Masai Mara 2012, Safari 5

This was our last safari on this trip. When we were asked by the guide what we wanted to see today, we all said that we wanted to see a rhino. In the previous safari, we had gone east and west of the Olkiombo Airstrip, and this morning Rafael first drove us to cross the tributary of Talek River. On the road, we saw a giraffe lying on the grasses with its long neck sticking out like a pole. Before, we always saw it standing up. We saw Egyptian geese in the tributary.

After crossing, we had a good view of the plain under the early morning sun. The top of the grass field seemed had been painted by a great artist with all tones and hues of gold and deep orange. It was really gorgeous. After driving for about 5 km, we reached a large plain with many animals. Warthogs were quite commonly seen animal everywhere in the park, but they were very nervous, and it was very difficult to catch a photo of them. I was glad that I got one this time. We had seen topis, zebras and gazelles in other places of the park, but here there were more of them in number. For the first time we saw vultures nesting on top of a lonely tree, and a sick or injured lion lying on the grasses. And the grasses around it were tainted with blood. A lonely hippo was also found in the plain, and it was over a kilo metre from the river. Two hyena were cooling in a temporary dents on the road side. They were watching very closely of the animals around them and waiting for some easy meals.

We are now about one kilo metre from the northern boundary of the park. We saw some cars were grouping in front and went to join them. They were watching a lioness with four sub-adult young lions on the grasses. We watched them for a while, and they started to get up and took a march to inspect the animals in their surrounding. The zebras and others were standing  frozen and staring at them as they passed by. A description and photos of the lions marching were given in a separate blog and album.

We turned back after watching the lions, and saw a crown eagle proudly perching high on top of a tall acacia tree. Its intense eye watched closely of its territory. A group of four ostrich were strolling on the trail. They were disturbed by our car, and started to run to the grasses on the side of the trail.


As we started crossing the tributary of Talek River, we saw a group of elephants foraging in the woods on the eastern bank of the tributary. They went deeper inside the woods as we passed them. And this concluded our safari in Masai Mara.


In summary, we saw the lion, elephant, leopard, cheetah, hyena, crocodile, hippo, buffalo, eland, giraffe, topi, impala, grant gazelle, Thompson gazelle, did-dik, baboon, ostrich, fish eagle, crown eagle, vulture, goliath heron, secretary bird, Hartlaub's bustard,  bushstrike grey-headed, Ruppell's robin chat, Egyptian goose, grey crown crane, guineafowl, and Ruppell's longtail starling. We didn't see any rhino.


The tour package included 3 safari each day, and we had only 5 safari. We could have booked a later flight leaving Masai Mara in early afternoon, carried a packed breakfast, and combined the 5th and the 6th safari together to go farther to look for the rhino. The extra cost would be the expensive lunch of US$50 for each person if we wanted to have it at the end of the safari.


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Masai Mara 2012, Safari 4

We followed the trails that we had traveled in the previous safari. We went west along the south side of the airstrip and then turned north at its western end, and crossed the tributary of Talek River. When we were still in the area of the airstrip, we saw at a distance a combination of the rain clouds and smokes. It was spectacular. Right before we crossed the tributary, a troop of baboons were eating on the grasses next to a heavily wooded area. An antelope looked like a grant gazelle was feeding in the woods close to the baboons. I saw a beautiful secretary bird in the open field. It didn't fly away when we passed.

After we crossed the tributary, we continued going north-west on the same trail as we did in the previous few safari. And at less than half kilo metre after the crossing, we maintained the same direction instead of going west. In a kilo metre, we saw a large herd of buffaloes. Rafael said that lions would not dare to attack such a large herd, and the buffaloes in a large group were safe from predators. In the same area, we also saw a pair of ostriches.

We continued driving on the same trail, and after 4 km we saw a family of guineafowls with some chicks on a wetland. After another kilo metre, we were in a large plain with many animals. we first saw some gopis, Thompson gazelles, grant gazelles, zebra, eland and marabou storks. And the best of all, we saw a pair of beautiful grey crown crane in a distance.

We then turned south-west toward the Mara River, and we saw a hyena squatting on the trail. It would not move when the car passed it. Its forelegs were extending forward, but unlike other quadruplets, its hind legs were extended backward when it squatted. And the padded paws of it hind legs were facing upward under its tail. The number of animals increased as we went farther. At a distance, we saw a pair of lions on their honeymoon. The lower part of the manes of the lion was black. Rafael was not eager to pursue the lions as he had already had a plan in his mind.

He continued to drive us toward the river. We saw a fish eagle perching on a dead tree. It turned its head several times like a model to let us take its photos. And we saw a large goliath heron standing on top of a boulder in the river. It bent its long neck to be close to its body. Farther upstream were an outcrop of rocks in the river, and with the help of a power zoom lenses and telescope, we could see a crocodile among the rock in the water. We were now about 2 km north of Serena airstrip. We then turned around, and saw large crocodiles sun bathing on the bank. 

As Rafael had anticipated, we found the pair of lions who were on their honeymoon more or less in the same area as we had spotted them before. It was half a kilo metre east of where we had saw them. Rafael stopped the car only 4 metre in front of them. An explanation and photos of the lion mating were given in a separate blog and album.

We left the lions and followed the same trail to go back to our lodge. We saw a Hartlaub's bustard standing on a mound on the road side. 







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Masai Mara 2012, Safari 3

We continued our safari after finishing our breakfast. We took the same trail as Safari 1 going east on the south side of the airstrip, and after passing the end of the airstrip, we made a U-turn and traveled westward along the north side of the airstrip. We crossed the tributary of Talek River, and followed the same trail as in Safari 2 early this morning. 

After travelling westward for less than 1 km, we turned south and saw a group of 4 giraffe in a bushes of low shrubs. They were nibbling on the leaves on top of the shrub which was not higher than its shoulder. We continued on the same trail and passed the location where we saw a dik-dik early this morning. Immediately after we passed a bend of the tributary, Rafael saw a car stopping near a shrub not far from the trail. We turned toward the car and stopped behind it. Rafael whispered that there was a leopard under the shrub. First we saw only the bloody remains of the upper abdomen of its prey, then gradually, we saw the whole of the animal. It continued eating its meal and ignored us. More cars were coming, and it felt not comfortable to have too many spectators. It open its mouth widely and clenched its teeth on the throat of the carcass of an antelope. It stood up and dragged the carcass still held to the skin rather clumsily deeper into the bushes. A more detail description and photos had been given in a separate blog and album.

We then saw a hippo walking on the grass. As it was only 200 m from the hippo pole that we had seen this morning, it must belong to the same group.

We turned back on the same trail, and saw a pair of giraffes at the location where we saw a dik-dik this morning. There were a few taller trees in the area. I didn't know if they were the same giraffe that we had seen previously on this trail. The female giraffe was only about 2/3 of the size of the male, and its fur was lighter in colour.


Half a kilo metre before we crossed the tributary, we saw two hartebeests at a distance.


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Masai Mara 2012, Safari 2

We got up early to catch the early morning safari that started at 6:30. Not long after we left the lodge, we saw a herd of water-bucks. The male seemed relax and was resting on the ground rather than supervising its harem. Not far from them was a family of guinea fowls and then a large herd of impala. The male was tense, and constantly guiding its harem not to stray too far from the group. He was grassing alone far away from the group, and looked like he was leading a marching band.

We turned north and crossed a tributary of Talek River. There was very little water in the tributay, and the bedrock on the river bed was exposed. Rafael said that in the time of the animal migration, the water level in the tributary was much higher and created a hazard for the animal that wanted to cross.


It was early in the morning and the sun was low. The westward view of the plain was gorgeous. The colour of the plain changed from light gold to dark bronze with the dark green colour of the woods in between. 

We saw a grand gazelle under a shrub. The dark bronze colour of the grass matched very closely with the colour of its fur. A little further was a cute looking dik-dik, the smallest antelope in Keynia, was also standing under a shrub. 

We continued southward along the west bank of the tributary, and soon we arrived at a river bank. It was at the junction of Talek River and its tributary. We saw probably hundreds of hippos in a pool. They were mostly quiet under water and showed only the top part of their head above the eye and ear and the ridge of their back. Their eyes were all staring at the spectators on the bank. There were some contentions between two large hippos, and they both opened their enormous mouth widely showing their pair of long and sharp canines and incisors. It was just a show and nothing serious happened. A pair was getting affectionate. But the female was not completely under water. A young hippo was having a good time by riding on its mother back. One hippo was feeling hungry and left the pool. It climbed up the river bank to find some foods.

We left the hippo and went west. A secretary bird was disturbed by our coming, and took off. I was lucky to get a photo of it in flight for the first time. Its wings were flipped high almost vertically, and its legs extended only 45 degrees backward instead of full horizontal when it was in full flight.

We were enjoying the beautiful landscape, and saw a lonely buffalo grassing at a distance. It quickly turned its back and ran into the woods. As we continued our journey west, we saw a distinct volcano at the distance. Several safari cars gathered on the plain. We went to join them. And saw a family of 10 lions were targeting a lonely buffalo on a ridge. The buffalo was alerted of the danger and ran away. The lions regrouped on a mound. One of the scout lioness remained on its position. A warthog hiding not far away from the lioness made a fatal move and was immediately detected by the lioness. It became the prey, and all the lions descended from the mound to have a share of the snack. A full story and more photos on the lion hunting appeared on a different blog and album. 

We turned back and arrived at the lodge in less than 20 minutes to have breakfast. We saw some lonely impala on the way and Egyptian geese on river bed of the tributary.


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Masai Mara 2012, Safari 1

This was our first safari. The guide and driver was Rafael, and the car was completely open with canvas roof and windows to be used when it was raining. Six of us took up all the passenger seats in the car. And it was 3:30 when we started.


The Mara Intrepids lodge where we stayed was on the bank of Talek River, and it was very close to Olkiombo Airstrip to its north. This morning we took the road west between the river and the airstrip. As the road got close to the woods along the river bank, we saw three male buffaloes. Rafael said that they were kicked out of the herd because of their bad behavior. These buffaloes were the easy target of the lions. 

The road surface was mostly crusted quartz of various sizes. Some sections it were over bare soil, and the road was full of potholes and deep ruts. We saw a group of baboons picking on the grasses as they marched. We drove for 6 km on the flat grassy plain without seeing any animal. We then saw a mother cheetah and her adult offspring resting under the shade of a shrub. We stopped very close to them and they didn't make any move. They looked beautiful and healthy. A big circle of the grasses around the shrub had been mown flat. I forgot to ask Rafael who did it. Father away was a family of 7 elephants with one young one grassing on the golden colour plain. It was gorgeous. Rafael didn't make any attempt to get closer to the elephants.

In only half a kilo metre away, we saw a lioness also resting under the shade of a similar shrub. Its mouth was wide open and breathed heavily due to the hot temperature. The tip on one of its canine was chipped probably from cracking bones.  It must have just finish a big meal. Its nose and face were covered with small black flies. Its prey looked like a gazelle and its remains was piling near the root of the shrub. Its bone had been cracked open. Although we were only a few metres away, it lied, sat and squatted and ignored us.

In another half a kilo metre, we met a smaller group of 4 elephant including a young one. The contrast between the dark colour of the elephants and the golden colour of the grasses was really fascinating.

I didn't know if Rafael had learned any news from the radio conversation, he drove up a km to a shrubs area on a low hill, and stopped the car in front of a pair of lions lying on the ground side by side under the shade. He whispered that the lions were on their honeymoon. He was a fully mature big lion. Its head was very big and ist long and blond mane covered its neck. The lioness woke up from her nap, raised her head and took a long and big yawn. The lion was alerted all the time holding its big head up and watched her closely. She turned her head and studied the surrounding, and then stood up and walked deeper into the bushes. The lion got the message and followed her closely. In the mean time, several cars had stopped next to us. She was probably shy to do it under the scrutiny eyes, telescopes and cameras of many spectators in the cars. She walked only for 20 seconds, and when she reached an open space, she couldn't resist the urge any longer, and squatted on the ground on her four legs in front of him. He was used to this, and mounted her accordingly. The act lasted only for 6 seconds and it was over. They continued to walk farther into the bush, and we couldn't see them anymore.

We drove for another kilo metre in the open flat plain and started to see some topis. There were probably too many of them in the park, Rafael didn't stop to watch them. In a few minutes, we saw three lioness in an open space. One was gnawing on a carcass of a zebra, and one was lying near it and took a nap, and the other one was squatting on its four legs watching intently at the distance. In the mean time, a herd of zebras were gazing at the lions uneasily.

It was 17:30, and we started to turn back with the satisfaction of what we had seen. In addition to watching the deep potholes and ruts while driving, Rafael was also constantly on the look out for anything special. We were on the road only for 15 minutes, and then he slowed down. We saw a cheetah crowling slowly among the tall grasses. Its neck and tail stretched out. The grasses were taller and were waving by the breeze. We looked into the direction where it was moving, and saw a Thompson gazelle standing. Its eye seemed to see what was coming but its body was frozen still. In a few seconds, the cheetah crawled even lower like a sprinter was kneeling and getting ready for the burst. In 15 seconds, I heard the noise of the struggles and the scream of the gazelle. I didn't have time to adjust my camera and missed the photo opportunity. Rafael quickly moved the car to the killing spot, and we saw the cheetah was clenching its mouth on the throat of the gazelle. It held on for 3 and half minutes before it let its prey to fall down on the ground. Immediately, it sat up holding its head high and looked nervously around for any signs of potential robbers of its prey.

We didn't want to see the horrify scene of the cheetah having its big meal, and continued our journey back to the lodge. On the road, we saw some warthogs, but they were short and nervous, and would quickly disappeared into the tall grasses well before one could snatch a photo. When we were close to the airstrip, we saw a herd of bachelor impalas near the airstrip.

Flags were near the airstrip and red line was the track of safari 1

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Masai Mara 2012, Lion Marching

This was our last safari on this trip. When we were asked by the guide what we wanted to see today, we all said that we wanted to see a rhino. In the previous safari, we had gone east and west of the Olkiombo Airstrip, and this morning Rafael drove us to the north. We saw a giraffe resting on the grasses near the airstrip with its long neck sticking out like a pole. Before, we always saw it standing up. 

After driving for about 5 km, we reached a large plain with many animals. We saw warthogs, topis, zebras and gazelles, wilder-beasts, a lonely hippo, and two hyenas. We drove for another 5 km, and saw several safari cars gathering. We went to take a look, and saw a group of 3 young lions were resting and playing by lying on the short grasses, and another one was lying alone farther away. They were being watched by the constant glaze of a lioness at a distant. The young lions looked dirty, and their fur was covered with black earth or dust.

I didn't know how the lioness passed the message to its kids, and suddenly they all stopped playing and resting, and stood up and walked to her. After some cuddling, they started marching. They passed the gazeful eyes of the zebras. When the lions were too close and paused, the zebras turned their back and got ready. They were back to their normal life as the lions marched pass them. The lions inspected another group of animals including Thompson gazelles and wildebeests as they stood still watching the lions. One nervous wilder-beast could not stand up to the test, and ran away. 


We continued to watch this march until they were out of the scope of our cameras and telescopes. It was really an interesting and eye catching event to watch.


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Masai Mara 2012, Lion Mating

On this safari, we had seen cheetah resting under a bush, a lion resting beside the remains of it prey, and a family of elephant grassing on the plain. The guide turned the car toward the bushes, and stopped it right in front of two lions. He whispered that the lions were on honeymoon. Both lions were lying on the grass. She was completely relax and was probably taking a nap, and he was having the regular lion posture of having its large head up and staring at the distant. He was a big fully mature lion with an enourmous head and long blond manes covering all its neck. We were only less than 4 metres from them, and we were in an open safari car. It would be impossible to do anything if it suddenly attacked us. However, it looked relax and ignored us.

The lioness woke up from her nap, stretched her body, and took a big and long yawn. In less than a minute later, she stood up and walked deeper into the bushes. He got the message and followed her. She walked only for 20 seconds, and couldn't resist the urge any longer, and squatted on the grass on her four legs. He got the signal and mounted her. The act was very quick, and lasted only 6 seconds. She took the lead again and walked farther into the bushes with him following her closely behind.

Late in the afternoon, we were in an open plain with many animals like topis, zebras and gazelles. We suddenly saw a pair of lions in the far distant. They must be on their honeymoon too, but our guide had other plan and continued our trip toward the Mara River to see the crocodile. The lion had a distinct long black manes. The guide knew that the lions would not go very far and he would find them again.

After seeing the crocodile, we turned around and moved inland toward the plain. And soon our guide spotted them in the open plain. He stopped the car only 4 m in front of them The male was a beautiful lion with darker fur. Its upper mane was blond and the lower part was black. It was a gorgeous lion. Not like the other lioness that we had seen  previously, She didn't mind of doing it in front of the many spectators in the safari cars. She woke up from her nap, walked passed him, and started her usual ritual of squatting on her four legs in front of him. And the rest was as usual. She then rolled on the grass satisfactorily, and walked passed beyond our car outside of my view. I was concerned that she might turned around and got too close to the car. But Ching confirmed that the lioness was far away. Somehow, the lion knew that she would come back and he didn't have to follow her. This act repeated again after 3 minutes, and then again after 7 minutes. They were both tired and lied down on the grass, and we felt that it was time to leave them alone.


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Masai Mara 2012, Lion Hunting

We had finished watching the hippos in their pool on the safari this morning, and Rafael seemed driving with no particular destination in mind. We arrived in a hilly plain and saw a safari car stopping high on a hill. Rafael knew by experience that there must be something going on. So he drove toward the car. We saw a family of warthog in a distance being watched by a lioness. And at the other far corner another lioness was watching a buffalo on the top of the ridge. Far behind her was another two or three lioness hiding in the tall grasses. There was a mound at the waist of the hill and another group of lions were watching what was going on.

The buffalo was originally grassing with its back facing us. It turned its head and sensed the danger and started to move. It stopped after a short distant, and turned to look at the direction where the lioness was standing. He then ran quickly away with its head high up. The lions knew that the game was over, and started to move to regroup on the mound. The one watching the warthog decided to stay for its watch.

We didn't see that there was another warthog under the tall grasses. The family of the warthog that were being watched suddenly all looked toward the direction of the watching lioness. They probably made a signal to ran away from the danger, and the warthog close to the lioness made a fatal move, and immediately caught the attention of the lioness. It sprinted and in a second caught the warthog. I heard only the screaming but could not turn my camera fast enough to catch any photo, and the game was over. The other lions on the mound quickly descended on the killing spot, and demanded their share of the meal.

We could only see the heads of the lions all squeezed together. One of them probably got the first chance of the abdomen of the prey, and it needed some fresh air. It pulled out its head and showed its fully bloody face. The small young lions tried hard to climb up the other bigger lions and squeezed their head in. The lioness which had caught the prey had voluntarily stood aside alone and not participated in the grab for foods. Several of the lions were probably each biting on a part of the carcass, and no one wanted to let it go, and they all squatting there for a long time and did not make any move. A few young lions could only licked whatever was left of the grasses. We left when they were still squatting to hold on to their bites.

Our first sighting of a lion was on our first safari on this trip. It was late in the afternoon, and we had just seen a cheetah and its adult offspring resting under a shade in a lonely bush in an open country. Rafael found the lioness under a similar environment. He zero in to the lioness as if he knew the location by GPS. The lioness had finished its meal, and the remains of its prey was lying in a small pile near the root of the bush. The bone had been cracked open and it must had eaten the bone marrow.

An hour later, we saw three lionesses near the carcass of a zebra near a water hole. It could be the kill early in the morning. Two of them were resting, but one was still gnawing the head and neck of the carcass trying to get the last bits of the its meat. A herd of zebras was watching at a distance. There was no vulture disturbing the lioness in having their meals. The guide said that there was very little vultures in the park due to the lack of their resting places.




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Masai Mara 2012, Leopard

We had seen lion, buffalo, elephant and cheetah. When Rafael, the guide and driver in the safari, asked us what did we want to order we all said that we wanted the leopard. After making several stops, Rafael drove the car behind another car next to a bushes. A message was passed in very low voice that there was a leopard under one of the bush. We all strained our neck trying to find it. The first thing that got into my view was a bloody upper quadrant of an animal carcass with its long neck still attached to it. We then saw it was biting the neck of a gazelle.

We watch a little while as it ate its prey. For the time being more safari car had arrived, and the place looked a little too crowd with all the spectators. It opened its large mouth and clenched on the throat of its prey, and started clumsily removing the remaining disintegrated carcass held together by skin. It walked deeper into the bushes, when it reappeared again, it was no longer with the carcass. It must have hide it somewhere for  the next meal.

It was probably seeking a nice shady place to rest after having a big meal. I noticed that it walked with a very peculiar gait that looked like trotting with the diagonal limbs moving forward, but both limbs on one side were raised high above ground and moved close to one another.

It rested on the shade of another bush for a while, and then moved again. The third resting place seemed provided more privacy with a lot of low hanging leaves, but it still didn't satisfy with it, and crossed an open grass land to another larger bushes. There was a massive black object under a shade. And a closer looked turned out to be a big hippo. It was close to noon time, and the sun was really shining hot. The hippo moved deeper into the bushes as we got closer, and we circled the bushes a few more times before we left. We never saw them again.


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