First African Safari: It was about time!

[Atdahl]

So, after watching Tim's mating lions video I had to share what the YouTube recommendations screen looked like after the video was done:

 

 

It's like some perverse animal Hollywood Squares game.  "I'll take mating donkeys to block John"...

[monalisa]

@Atdahl BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[Atravelynn]

Great hyena and jackal action.  I like the tail sticking out of the jackal's mouth.  Then the bat eared foxes.  But the canines were outdone by your first leopard and her cub. 

 

Trying to estimate the age of the cub.  If it was born in May of 2018, thanks to @Alexander33's contribution, and you went in May, that's 3-4 months.  And that's just what it looked like.  Brilliant sighting for a brilliant trip!

[Atdahl]

Day 10 (Part 1) - Porini Lion

 

As we were escorted to our tent after dinner the night before, two hippos were seen munching on the grass nearby our tent.  Well, they must have really liked that grass because we heard them grunting on and off all night.  We also heard lions and hyenas.  All the sounds were very cool.

 

At 6:15AM we headed out for our morning game drive.  Just like at Porini Mara, the plan was to have a bush breakfast to maximize our time out in the field.

 

We had only driven maybe 15 minutes from camp when we saw a hyena wandering around.  Just then, we got a call on the radio.  Lions were making a kill so our driver took off in the direction of the lions.  Well, that hyena must have had a radio set to the same frequency as ours because right after we got the call, it took off running towards the kill as well.

 

We burst out of the tree line into an open field and the hyena burst out right next to us. It was keeping pace.  A split second later another hyena burst out of the treeline.  Then a 3rd and a 4th.  All were keeping pace with us as we raced across the field towards the lions.

 

In was an incredibly surreal scene because it felt like we were watching a movie like Lord of the Rings with wargs charging across the plains.

 

We arrived at the scene to find 5 lions eating a small zebra.  The hyenas were everywhere.  In fact, at one point we counted over 30 Spotted Hyenas.

 

 

The kill was too small to sufficiently feed the lions so they were all fighting each other over the best parts:

 

The lions really battled it out over the scraps:

 

A few got a piece and went off by themselves:

 

Or tried to:

 

This lion does not look happy that the hyena is getting a piece:

 

A prancing lion?

 

After the meal was finished, the lions appeared to make up by rubbing and licking each other a little bit.  All must be good in the pride again:

 

After these lions, we decided to look for a different pride that had cubs.

 

One the way, I found a cooperative Grey-headed Kingfisher:

 

We found the lions and they did indeed have cubs. In fact, these cubs were much smaller than the ones that we found at Porini Mara. Our guides mentioned that this pride had 9 cubs.  9 cubs!

 

I think we all new what we were doing for the rest of the morning drive. 

 

------------------------------------------------------Cub Alert---------------------------------------------------

If you don't like pictures of lion cubs, you might want to stop reading now.  Of the over 7,000 photos I brought back 6,990 are of lion cubs (Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but not much).

---------------------------------------------------End Cub Alert------------------------------------------------

 

 

These cubs were so cute.  Then all of a sudden we saw one that was even smaller.  Oh my god it was the cutest thing I have ever seen:

 

 

 

Our guides thought this little cub was too young to know its sex yet but some other guides in the camp said it was a female.  So, when I got home I felt the need to name this cub because saying "the little cub" all the time would get old.  Since this cub was a female and such an absolute princess, we decided to call her Leia.

 

 

The other cubs were adorable as well and quite the handful.  We watched them play with each other and play with the 3 lionesses that were looking after them.  It was the most enjoyable time we have had on a trip in a long time.

 

What is it with cats and tails?

 

"The grass tastes yucky"

 

I can imagine this lioness saying "Help me":

 

 

Here are some good shots to see the difference in size between Leia and her older siblings:

 

 

Our guides told us that the lionesses tend to give birth at the same time so that they can all share in the raising of the cubs.  But, one gave birth a few weeks later than the others to 3 cubs.  Leia is the only surviving member of that small litter which explains why she is smaller than the others.

 

 

"Hey, what was Mom looking at"

 

One of the lionesses appeared to only have one good eye:

 

When the cubs weren't playing, they tried everything they could to nurse...even when Mom was standing up:

 

There appeared to be one cub that was a bit of a troublemaker.  On more than one occasion it got picked up and carried after misbehaving:

 

"Please help me"

 

 

Look at that size difference:

 

The Lions moved around a lot but our driver expertly got us into good positions without altering the behavior of the lions.  They did a great job the whole time and best of all there were only a couple other vehicles because we were in the conservancy.

 

There was some water nearby and some of the lions headed down there including Leia who seemed fascinated by the mud:

 

A muddy princess Leia:

 

 

 

The troublemaker:

 

 

The poor lioness was trying to get all the cubs to follow her but she was having a hard time. It was like trying to herd cats...

 

After the excitement of the water, the lions retreated into the shade to rest and nurse.  This is the only shot I have of all 3 lionesses and all 9 cubs:

 

"Is there a teet for me?"

 

Breakfast time:

 

Notice the lioness in the back getting swarmed by hungry cubs:

 

 

Looking for a free nipple (Coincidentally enough, that is the title of my college journal):

 

"Really, help me!"

 

Sometimes, the lionesses couldn't take it anymore:

 

 

But, when they got up, the cubs just moved to the next available female:

 

 

After breakfast, it was nap time:

 

I took the first cub picture at 7:49 AM and the last at 9:05 AM.  Talk about a great way to spend an hour and 15 minutes.  Can it get any better than that?

 

Once nap time started, we decided to leave and look for a breakfast spot but Africa had a few more photos ops planned for us.

 

Late for the pond:

 

 

We found a newborn Thomson's Gazelle that could barely walk. We must have just missed the birth:

 

 

Here's a bit of the scenery that shows off some of the Olare Motorogi Conservancy:

 

Time for breakfast and to "check the tires":

 

After breakfast, we decided to check in on Fig and her cub.  Along the way, we found this Black-headed Heron:

 

We found the Leopards relaxing in a tree:

 

Our guides thought that Fig might climb down to hunt so we went around the small creek bed to the other side for a better view.  While we were gone, Fig did indeed leave so all we found in the tree was the cub:

 

 

 

We drove around a bit looking for Fig and it didn't take long to find her scanning the area for prey:

 

While she was checking out the Water Buffalo our guides said they were too big and mean for Fig to actually hunt:

 

There was no other prey anywhere in sight so since it was now after noon we decided to head back to camp.  What an awesome morning!  All safaris are this good, right?

[offshorebirder]

What a superb morning, right off the bat @Atdahl!

[MMMim]

 

Quote

 (Coincidentally enough, that is the title of my college journal):

Atdahl - you are too funny, and your pictures and narrative are awesome! Continuing to be enthralled by your trip report!

Heather

[Atdahl]

@offshorebirder, yes it was a great morning we were so excited to find leopards again and the cubs.

 

@MMMim, thanks.  I am glad you like the report.  There is still more to come and the videos by @CheetahFan add a whole different dimension.

 

Alan

[Kitsafari]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

to the cubs, especially the noty one and princess Leia. did the guides say why the rest of the litter didn't survive? 

 

(well I nearly missed the ninth cub in that pix of the 3 adults and scattered cubs. he must be waiting to pounce on an unwary prey.)

[Atdahl]

@Kitsafari, I do not remember if we were told what happened to the other two tiny cubs or not.  If @monalisa or @CheetahFan remembers they can chime in.

 

That 9th cub is the hardest one to spot.  But, it's even harder to take one photo with all of them in it...

[Atdahl]

Day 10 (Part 2) - Porini Lion

 

In the early afternoon, I wandered around camp to see what was out and about.  I found a spot under a tree that was attracting tons of birds.  They were after something on the ground but I have no idea what.  Luckily, some of them cooperated for pictures:

 

Spectacled Weaver:

 

Male Purple Grenadier:

 

Female Purple Grenadier:

 

White-browed Robin Chats:

 

Big clouds started to form in the afternoon and it did end up raining. In fact, we had afternoon thunderstorms everyday at Porini Lion but they didn't last very long so we weren't majorly impacted by the rain.

 

Since all four of us are big time cat people, the first thing on the agenda in the afternoon was to see if Fig found something to eat.  We found Fig some distance from where she was in the morning but it didn't appear that she had made a kill and the cub was nowhere to be seen:

 

Queen of the trees:

 

A little bit later we came upon another mating lion pair:

 

The female walked with her tail up:

 

And, the male was very interested:

 

Walking with a purpose:

 

After "tasting" her urine maybe he figured she wasn't quite ready yet.  By the way, this is probably the same face I would make after tasting urine:

 

So, they kept their distance:

 

What a beautiful mane he has:

 

Then, they started calling to each other:

 

It was sundowner time but no one wanted to leave so we once again had our drinks and snacks in the vehicle watching cats.  It's a tough life...

 

The male lion was in really good condition except for a bit of a mutilated nostril:

 

This whole time the two would walk a bit and stop with the male 10 meters or so behind the female.  Once again our driver did a great job getting us into good photo positions without impacting the lions:

 

In fact, at one point the drive got us in great position near a puddle and the male cooperated:

 

 

We lost our light at this point and headed back to camp.  Another spectacular afternoon in Africa!

 

One of the other guests had a birthday today and the staff at Porini Lion made him a cake.  Then they all came into the dining tent and did some traditional Masai dancing which included the leaping contest.  It was fun to watch and we learned that the chef can cook AND jump really high.

 

We had arranged for a night drive after dinner tonight.  But, unlike at the other camps, they used a red filter at Porini Lion so all my pictures are a bit "rosey" from this drive.

 

The drive started out great with a Common Genet that let us get close enough for good photos:

 

We then had out best look at an African Cat:

 

And, our best look at a White-tailed Mongoose:

 

We ended up seeing another African Wild Cat, 3 Spring hares, at least 3 Scrub Hares, 2 Bat-eared Foxes, and a second White-tailed Mongoose.  That's a pretty successful night drive in my book.

 

Even though we weren't in bed until after 11PM and we were really tired, it was hard to fall asleep after an amazing day like today.  Thank you Kenya!

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 11 (Part 1) - Porini Lion

 

Last night we had a little bit of rain.  We also had another hippo grunting outside our tent. In fact, it must have rubbed against one of the tent ropes because it actually shook the wall of the tent a little bit.  In case the hippo broke in, we did have a 2nd bed available for it. But, it was only a twin size...

 

Once again, we met at 6:15AM to start our morning drive.  Our guide took us to an area where he thought a Honey Badger was living but we saw no signs of it.  So, we decided to go see if we could find the lion cubs again.

 

On the way, this Lilac-breasted Roller posed nicely:

 

 

We did find the lions pretty quickly and the whole gang was there:

 

 

------------------------------------------------------Cub Alert---------------------------------------------------

Yes, I'm doing it to you again.  So, if you are one of the .00001% of people that don't like cubs then look away now...

---------------------------------------------------End Cub Alert------------------------------------------------

There's nothing like an early morning tail pulling to wake you up:

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't mention this yesterday but the cubs were quite vocal.  They weren't loud since they were so young but they cooed and called a lot.  I will be posting a video on the last day where you can hear this cool vocalization.

 

Here is a photo of one of the cubs calling:

 

Leia was as cute as ever:

 

There were 4 females today and 1 male hanging around the cubs.  One of the females was younger and not nursing and she stuck really close to the male.  Our guide said that the two were related and that's when we learned about how much the lions inbreed.  Anyway, here is a shot of the two:

 

The other females tended to the cubs:

 

 

The troublemaker is at it again:

 

Yup, more cub photos...

 

 

 

All of a sudden, the peaceful scene was shattered.  Just in front of our vehicle and off to the right a bit something triggered the 3 females to go after the male lion.  I guess he showed some sort of aggression towards a cub.  Well, all three females attacked the male in a frenzy of growls and roars. The male needed to retreat and had 3 paths to choose.  The first option was through the vehicle right in front of us, the second was through our vehicle and the third was through the gap between our vehicles.

 

Luckily, he chose option 3. But, for a split second I was seriously worried that he would come right through us.  I think all of our hearts were beating a whole lot faster during this encounter and when I checked my pants for poop later I luckily found none.

 

The 3 lionesses chased the male a little farther away and I finally had the presence of mind to take a picture at this point:

 

They then retreated back to comfort the cubs since they were more vocal than normal and seemed upset:

 

The 4th female stayed with the male and appeared to try to make up with him a little bit. But, he wasn't interested:

 

The lions retreated into the bushes after this so we moved on.

 

As we were driving we saw some movement that lead us to a hyena den.  In fact, they had a few different dens in this same huge open field.  There were a couple adults and three pups.  This was one of the last things to cross off Karen's "Didn't see but everyone else did" list from her missed day at Amboseli.

 

 

What a cute little puppy:

 

 

 

We decided to drive up into the rocky hills to try to find a Klipspringer.  On the way, we found another Topi on a mound:

 

We didn't have any luck with the Klipspringer but the scenery was nice.  In fact, we decided to stop up on the hill for our bush breakfast.  Here is the view we had.  It included Richard Branson's Mahali Mzuri lodge in the background:

 

 

On the way back down, we had a cooperative Red-headed Agama Lizard:

 

Who found a female to "bond" with:

 

Before heading back to camp, our guides took us to a new part of the conservancy looking for another leopard named Tito.  Along the way, this Yellow-billed Stork posed for us:

 

Our guides found Tito sleeping in a tree.  I have no idea how they spotted him since he was right in the middle of a lot of branches:

 

Since it was obvious that he wasn't moving any time soon, we called it a morning and headed back for lunch.

 

After lunch, I did my usual walk around camp but it was a bit quiet today.  However, I did find a curious Dwarf Mongoose:

 

 

I also found a new bird for us.  A White-bellied Canary:

[CheetahFan]

Great job Alan, really enjoyed reading the report. I have been waiting for you to arrive at the tail end of the trip because a good portion of the videos I have gotten around to making are from this part!

 

Here is the 'fight' between the four lionesses and the male lion, this pride sure does love the drama:

 

 

Also here's one of lionesses struggling to pick up and carry their big cubs:

 

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by CheetahFan

[Atdahl]

GREAT videos Tim!  That first one of the "fight" is especially cool with all the growls and roars.  Plus, you can hear the little cries of the cubs too.  Just awesome!

[Hads]

Wow  -- just catching up on your TR @Atdahl - WHAT AMAZING SIGHTINGS YOU HAD !!!!!!!

The lion cubs and then a leopard cub, fantastic stuff mate.

[Atdahl]

Thanks @Hads.  We all feel it was an amazing trip but it's almost done...just a couple days left.

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 11 (Part 2) - Porini Lion

 

Just like yesterday, our 4PM afternoon drive started out with ominous clouds:

 

We headed out to see if we could find Fig, but the rain ended up catching us pretty quickly.

 

 

We didn't end up finding Fig, but we did find some other wildlife that wasn't too bothered by the wet conditions:

 

 

This impala herd was huge.  Just after I took this picture they all started running and we could literally hear their hooves pounding against the earth.  It was like soft thunder.

 

 

Since the search for Fig was a bust, guess what we did next...

 

Yup, we went looking for Cubs.   We are so predictable...

 

We found the pride just as two of the lionesses started out for a hunt:

 

There were some zebras on a hill across a small river which we assumed were the intended target.  But, after one of the lionesses crossed the river all of them seemed to lose interest.  So, we did the same and drove over to where the cubs where.   They were up on a rocky area and we couldn't see them that well.  Our driver positioned us so that we had a little opening.  Well, I couldn't believe what happened next.  The cubs came out into that opening and posed incredibly for us.

 

------------------------------------------------------Cub Alert---------------------------------------------------

The owner of this blog takes no responsibility if you hurt yourself ooohing and awwwing at the photos that follow.  You have been warned... 

---------------------------------------------------End Cub Alert------------------------------------------------

 

 

Naturally, the first one to come say hi was our little princess:

 

Then one of her siblings came and interrupted our photo shoot.  Well, Leia being the young diva that she is didn't take kindly to that:

 

 

 

To show her disgust she did the only thing she could.  She peed and flicked it up with her tail and onto her sibling with tremendous coordination:

 

Naturally, a truce was called after that and the two played nice for a photo or two:

 

"I'm coming to pose for you again..."

 

 

 

I mean this whole encounter was absolutely melting our hearts.  So, naturally the trouble maker decided to get involved.  That's him/her on the right.  Does it look a little "off"?

 

 

Well, that cub obviously wasn't feeling well and proceeded to throw up some liquid.  This photo makes me laugh every time I see it.  There is nothing like catching a cat pre-vomit:

 

After barfing, the cub looked down and decided to lick it up.

 

"Hmmm...what happens if I eat this?"

 

"I shouldn't have eaten it!!!!"

 

 

After this the cub threw up again.  We were all doing a bad job at suppressing our laughter at this point.  Luckily, more cubs decided to pose for us to take the spot light off the sick one:

 

 

The cubs eventually disappeared only to reappear out away from the rocks and into a more open area.  They were all full of energy.

 

"Yeah, tail!"

 

 

Leia actually did a little cat crab walk for us:

 

And then she proceeded to find a small rock:

 

Which she immediately tried to climb:

 

She made it on top for a split second:

 

Before the rock fell over and dumped her on her side:

 

A chaos of cubs.  Yes, there is a lioness under there...somewhere:

 

A few of the cubs decided to battle over a tree:

 

 

One even got a little boost while trying to climb it:

 

Leia ended up being as good or better climber than the others:

 

OK, deep breath now because this cub-a-palooza isn't over yet.

 

 

Not content to just play with a tree, the cubs decided to go harass one of the two males that was sleeping nearby:

 

He was not amused:

 

So, he proceeded to get up and lead the cubs over to the other male.  What a brilliant strategy!

 

At the same time, another cub was playing with a lioness:

 

And biting her a little too hard maybe:

 

While yet anther cub took a break to "check the tires":

 

It was impossible to figure out what to take pictures of.  That's a nice problem to have.

 

The cubs harassing the males would not give up however so I focused on that for a while.

 

When you can feel it coming:

 

"Hi Dad, whatcha doin'?":

 

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

 

 

Here's another cub with the other male:

 

It didn't learn its lesson either since it got swatted:

 

Boy those cubs are persistent:

 

 

 

 

But, "Dad" got the last laugh.  Obviously, Leia learned her master defense strategy from this male:

 

 

While all this cub on father harassing was going on, we also witnessed a fantastic sunset.

 

It started out innocently enough:

 

 

Then the color started to appear:

 

 

And it ended in amazingly intense yellows, oranges, reds and purples:

 

 

To say this was an amazing day would be an understatement.

[Atravelynn]

Thank you for the warnings in red.    Tremendous lion activity from the fights to the cub relocation, even a little barfing!   Lion and leopard cubs are top sightings no doubt!

Can you state which #d posts were Porini Mara and which ones were Porini Lion?  Trying to figure out what you saw where.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Atravelynn

[CheetahFan]

That really was a fantastic afternoon drive.

 

Here's a video of the cubs annoying their dads. It's probably my favourite video that I took on the trip:

 

And here's one of all 9 bonding with two lionesses, very cute cubs:

 

 

[michael-ibk]

An absolutely phenomenal safari, @monalisa, @CheetahFan and @Atdahl - to think this was your first one! Fantastic sightings all the way through, and I really like your engaging writing style, fun to read.

 

The lion cubs are too cute for words, and CheetahFan, that second to last video might be one of the most entertaining lion interaction videos I have ever seen, bravo! On a similar note, the lion cube "checking the tyres" is absolutely priceless.

 

Fig really is a poser, and how cool to see her with cub. Safari gold truly, and you struck that so often on this trip. That hyena kill is quite something, I don´t think we´ve ever seen a scene like that on Safaritalk. Jealous about the Black Mamba, still have never seen one. And very interesting about the Wildebeest calf imprinting on the car, never heard of that. Hope if found a more appropriate mother figure after you left it.

 

And good to see some Jethro Tull appreciation!

 

 

[Atdahl]

@michael-ibk, thanks for the kind words.  We really did have a fantastic first safari.  For @monalisa and @CheetahFan they have been on safari before but this was their first trip to Kenya.  I think they will admit this was their best safari though.

 

@CheetahFan, I LOVE both those videos!  That's the sort of behavior that I just can't capture with pictures.  I laugh every time I watch them so thanks for all the excellent video work on the trip.  It is much appreciated .

[Atravelynn]

Cubs annoying the dad(s).  Perfect timing for Father's Day.  Bonding with mom, adorable too.

PHEEEE NOM EN ALLLLLLLL

 

Should you be fortunate enough to do additional safaris, you may never top this one.  But every outing has its moments.

[Alexander33]

I think you may have invented a new collective noun — a “chaos of cubs” — and that would be the perfect description of what you saw. I’ve never seen so many lion cubs cavorting around as you all did. Cuteness overload. 

 

That portrait of Fig’s cub looking down from the tree is fantastic. And congratulations on your shots of those purple grenadiers. I found those things just impossible, but you succeeded in a major way. 

 

What an incredible safari. 

[Zim Girl]

Really wonderful lion cub pictures - great interaction and play observed.

What an amazing time you all had.

[philw]

Fantastic  report and photos - thanks for sharing. Its whetted my appetite ahead of our visit too Enaidura and Mara Plains in first week of November - first time back in Kenya since 2012. After multiple visits, we had thought we had 'done' the Mara but, if you stay in the right place, it always draws you back! For whatever reason it's unusual to see decent conservancy night drive photos, unlike Zambia where we found the night drives very productive. Wild cat photo particularly good (and rare)

[monalisa]

Ermahgerd!! The cubs!!  This is the best bit!!!

Thanks for all the incredible photos Alan, it's like reliving the trip again in HD. Little princess on the rock.. now there is a fave. She is just soooooo sweet.

 

She would have to be my true highlight of the trip. Oh wait... but Fig and cub on the tree! Oh wait... the lion fight next to the car!! It's a nice problem to have when there are so many amazing memories to choose from