My Nat-Geo-Moments Safari

[twaffle]

I’ve switched from the raw files to posting the smaller jpgs as it is taking to long to process the images for this report. The quality won’t be so good but I’ll never get to the end otherwise.

[twaffle]

We stopped on the side of the slope to watch an elephant silhouetted against the ridge when something whizzed behind my head. Startled, I turned to see what it was when another went passed. It turned out to be two swallows who were taking advantage of our vehicle to check out possible nesting places. We stayed where we were for a while whilst they flew in and out of the car, occasionally perching on the back canvas. Eventually we had to leave them, before the disappointment of losing their new home became too hard for them to bear.

[twaffle]

Finally we made it through the gate and headed off down the track towards the Musiara Marsh area. In the distance we could see a car coming towards us and as we came closer it started to slow down, eventually stopping by the side of the road. As we narrowed the gap between us we saw what had stopped the others in their tracks, a beautiful cheetah lying on the dirt verge. Well worth sharing this sighting but as we were admiring her, a small furry bundle appeared at the top of the verge as well. Our lovely cheetah had a cub … what a wonderful early morning surprise.

 

 

 

 

 

After an interval of letting her cub play with her, viewing into the distance, then lying down again, our girl set off down the road with purpose in her stride. She left the cub on the side of the road, I never did see how she told the cub to stay, then off she crept onto the plains.

 

 

It is an awesome sight to watch a cheetah hunt, in no time at all she was on the far horizon, just a blur in silhouette. Unfortunately for her, no success this time but it was still a thrill to see her at full flight.

 

I think I remember 3 vehicles at this sighting, and we all kept our distance.

[twaffle]

Leaving the cheetah to reunite with her cub at her own pace, we continued on our way carefully looking for our next bit of activity. No 2-way radio telling us what was around the corner, nor any mobile phone chatter. An occasional chat with a passing car to exchange news but all in all a quiet and natural amble through the wilderness. We were blessed by very few cars and most of our best sightings were ones we found ourselves and consequently shared with at the most, one other car.

 

It was not long (in fact it was less than 10mins) before we saw another predator, this time a smaller spotted cat. I couldn’t believe that it was a serval as I have found them impossible to find. This cat was out in the open in full daylight, hunting in the small bushes.

 

[twaffle]

It was now 8.45am and I thought our luck wouldn’t continue but 7 minutes later we found two young male lions resting on a mound of grass. They sat up for a short while then assumed the ‘lion position’ of flat out. We didn’t hang about, I find lions in the resting position less than fascinating.

 

After an hour or so of general game viewing which was varied and interesting we came across this rather magnificent kori bustard in full courtship display. I can’t remember seeing one displaying this well before, so was pleased to get some photos of it.

 

[twaffle]

By now it was after 10am and my head ache was raging and I think we were all pretty hungry for breakfast. So much had been happening that there had been no time to think about food. Daniel and Kimansi found a nice spot under a tree in a clearing where they proceeded to spread out breakfast. No cardboard boxed for Serian visitors, we had a table cloth spread over the Landcruiser tail gate which was covered with cereal, fresh tropical fruit, chipolatas and bacon, pancakes, bread, marmalade, hard boiled eggs (breakfast wouldn’t be breakfast without them!) and fresh coffee and tea. Daniel faithfully put out a chair for me at each meal stop but after so much sitting it was better standing around looking at the view and chatting. Poor things probably would have preferred me to sit quietly, but there was too much to talk about and we tended to keep pretty quiet in the vehicle.

 

[pault]

It's just dandy without the leopard. It's amazing how much your experience is matching mine in December so far, excluding the more unusual events like a giraffe river crossing (you) and not being picked up by anyone at the airstrip (me). I'm sure 200,000 is too many wildbeests but I'm also sure the Nat-Geo moments promise is not going to be an exageration. Keep it toned down though - make the travel agents sweat about sending guests in the wet - otherwise everyone will be going. You got stuck, right?... a lot of mosquitos?.... nudge, nudge ;)

 

One or two notes.... I noticed there are new lodges on the Mara River which will presumably be using MNC for game drives - perhaps, hence the push to exclude minbuses as there are considered to be "enough" people to generate cash for the communities. But I'm personally still very leery about the logic behind banning vehicles based on colour and shape criteria. While there are definitely some good reasons for it, in my experience there's always a whiff of that "superior" attitude you denigrate floating around it. There's also the potential even greater crowding in other areas to consider. Anyway, Kenya will be moving more and more to Landcruisers I expect, as it becomes increasingly expensive. This isn't something I lose sleep over - just a thought I've had more than a couple of times.

 

Great trip report - well written and beautifully illustrated.

 

Edit: Well you've posted a pile more while I was posting... I see lots of cheetahs!

[twaffle]

Hi Paul,

Hardly any mosquitoes but one tsetse fly … maybe that will put people off.

 

The mini van thing is more about some of the companies which use them and the type of safari they run. Not all are like this but I think it is the driving force rather than the shape of the vehicle itself. I could be mistaken, it has happened before!

 

I understood that no more new camps were being built in the MNC at this time which is why the one which had been built at Leopard Gorge had to be pulled down.

 

I suppose that if they want to continue to offer some off roading, a limit on the number of vehicles has to be maintained somehow.

 

The getting stuck in the mud is coming, I can assure you!

[twaffle]

Just had word back from Alex … confirmed numbers of between 150,000 and 200,000 wildebeest and zebra in the Loita migration. So I'm going to edit my post again!

[pault]

I understood that no more new camps were being built in the MNC at this time which is why the one which had been built at Leopard Gorge had to be pulled down.

 

I am pretty sure the ones I mean were outside the MNC, but they share (and in one case basically own) the airstrip used. I would have thought these places would be using the MNC for game drives. (Names escape me now, but one of them chose a location overlooking a hippo pool and apparently blocked off one of the hippos' paths to grazing in doing so... if that rings a bell. Ironic is not quite the right word. )

 

Lion cubs, serval and cheetah cub in one game drive is too much! Glad to hear there is some mud coming! Also glad to get wildebeest figures everybody is going to be happy with - just those sneaky zebras messing up the stats!

[Game Warden]

Great report and pics so far: did that Serval capture anything on his/her pounce?

[twaffle]

No capture for the serval whilst we were there, but because I had taken lots and lots of photos we moved on so as not to stress the animal out. I seem to remember that there was only 1 or at most 2 other cars and we did keep our distance however the serval came quite close. Sometimes it seems like the right thing to do to move away, especially if you have some interesting photos which I felt I had. Anyway, who knows what is around the corner as my continuing narrative will show.

[twaffle]

Still on our morning game drive we left our breakfast spot and returned to our spotting duties. First we came across 2 cheetahs lying under a small tree. I thought initially that they were brothers, but Daniel informed me that it was a mother and her almost adult son. We watched them for a short time before moving on as they didn’t look particularly active. Besides Daniel had spotted a vehicle in the distance under a tree looking interested.

 

 

We left our spotted cats and headed towards the tree which now had no vehicle under it. False alarm. Then Daniel whispered under his breath “leopard, I see its’ tail” and sure enough there it was, sound asleep in the tree.

 

 

We stayed for a while watching to see if it would do anything interesting but we decided that our luck had really run out now.

[twaffle]

For the next half an hour we enjoyed an excellent sighting of a giraffe and her calf …

 

 

These topi all vying for top spot on the mound …

 

 

A not very good view of a lilac breasted roller …

 

 

A hamerkop …

 

 

A pied kingfisher …

 

[twaffle]

Until we spied a number of vultures sitting at the top of a tree in the distance.

 

 

Driving over there we found a large, damp and bloody patch of ground with nothing around. Strangely enough, the vultures were in the tree so Daniel thought it likely that whoever made the kill was still in the vicinity. Just as he said that, 2 vultures landed and started looking for scraps of meat which had been left amongst the grass.

 

 

This activity roused a lioness who came over to check that she hadn’t left anything significant, and she was joined by another lioness. They were so close to the car which was an open sided vehicle, that I felt amazingly alive and vibrant. Across the creek bed we could see a number of other lions with stretched bellies making their way across to a shady tree.

 

 

A tawny eagle and a white headed vulture watched from a tree. Later on Alex would explain to me the differing techniques of the various vultures to access a carcass and their role in the clean up. Very interesting.

 

[twaffle]

As we left the lions Daniel and Kimansi started to look for a suitable place for lunch. In the end we ousted a giraffe from under a tree as it was the only appropriate place for us mere mortals to feel safe, given that it had a lot of clear ground around it. Shortly before reaching the tree we found this ground hornbill sitting on a tree branch, its’ 2 mates were wondering around on the ground looking for a meal for themselves.

 

 

Also seen were these Little Bee Eaters, sadly I couldn't get any closer for better photos.

 

 

After lunch we went back to see if the leopard had moved, not a chance. Maybe an eyelid, but even that was doubtful so we continued our journey of discovery.

 

[twaffle]

Someone else also on a journey of discovery.

 

[Jan]

Twaffle, there's so much to enjoy on my Mara safari with you! Just forget to get on that plane back to Oz!!!!! Okay, I

 

Know that you're home already, but I shall be sad when this journey ends.

 

Jan

[twaffle]

Returning to the 2 cheetahs was much more productive as they had come to life and looked seriously interested in hunting. Those teenagers are not good to take hunting though. Every time the female crept close to her prey, the young male trotted up exuberantly making it impossible to get close enough to start a proper run.

 

 

 

 

The gazelles and topis were curious onlookers at these antics. The chorus of alarm snorts from the topis reached a quite musical note but none of the animals were ever in any real danger.

 

 

[twaffle]

Twaffle, there's so much to enjoy on my Mara safari with you! Just forget to get on that plane back to Oz!!!!! Okay, I

 

Know that you're home already, but I shall be sad when this journey ends.

 

Jan

 

Jan, the slow rate I'm making of this trip report, you'll have been to Botswana and back before I get to day 2!

 

I had forgotten already that we saw so much in such a short time, and I haven't even come to my so called nat-geo moments.

[egilio]

Hope you got back around lunch-time to the last two cheetahs!

 

There seems to a positive relation between tourist lunch hours and cheetahs hunting...

[Jan]

Twaffle, I love the'slow' rate, remember the old adage 'keep 'em wanting more!'

 

 

Jan

[twaffle]

As the shadows started to lengthen, Kimansi started driving towards our camp, Nkorombo, on the banks of the Mara river. We stopped along the way to photograph this dik dik, such cute little antelopes

 

and then came across another breeding herd of elephants.

 

 

 

 

We found these 3 cheetah brothers doing not much at all, and since we had such good cheetah viewing already we decided to continue onwards again. Whether these were Honey’s boys, I don’t know, but they were great looking cheetahs nonetheless.

 

 

 

Daniel saw this Spotted thick knee in a small culvert as we passed through, so I grabbed a photo whilst I could.

 

 

The next sighting was all mine and I was very pleased to see the ears of 5 Bat eared foxes appearing above the grass. These cute little creatures entertained us for a while before heading off to hunt, leaving the cubs in the den.

 

 

Under a tree right near the camp was a couple of Jackals. This one appeared very annoyed because its’ mate wouldn’t follow and insisted on staying under the tree despite our presence.

 

[twaffle]

We reached camp 11 hours after leaving Serian in the MNC. Tired but exhilarated by what we had seen and experienced. It wasn’t even the seeing but more the feeling and the sounds and smells of the wide open spaces and the camaraderie between Daniel, Kimansi and me. You would have to be pleased with the value of that game drive …

 

The camp was just as I imagined it would be and I was glad to call it home for the next 2 nights.

 

To finish off the day I had these 2 hippos fighting right in front of my tent. What a noise! In fact, the passing parade of hippos and their roll calls during the night made it distinctly hard to sleep but it is all part of the charm of such a natural, authentic camp.

 

 

 

This sunset sky was taken by John Moller on my 7D which he wanted to test drive … used with his permission. Thanks John.

 

 

We finished off the evening by this roaring campfire after another wonderful meal.

 

 

Only one small problem reared its’ head. I had my power board plugged into the generator to charge all my batteries and due to some little incident the whole lot were blown. So day one and I couldn’t charge any camera batteries or my phone … ah the joys of bush living!

[Game Warden]

Sweet, such an amazing collection of sightings, and you've barely started your safari. Any pics of the Serian camp?