A Cat Trick, A Crossing and a Kill - an Outstanding Opening to a Superb Safari

[Tdgraves]

What an amazing day you had. Great capture of the kill. Your friend was very lucky on their first trip - I hope you let them know that it isn't always like that!

[michael-ibk]

Wow, your titular "kill" is really - let me repeat - WOW. Brilliantly captured! You must all have been thrilled. Great pics all the way, Julie, keep it coming. Your first day in the Mara was my last one btw. Even for there your first day was extraordinary, and very true: The Mara always delivers.

[safariguy]

Whoa, Julie, some great sightings and photographs so far! Looks like Billy enjoyed his beer, given his soporific stance in the vehicle. :-) it reminds me of our last trip together in Bots.

 

I am looking forward to reading more!

[AKR1]

Fantastic pictures especially the lioness hunt sequence. Thanks for sharing these. You are an excellent photographer!

Edited October 19, 2014 by AKR1

[twaffle]

Plenty of action in this trip. Really enjoying the photographs.

[JulieM]

Thank you so much for the kind comments everyone! I'm glad you are enjoying the words and photos.

 

And yes @@safariguy - Billy most certainly enjoyed his Tuskers this trip!!

 

So, with 7 nights at Bush camp, we were entitled to three full days in the main reserve and so we alternated those with days where we had morning and afternoon game drives in the conservancy. The game was almost as prolific in the conservancy and we had lovely drives there as well. Each morning we were woken by James our room attendant with hot chocolate and cookies - I really miss that now that I am home, although hubby makes a mean cup of tea instead! Everyday we took a picnic breakfast out with us but we would return for lunch at camp if we were in the conservancy. The full days in the main reserve were 13 hour affairs, with picnic breakfast and picnic lunch and we loved every minute.

 

The following photos were from the next day in the conservancy - I won't go through a blow-by-blow but rather show you some of the highlights.

 

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure what this bee-eater was coughing up but it disappeared pretty quickly!

 

 

 

 

 

My hubby is a big fan of the sundowners!

 

 

And Charles, once again, could take us to a top sunset location!

 

[Tania]

Wonderful report! What great sightings you had. Thanks for sharing.

[Bush dog]

Great bee eaters and jackals!!!

[Soukous]

terrific stuff @@JulieM

quite an achievement capturing that lion kill.

[JulieM]

Thanks @@Soukous! ISO 10,000, wide open (which for me is f/5.6) and still only a shutter speed of 1/160s! Great to capture the moment though!

[Soukous]

Thanks @@Soukous! ISO 10,000, wide open (which for me is f/5.6) and still only a shutter speed of 1/160s! Great to capture the moment though!

even more impressive then

[Sar4h]

Wow! Great pictures @@JulieM !!

The lioness chase ones are fantastic and that last sunset is simply stunning!!

[JulieM]

So right on the top of my wish list for this trip were cheetah cubs. In fact, a Facebook conversation I had with Augustine before we left went like this:

 

Me: If I see a little cheetah cub - I will be in heaven! If it is with his mum on top of a mound with a storm behind then, I'll just die right there on the spot.

(Artistically die that is, not literally)

 

Aug: Good to know. Would hate to have to explain to people at BCG (our camera club) what happened…well there was this cheetah, and a cub and a storm and….

 

So when we heard about Malaika and her 5 cubs, we knew we had to try to get down and see them. This was our mission for our next full day in the reserve. We left camp at 5.45am and hotfooted straight down there. Charles found them pretty quickly.

 

 

OMG - they were the cutest things ever! I think I even got a bit teary when we first saw them….okay, confession - I did get teary!

 

Malaika had recently caught their breakfast and they all had a lovely munch on it...

 

 

…before heading off to play.

 

 

 

We watched them for ages, along with quite a few other vehicles as they played and groomed. Seemingly before Malaika had even moved, Charles had started the car and was moving to a different position - "She's going to get up and go to the water" he said. Sure enough, that is exactly what she did. The cubs played on a tree near the water for a while before they all moved off.

 

 

 

One of the cubs got really close!

 

 

All too soon they were gone, into an area we couldn't follow them. I hear today they survived an attack by a lioness - I hope they all make it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zim Girl]

@@JulieM

 

Lovely cheetah cub pictures. Love the 2nd group of three picture.

[michael-ibk]

Great to see Malaika and her offspring again here, I "met" them a few days earlier than you. You were lucky to get so close to them - wonderful sighting!

 

Lion attack?!? Oh no, I really hope none was hurt - or worse...

[JulieM]

Yes - a story about a lioness attack was on my Facebook feed this morning but I can't find it now sorry. Apparently no-one was hurt.

[graceland]

@@JulieM, what a start to your Mara trip; I thought the lion sequence was tops; but then the cheetahs....awww....I love them.

 

Loving your personal style of writing; plus including pics of your safari mates. That always makes it so much more real to me than just animal shots.

 

Your pics are stunning. Poor impalas fighting over nothing; if they had been "jumping" as usual they may have had a getaway option. I call them my ballerinas. Hate that they are the "fast food" of Africa. That's life, but still hard to see.

 

VERY enjoyable report; look forward to more! Charles certainly knew where to go!

[TonyQ]

@@JulieM

The cheetah cubs are beautiful - and so is that photo of the 2 jackals!

[LouBNYC]

Lovely Julie !!!

 

Guess who

[JulieM]

Hey @@LouBNYC *Waving*!

[FlyTraveler]

@JulieM: great sightings and fabulous photography! All photos are great, but I enjoyed most the lion kill sequence, the cheetah cabs, the martial eagle, the great sunset with the gazelles and the close up of the elephant, once again, they are all amazing images. Mara certainly never fails to deliver.

Edited October 21, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[Kitsafari]

@@JulieM i saw the story too on my FB. apparently malaika lured the lioness away from the cubs and all were safe after that. clever Mummy!

 

the pix of the two jackals appealed most to me.

[JulieM]

Thanks again for all the lovely comments! It motivates me to keep going!

 

And I'm glad Malaika was clever enough to protect her cubs - great Mum!

[JulieM]

So on a cold winter night, in the months leading up to our trip, I had a rare night to myself. The kids were away, Billy was at the footy and I was alone. What's a girl to do? Well, in my case it was watch "Out of Africa" while curled up under a blanket on the sofa and drinking wine - it was great. I could cry my heart out as much as I liked when Finch-Hatton died and thoroughly immerse myself in the story and the music. Wonderful stuff. So when Charles took us to Lookout Hill, where the burial scene from the movie was shot, I was so excited! After our session with the cheetah cubs, we headed up the hill and really enjoyed the scenery. The Mara looks really vast from up there - although difficult to capture in your camera!

 

 

The boys did what they do best - spot stuff!

 

 

And Augustine captured our mood - very happy to be there!

 

 

Charles

 

 

We spent the rest of the day following our noses and seeing what we could see. Here are some highlights:

 

A lovely dazzle of zebras coming to the river for a drink

 

 

One of Notch's grandsons (apparently!)

 

 

A cheetah who obviously thought we were hilarious!!

 

 

And this jackal pair who were sharing the load - "You take the front…"

 

 

"…and I'll take the back!"

 

 

Gross!!

 

As we headed for home, we got word that Fig the leopard had been spotted in the conservancy so we spent the last bit of sunlight with her. She was a long way up, and it was pretty dark, but I could still snap a record shot.

 

 

It was another top day in the Mara!

 

 

[Zim Girl]

Love the front and back jackal shots