Amboseli and Mara February 2023

[Pangolin]

We had one leopard sighting while at Enkewa, but it had a number of vehicles, so we didn't stay too long. The leopard is walking away in one of the photos, but the paw grabs my attention.

[Pangolin]

We had one cheetah sighting entirely to ourselves, first thing in the morning, pretty close to camp. We would have had a second sighting all to ourselves as well, but one vehicle in the distance was watching an elephant and eventually figured out what we were watching. Within 5-10 minutes we were surrounded by 15 or so vehicles. Luckily, we were closer to our camp than everyone else was to theirs, and it was getting late, so they all eventually left. In the last few minutes of daylight the cheetah followed a herd of zebra looking for a chance to pick off a youngster. No such luck. 

[Pangolin]

During our last morning at Enkewa, we were lucky enough to come across a female black rhino and her calf. They were being harassed by hyenas at first, but the hyenas soon gave up. The only vehicles at this sighting were the four from our camp, but after about 10-15 minutes it became clear that the rhinos had had enough, so we all backed off and let them be.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Pangolin

[Atravelynn]

Very lucky with the rhino.  Not many left in the Mara.  Hopefully the numbers can increase.  The other species in the Mara seem to be doing their best to up their populations per your photos.

[Pangolin]

2 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

Very lucky with the rhino.  Not many left in the Mara.  Hopefully the numbers can increase.  The other species in the Mara seem to be doing their best to up their populations per your photos.

This was my 10th trip to Africa, and my first really good look at black rhino. We were indeed fortunate. Population supplementation continued to be a theme throughout the remainder of the safari.

[gatoratlarge]

Love was in the air!  Beautiful photos!  Thanks for sharing!

[Pangolin]

5 hours ago, gatoratlarge said:

Love was in the air!  Beautiful photos!  Thanks for sharing!

Thank you. Happy to share.

[Pangolin]

One morning at Enkewa we set off early to venture about in another area with little vehicle traffic. We came across a hyena clan that had not fully convinced a family of warthogs that they should abandon a burrow. It was a bit of a standoff. One of the hyenas had a radio collar. A couple of vehicles came by, saw what we were looking at, and quickly moved on. I don't quite understand that mindset, but more alone time for us. A little later we came across a serval hunting in the tall grass. 

 

Towards the end of the drive, we sauntered over to where lions had been seen (and reported) all morning. They weren't doing much, and they are a bit obscured by the tall grass, but I like the heads popping up out of the grass.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Pangolin

[PT123]

Great report and great shot of the golden jackals (wolves)!

[Pangolin]

12 hours ago, PT123 said:

Great report and great shot of the golden jackals (wolves)!

Thanks!

[Pangolin]

Rejecting a linear timeline, we go back to the drive during which we saw the rhinos. Immediately after leaving the rhinos, we came across a hyena with a striped stick. Shortly after that we saw a warthog with a very obvious and apparently serious limp. A minute or two after that we found the Black Rock pride, stationed directly in the path of the gimpy warthog. We waited patiently, cameras ready to capture a quick and successful hunt. Somehow, the lions failed at what seemed to be an easy hunt. We theorized that the warthog was faking to lower the betting odds. The pride regrouped after their embarrassing effort.

[Pangolin]

Any shade will do on a sunny day.

[Pangolin]

A few bird pics to wrap up the Enkewa portion of the trip. On to Kicheche Mara and the Mara North Conservancy

[michael-ibk]

Beautiful photos, love the black Serval especially. I think I was still lurking when you last posted - welcome back.🙂

[Pangolin]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Beautiful photos, love the black Serval especially. I think I was still lurking when you last posted - welcome back.🙂

Thank you. Lurking is a good way to start.

[Pangolin]

We went overland from Enkewa to Kicheche Mara, through Talek. We transferred vehicles at the Maa Trust, just outside the Olare Motorogi Conservancy. We therefore drove through quite a bit of the reserve, all of Olare Motorogi, and a lot of Mara North before we reached camp. I think it could be done in about 3 hours, but we took quite a bit longer than that.

 

A couple of shots of the common area at Kicheche Mara, and the view from our tent.

[Pangolin]

Sunrise in the Mara North Conservancy.

[Atravelynn]

You could exchange the hyenas and the lions in your two shots.  Open plains, many subjects, each.  Both groups posed nicely.  That leg of zebra the hyena must have ordered makes for a striking photo.  Gorgeous sunrise.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Atravelynn

[Pangolin]

4 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

You could exchange the hyenas and the lions in your two shots.  Open plains, many subjects, each.  Both groups posed nicely.  That leg of zebra the hyena must have ordered makes for a striking photo.  Gorgeous sunrise.

Thanks. I'm not sure where the Zebra to Go place was. 

[Pangolin]

One afternoon, in keeping with our safari theme, we came across these mating lions very close to camp. Our entire drive was spent within about a km of camp. Two brothers were looking on with interest. This session got interrupted for 20-30 minutes by a serious thunderstorm. One minute you are the toughest guy around and making sure everyone knows it, and the next minute you are wet, miserable, and having a bad hair day just like everyone else. The session continued on after the storm passed.

 

 

 

Bad hair day

Edited June 17, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

During our first game drive at Kicheche Mara we were fortunate enough to find a female leopard lounging in a tree. Rumour was that she had an older cub and he was probably somewhere nearby.  We watched her for a while and she didn't do much other than nap. We stayed close by and did a little birding. Then it was time for sundowners and we can't be skipping those. I just about had a G&T in my hand when out popped junior. He looked at mom, fooled around for a bit, then set off on a solo adventure.

 

Time for a close-up.

 

Little bee-eater was being photogenic while the leopard was snoozing.

 

Put the drinks down. Junior shows up.

 

Fooling around a little.

 

Off on an adventure.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

In addition to the "love is in the air" safari, our time at Kicheche Mara also became the "jackals get screwed" safari. One morning we came across three lionesses on the move. When they split up we followed one that was heading for her cubs (presumably). She soon spotted (as did we) two jackals that had just killed a scrub hare. She was on them within a few seconds and breakfast was stolen. 

 

The following morning we came across jackals that had just taken down a baby gazelle. Within seconds this meal was stolen by a hyena.  

 

Stolen from the jackals

 

Complaining went on for some time but to no avail

 

Another meal lost

 

 

 

Six on one. With a little teamwork, things might have been different.

Edited June 18, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

Another evening at Kicheche Mara, another leopard. This young male was in a tree a short distance from the tree in which he had stashed a kill. We watched him for a while before he decided to come down, saunter over to the other tree (attracting the unwanted attention of jackals), and finally climb up to his kill. It was quite dark by the time this all played out - the ISO on my camera was very high for these shots. 

 

We returned the following morning and picked him up when he was walking away from the tree.

 

Lounging

 

Finally coming down

 

The jackals were a nuisance.

 

Starting up to the kill

 

Big jump

 

Still climbing

 

Finally up near the kill

 

Looking good in the morning light

Edited June 19, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

One afternoon at Kicheche Mara we visited a hyena den.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Pangolin

[Pangolin]

Finishing up the Mara North segment with a hodge podge of photos from throughout our stay.

 

Got a quick look at a couple of bat-eared foxes.

 

Lions had just stolen this cheetah's kill.

 

 

 

This dwarf mongoose was alarming about a lion

 

My first-ever white-throated bee-eater

 

Woodland kingfisher is one of my favorites.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Pangolin