We agreed on a 6:20 morning game drive. Peter brought us coffee at 6 am as we got things together. We were on the road at 6:20. Early on, we came upon a male Ostrich with a long red neck chasing a female who was apparently not interested. We drove along some bushes farther away and saw our pride of lions some jumping into the bushes chasing something. Again we got very close and often in their path. We followed them into a grove of trees where we found a tribe of Olive Baboons, vocalizing and moving up and down and across to different trees. They seemed to be teasing the lions getting right over there heads in the trees and vocalizing. Apparently they try to poop on them when they can. We moved along to find the 2 males of the lion pride lounging in the shade They do this some 20 hours a day according to our guide. They are there only to protect the cubs and keep the females within their pride. The females hunt for the food. A young Spotted Hyena was lounging near the road by a den. We stopped close by and soon the mother came from the distance to meet her young one at the den. She kept putting her head in a den hole and vocalizing. Eventually, 2 totally black babies emerged to nurse. Maybe 2-3 weeks old and very skittish. We stopped close to a Lilac-breasted Roller, the national bird of Kenya, beautiful lilac chest and fluorescent blue wings. In amongst the bushes we saw the Dik-dik, the smallest antelope in the Mara. There were also Cape Buffalo, more Zebras, and Elephants. One of the Elephants stayed within feet of our car eating the small clumps of grass. I thought for sure his trunk was coming into the car on several occasions. A ‘couple’ of Silverback Jackals strolled by. They are paired for life. We were told they eat young antelopes though they look like little foxes. We searched and found 2 cheetahs lying in the shade under a tree. They paid little attention to us though they checked their surroundings pretty frequently. They are fast but relatively weak in the cat family and they are attacked by lions sometimes. On the way back for lunch at the camp we watched a Martial Eagle eat a newborn Thompson Gazelle as the gazelle’s mom fidgeted in the background. It’s a jungle out here! A male Topi who had a nearby young one, stood on top of a termite hill standing guard. Just before camp, there was a large herd, hundreds, of Cape Buffalo with Multiple Yellow-billed Ox Pickers on their backs, taking off any parasites. More Zebras, Elephants, and Giraffes then home for lunch. Beer, wine and 3 different kinds of pizza for 7 people!
Our afternoon tour began with a glass of wine and picture taking of a hippo right in front of the main lodge, eating in the river. We set off with an added guest, Mike, a professional photographer who was there to help us with our cameras.I am sure he was not impressed with our iPhones and my panasonic 30X zoom camera, but he gave us some good tips along the way. We hunted for leopards but never found them. We saw Ostriches, Giraffes, Wart Hogs and Elephants. Many baby elephants!. We ended up back with our cheetah brothers who were again lying in the grass some 100 yards away from where they were in the morning. They made all the classic moves of getting up but always ended up lying back down until… sunset. The two brothers got up and walked over to a nearby solitary tree where they marked it with pee and poop. We kept positioning our landcruiser to get some sunset shots and we got them. The cheetahs moved on to another tree some 200 yards away and we positioned our car so that they walked by us, within feet of the car. The sun was setting so we drove to camp in the dark. We showered, had cocktails, and then dinner made up of roasted chicken, vegetables, and potatoes. Great convesation with Fatima the manager, Dan and Jill a retired couple from Nashville. Now off to bed..
Oh, wow!
Wish I were there!