zebra.

Edited March 17, 2016 by mapumbo

[offshorebirder]

Very nice posts about January 23 @@mapumbo. It is neat to see some of the same individual critters - the lost Lion cubs, the pale baby Giraffe and mother (with the same stunted Acacia and Hyena prowling the background), etc.

 

Also neat to see Amani in good light, on the same low grassy mound, on the bare termite mound and so forth. And nice to see good old Hugo.

 

Those sure are impressive horns on that Impala. And a great photo of y'all driving down Leopard Gorge.

 

I agree your owl looks good for Spotted Eagle-Owl - the yellow eyes, dark facial borders and very prominent ear tufts would seem to eliminate Verreaux's Eagle-Owl and it lacks the buff and brown coloration a Cape Eagle-Owl would show. And Leopard Gorge / MNC seems a tad out of range for Cape Eagle Owl according to Birds of E. Africa.

 

Your visit to Leopard Gorge seems to have been 2-3 hours earlier than ours - we visited just before lunch and I take it y'all were there a little before breakfast. I too think it's unusual for those owls to both be in such a small area together - I guess the Spotted Eagle-Owl kept alert and watching the Verreaux's.

[mapumbo]

@@offshorebirder

 

I agree it is fun to compare observations. I think the topi babies were photographed by each of us as well.

[TonyQ]

@@mapumbo

Leopard gorge looks beautiful - and I recognise your style of standing in the vehicle!

I love the animal in landscape pictures - but also some close-ups like the Secretary Bird and the Topi baby.

[mapumbo]

@TonyQ I had to laugh, I finally got recognized for having style.

 

Thank you (from Mama Ndege) for your appreciation of her photos. She keeps telling me that we should not post any more of hers after seeing a new batch from you.

[mapumbo]

After doing a game drive on the east side of the river from camp and not finding the rest of the Offbeat Pride, we headed back as it was getting near dusk. We crossed the river and headed back in the direction of camp and had a vehicle from another camp flash their lights at us from the other side of the river. We figured they must have seen something good so we turned right around and crossed back over the river and drove back towards where we saw the other vehicle. Sure enough, they had found the female leopard and a half grown cub sitting in the classic pose on a limb.

 

They were ready to head down the tree and begin their night time hunt.

They came out on the ground and we watched them as they inspected the area.

After they went into the bush we left them and then made our second crossing to go back to camp. It was getting almost dark by then. What a wonderful sighting and gave us our second cat trick for the Offbeat Camp stay.

[mapumbo]

On our second attempt to head back to camp we saw the two young lions near the same area we had seen them in the morning. They still seemed lost and lonely and hadn't ventured far from their spot now for two days.

 

A little closer to camp we came on two female lions and another young one of about the same age as the two we had just seen. It looked like the Offbeat Pride was finally going to have a chance to reunite. These three were almost within site of the other two lost youngsters. Surely they would find each other and reunite during the night.

 

 

When we returned to our tent before going to dinner, one of the staff came to the tent and wondered if we wanted to see a lion. We said no thanks we had just been with them and we didn't need to get in the vehicle and go back out. He replied, no I mean the lion is walking past the front of your tent. Well, that was a little embarrassing, of course we wanted to see a lion walk past the front of the tent. We apologized for not understanding what he meant and had a good laugh at ourselves.

 

We again planned to take a night drive. As had been the norm the last few days, it started raining during the dinner hour. We waited a while to see what would happen and it stopped raining so we headed out with Kapen and David for our first night drive. We had to be careful where we went since the roads were very slick. We did see a large spotted genet, a white tailed mongoose, and a number of spring hare. These were all new species for us. Another couple that had come to camp that day also went out and they saw an aardvark.

Edited March 18, 2016 by mapumbo

[Marks]

Nice posts over the last few days - Amani looking good and becoming quite a star here. The secretary bird shot is another great one!

[mapumbo]

@@Marks. Thank you. I don't know if it is common for a secretary bird to roost in a tree, but it certainly looked out of place.

[pault]

You're having a very good trip in very green conditions. It's great to see Mara North from your suitably green (but knowledgable) perspective. Funny story about the lion in front of your tent.

 

Secretary birds do nest and roost in trees. Huge Secretary bird on top of a little, flat-topped acacia is a classic Mara sight.

[mapumbo]

Thanks for your reply.

We had not seen a huge number of Secretary Birds and never one in a tree. It stood out so glaringly that we weren't sure that was common.

 

Yes, we had a good trip.

[deano]

@@mapumbo - Leopard Gorge looks like my kind of place. On many a game drive I have secretly wanted to just drive to one spot and just sit and wait for whatever animals might come there (rather than driving around looking for them). Water holes would be an obvious place but I could put up an argument for Leopard Gorge. Up high, down low; it wouldn't matter and my guess is the sounds in there would just as exciting as the animals you might encounter. The scenery in all of your pictures is spectacular and so different to the few parts of Africa we have visited so far.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

[mapumbo]

@@deano We have been totally spoiled by this trip with mostly having a vehicle to ourselves with guides that reside in the area we are touring. Our previous 5 safaris were with a group with dedicated driver guides who stayed with us to all the different places we would visit throughout the entire safari.

 

We could stop and enjoy sightings as much as we wanted. After viewing some of the recent TR's in Kenya where folks totally spent the day with one species or animal (and had some great experiences and photos) we will probably take that example and concentrate on things even more intensely.

 

If you haven't been to the Mara or Serengeti to see the wide open grasslands and abundant wildlife you owe it to yourself to go there. We are from the tall grass prairie country in Kansas and just love the Mara and Serengeti. When we showed photos of our ranch to our Masai guides they said it looks like the Mara and that we could be Masai. When we showed pictures of our cows to David he said that all cows belong to Masai so those cows were his. I told him that if he thought we were Masai then his cows belonged to us as well. We had a really good laugh over that.

 

I have appreciated your kind and humorous replies to my TR. Will be looking forward to your next one.

 

Mapumbo

[Thursday's Child]

@mapumbo I'm very much enjoying your trip report - it's so interesting to see other conservancies and to compare and contrast them with where we stayed. I'm also enjoying Mama Ndege's photography; I think she has a very good 'eye'. Looking forward to reading more but I was thinking, that being ranchers, you and Mama Ndege are probably very busy at the moment with your own baby mammals.

[mapumbo]

@@Thursday's Child You are very perceptive. We are in the middle of our Spring calving period and are kept occupied with that process. The weather is one of the greatest factors on how well things go and we have had an unusually mild spring so that has been very helpful.

 

Mama Ndege thanks you for your kind words. She is rather hard on herself when she sees other photos on posts that she feels are much superior to hers. I think she gets the most out of her bridge camera and that is as advanced as she wants to be.

 

I spent some time looking at the Kicheche Camp website last night where you and @@TonyQ had some fantastic sightings. One can always dream about the next safari.

[mapumbo]

The next day we left early to go north to the Mara River to see the hippos and whatever else was available. We were going with the German couple that we first met at Sosian and on the spur of the moment they decided to book a couple nights in the Offbeat Mara camp.

 

The day started out very foggy after all the rain we had been having. We could see animals if they were close to the road and it made for some interesting photography.

 

The fog lifted a little and that made for some really nice light.

This is a quintessential Mara scene with multiple grazing species and the lush plains dotted with trees.

View toward the Mara River

[mapumbo]

We arrived at the banks of the Mara River and the river was rolling muddy and fast. The hippos were having a hard time moving in the swift water but David chose a place that a curve in the river created a spot where a large group was congregated.

 

There was a pair of hippos breeding.

This shows how much water was going down the river.

[mapumbo]

David set up breakfast on the high bank of the river looking down on the group of hippo. It was a beautiful spot and a beautiful day.

 

Kapen at the Mara River

Part of the Acacia pride that we saw on a kill in the bush.

[mapumbo]

Heading back towards camp, who should we find but Amani for the fourth day in a row. She was resting off the road in the shade.

 

Elephant having a mud bath.

Offbeat Mara Camp.

Taking notes on the way to lunch.

Amarula, a favorite drink next to a cold Tusker.

Edited March 23, 2016 by mapumbo

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@mapumbo

 

I really like the “note taking” photograph!

As soon as I saw, I thought “safari”!

Taking usable images in fog isn't easy, yet you did so with style!

Thank you!

Tom K.

[mapumbo]

Thank you Tom. I did not realize Mama Ndege had taken this picture until I was going through the resized photos for this TR. I have to write down something immediately when I think about it or it is gone from memory.

[Tom Kellie]

Thank you Tom. I did not realize Mama Ndege had taken this picture until I was going through the resized photos for this TR. I have to write down something immediately when I think about it or it is gone from memory.

 

 

~ @@mapumbo

 

That makes two of us!

Tom K.

[Neeners815]

I have really enjoyed this trip report. Thank you so much for sharing! I feel like after the last few reports I've read I'm going to have to add Kenya to my list.

[mapumbo]

I have really enjoyed this trip report. Thank you so much for sharing! I feel like after the last few reports I've read I'm going to have to add Kenya to my list.

Thank you. It had been 15 years since we had been in Kenya and now I can say I would go back again tomorrow. The conservancies and the guiding are a real plus to the experience. Also parks with plenty of game and not many tourists are also a positive.