Amboseli and Mara February 2023

[Pangolin]

Okay, so I haven't posted on the forum in over 10 years, but I've lurked a little lately and have become somewhat inspired again. I've been to Africa a number of times since last posting, but the most recent trip was to Kenya this past Feb/Mar. We visited Amboseli (stayed at Tortilis Camp), the Maasai Mara (stayed at Enkewa Camp), and the Mara North Conservancy (stayed at Kicheche Mara Camp). Many highlights including the melanistic serval at Amboseli, a large pride of lions somehow screwing up a hunt of a lone, gimpy warthog near Enkewa, and some great leopard sightings at Kicheche Mara. My opening photo is from a nice viewing of two lionesses that we had to ourselves while staying at Enkewa Camp. I'm sure it will take me a while to catch up with the requirements of the forum regarding photos, etc. Please bear with me.

[madaboutcheetah]

Welcome back @Pangolin…. Nice to see you back !!

[Pangolin]

10 hours ago, madaboutcheetah said:

Welcome back @Pangolin…. Nice to see you back !!

Thanks @madaboutcheetah. I'll continue on with the report soon.

[Pangolin]

A few from Amboseli. We spent some time with a small family of African wolves (golden wolf) - a new species for me. 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

We tried our best for some iconic Kilimanjaro photos, but the mountain did not cooperate.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

We spent some time around sunset photographing flamingos

[ElenaH]

Beautiful images, @Pangolin!

I like the lionesses and the golden wolf! How was the weather there in February? Was it raining?

Tell also a few words about the camps. How did you like Tortilis?

[Pangolin]

1 hour ago, ElenaH said:

Beautiful images, @Pangolin!

I like the lionesses and the golden wolf! How was the weather there in February? Was it raining?

Tell also a few words about the camps. How did you like Tortilis?

Thank you, @ElenaH. The weather was pretty good overall. It was quite warm at Amboseli. We got rained on a couple of times at Mara North, one serious downpour while we were watching lions mating, but that lasted only 20-30 minutes. I liked each camp, and Kicheche Mara is now on my short list of definite favorites. Hopefully it won't become any fancier. Tortliis was nice and guiding was excellent. It is a bit of a climb from the tents up to the common area, but that is not a real problem.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

The common area and our tent at Tortilis.

[Pangolin]

Like most people that visit Amboseli for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of water visible on the approach. We did see a lot of wildebeest carcasses in the drier areas, but that wasn't really overly bothersome to me. Partly I guess because I'm a biologist and realize that such things are a normal part of ecosystem cycles (although this time around we can blame climate change in part), and partly because we saw 50-100 live animals for every dead one.

[Athene]

Beautiful pictures @Pangolin We visited Amboseli a few years ago in August and also stayed at Tortilis camp. It was very dry then with quite a few dust devils and Kilimanjaro was always covered in clouds. Elephant sightings were amazing. I am looking forward to your Mara North report as I will also stay at Kicheche Mara camp.

[Pangolin]

7 hours ago, Athene said:

Beautiful pictures @Pangolin We visited Amboseli a few years ago in August and also stayed at Tortilis camp. It was very dry then with quite a few dust devils and Kilimanjaro was always covered in clouds. Elephant sightings were amazing. I am looking forward to your Mara North report as I will also stay at Kicheche Mara camp.

Thank you, @Athene I really liked Mara North. I'll get to it soon, I hope.

[Pangolin]

 

No visit to Amboseli in recent months would be complete without a search for the melanistic serval. We stumbled across it the morning of our last full day. It was already at a distance by the time we started shooting. Fortunately, it had a "regular", albeit muddy partner that came a little closer.

Edited June 10, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

I thought a giraffe in the middle of the dry lakebed was an interesting sighting....

[Atravelynn]

The melanistic serval, oh my!  I've been wondering about Amboseli in Feb and here's your report!  You write 10 years since you posted?  It seems like about 3-4.  Like running into an old friend.  Not that you are old.  That's an iconic intro shot.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Atravelynn

[Pangolin]

2 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

The melanistic serval, oh my!  I've been wondering about Amboseli in Feb and here's your report!  You write 10 years since you posted?  It seems like about 3-4.  Like running into an old friend.  Not that you are old.  That's an iconic intro shot.

I actually am old, @Atravelynn! Well, getting there anyway. Those two lionesses were iconic, and quite special because we had them to ourselves in the Reserve. The serval was definitely a highlight as well.

[Pangolin]

No trip report for Amboseli would be complete without a few elephants....

[Pangolin]

I'll wrap up the Amboseli portion of the trip with some bird pics. I could keep going on, but nobody wants that (myself included). We did see lions regularly at Amboseli, but to be honest, the lions there are just not very photogenic relative to those in the Mara ecosystem (IMHO). We did not see the cheetahs that were spotted by a few folks while we were there. We did see quite a few hyenas. We also saw some HUGE catfish in the marsh (in about 6 inches of water) - that was pretty exciting because three of the five people in our group are fisheries biologists. 

 

All in all, I enjoyed Amboseli. Guiding by Jona out of Tortilis was excellent. Tortilis camp was very good as well, So, I enjoyed it, but am I all fired up to get back there? Not really. Some places I visit, I want to get back to ASAP (e.g., Mara conservancies, quiet corners of the Okavango Delta, etc.), but not so much Amboseli. I'm glad I went once though.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

On to Enkewa Camp in the Mara Reserve......

[Pangolin]

If you want to go to the Mara Reserve but are looking for an "off the beaten path" camp, then Enkewa may be the place for you. The camp itself is fine - not fancy, but not too primitive either. Guiding by Dominick was excellent, and we made it a point to stay away from the crowds for the most part. We joined the "scrum" for one leopard sighting, and the scrum joined us at one cheetah sighting, but for the most part we were on our own (or close to it). A cool sighting to start - a female martial eagle swooped by, and when looking at the pics a little later, I realized that she had a radio or satellite tag. Nobody bothered us when they learned we were just hanging with a bird.

[Tdgraves]

Very interesting to see the difference from our very similar trip in September 

[Pangolin]

On one of our drives from Enkewa we struck out to the southeast corner of the reserve near (sometimes on) the Tanzanian border. We saw one vehicle from Cottar's and that was it for the entire drive. Our patience was rewarded with a great sighting of mating lions. We hung with them for over an hour and came away with photos and videos from just about every angle we could want (and some we didn't). The male was quite handsome, so I tried a little post-production to highlight his good looks.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

A few minutes after leaving the lions, we found that the warthogs did not want to be outdone. This drive had definitely developed a theme.

[Pangolin]

Same drive. Not quite as iconic as Kilamanjaro, but you work with what you have.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

Different drive, but keeping in line with our recurring safari theme.