Boredom in the Rain - Kenya 2023

[loafer247]

Amazing sequence of the mother giraffe and her calf!

[pault]

Patrick came to pick us up himself because (i) it was his last day training the (female) trainee guide who would otherwise probably have done the transfer and (ii) he was really annoyed he couldn't remember these frequent guests who had requested him specifically - was his memory slipping? I told him it was because he was the celebrity and we were the mere fans but he wasn't happy with that and we admitted we were Nelson's (now departed) and knew him through Nelson and he heading out with together from camp quite frequently, making plans together and the obvious respect Nelson had for him. I didn't tell him I had been told Charles and James were unavailable, but that wasn't a sin because Patrick would have been first choice anyway. He has been at Bush Camp since it opened, which was a year before our first visit in 2007, and we were not disappointed. He has just another level of knowledge of Olare Motorogi and he is no slouch as a photographic guide either. He was careful not to offend me at first, but once he knew I didn't mind, he didn't hesitate to keep me on my toes with hints and questions as to why I was not taking a particular shot or why I thought that angle might be best. Some of the shots I have should be co-credited to Patrick. I didn't even see them until he had the vehicle in position already.

 

Of course this was aided by our having him to ourselves for the whole of our stay, but Bush Camp now try to give every group their own vehicle and have 5 guides and 5 vehicles for 7 tents (they added a guide tent, which guests can also stay in - not sure if all guests or just regulars. Of course they have to work the private vehicles and transfers into that (although they often outsource transfers into camp to freelancers since they are not allowed to have more than 5 vehicles based on Olare Motorogi rules) but that has always been the case and having the extra guide means unless every group is 1-2 people, then sharing is the exception rather than the expectation. This seems a recent change.

 

More about the camp later (such a fanboy but, as always, YMMV). 

 

On the transfer we were mixing 'getting to know you' with game-drive mode. We stopped for a pair of rosy-throated longclaws because they were nest-building.

 

 

 

I had told Patrick that I only had distant shots of ostriches so far. It was meant to illustrate that there was plenty we were yet to see but he felt that needed to be resolved and a bit of off-roading did the trick.

 

 

We also spent a little time looking for newborn gazelles - like jackals but with much better intentions. Only a little time since it was worrying them despite our good intentions - mother and foal both. 

 

 

And we spotted a hyena running with and then feeding on the remains of a zebra foal carcass. When other hyenas showed up the possessor was not willing to share.

 

A robot zebra or a trick of the light?

 

 

Running for it.

 

 

Of course we saw much else besides, but the light was bright and so we only stopped for the new or the potentially very interesting.

 

In the evening we just did a gentle drive around to see what we could see, while Patrick continued to suss us out. We had a look in some promising places for cheetah and (as we did frequently) took a quick detour near Monico Hill to see if some bat-eared foxes were out in the open - no. It was quiet that evening.

 

Kori Bustard

 

 

We swung by a hyena den but it wasn't active. 

 

 

An African hare

 

 

Then the rain started and we headed to see what some lions were up to. Very probably the locals, the Monico pride, who provided consistent early morning entertainment for the duration of our stay.

 

Not too much was the answer to what they were doing - they had woken but seemed to be waiting out the rain.

 

 

 

One had found a leopard tortoise.. was this one dead or alive?  After all this and more we all thought probably dead.

 

 

 

But after the young lion had lost interest the rain eased and the lions started to move away, Patrick told us "look" and sure enough, the tortoise was making a 'run' for safety. By that time the lions had other distractions so it probably made good its escape too.

 

We watched the lions playing in the rain for a while. I took some photos but it was getting very murky and none of them were really worth keeping compared to other lion interaction I have. That in no way dulled the pleasure of watching them until there was just enough light left to go for a damp, windy and grey sundowner. However, this was only a shower and the sky would mostly clear by the next morning. 

 

A dik-dik to which we got a little too close (for the lens, the dik-dik was not alarmed) between spells with the lions.

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by pault

[PT123]

Great report @paultI especially appreciated the Laikipia section as it's very timely for me as we're thinking of going to Loisaba next year but was a bit hesitant as I was unsure about the amount of quality sightings to be had. It looks like you sure had plenty! I'm looking forward to reading more about your stay in Olare Motorogi. We were at the Bush camp earlier this year, (Charles was our guide), and fell in love with it as it was our first time at in this conservancy and at this camp. The vibe there fit us like a glove, and we can't wait to return (I guess that makes me a fan boy too).

 

Paul T in Boston Ma. USA

[offshorebirder]

Well now you have landed Kicheche Bush Camp on my bucket list @pault.

[Kitsafari]

marvellous to watch the baby giraffe sequence! so glad you captured the moments to share with us. interesting that when we were there, the cheetahs were in MNC and none seen in OMC! these cheetahs rotate conservancies a lot to be fair to all guests !

 

Oh and hilarious about Sammy making an offer for your wife, altho i'm not sure she'll be too happy for just a prize of 10 or more cows. lovely photo of her and the trainee guide on the mound. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Kitsafari

[pault]

She wouldn't get the cows @KitsafariSo the number didn't really matter.

 

First couple of days in Olare Motorogi were so stereotypical it is hard to make them even vaguely interesting.  Two big lion prides in action, three cheetahs teasing us that they were going to hunt, a leopard, a serval, another cheetah, a big storm and lots more in between. Not a single hunt! I was getting fatigue from shooting the lions and now have fatigue from processing lion pictures so I'll come back to them later and deal with them in a 'morning lions' and an 'evening lions' post later- various members of the Moniko pride are often hanging out on Bush Camp's doorstep in the morning and the Enkoyanai pride have their territory just north of them, also very accessible, especially when returning from exploring the northern part of the conservancy (mostly the Motorogi part, but if you remember going up a steep road onto a plateau where the wind howls within the Olare Orok part that is also what I am talking about. There is less wildlife up there than in the incredible southern part and only one camp (the Richard Branson owned Mahali Mzuli) but we made (or rather Patrick made, with our blessing) an effort to spend much more time in this part than previously and to try to find something new, rather than just boring old Moniko and Enkoyanai lions. In the past wildlife up north was much more skittish because it was not a protected area but that isn't really the case any more, although it is still at best described as ruggedly beautiful.

 

If you haven't been to Olare Motorogi before, it is quite different to Mara North, although they have areas of similar appearance. Mara North's main feature (other than the river) is huge, open, rolling long grass plains, where you can see for miles, drive up a slope and see for miles more and repeat. It is the land of the lone tree. In the south, Olare Motorogi has a number of small hills, between which are smaller, flat grassland areas. There is a small river in the west (where some of the camps are) and another (much more seasonal) one running through the southern part of the conservancy, which provide the site for some trees. Otherwise trees tend to be small (often only 2-4 meters high) and scrappy, but much greater in number than in Mara North. Views generally don't go as far (unless you get up on one of the hills) and the ground is often really rocky. Grass is often much shorter than in Mara North, especially after the rains, during which Olare Motorogi goes into partial hibernation and the cows are set to work alongside the migrating zebras. Of course in either place what you see depends on where you go. In the past we would always treat the reserve as part of our 'hunting grounds' at Bush Camp and historically good areas of the reserve are particularly accessible from Olare Motorogi.

 

Now at Bush Camp, the visits to the reserve are limited to the migration season for crossings and drives stay within the boundaries of the conservancy. While this is partially a deliberate decision to keep money spent within the conservancy and push a conservancy experience, Patrick says the reserve is not what it was nowadays anyway and generally the wildlife is considerably better within the conservancies he wouldn't really recommend spending a day out there unless someone hadn't seen it and really wanted to. You can still go on an all-day drive on request but the reserve fees are now an extra charge (used to be included with a 3-night stay). The guides don't head out there as a team as a matter of course anymore. Change! For the better or worse? My wife missed the all day drives with the feeling of exploration and adventure but after listening to Patrick she didn't say let's do it anyway - and it was not because of the additional fees.

 

On the other side of the coin, both Patrick and Sammy said that the wildebeest are not getting as far north as they used to during the migration from Tanzania and the conservancies see much less of a boost in wildebeest numbers. What that is due to I don't know but it was raised in the context of how the fencing outside the protected areas has already visibly affected the Loita migration.

 

But on with the stuff from the first couple of days that hadn't changed since we were last there - lots of wildlife.

 

Every couple of days we would see these Egyptian geese out in the open at a dam (another change - at least two dams have been constructed to provide additional water sources - mainly for the cattle but also perhaps for the wildlife as there is very little permanent water in Olare Motorogi) with their three chicks. Sometimes we wouldn't see all three chicks and wonder if something had gone for an easy meal, but then next time there would be three, always with a watchful parent. Who needs soaps?

 

 

We'd gradually accumulate mongoose sightings over the week. It's not the best place to see them but they are there (and nervous). After zipping back into their den when we arrived, these banded mongooses gradually came back out and decided we weren't very terrifying after all.

 

 

We didn't spend much time watching baboons this trip but we always stopped when we saw a troop in case something was going on.

 

 

On the first morning, after the lions we drove to an area in which there were known to be two leopards sometimes, a female and a youngster about a year or so old. A ranger had reported seeing one of them that morning. This was a regular look just in case as this was no Fig and preferred to stay out of sight. It was becoming a dark and damp morning and others were leaving without any joy as we arrived but Patrick decided to have a look anyway. After a while he stopped by a tree and stared intently for an unusually long time before telling us there was a leopard in the tree. We looked with the naked eye, the camera, binoculars, following his pointed finger and saw nothing but acacia branches. "The tail is what you need to look for." Patrick offered helpfully and we looked again, seeing no tail. It wasn't even a big tree and we had to wonder if there really was a leopard at all. Did he mean a 'leopard tail shaped branch" perhaps.

 

Giving up, Patrick drove for about 10 minutes to get to the other side of the lugga on which this tree was located, just in case there was a better view. 

 

There was, and we could sort of understand why we had seen nothing. The leopard was not in the tree, the leopard was on top of the tree, resting on its canopy.

 

 

 

I think you can also understand why we hadn't seen it from the other side, which was lower ground, even though yes, its tail is probably hanging down. 

 

Now we had to go all the way back to the other side again because Patrick was sure it was waiting for its mother and would come down - and it would have to come down on that other side because that is where the tree grew from.

 

Sure enough, not long after getting back when we got back to the other side, we saw he had already descended.

 

 

But he didn't come down and settled where he could watch a large area of bushes about 100 meters away, which is where Patrick suspected mother was,

 

 

Since it was past breakfast time already and a couple of vehicles from other camps had shown up, we decided to go and have breakfast and come back to see how this unfolded afterwards. The other guides would hang around and keep an eye on the leopard for us.

 

Unfortunately, when we returned the leopard had come down the tree and disappeared into the bushes and the other guides hadn't been able to find him.

"You lost my leopard?" roared Patrick. 

 

No he didn't. These things happen and if a leopard doesn't want to be seen, forget it (unless you are someone like Patrick who doesn't give up so easily). Patrick was more puzzled as to why the mother hadn't appeared if the youngster had decided to head off .. and we went to have a really good look at those bushes and some others beyond. But nothing. The leopards were gone and they would not return for the remainder of our time there. Patrick was still muttering about it the day before we left. Didn't make sense. 

 

That same evening, on our way to look for these leopards again in the rain we saw a python on the ford across a stream. Initially we thought it might be dead - why would a python be lying on the track like that in the open otherwise, perfectly still? But when Patrick opened the door to check (he wasn't just going to run it over or leave it there to be run over) it immediately moved a little and then descended into the water, where it swam a little way before climbing the bank and disappearing into the grass.

 

 

It was wet enough that evening that this saddle-billed stork was able to fish apparently in the grass, although there must have been a small pool there. Even caught a fish, but the grass and accidental selection of the wrong focus mode meant I messed up the shot with the fish (don't tell Patrick).

 

 

The morning after that we headed north after our morning lions, again based on a reported sighting from a ranger. We were rewarded with a cheetah.

 

 

While officially an unknown cheetah, Patrick thought he knew who it was. Unfortunately I couldn't follow since I haven't been keeping up on Mara cheetah matters for some years and so I don't remember. I think the mother of some cubs the previous year and therefore a popular target for us tourists. Perhaps it was that no cubs have been known to survive to independence since then, across all three major conservancies. In fact, it appears cubs had rarely even been seen recently  Patrick said he and the other guides were much more worried about this than hyenas stealing and they had no real explanation. Cheetah boys get to work please. Cheetah mothers, be smart.

 

This was just chit-chat at the sighting, waiting for any action that didn't happen. It shouldn't be taken as fact - just as an approximation of fact.

 

Warthog battle - just testing their strength and not serious

 

 

Male wildebeest dancing around his tiny territory wondering where all the young girls have gone. Sing now .. "Foiled by fences every one"*

 

 

*Artistic license so it fits with the old song... in fact a significant number of girls had made it through to Olare Motorogi, just many fewer than normal.

 

Wildebeest contemplating whether feminism is to blame for him not having any girls. Maybe charge the vehicle.

 

 

Secretary bird and impala

 

 

The quieter northern part of the conservancy was very good for birding, which we had time for with fewer predators. These are all from the same drive as the secretary bird and the cheetah, and this is only the ones that made nice photos. It wasn't the best time for photographing birds, but the cloud cover helped a bit.

 

Sooty chat

 

Spur-winged lapwing. For some reason nobody had pointed out to me before that the name is because they have little spurs on the wings.

 

 

I am unsure but I think this might be a black-chested snake eagle, minus black chest! short-toed eagle. 

 

 

Martial eagle

 

Bataleur

 

 

 

Ruppel's long-tailed starling 

 

 

Wattled plover

 

 

That was the end of out birding trip. Pretty spectacular for highlights from a couple of hours though, with mammal distractions and while looking for more cheetahs.

Edited July 25, 2023 by pault

[Tdgraves]

@pault your snake-eagle looks like the short-toed one we saw in MNC last year...

[pault]

17 minutes ago, Tdgraves said:

@pault your snake-eagle looks like the short-toed one we saw in MNC last year...

 

Thanks, that is a more likely ID. 

[Africalover]

Excellent sharp photography as well as narration 👍👊🏻

[offshorebirder]

I am trying to get the next installment of my TR finished but I keep getting pulled away by excellent threads like this one.

 

[pault]

10 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

I am trying to get the next installment of my TR finished but I keep getting pulled away by excellent threads like this one.

 

 

I've had to try so hard to focus I haven't actually said thanks to anyone yet! 

 

 

Thanks to everybody who has commented on this report to date. Your comments and encouragement are really appreciated. 

 

And I think it goes without saying, but if anybody has any additional questions about anything that I didn't say or just didn't cover (or that doesn't make sense to you) in the report please do ask. I'm rather concerned that there hasn't been any going off topic or (apart from @wilddog- thanks, Linda!) raised eyebrows in the comments yet. It's all very proper and 'giving me my space' which I am not completely used to.   Maybe it is me being too conservative and 'mature' in my reporting.

 

[wilddog]

I think we are all just enjoying your entertaining narrative and images. Such a joy to read. I am sure questions will come if required.

 

 

[AndrewB]

Well @pault- your title appears to be simple clickbait!

Little sense of boredom and no pictures of rain. Kenya 2023 appears accurate.

[John M.]

17 hours ago, Africalover said:

Excellent sharp photography as well as narration 👍👊🏻

I couldn't agree more. 

[pault]

Can you ever spend too much time with lions in the morning? At what point do you get bored of heading out of camp in the dark at 6 a.m., reaching Monica Hill at 6.15, locating the lions if James hasn't already done so and parking near them/ some way from them (depending on whether they are walking yet) with the sun rising behind them and/ or to the side of them? Watching them playing, roaring, coming together and splitting up? Leaving them once they crossed the lugga or headed up towards their favored resting places on the hill, which might be 6.30 or not until well after 7 a.m.?

 

My answer is I don't know. After 6 mornings of it we still were not bored and the day they weren't there we were quite disappointed.  

 

The Monico pride were providing this (almost) daily entertainment because they tended to hunt and eat and roam at night, then return to Monico Hill at dawn and stay there most of the day. That isn't really very safari-friendly behavior for a lion pride but it works if your camp is close to Monico Hill and you're leaving on your game drive before dawn. In the circumstances it would almost be a sin to leave any later or not to stop by. Sure, if you only had 3 nights or had another target in mind you might want to skip it, but we had time for everything else and had nothing particular in mind, except those elusive bat-ears foxes. Maybe we missed an aardwolf returning to its den or something as a result but it's the bird in the hand dilemma - and nobody else saw an aardwolf while we were there. So, other than when we'd make a detour for the bat-eared foxes first- and the never found them - we would be there, on the plains in front of Monico Hill (or behind it if you are coming from the other side ) at around 6.15. It was much to dark to get many usable photos at that time, especially as there was nearly always heavy cloud obscuring the early sun, but it was still great to watch and listen to Patrick's interpretations of what was going on and tips on which lions to watch.

 

I'd now like to partially ruin the impact of this nice photo a bit by giving you context here.

 

A field in Africa

 

 

Shortly afterwards Patrick's commentary.

 

"Oh look he's (the large cub on the right) trying to play with the pride male's testicles."

"Ha! He bit the testicles. Did you see?"

We saw - or at least we saw the reaction to it - an uncomfortable hop in the air, a snarl and then a chasing and big whack with that massive paw. 

 

Since it was a long shot to get a sharp photo even when they were moving slowly, this is a bit blurred but you need evidence, I can provide it (obviously the actual testicle biting was out of view but I don't doubt Patrick's knowledge).

 

 

You could see it hurt a bit even afterwards - the gait was a bit narrower and less confident.

 

 

On the first morning I waited a bit before shooting much as the numbers were larger and the action was faster. Light came earlier that day too, although these are still all at very high ISO.

 

 

No pride male testicles to bite that day, although the boy out of shot on the right is pretty well-grown already. 

 

 

Well grown but just a big kid - or maybe he got his testicles nipped too and this is the reaction?

 

 

 

 

 

Another young line spotting that there is something suspicious going on inside that tin can - maybe just be a trick of the light

 

 

Someone found something, all the youngsters would go running over. One morning in the dark they found a chameleon and after playing with it, tried to eat it. Apparently not very tasty. 

 

 

The only morning we got a little bit of rising sun light - but it didn't last long and was only falling in a few places. Made me wish for what could have been. There's always a reason for another trip isn't there?

 

Wet lions

 

 

 

However, out best lion morning of all was probably the one we spent with the Enkoyanai pride, which was the pride with young cubs in June, on the wettest, darkest morning of all. That female is really a much lighter color - it's not a sunbeam falling on her (no sun at all) or some effort of mine in Photoshop!

 

 

It was particularly enlivened by a visit from a small herd of elephants. The two groups were obviously fairly familiar with each other as neither exhibited any great alarm, despite both having youngsters.

 

The pride male who was present seemed to be a little more interested in this female in season than seeing to pride protection.

 

 

However, one of the cubs decided to show the elephants who was boss here, and that seemed to get the pride male's attention enough that he came back and gave the elephants a roar or two. I'd like to say the elephants ran away or something but I am pretty sure they were heading off anyway - the grass was nothing special here.

 

 

Awww... the protector

 

 

.More on these cubs in the 'evening lions' section. Will give you a break from lions and focus on the rain in the next post.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by pault

[pault]

1 hour ago, AndrewB said:

Well @pault- your title appears to be simple clickbait!

Little sense of boredom and no pictures of rain. Kenya 2023 appears accurate.

 

Yeah, the big rain is coming - some evidence in the last post and two of the next three posts will feature rain heavily... and heavy rain.

[PT123]

@pault your descriptions of the daily pre-dawn/early morning lion sightings are deja vu all over again for me, (with the exception of the testicle incident). 'looking forward to more!

 

[AKR1]

On 7/25/2023 at 10:44 AM, pault said:

Patrick says the reserve is not what it was nowadays anyway and generally the wildlife is considerably better within the conservancies he wouldn't really recommend spending a day out there unless someone hadn't seen it and really wanted to

@pault- thanks for another ( yes it’s been a while) excellent report in your humorous yet pointed writing style along with superb images. The lion cub nip tale  made me spill my coffee🙂
 

However I was surprised at Patrick’s comment as in previous trips in both the conservancies and the Mara, I have always felt the main reserve, despite it’s overcrowding problems, is unique and has generally superb wildlife viewing. My experience has been the main reserve and the conservancies complement each other. But I have not been in a while so wondering if that has changed. A friend was recently in the Mara Triangle and raved about the overall safari experience. 

[pault]

5 hours ago, AKR1 said:

@pault- thanks for another ( yes it’s been a while) excellent report in your humorous yet pointed writing style along with superb images. The lion cub nip tale  made me spill my coffee🙂
 

However I was surprised at Patrick’s comment as in previous trips in both the conservancies and the Mara, I have always felt the main reserve, despite it’s overcrowding problems, is unique and has generally superb wildlife viewing. My experience has been the main reserve and the conservancies complement each other. But I have not been in a while so wondering if that has changed. A friend was recently in the Mara Triangle and raved about the overall safari experience. 

 

I don't know. Just passing on what people are saying and I had heard similar before. As I said, dropping Kicheche Bush Camp's long trips into the reserve once a twice a week, may be to boost the 'conservancy experience' and to have people spend more time in the (previously somewhat neglected) north of the conservancy. But I don't doubt the trips to the reserve were becoming less productive relative to the conservancy, once you factor in crowding. Keep in mind the context though - he's talking about coming from Kicheche Bush Camp. The range then is down to the Mara and Talek Rivers in the middle of the reserve. It was never the whole reserve unless somebody was heading straight to a specific sighting. We never discussed whether it was worth staying in the reserve at all. I think Mara Triangle has always been different, no? 

 

And maybe Patrick, Charles and James are just getting old and need their afternoon naps now, so it is a convenient excuse. 

 

Also, things are different after Covid. I suspect that was a near-death experience sort of thing  for a lot of people and reactions in its wake have been different. It felt like Olare Motorogi have circled the wagons a bit and run a tighter ship, although you are never going to have uniformity with camps as diverse as Kempinski, Mahali Mzuri and Kicheche/ Gamewatchers/Mara Plains (themselves quite different but there are valid reasons to say they would probably only be degrees of difference). Guides and the landowners/ cattle owners appear to have a real say in discussions on the management of the conservancy - probably hence Patrick's pleasure at telling us how the cows had done a nice job keeping the grass cropped for photographers (and guides) at the end of the rains (and I never thought to question whether the grass would last or wildlife might be affected - he and many others in those meetings have been around in the specific area more than long enough to know).

 

Short answer: I don't know and the answer might have been different in a different context and asked of a guide less fully committed to Olare Motorogi. 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by pault

[pault]

The rain and what to do with it... 

 

Two evening drives were significantly impacted by the rain. In the first case, a storm was clearly building but it wasn't possible to tell when the rain would fall. In the second case, the rain hammered down while we were out on a drive - severely testing our resolve to keep at least one side of the vehicle open. Abandoning the drives was never contemplated - in fact we got back to camp later than usual.

 

A lark announcing the coming of the rain

 

 

On the first occasion, it wasn't too dark at first but the clouds were already building into big banks on one side and dark on the other as we spent time with some elephants.

 

 

 

We were getting close today and the youngsters were telling us we better not get closer (we did not intend to and, in fact, it was they who were getting closer to us).

 

 

The sky started to get really dark about 5 p.m. and Patrick and I both agreed we really needed to find something to shoot against that sky. The only trouble was the animals were not going to walk to the top of a ridge for us and stand there. They were still committed to eating and ruminating. 

 

As the rain began to fall, it became clear there was only a short window before those dark clouds would move overhead, allowing lighter clouds to appear on the horizon. We drove quite quickly to an area Patrick knew would give us the unobstructed views we needed, where we could be lower than whatever we were shooting (he knows most of these spots by now I expect) but as the clock ticked on I quickly downgraded my targets from lions, elephants or giraffes on the horizon to 'maybe a topi would be okay'. We found and disturbed a topi ruminating next to the track but it wasn't quite what we were looking for and hoping it was going to walk up that ridge seemed a very long shot indeed.

 

At the last moment, Patrick saw some giraffes feeding on trees next to one of the larger luggas and guessed correctly which way they were going to move. We wouldn't get them on the ridge but if we got low enough we might get close to that effect. I told him this would do, on the bird in the hand basis, and we were sort of rewarded with an adult and a youngster. But that tree stump is not what we want!

 

 

Patrick ordered me to contain my frustration and be patient (actually he just said "wait")

 

And yes, there was another youngster, which wanted to get to the others rapidly now we were relatively close.

 

 

And the others waited for it, beyond the tree stump. It wasn't quite what I had hoped for but it was enough. We hadn't quite wasted the storm-dark sky.

 

 

You can see the zebras were never going to do for these purposes - no color contrast.

 

And then we saw the topi (which was not far away) was walking up the ridge. It was inferior to the giraffes but we shouted "thank you Topi" anyway.

 

"You're welcome guys. Grass is greener over there anyway."

 

 

A qualified success under our belts, we now had time to notice that the rain was getting heavier as those black clouds really were overhead, although the worst seemed to be skirting us for now. What to do now, having put all our eggs in this basket and, as a result, being far from any of the lion prides and in an area that was actually very quiet at that time? The sky on the horizon was merely grey now, without much drama and the few animals around were heading to the high ground for the night. The rain was going to get heavy. What we needed now was a cat out in the open to sit with and photograph when the rain stopped.

 

Maybe James had had success following up on a ranger tip with his photographer guest in the Kicheche photography vehicle - the one with open side and a bed on lie on (for photography, although I am sure you could take a nap if you really wanted)? As it happened he had, and we were not too proud to take advantage of somebody else's hard work. It was a little way away but I heard only the "There is a serval..." part of Patrick's explanation of what our options were before saying 'yes'.

 

The serval was sitting in the hole left by a collapsed termite mound when we arrived. Thankfully it had decided to ride out the rain there, rather than going to look for more substantial cover. Nothing happened for quite a while as the rain got heavy and the wind got up. The serval was content getting gradually soaked in its relatively sheltered spot but was not moving a muscle. We tried a few angles but there was grass in front of or adjacent its face wherever we shot from. So we just had to wait as it got later and darker, hoping the rain would stop and that it would shake out the water and resume hunting before it got too dark to photograph it (of course we would and did stay to watch even if it was too dark).

 

Just after 6 p.m. (last moment really, light-wise) the rain eased enough that the serval got up and left shelter.

 

 

It was a bit too late for the shake, but better than in complete darkness...

 

 

 

 

And, as hoped, it resumed hunting the last of the twilight and we watched it (no success but we only had 20 minutes) until there was so little light there just wasn't much point - moving without using the headlights would have been reckless given the big holes like that the serval had sheltered in and neither of us really wanted to disturb the hunt like that. 

 

 

 

The second rainy evening was one with any dramatic skies. It was already white and murky when we set off from camp just after 4 and this time we knew the rain would fall heavily well before we got back. So there was a rain plan in Patrick's head this time (including suggesting we close one side of the vehicle now as we would be doing it later anyway and might need to close both for a bit* (although we refused the offer then, we accepted it 30-40 minutes later so we should have just listened to him) but, since there was no way to know how long before the rain pelted down, we started off by heading back to where he had found the leopard a few days previously (told you he wouldn't let it go - he was convinced they were still there somewhere).

 

Before the deluge - quick stops on the way.

 

Patrick noticed the angle here (available just from stopping on the track) gave us a particularly clear view of this giraffe eating and instructed me to take the shots. Indeed it did give a nice angle and I could post the whole sequence, but you have to draw the line somewhere. 

 

 

Eland and oxpecker

 

 

However, just as we reached our destination and started looking for the leopards, the skies opened and it was rain so heavy it was worse than thick fog for visibility. Ever the optimists we refused the offer to close both sides for a while, using the provided thick ponchos and the now closed side to stay sort of dry (and keep my equipment dry). Any game viewing was more or less off the agenda for now and Patrick decided it would be wise (although not yet urgent if we saw anything) to get back across the small river we had to cross to get here, just in case. So we slipped and slid and yes, drove sideways as the ground couldn't absorb the rain fast enough anymore and it was covered in a thin sheet of water. The river crossing could have been slightly dramatic as the water had risen and widened very significantly in a short time, but since Patrick has been using these crossing points for well over 15 years now and this rainfall was merely biblical, not apocalyptic, the drama was only ever in our heads and unconvincing.  The main threat (real at first) was from getting stuck in the mud, but once we got across the river the tracks are not very muddy and even that risk disappeared.

 

The plains turned briefly into floodplains, with the animals waiting it out or moving out, rather than continuing to feed.

 

Sodden zebras

 

 

Heading for the higher ground early - every evening the masses of migrating zebras which had moved in to Olare Motorogi from Mara North the day after we arrived would head for higher ground for the night, where they felt safer. Of course nobody had told them that this was where the Moniko pride were resting and the hunting must have been so easy for the pride in those days.

 

 

Our heavy rain plan was to visit the Enkoyanai pride, waiting until it was nearly 6 and most other vehicles which had headed there almost straight out of camp would have left or be leaving. Without any visibility to see anything else, Patrick decided to bring the timing forward and just sit a good way away from the five vehicles that were already there, until they started to leave.

 

The lions were not all together so we did have a decent view of some anyway.

 

Lions like the rain?

 

 

A couple of vehicles then wussed out early - although to be fair, most other vehicles have higher roofs, completely open sides and three rows of seats, rising to quite an exposed height in this kind of sweeping swirling rain. Plus many didn't have the option of retreating to the closed side like we did as there were two people per row. In the circumstances, they probably deserved safari medals of valor for sitting it out so long rather than being called wusses, especially if they had camera equipment to protect. 

 

Regardless of whether they were heroes or wimps, we appreciated the space to sit with the pride male and his brides until the rain started to ease, when the original plan would be rolled out.

 

The pride male was looking strangely shorter than on the morning he was roaring at elephants. A sort of 'hat hair' look.

 

 

He was doggedly hanging next to the female he thought was in season, although she wasn't giving any sign of being interested.

 

 

We didn't stay long here though. As the rain eased significantly we found out what the plan (or was it Plan B?) was - leave the lions in the open and drive up the small hill behind them, as the rest of the lions were in the bushes up there and would probably be coming out as soon as the rain stopped. 

 

By the time we got up there (very rocky of course so a slow, slow business) they were out already and the lions from below had joined them, including the male.

 

Filthy black cubs - obviously already been playing in the mud. It was dark (this is ISO 20000!) but light enough to enjoy.

 

 

Coming to annoy the male, but leaving his testicles untouched, unlike the Moniko cubs.

 

 

 

 

And finally some shaking off of rain, although the male left it so late for his shake it was almost dark.

 

 

 

 

We left so late, due to the bonus appearance of the male, that we were then in a desperate race to find something to shoot in front of the setting sun, as we had all been surprised that there was actually going to be some kind of proper sunset today, with the clouds having cleared partially from the western skies. This is not an easy ask at such short notice so Patrick made a fairly last resort stop where the sun would fall behind a vultures' nest he had pointed out to us before. Even then we were probably 20-30 seconds late or a few meters too high. 

 

More of an illustration of the concept than a perfect execution, but these are not that simple to align and you usually need to be on foot to get it just right - limiting where you can do it from further. 

 

 

Of course after that and then a sundowner (the sky demanded it) we were later back to camp than ever. Even the camp staff were wondering what we had found to do out there in the torrential rain for so long.  But they had heard about the rain rather than feeling it though - it had been light rain at Bush Camp, and the heavy stuff wouldn't come here until later in the night.

 

One consequence of the rain (or perhaps one was not the cause of the other) was that the area around Bush Camp was heaving with animals until we left. We were seeing big herds of buffalo, impala, zebra and eland very near to camp and started to hear more night noises and have fun trying to identify tracks in the mud outside our tent in the morning, and with other guests at lunchtime.

 

Junior trackers prize for who can identify this to the satisfaction of all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Kicheche vehicles have a closed cab, and with one side down and the roof on they are rather enclosed. Normally this would be an issue, but the guides are so used to guiding for photographers that I've never  had an issue with it really. Approaches to stopping positions are always made with unobstructed photography in mind and quick little maneuvers are made to ensure you retain full sight as often as possible. In fact, I think this can often actually improve things as it means the guides (and photographer) are constantly thinking about where to put the vehicle right now, making both more aware of what is going on around them. In this context, whether you have one side open or two barely changes things, although of course having both sides makes the maneuvers a lot easier and quicker. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by pault

[AndrewB]

Wow @pault - those Giraffe shots! Stunning.

[offshorebirder]

15 hours ago, pault said:

Junior trackers prize for who can identify this to the satisfaction of all.

 

Spotted Hyena?

[TonyQ]

@pault

just catching up, and it is a real treat!

Interesting itinerary and great writing and photos- you soon got used to using your cameras again.

I think it is particularly interesting thinking about what you want from a safari after a few years away, and in returning to areas previously visited. In the Mara conservancies in particular you gave yourselves plenty of time to enjoy the experience.

Kicheche Bush is the only one of your camps we have visited (we had Charles). and we were very impressed. I am sure (?) we will revisit at some time

[pault]

This post is mostly just the photos without stories at all, or no stories that I can think of. Things you didn't set as targets, but which you stop for on the way. But I'll start with the hyena den, which we did target and which has a (very short) story to go with it.

 

As I mentioned above already, Patrick told us straight out he couldn't match the hyena den in Mara North but we still wanted to visit the currently best one available in Olare Motorogi. It was a fun thing to do after the morning lions and we saw hyena pups in an intermediate stage between the black new-borns who mostly stay underground and the fluffy juveniles, which I hadn't really seen before - or at least hadn't noticed. 

 

Three generations (this is the fluffy juvenile stage)

 

 

The intermediates ...actually probably just a very little bit younger than the one above. This is where the warthog tusk was the 'in' toy.

 

 

Tussling for the tusk

 

 

Sniffing (look at that lovely, short, grass compared to the first den)

 

 

The older cubs were also not averse to joining in some of the play, especially the biting stuff. I always wonder about the hierarchy thing in this kind of situation and watch to see if I can identify the little princesses and the low-ranked males. The latter doesn't seem too difficult but I've never been able to spot the former. Maybe at play the hierarchy doesn't matter as much, or maybe I just don't know what to look for yet. I should really have asked Patrick.

 

 

 

Mongooses exiting the den in the morning

 

 

Slender mongooses on a log

 

 

Hippo out at 7 a.m.

 

 

Buffalo having a nasal cleaning

 

 

Some of this trip's roller highlights

 

 

 

 

A beautiful eland

 

 

Impala patrolling his harem

 

 

Pizza oven

 

 

Secretary birds

 

 

 

A terrapin

 

 

A less composed terrapin, which tried to climb the muddy bank and didn't quite make it.

 

 

A proper sunset at last - on our last evening!!!!

 

 

The sundowners of that sunset (as you can see it was still very cloudy, but no need to close the sides - or the roof because it was so cloudy)

 

[pault]

Just evening lions, the rest of the cheetahs, zebra talk and the very nice (but not spectacular) end to the trip to come.