Can one have too much time in the Masai Mara! A resounding NO! Safari Sept 2016

[janzin]

I am going to skip ahead a day to continue with the crossing theme...here's why...

 

That afternoon Ping gave us some bad news. He would be leaving us on our final full day in the Triangle, driving all night, because he needed to get to a doctor in Nairobi that was only available that next morning.  All during the trip Ping had been very stoically suffering from severe back pain. It never slowed him down and he never once complained, but there were times we knew he really was uncomfortable. So although we were disappointed, we totally understood that he needed to attend to this. He was not even sure if he would have to have surgery immediately (as it turned out, we later found out that at this appointment the doctor drained a lot of fluid from his spine, and he did indeed have surgery for a herniated disc some weeks later. He is fine now

 

Ping assured us that Bill Given had found an excellent guide for our final day; knowing of course that we had paid for a private top-class guide, he had tried to get Jackson Looseyia, who was not available but who recommended Daniel. We trusted Ping and Bill and our trust was not mislaid; Daniel turned out to be excellent.

 

So, knowing that we'd be losing Ping on Day 3 of our Enaidura stay, we decided to NOT look for crossings on Day 2, and instead concentrate on finding Cheetah. I will relate that fantastic day later, but am now going to skip to Day 3 so as to continue with the river crossings.

 

On the morning of day 3 we headed out with our new guide Daniel and another guide from the camp who came along as spotter. This was fine with us, the more eyes the better! They asked if we wanted to go right to the crossing spot and wait, or head over a bit later, and look around for some other things first. As it seemed that crossings tend to occur later in the day, and I really had no desire to sit five hours in the hot sun just to get a front-row spot, we opted to check the rhino area again first.

 

It was a gorgeous morning, with lovely light...

 

 

We came across this stately Waterbuck.

 

 

and two giraffes sparring...

 

 

some zebra having a drink...

 

 

But still no Rhino. Well, we'd try again later.

 

But there were once again some great birds in the Rhino area.

 

 

 

 

And this Pied Wagtail entertained us at our breakfast stop.

 

 

So what about the crossings? It was finally time to head over to the river, as we could see other vehicles heading in that direction...

 

[janzin]

We started out at one spot where there seemed to be a small crossing which was nearing its end.  We were fortunate enough to find a wedge in the crossing spot where we had a pretty decent view. Yes, we could have gotten there much earlier but as I said, I just didn't want to spend the time sitting and doing nothing.

 

This spot was drying out a bit from the previous rains, and so I was able to get some shots I'd really wanted, of zebra and wildebeest in the flying dust.

 

 

 

At some point some of the herd turned around and came back towards the water. Not sure what they were thinking!

 

 

Well, before we knew it, this small group became many. And they started crossing back in the other direction!

 

 

But the light was simply awful, and that with the heat haze made photography frustrating. Also due to our position, I could not get them actually crossing, but only massing on one side or the other. I was not really happy.

 

 

Plus, I was really starting to get disturbed by the whole situation. I have many more photos of struggling wildebeest and zebra, but as I went through the photographs after the trip, I actually couldn't bear to process them. I physically was getting stressed just going through them again. Perhaps now, after some time away from it, I could do it...but I don't really have the desire. I just processed these last two for this report, but there are very few photos of the crossing that I put on my web site.

 

After this crossing was over, we headed around to another vantage point. As we were coming onto the plains, we saw the massive herds that had crossed earlier.

 

 

These are the lucky ones. What I'm not showing here are the ones we saw alone, struggling to stand with broken legs.

 

We headed to another spot; actually this was again the spot we'd been in two days before, for our first crossing.

 

 

We waited here a really long time. We had a good front-row seat, so were hesitant to leave, but after a lot of false starts, nothing much happened. Some folks around us were eating their lunch, but we hadn't thought to bring it with us. We were getting really hungry! Some groups even had beer and wine... having a party! Others...like us...seemed just really hot and bored.

 

Eventually we saw that the herds were turning and moving down the bank to another area.  We moved to another spot but from our new position could only see one side of the river...the side where they were exiting the water was blocked by vegetation.

 

 

 

Finally we'd had enough, and left for lunch.

So to sum up: I don't regret having come for the crossings, but both my husband and I agree that we never need, or want, to do that again. Was it the frustration and the time "wasted" in waiting, waiting, waiting in the heat? In part, but not really...I'd be happy to wait and wait for a leopard to come down from a tree or a lion to mate or hyena pups to emerge from a den. Was it the crowds and the jostling for position? In part, but thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I'd have the same feelings were we to be alone at a crossing.

 

It's the suffering. I  just couldn't bear to see the wildebeests who were stuck in the rocks, who had broken legs and were stumbling around trying to scramble up the banks; that image of a broken-legged wildebeest who had somehow made it up and into the fields...only to eventually die an agonizing death...will always stick with me. We were fortunate in some ways; we saw no deaths by crocodile, and all the zebras (one of my favorite beasts) and their foals made it safely across.

 

And also...it was disheartening to see the glee that others around us seem to take in hoping for the worst. In vehicles surrounding us, we could hear people talking and hoping for a croc attack. Even some of the guides (not ours!) were verbally egging on the crocs. Everyone wanted that photo opp! It felt like the morbid curiosity of rubber-neckers at a car crash scene...you can't help yourself, you want to see the gory details (for the record, I always drive by crashes without sneaking a peak...I don't want to see!)

 

This croc had a Wildebeest by the tail. You wouldn't believe the excitement, and some folks saying "go croc, go" while others were rooting for the Wildebeest. I just kept photographing but honestly in some ways the camera served as a shield, so I would be a bit more removed from the reality. (This one had a happy ending for the Wildebeest which got free and made it across, I don't even know if he lost much tail!)

 

 

So in short...been there, done that, and now I know. I would return to the Mara in a heartbeat--and we plan to--and I'd even go during the great migration--because the migration is NOT just about the crossings, its the vast herds upon the savanna, and the predators they draw.  But no need to distress ourselves with another crossing. Nope. For us personally, there are better ways to spend our time in this wildlife-rich area.

 

 

 

 

 

[pault]

@janzin Interesting thoughts on crossings and you are not alone - although I continue to observe crossings as any other normal part of natural life in the Mara. Hot and bored! Haha... I know that feeling.  Your pictures of the vehicle pile ups are much too graphic - they made me feel unwell and brought on a nasty flashback.

 

Anyway, I prefer your pictures of the plains too - your (perhaps) first giraffe shot is a beauty.

 

Poor Ping. Must be a nightmare for a driver, especially a guide who has to turn around on that lower back axis all the time. Ouch!!

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by pault

[Tulips]

@janzin Isn't it interesting how we al have differing interests?  I know some people would be happy to spend 3 hours watching the same animal.  I would be "hot and bored"!  I want to see as many as I can, although don't mind watching if the animal is doing something interesting.  But, three hours watching an animal sleep? Not for me.

 

I don't think the crossings are for me either.  Don't like hoards of vehicles.  Certainly would not like hearing people cheering for a goary scene.

 

Curious  if you had an open vehicle or one of those pop up things?

[janzin]

@Tulips we had an open vehicle, you can see it in post #55  For the most part I do prefer these to the pop-tops although I have to say that for the crossings, in particular, the pop-top offers an advantage because you are usually shooting out the front. As you can see in post #118 the pop-tops offer a perfect platform for a big lens shooting forward; the open vehicles, not so much. So at those times--and really only for the crossings--I was envious of those in the pop-top types.

 

BTW, I don't think I'd want to spend three hours watching an animal just sleep either!

[wilddog]

Fantastic report @janzin Thank you for it so far. I have to say I agree with you on the crossings ..........once is enough. Impressive, magnicent, raw, distressing.. nature at it's best and worst. It is the broken legs that 'did it' for me too.

 

You just wonder what spooks them and makes then turn back mid stream. I can only hope it is not the prime animal - us.

 

Loving your images and looking forward to your next installment.

Edited July 21, 2017 by wilddog

[janzin]

Going backwards in time...for our last full day with Ping, we opted to head out in search of cheetah...and whatever else we might find...and avoid the crossings.  One interesting aspect of this time period in the Triangle is that if you head away from the river, you may not see another vehicle for miles and miles! In fact, we headed out towards the escarpment and the Tanzanian border, and after the first half hour or so I don't believe we saw another vehicle that entire morning...until...well, I'll get to that in a bit.

 

The morning started out with a gorgeous sunrise. (I know the frame says "sunset"; that's a mistake, but I'll correct it some other time lol.)

 

 

As the light came up and became that nice golden color, we were lucky to find a hyena family. Lots of photos ensued! Who can resist a pup?

 

 

 

 

 

As we got further and further from the river, the plains in this area seemed vast and empty. Well, not entirely empty!

 

 

 

And there were some interesting birds about, although we didn't stop too much for birds this morning...we were on a quest!

 

 

 

As I mentioned, up to this point we'd seen no vehicles since we'd left the vicinity of the river. But as we approached what Ping told us was the Tanzanian border...what was that? Several vehicles parked and people standing about? As we drew closer, we saw....

 

 

What's this, they are all The Wild Sources vehicles!  It seems we'd run into a group from the Wild Sources' Tanzania camp! (You'll note that these vehicles are all pop-top, unlike the open ones allowed in Kenya.)  And who was there but Deo, Wild Source's top Tanzania guide. Ping and Deo were really excited to meet, I don't think they had actually met before!

 

This is what the area around the border looked like...miles of savanna, dotted with these little flat-topped hills (or inselbergs).  This should be a very good area for cheetah!

 

 

So at this point we had one foot in Kenya and one in Tanzania, but that's as far as we could go. After chatting a bit with the TZ group (they were a group from California who had sub-contracted the Wild Source for their trip), we continued on our way in search of elusive cats. 

[janzin]

Shortly after we left this area I saw something moving on the side of one of the small hills. Looking through my binoculars, I saw...spots!! At first I called out excitedly..cheetah! But almost immediately realized this was definitely wrong--way too small. Upon closer inspection, we saw...

 

Serval! Hunting in broad daylight, in the hot midday sun!

 

 

He was actually a bit far, and due to the fact that we really couldn't go off-road, we couldn't get too much closer. But we spent a good while watching him hunt--quite successfully!

 

Ready to pounce...

 

 

Success!

 

 

While we watched, he caught at least three of these voles (or mice, not sure on my rodent ID.)

 

 

 

We reluctantly left him as he walked even further away, with the light getting more and more harsh. But what a successful little hunter he was!

 

 

Well, we were thrilled with our little spotted cat, even if it wasn't a cheetah. But where were those darn cheetahs? All this perfect grass, but no cheetah.  The morning was still young, so after much discussion we decided to head over into the Central Plains of the Mara, across the Mara river, to the other side in the general area where we'd seen the cheetahs on our way in. Apparently there were several known cheetahs in this area, some with cubs. Cubs!!

 

Ping warned us this would be a long drive, as there are only two bridges over the river, and each was rather far from where we were at that point. He did say there was a spot where we might be able to cross the river bed, but he wasn't sure whether it would be passable or not. 

 

One slight problem was that we didn't have our lunch with us, but he thought we could either be back in camp by around three, or have someone from the camp meet us over across the river with our lunch. This seemed like a workable plan, so off we went!

 

We didn't stop for much along the way...looking at my photos, I have just a few of birds from that morning.

 

This African Fish eagle gave a nice fly-by.

 

 

We were up on a rise, and I like this unusual vantage point with the wildebeest in the background.

 

 

 

Something with a bit more color.

 

 

 

But we weren't going to stop very long for anything that didn't have spots.  Well as it turned out, we had to make a brief stop for this spotted fellow, who was hanging out over a creek-bed.

 

 

Leopard #7! However, as he was pretty buried in the trees, with no good vantage point, and unlikely to come down during the heat of midday, we continued on our quest for cheetah.

 

 It seemed to take forever, but eventually we reached the Purungat Bridge...the only vehicle crossing the southern part of the river (Ping had decided not to chance the other crossing, since the river was fairly high and he could get no information on it.)

 

 

So looking at the time-stamp, it was now exactly noon...and we were finally in serious Cheetah Country.

 

[michael-ibk]

Fantastic Serval sighting, such a beautiful cat!

[janzin]

6 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Fantastic Serval sighting, such a beautiful cat!

 

Indeed, a gorgeous cat and it seems relatively common in the Mara! We saw three in total, two on night drives and then this one. Now, if only I could find the elusive Caracal...

[optig]

I will not only visit the Mara again, I'd be happy to visit  various conservancies. I'd particularly like to visit the Loisaba conservancy with Zarek Cockar as my guide. The Mara is fabulous at different times of the year.

[madaboutcheetah]

Beautiful Serval!!!  Well done!

[Kitsafari]

wow a serval in daylight! and a successful hunt! brilliant. now, for the kind of spotted elegant slim cat you had been wishing for....

[janzin]

From the bridge, we drove north again, towards an area known as Lookout Hill. This is where several cheetahs had been seen in the last few days. We spent quite a bit of time wandering the tracks and roads, and I was getting a bit concerned as the sky was starting to look like rain. Also, we were really starting to get hungry!

 

But all that faded when we saw this in the distance!

 

 

Now you'll see that the cub is at the very edge of the frame, almost cut off. That's because I was focusing on the mom (this is cropped to include the cub, but the original image had her more in the center) and I didn't even realize she had a cub with her! I was lucky that the cub even made it into this frame! Were there more? But soon we could see that there was just this one cub trailing along with her.

 

Of course, we couldn't go off road in this area so we had to wait and see where they would go. They were walking in our general direction... and there was a medium-sized termite mound right behind the vehicle.  Our fingers were crossed that she'd go up this mound....

 

Wouldn't you know it, she stopped right behind the vehicle at the edge of the termite mound. Go up, go up!

 

 

 

and she did!

 

 

We spent a long time watching her and the cub. He never went up the mound, but she stayed quite awhile.

 

 

 

It started to rain, and we were getting really, really hungry, but didn't want to leave.  Then Ping gave us a surprise...awhile back he'd called the camp and asked them to send out our lunch! It should arrive soon!  So we stayed.....

 

 

Eventually mom came down.

 

 

And they started walking off, the little one struggling to keep up.

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually they settled down in the grass, a bit far from us. This was taken with the 1.4 teleconverter on my 200-500VR lens, which I usually try to avoid, but I figured what the heck...and it came out better than expected.

 

 

I want to add that initially we were the only vehicle at this sighting; eventually another came...but that was it! Its really true that you can get away from the crowds in the Mara, especially at crossing time. Its just so vast and at least in this area we saw very few other vehicles.

 

We never did learn the name of this cheetah. She seemed quite skinny and I hope that she got a kill soon.  I did send an inquiry to the Mara Cheetah Project, but they never responded to me

 

At just about this time, the rain started really coming down...and our lunch arrived! So we happily sat in the rain eating chicken curry, rice and breads in the jeep as we waited out the rain, satisfied with our cheetah experience.

 

Well...satisfied except for one thing. This is where I made one of my stupid, dumb, idiotic photography mistakes #$%@& When the mom was up on the mound, I had dialed in +1.3 exposure compensation against the grayish sky. That was great, except when she came down, in my excitement I didn't change it. Looking at the images on the back of the camera, they were really over-exposed! I almost cried   (Okay, I confess, I DID cry a little bit! Ping didn't know what to think, I'm sure he thought I was a crazy woman!)  THANK GOODNESS I was shooting RAW, as I always do, and was able to save these shots; in fact they look fine, as you can see.  But I really freaked out for a moment as it had been such a long day, we were starved, tired, and excited all at the same time. Whew.

 

After eating, the rain let up, so we rode around a bit looking for more cheetah...why not! And we DID find another...way in the distance with what looked like multiple cubs. I suspect it was Malaika again. BUT...the roads all around her were roped off, and the Mara Cheetah Project vehicle was standing watch. There was no way at all to get anywhere near her. We drove back and forth in the area for awhile, hoping she'd get up and head in our direction...or that we might find yet more cheetah...but soon it was time to go, as we had quite a long drive back to camp.

 

Reluctantly, we headed back towards camp. It was to be our last day with Ping, and we knew he needed to drive all night to get to Nairobi, so we didn't mind getting back a bit early, before sundown. But what a day!

 

And don't go away, because we weren't done with cats quite yet...in fact our last morning was one of our best....

Edited July 22, 2017 by janzin

[xelas]

@janzin, being late to this fantastic trip report with fabulous photography has one advantage: to go through it slowly and continuously! As all the word of praise have been already used by others, only this one: "Our hats are off to You!".

[janzin]

1 hour ago, xelas said:

@janzin, being late to this fantastic trip report with fabulous photography has one advantage: to go through it slowly and continuously! As all the word of praise have been already used by others, only this one: "Our hats are off to You!".

 

Thanks so much for stopping by @xelas ! Better late than never   And thanks for your kind comments.

[philw]

On 22 July 2017 at 3:48 AM, janzin said:

 

Indeed, a gorgeous cat and it seems relatively common in the Mara! We saw three in total, two on night drives and then this one. Now, if only I could find the elusive Caracal...

they're not that common in the Mara - I must have spent over 40 days there over the years and never seen one!! Hopefully you'll bring that luck to Zambia given you are there around same time as me in September...

[janzin]

10 minutes ago, philw said:

they're not that common in the Mara - I must have spent over 40 days there over the years and never seen one!! Hopefully you'll bring that luck to Zambia given you are there around same time as me in September...

 

I hope so! The guides will be surprised when they ask me for my top wishes: Caracal, Aardvark, Pangolin. I won't make it easy on them lol.

[Galana]

Also looking in and mightily impressed with your usual capture of the spirit of Safari going..Catching up took me to the Cisticola saga.

Your new puzzler in 98 could be a Stout although there are great similarities with your Wailer in 118.

You have no need to fret over the excellent Serval and single Cheetah cub quality. They are beautiful and you should be rightly proud of them.  (The Serval has a Grass Rat, you can see the tail!)

Indeed the quality of both the Serval and the Cheetah on the termite are so good it lets me reach for my big drum. Your photos show to me that there is absolutely NO need to go off road at all. Even when you had to use the converter and allegedly 'messed up' the settings you got absolutely excellent shots. What would going off road have achieved except probably crushing the smaller unseen creatures and maybe ground nesting birds  & eggs as well as compacting the soil?

Surely those superb photos, the Cheetah cub is so lovely, are all the better for not having gone off road? It is a better and more eco friendly achievement. (End of drum banging!) To misquote Sydney Carton " It is a far, far better thing that you do, than you have ever done;"

[amybatt]

Excellent set of photos of those cheetahs.  And Ping's worth his weight in gold to know to radio ahead for your lunch!  Between yours and @Pamshelton3932's trip reports this weekend, I'm thisclose to booking a return to the Mara.  You're killing me!  (In a good way!)

[Marks]

Yawning cheetah mom with cub creeping in the background - very fun photo. And of course you had a fantastic serval sighting!

[Pamshelton3932]

@amybattI want to go back too so maybe I can see such tiny cheetahs as @janzinsaw!

[pault]

Love the cheetah cub.  fabulous  But ouch!! I nearly cried too. Thank goodness for cloudy days sometimes, eh?

[CaroleE]

What a fantastic serval sighting! And cheetah....finally/ Patience is rewarded.

Forgetting to reset camera settings, yep had that experience on last trip. You do feel like crying

Nice to to see the Kenya/Tanazania border from the other side......I once spent a long hot day on the other side of it also looking for cheetah. There was absolutely nothing else around for miles and the will to live began to decrease at some point! I was really pleased to find the cheetah in the end.

And we have more cats to come......wow this was a great visit.

[janzin]

14 hours ago, Galana said:

Also looking in and mightily impressed with your usual capture of the spirit of Safari going..Catching up took me to the Cisticola saga.

Your new puzzler in 98 could be a Stout although there are great similarities with your Wailer in 118.  Those Cisticolas are worse than our Sparrows in North America. You of course could be right, and if it were Stout, it would be a lifer! But should it count this far after the fact, lol?

You have no need to fret over the excellent Serval and single Cheetah cub quality. They are beautiful and you should be rightly proud of them.  (The Serval has a Grass Rat, you can see the tail!) Ah thanks for the ID!

Indeed the quality of both the Serval and the Cheetah on the termite are so good it lets me reach for my big drum. Your photos show to me that there is absolutely NO need to go off road at all. Even when you had to use the converter and allegedly 'messed up' the settings you got absolutely excellent shots. What would going off road have achieved except probably crushing the smaller unseen creatures and maybe ground nesting birds  & eggs as well as compacting the soil?

Surely those superb photos, the Cheetah cub is so lovely, are all the better for not having gone off road? It is a better and more eco friendly achievement. (End of drum banging!) To misquote Sydney Carton " It is a far, far better thing that you do, than you have ever done;" 

 

For the most part I agree with you about the off-road issue; in fact, what I've found in both Kenya and Tanzania is that "off-road" really means something different than what I'd expected...there are many, many tracks that are considered to be "legal" and so its not as limiting as one would expect. Even in areas where one can off-road, in the conservancies, the guides were careful to keep on these already existing tracks as much as possible.