First African Safari: It was about time!

[Zubbie15]

Only catching up now and finishing page 5, but gotta take the time to say what a great encounter with Fig and her little one.  We've been relatively lucky with leopards on our safaris (5+ on each), but have never seen a young one. Hopefully next time!  

[Atdahl]

@Atravelynn, that's true.  Those cubs tormenting the males is great for Father's Day.  Part of me thinks you are right about not being able to top this safari.  Maybe some day, we will find out. 

 

@Alexander33, thanks!  I got lucky with the Purple Grenadier photos.  There was some sort of mixed flock hanging around one tree at Lion camp during mid-day that allowed me to get lots of bird shots.  That was the only time I saw them and a few other species.  It was a right time, right place sort of thing.

 

Thanks @Zim Girl

 

@philw, I was surprised that no other guests in the camps seemed to know about the after dinner night drives.  I am not sure that Porini advertises them much or not but we specifically asked for as many as we could do.  We only did them every other night since our guides needed rest (and we did too), but they were a big highlight  night even though they were only about 1 hour long. 

 

@monalisa, thanks!  We too are having a great time stringing this report out a bit to keep the memories alive. Alas, we are almost reaching the end soon. 

 

@Zubbie15, your past leopard experiences just reinforce how lucky I think we got with such memorable sightings.  I hate to say that we will never return to Africa for a safari but we sure feel pretty fulfilled right now.  Of course, we do have an October trip to Madagascar coming up.  Does that count as an African Safari?

 

Alan

[Alexander33]

@Atdahl

 

Following up on our favorite leopard, Fig, I just got an e-mail this morning from Kicheche. They report her cub’s been named Furaha (which means “celebration”). I don’t recall if that tidbit was discussed here or not. Mother and Child are doing just fine. Also, they confirmed that Figlet, Fig’s previous cub that I inquired about earlier, is alive and well.  

 

Just FYI. 

[philw]

2 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

@Atdahl

 

Following up on our favorite leopard, Fig, I just got an e-mail this morning from Kicheche. They report her cub’s been named Furaha (which means “celebration”). I don’t recall if that tidbit was discussed here or not. Mother and Child are doing just fine. Also, they confirmed that Figlet, Fig’s previous cub that I inquired about earlier, is alive and well.  

 

Just FYI. 

 

 

Great to see Fig doing so well. I think the attached picture on my hallway wall (taken in Jan 2012) was one of the first sightings of her. In fact, at that point they thought 'she' was a 'he' and didn't have a name. Hoping to see her in November....  

[Atdahl]

@Alexander33, thanks for sharing the news about Fig's cub Furaha.  As far as we know, it didn't have a name when we were there.  It's also good to hear that Figlet is around and doing well.  

 

@philw, that's an awesome framed photo of Fig you have.  How great would it be to get another photo of her as an adult that you can hang next to this one .

 

Alan

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 12 - Porini Lion

 

Our morning game drive today starting out with a nice sunrise that even the Topi enjoyed:

 

As a matter of fact, we found a couple that were doing some play fighting in the early morning light:

 

Next, we came upon a pair of Bat-eared Foxes.  One shot into a nearby hole immediately, the but the other stayed above ground and posed for a few photos:

 

As we were watching the fox, we noticed that a hyena was ambling our way:

 

The fox took notice as well:

 

We thought that there might be some sort of altercation, but the hyena just continue to walk on by as the fox watched it go:

 

We were near to the hyena den so we decided to go take a look.  On the way, we encountered this Egyptian goose with three little "Ryans" (You know, Goslings...)

 

There wasn't much action at the hyena den but one pup did manage to say hello before moving away:

 

As we continued with the morning drive, we found a pride of about 12 lions.  They were all lounging around and, if their full bellies were any indication, they were relaxing after a big meal:

 

 

 

Speaking of meals, we decided to stop for a bush breakfast shortly after seeing the lions.  As I mentioned before, the daily bush breakfasts were really nice because it allowed us to stay out during prime wildlife watching time.  Here is a look at the standard breakfast goodies:

 

Notice that there was one banana for each of us and Four for Karen.  That was just about the right ratio for her.

 

Our breakfast today was in another lovely spot:

 

 

After breakfast, the drive continued with a nice Waterbuck:

 

The best encounter of the drive was definitely what we saw next.  It was a tiny giraffe with its mother:

 

Look how small it is:

 

It could almost walk under its mother without ducking:

 

We were fairly far away and the guides asked if we wanted to get closer but we decided not to stress out this beautiful pair at all so we continued on our way.  What a treat to see such a little giraffe though.

 

During the mid-day break I wandered around camp again but the bird life was pretty low.  There were some baboons close by but they didn't pose for any pictures and I made sure not to get too close to them.  I did notice that the clouds were forming again though...

[monalisa]

More awesome photos @Atdahl!! And I need to blow our trumpet on the fact that was our SEVENTH bat eared fox sighting. That was nuts!

 

And I loved the teeny giraffe. That is the smallest one I have ever seen!

 

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 12 (Part 2) - Porini Lion

 

We left for our afternoon drive at around 4PM.  It looked and felt like rain was coming but that didn't deter us at all.  It also didn't deter this pair of dik diks that held still just long enough for a photo or two.  Would this be a Dik Dik Dik Dik?

 

There was a young one with them but it would not stay still for pictures and as we were moving the vehicle around to get a better look someone spotted a Slender Mongoose.  So, the dik diks were quickly forgotten as we tried to photography the mongoose.  It didn't run away but was really playing hard to get.  I only managed to get one keeper photo:

 

As I mentioned yesterday, no one had seen Fig in a while so we decided to go see if we could find her since it would be nice to see a leopard one last time.  As the weather got more and more ominous, we drove around her territory hoping to spot her.  But, unless a leopard wants to be seen it really is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 

We could see the rain coming now so our driver stopped the vehicle to pull down the side flaps.  Just as Julius was climbing along the side of the car he exclaimed "There she is!" and pointed.

 

We all turned to see Figs head pop up and look around:

 

She must have been in the small ravine/river bed that runs through this part of the conservancy and picked that moment to come out right next to our vehicle.  How lucky was that!?

 

She came up out of the ravine and posed beautifully for us:

 

We were the only vehicle at this sighting for a little bit until the two other Porini vehicles showed up.  As we were watching the leopard, our guide and driver put down the left flap and angled the vehicle so the left side was facing the storm and the right side was open and facing towards Fig.

 

None of the other vehicles did this little maneuver which is too bad because right after we did it the skies opened up and it poured down rain.  We could see all the people in the other vehicles scramble to put on ponchos and as the guides got out to pull the sides down.  It was actually kind of funny to witness all the scrambling so we all had a nice laugh at our good luck and we thanked our guides profusely.

 

Meanwhile, Fig also moved to find shelter from the rain:

 

She picked a spot that provided some shelter but also good visibility since it appeared that she was trying to hunt:

 

So, this is where we had sun downers (rain downers?) today.  Out in the plains of Africa, in the rain, watching a leopard.  I am not sure I have tasted a better gin and tonic...

 

Once the rain let up a little bit, she moved out into the grass slowly with her eyes on a nearby gazelle:

 

But, any thoughts of a hunt were dashed by a wandering hyena.  Fig didn't want anything to do with this hyena so she got as low as she could to avoid detection.  In the below photo, she is right above the hyena looking our way right at it:

 

The hyena eventually wandered off but the light got really low so we weren't able to see what Fig ended up doing.  I did get one last Africa sunset shot:

 

After dinner, we had our final night drive planned.  We left at around 9:15PM for the hour drive.  Our guide immediately found some eye shine in a tree.  It turned out to be a Senegal Galago (or Lesser Bushbay).  It looks like a little gremlin but didn't want to come out for picture so a red tinted obstruction filled picture is the best evidence I have:

 

Very close by we found a Greater Galago:

 

And then we found another Senegal Galago.  But, as we tried to get closer to this 2nd one it did something that astounded all of us.  It jumped down from the tree it was in, hit the ground and jumped high in the air, hit the ground again, jumped high in the air again and landed towards the top of another tree some 30 meters away.  Holy crap!  It was like we encountered some bionic gremlin.  We had no idea they could jump that high and far.  It was amazing to see.

 

We ended up having a really good night drive since we saw a bat-eared fox, 3 spring hares, 1 scrub hares, a couple wandering hippos, 1 lion, 2 white-tailed mongoose, and a really newborn gazelle.  Here are some red tinted photos of the latter two encounters:

 

 

 

 

And that ended our last full day in the African bush.  No cubs today, but it was still a really nice day filled with some excellent encounters.  Luckily, we had one game drive left tomorrow morning before we had to leave so we weren't quite finished with Africa yet.

[offshorebirder]

You certainly had good luck with Galagos @Atdahl.     Who knew they could jump so far!     

 

Great trip report and I am glad Kenya produced so well for you.

[Galago]

Ryan's!!!  I shall never say goslings again 😂

[Alexander33]

On 6/19/2019 at 6:50 PM, Atdahl said:

 

But, unless a leopard wants to be seen it really is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 

She came up out of the ravine and posed beautifully for us:

 

So, this is where we had sun downers (rain downers?) today.  Out in the plains of Africa, in the rain, watching a leopard.  I am not sure I have tasted a better gin and tonic...

 

 

I almost feel as if Fig, with all her poses, likes to be seen. 

 

And, what a memory. The first time we saw her, we also spent our “sun”downers in the rain watching her, only she was up in a tree. And truer words were never spoken. That’s one of the best glasses of wine I’ve ever had!

[Atdahl]

Thanks @offshorebirder.  Kenya certainly delivered and then some.

 

@Galago, that might be the one thing you remember from this report. 

 

@Alexander33, now we have something else in common, Fig in the rain.  I think almost all our sun downers were spent watching cats, especially towards the end of the trip.  That makes happy hour at home quite boring...but I still partake .

 

And now, the conclusion...

[Atdahl]

Kenya Day 13 - The End 

 

Since our flight didn't leave until late morning, we were able to do an abridged game drive this morning.  We left around 6:15AM and returned around 8:30AM for our breakfast.  We managed to pack a lot into the 2+ hours though.

 

The morning greeted us with another nice sunrise:

 

We went looking for Fig but couldn't find her so we decided to try to find our favorite lion pride.  You know, the one with all the cubs.

 

On the way, we encountered huge herds of zebra.  They looked fantastic in the early morning light:

 

 

Even this Grant's Gazelle was enjoying the good light:

 

 

We were able to find the lions.  They too were enjoying the morning sun up on a rock outcropping.  I think the lionesses were enjoying some alone time:

 

 

But, that didn't last long:

 

"Is that a tail?"

 

Luckily, Leia put in one last brief appearance for us:

 

There were also some birds that posed nicely while we watched the lions.

 

Little Bee-eaters:

 

Red-necked Spurfowl:

 

Since most of the cubs were up out of sight we asked if there was a way around the other side to see them.  The guides said it was too rocky, but we ended up trying anyway since they saw the look in Andreas eyes when she said "cubs"...  But, they were right.  It was really too rocky for driving and the only animal we could see was a zebra before we had to turn around and admit defeat:

 

But, don't despair because of a lack of cub pictures today.   Here is a compilation video Karen and I took of some cat encounters throughout the trip.   There are plenty of cubs sprinkled in for everyone's enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

On the way back to camp, we did have one last new reptile.  A Nile Monitor:

 

After a nice filling breakfast, I had time to wander around camp a little bit before we left.  This little Brown-throated Wattle-eye was about all I saw though:

 

With that we had to say goodbye to the great folks at Porini Lion.  We had a great time there and really enjoyed our guides, the staff, the food, and of course all the wildlife.  As we were pulling out of camp the staff all waved to us and Karen commented that they were probably saying "Goodbye crazy banana lady!"

 

Our transfer to the airstrip took us through the huge herds of zebra we saw earlier and I took a couple pictures from the top of the hill looking back to get some perspective on the sheer number that we saw.  But, these two shots don't nearly show all the zebras that were foraging through the grasslands below us:

 

 

 

As our plane landed we said goodbye to Julius and Nelson.  They were excellent guides and very patient with our daily requests for cubs, cubs, and more cubs.

 

 

The flight back to Nairobi was direct and nice since the little plane had lots of air flowing.  We were dropped off at the Eka Hotel where we had a day room since our international flight was much later that evening.  We said multiple goodbyes to Tim and Andrea who were once again tremendous travel partners.  We have now conquered both Asia and Africa with them so hopefully there will be more trips in the future since there are more continents out there.  Hint...hint...

 

To say that our trip was great would be an understatement.  It far exceeded our expectations and is quite possibly the best trip we have ever taken.  The wildlife encounters we had were absolutely amazing and something that we will never forget.

 

I can't say enough good things about the folks at Porini.  Everything was just about perfect from the moment we set foot in Africa to the moment we left.  We didn't have to worry about anything while on the ground which was really nice.

 

Kwaheri Kenya.

 

 

 

Here is a final tally of the wildlife counts for this trip.

 

We ended up seeing 139 new bird species which I of course won't detail out here.  But, that is a really good total considering we didn't concentrate on seeing birds at all.

 

45 Mammals (all lifers):

Impala

Thomson's Gazelle

Hartebeest

African Lion

Eland

Common Warthog

Masai Giraffe

Suni

White Rhino

Grant's Gazelle

Plains Zebra

Gerenuk

African Elephant

Vervet Monkey

Unstriped Ground Squirrel

Lesser Kudu

Kirk's Dik Dik

Blue Wildebeest

Cheetah

Bat-eared Fox

Dwarf Mongoose

Spotted Hyena

Hippopotamus

Yellow Baboon

Bohor Reedbuck

African Buffalo

African Golden Wolf

Wild Cat

Scrub Hare

Black-backed Jackal

Topi

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax

Bushbuck

Banded Mongoose

Slender Mongoose

Olive Baboon

Waterbuck

Spring Hare

Greater Galago

Southern Tree Hyrax

African Leopard

Common Genet

White-tailed Mongoose

Senegal Galago

Yellow-winged Bat

 

8 Reptiles (All lifers):

Black Mamba

Leopard Tortoise

Flap-necked Chameleon

Red-headed Rock Agama

Nile monitor

Blue-headed Tree Agama

Striped Skink

Nile Crocodile

 

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Atdahl

[Atdahl]

Hmmm...the video didn't post right.  Let me try again..

 

 

[AfricIan]

Thanks for a great report @Atdahl, Kenya and Porini certainly delivered for you.  @JakeGC couldn't have asked for a better advertisement!

Edited June 24, 2019 by AfricIan

[TonyQ]

Superb report of an outstanding trip.

Excellent photos and engaging writing throughout 

Really enjoyable- we will miss your cubs!

[michael-ibk]

Sad to see this report come to an end - very much enjoyed the engaging writing and the gorgeous photos, not to menton the very cool videos. Truly a fantastic safari the four of you had, thanks so much for sharing!

[JakeGC]

I'm glad you had such a rewarding time on safari staying at our camps @Atdahl and I loved reading your vivid report with all the stunning images.   

45 mammal species isn't too bad on your first trip to Kenya!
We have just put together a list of 73 species all of which which I have seen in the wild on game drives from our camps (plus another 2 non-wild, Northern White Rhino and Chimpanzee kept in sanctuaries within Ol Pejeta Conservancy) - this can be seen as a PDF and may be of interest: 
Gamewatchers Safaris: Mammals seen at Porini Camps

 

4 of the images are yours (Grant's, Thomson;s, Gerenuk, Suni) - thanks for letting us use them!

Edited June 27, 2019 by JakeGC

[MMMim]

Oh my - fantastic trip.  It has me champing at the bit for our trip Sept/Oct.  We will be staying at Porini Amboseli and Porini Mara.  I can only hope we will see a fraction of the animals that you did.  Loved your report, sad its over.  Marvelous pictures and video.  Thank-you.

[Atdahl]

Thanks everyone.  It was truly an epic trip.  Last weekend a few select prints arrived and are adorning our walls so we won't forget this trip any time soon.

 

 

[Zubbie15]

I caught up, just in time.  What a great trip - have to love the lion cubs, and seeing them so well so often.  It'll be hard to beat the sightings you had on any future trips! Thanks so much for sharing.

[Kitsafari]

Finally  caught up with the trip, and rather sad it's come to an end. I had enjoyed your witty report and the dialogue you had going with @monalisa and @CheetahFan. 

 

cubs and pups galore? who can resist babies? 

 

Thanks for sharing the excellent photos and the fun-filled trip. Mara always delivers!

 

sigh. The TRs from you and @janzin tug at the heart strings for a return to the Mara, but so many other places to explore first.....

[shazdwn]

Just re-read your report to help with future planning.  What a trip, and a really entertaining writing style to boot.  

 

@Atdahl - if you had to choose between Porini Mara and Porini Lion which would you pick and why? 

 

Thanks 

[Atdahl]

Hi @shazdwn.  You are right, that was a great trip.  If we ever make it back to Kenya, it will be hard to top.  You ask an interesting question and I think my answer is "it depends"...

 

I liked the Mara camp itself  better.  The scenery there is great and the camp just looks a little nicer.  We also saw Cheetah there and didn't see any at Lion.  However, Lion has leopard and we saw so many amazing lion cubs there that were the highlight of the trip.  So, the wildlife watching was a bit better at lion for us (birding was better too) but of course that is a variable that changes regularly I am sure.  Another benefit of Lion is the option to go into the Masai Mara park (which we didn't do).  I think you can do that from Mara as well but it's a longer trip.

 

In the TR I posted on Mammalwatching.com I included a list of what wildlife we saw at each camp.  So, that may be of interest to you if you have specific targets. 

 https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/Kenya-2019-AlanD.pdf

 

The bottom line is that you can't go wrong with either camp based on our experience since you are choosing between "great" and "great". 

 

@monalisa and @CheetahFan went with us so I will throw out the question to them to see what they think.

 

Either way, I am sure you will have an amazing time.  Porini does it right. 

 

Alan

[shazdwn]

Thanks Alan