Kenya (Amboseli, Ol pejeta, Naivasha, Mara) - Sept/11 to Sept/20, 2017

[Gilgamesh]

3 hours ago, amybatt said:

Ok, that balloon sunrise shot is just exquisite.  The colors knock me out.  But all of them are excellent.  You figured out how to shoot sunrise for sure!

 

The male lion in #69, is there something wrong between his lip and nose?  Looks like a blister or a boil or maybe his nose is split with a cut or something, poor guy.

 

I'm hugely jealous that you saw the five cheetahs.  I'm ready to pack up and go now and see them before they eventually disperse!  Is one of them collared or was that a different cheetah collared?

 

I could try to guess what's coming up, but I'd rather be surprised.  The Mara has already delivered for you, I can't imagine that it'll get much better!

Thank you!... Yes! The colors of the photograph with the hot air balloons were unique.

At home I have ND gradient, multi stop filters etc and on a tripod with all the time I have, I can rarely get good sunrise/sunset photographs with the sun in the frame. Even with multi exposure blending. These were taken in a vehicle, hand held with just the one exposure, no blending. I have to thank Meshak for the composition. He actually inches the vehicle, and with no input from me will adjust the vehicle to give me the ideal composition. You will see why I am so impressed with him in future images.

 

I noticed that growth only on pictures here, so I didn't ask the guide. I hope members here with more knowledge of each Lion can shed some light. It also looks like one of his front leg is injured....you can see the red rash. He only took a few steps, but looked like he was limping. I would love to know more about him and the growth.

 

<Those viewing on a regular iPad really needs to expand each image by stretching with their fingers until the image fills the screen to see it well....all images were resized to 1000 pixels at their widest/highest>

 

Oh! You will love the five brothers even more once the evening photographs are posted. Now, I don't think I can finish Day 9 today. It'll have to wait. Three of the five are of the same mother and the other two from a different mom. They've been together for a few years now. 

 

The collared one is part of the five (all the images posted there is of the five brothers).... He is the leader.

 

We will also see the two sisters later...loved them too.

 

Do you think you can guess the unique/surprise image or something else? Once I post it, I was going to ask everyone, how many guessed it prior to seeing it. That would be interesting. So, we'll wait. But, in the mean time, if anyone thinks they got it, please post and let me know.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[AmyT]

I've never seen a lion in a tree other than the Serengeti photos.  So my guesses are: to take a leopard kill; to raid a nest; to have a nap; or to scout the horizon. I'm interested to find out the answer!

[Gilgamesh]

10 minutes ago, AmyT said:

I've never seen a lion in a tree other than the Serengeti photos.  So my guesses are: to take a leopard kill; to raid a nest; to have a nap; or to scout the horizon. I'm interested to find out the answer!

Amy

Thank you for the guesses as it makes it more interesting. I don't want to ask follow up questions now, but will after I post my image.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[Gilgamesh]

Day 9 (Porini Lion)

 

We had breakfast by Mara river

 

I am to the right, with my full safari attire (I actually owned all of it for years, even though this is my first safari...the vest is handy to keep lens, filters etc. so I've been using it for photography for years). This morning game drive was the only time we had the company of one more person. He was a semi-pro photographer.

 

 

Hippos

 

Immediately after resurfacing, their nostrils flare like this, gasping for air...

 

Just to show we saw Crocodiles too...there were many

 

Wildebeests on the top and hippos at the bottom

 

 

We scouted the Mara river extensively...several times there were small gathering of wildebeest and zebras like the above photograph show. Some even came to the waters edge but always returned.

Another small gathering turning back

 

There was a large gathering of Egyptian geese...with another small gathering of potential river cross in the background.

 

These Bee-eaters always adds some color to a TR

 

We also saw a pair of Impala's sparring

 

As soon as Meshack realized a Mara river crossing is not going to happen we started driving at a high speed to somewhere only he knew.... I had no idea where we were going. We must have driven for over 30 minutes, may be even an hour. It was a mad dash of some off-roading some on designated paths...we finally reached an area where we saw this gathering of wildebeest and zebras.

 

That dark line spanning end to end is the gathering of animals.

 

There was one other vehicle...they've been there for 2 hours. After so many failed "crossings", I asked whether this gathering could turn back? He said the pressure is too much for that and they will cross...we waited for less than 10 minutes and it started....The Sand river crossing.

 

It is so hard to convey the immensity of a river crossing of this magnitude through photographs. Videos capture the sound and the intensity a little better...the full visceral experience can only be had by being there...it was amazing!

 

Here are my feeble attempts at capturing some of what happened...

 

 

The sound of thousands of galloping feet, feeling the ground shake and the splashing water - the overall chaos is breathtaking!...I am glad we experienced a full fledged river crossing, but it's on par with any other interesting animal encounter. There will be one more crossing today .... it was through a dry valley, but there were a lot more wildebeest there. 

 

@CDL111 hope you logged in prior to leaving to Kenya as you were wishing to see my photos of the crossing.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[AKR1]

@Gilgamesh 

outstanding capture of a chaotic scene above. Your overall photography composition is great as well. Your enthusiasm as a first timer shows with each post but the overall quality of your report would leave the impression you have did this many times before. 

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your report.  

 

Corrected typos or or more accurately the device’s bad autocorrect. 

Edited October 2, 2017 by AKR1

[Gilgamesh]

@AKR1 Thank you for the nice comments. I am glad you liked the pictures of the crossing...somehow it feels so inadequate to the actual one.

 

Even though it's my first safari, I've dabbled in photography for almost 10 years now, so I've been studying everything including composition for a while.

 

You are welcome!

[Gilgamesh]

I am curious to know which crossing images of the 15 I posted that others liked...which covey's the essence as much as possible...may be the top 3. As I really don't know what's preferred for a crossing...it's my first attempt.

 

To me, it's #2, #3 and #14 in that order.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[AKR1]

24 minutes ago, Gilgamesh said:

I am curious to know which crossing images of the 15 I posted that others liked...which covey's the essence as much as possible.

 

To me, it's #2, #3 and #14

Most of the monochromatic images convey the frenzy of the event.

However it should be noted what you witnessed appears to be a shallow crossing with relatively “easy” banks for the Gnus to scamble up and it did not appear there were crocs around- as I understand it not atypical of the Talek with relatively little water current.  It reminds me of the Grumeti crossing in Tanzania other than a large number of truly huge crocs there that tear into the poor Gnus. 

 

The Mara when it’s fully flowing with its deep water and steep banks creates significantly more chaos and desperation especially when the crocs are out. 

 

But this comes with lots of human traffic and resultant crowding and unfortunately often bad behavior. 

[Gilgamesh]

22 minutes ago, AKR1 said:

Most of the monochromatic images convey the frenzy of the event.

However it should be noted what you witnessed appears to be a shallow crossing with relatively “easy” banks for the Gnus to scamble up and it did not appear there were crocs around- as I understand it not atypical of the Talek with relatively little water current.  It reminds me of the Grumeti crossing in Tanzania other than a large number of truly huge crocs there that tear into the poor Gnus. 

 

The Mara when it’s fully flowing with its deep water and steep banks creates significantly more chaos and desperation especially when the crocs are out. 

 

But this comes with lots of human traffic and resultant crowding and unfortunately often bad behavior. 

 

Thanks!

The second one is Sand river crossing. Compared to Mara, definitely shallow and no crocs. However, like you said, I didn't have to fight with 40 other vehicles, which is a small consolation.

[Gilgamesh]

Day 9 (Porini Lion) - Morning Drive (cont'd)

 

Wildebeest:

This post is all about these wonderful animals. They absolutely do not belong in the ugly 5. When we first saw them in Amboseli we were stunned when the ones by the road turned around, looked right at us and nodded their heads like welcoming us. We absolutely love them...

 

Look at them!...they are not ugly.

 

After the Sand river crossing we went to this area where we finally saw the thousands of wildebeest we were expecting to see in Mara, during the migration season. First, we were the only ones and we absolutely loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

As we were enjoying the serenity of just us with the tens of thousands of wildebeest, a couple of vans entered the area. After a while both started doing this...

Yup! just driving through the group and had them run in a frenzy.

 

After a while we went to higher ground and I was able to get a shot from there...

 

That's a lot of wildebeest!... The above photo was taken with the 21mm prime and thus the color difference.

 

Then we drove to another spot higher above the gathering of wildebeest and the van did another run through them and they started to run towards us

 

They started to gallop by both sides of the vehicle in the hundreds

 

As soon as the van passed through, first they went back

 

After a few seconds, they started to move back towards us in the tens of thousands...it was an unbelievable experience.

 

Zebras in the group too

 

They ran pass our vehicle until almost all of them crossed to the higher ground

 

Now, on this side there were wildebeest as far as our eyes could see...exactly what we hoped during this migration season...truly remarkable.

 

Typically one never gets to be in the middle of such an event, as you are not supposed to block the pathway of a migration. We were just standing there enjoying the animals and they were provoked by another group into doing this. So, we ended up experiencing this unique phenomenon of wildebeest in the tens of thousands zooming pass both sides of a vehicle...Wow!, it was out of this world!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[AmyT]

We missed the migration by a matter of days. I am enjoying your photos of masses of wildebeest!  Incidentally, my guide at Porini Lion did the same thing (driving through the wildebeest), albeit with smaller numbers.  It breaks the boundaries of each "territory" and causes the males to try to round up the females again.  I'd have loved to see tens of thousands; just another reason to return!

Edited October 3, 2017 by AmyT

[Gilgamesh]

7 minutes ago, AmyT said:

We missed the migration by a matter of days. I am enjoying your photos of masses of wildebeest!  Incidentally, my guide at Porini Lion did the same thing, albeit with smaller numbers.  It breaks the boundaries of each "territory" and causes the males to try to round up the females again.  I'd have loved to see tens of thousands; just another reason to return!

Ah! I did not know that. Thanks for informing me.

[Seniortraveller]

Is it really common practice in the Mara, for drivers/guides to disrupt the natural behaviour of the wildebeest in this way? 

[amybatt]

I was thinking the same thing @seniortraveler!!

[TonyQ]

A superb report -great photography, engaging writing and your enthusiasm shines through. You saw a remarkable selection of wildlife.

The huge herd of Wildebeest is amazing. It looks like an excellent first safari - and I suspect not your last!

 

I think the behaviour of that white van is shocking- tha animals have a tough enough time without an idiot behaving like that.

[Gilgamesh]

13 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

A superb report -great photography, engaging writing and your enthusiasm shines through. You saw a remarkable selection of wildlife.

The huge herd of Wildebeest is amazing. It looks like an excellent first safari - and I suspect not your last!

 

I think the behaviour of that white van is shocking- tha animals have a tough enough time without an idiot behaving like that.

 

Thank you very much. I think the huge herds of wildebeest and zebras and especially them zooming by our vehicle was the second best experience I had in this safari.

 

The best being the hunt which is coming soon. My wife wasn't too enthusiastic about seeing one. I've heard of many gory ones here. What we saw was Cheetah's hunting a young warthog. It certainly wasn't the blood and agony you typically would see in a hunt. I am glad it happened that way...I saw my hunt with full of very interesting dynamics, and we didn't have to subject ourselves to the full gore of it.

 

Yeah! I was shocked by the van's behavior, but I of course don't know whether it's typical behavior or not.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[Gilgamesh]

Day 9 (Porini Lion) End of morning drive.

 

On our way back to camp from our very productive morning drive we saw this Eland, which gave me a nice composition.

 

On our way to see the sea of wildebeest, we also saw another animal...Ones numbers are dwindling and some estimates puts it at only about 50 being left in both the Serengeti and Mara, combined...we saw one!

 

A Mara Black Rhino

 

Whew! What a morning it was...

Edited October 4, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[amybatt]

Now the rhino....I'm impressed by that sighting!  For on all my three trips to the Mara, I've still not seen one there!  Nice spot.  And a black rhino at that (known to be more skittish!)

 

I'll be honest, if I was in a vehicle that was plowing through the wildebeest like that I'd ask to stop and/or leave.  It's not fun or funny for them and causes unnecessary stress and alarm and what does it gain us as the safarigoer?  I've asked to leave sightings before where I felt uncomfortable for the animal (Willow the lioness and her young cubs in Naboisho) so I'm not shy about speaking up.

[AmyT]

44 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

 

 

I think the behaviour of that white van is shocking- tha animals have a tough enough time without an idiot behaving like that.

 

I agree with you, @TonyQ, @seniortraveller, and @amybatt. Just sharing what my guide told me.

 

Beautiful black rhino in the Mara!  What a great capture, @Gilgamesh!

[Gilgamesh]

1 hour ago, amybatt said:

Now the rhino....I'm impressed by that sighting!  For on all my three trips to the Mara, I've still not seen one there!  Nice spot.  And a black rhino at that (known to be more skittish!)

 

I'll be honest, if I was in a vehicle that was plowing through the wildebeest like that I'd ask to stop and/or leave.  It's not fun or funny for them and causes unnecessary stress and alarm and what does it gain us as the safarigoer?  I've asked to leave sightings before where I felt uncomfortable for the animal (Willow the lioness and her young cubs in Naboisho) so I'm not shy about speaking up.

 

The black rhino was a huge bonus. I only included the one photo but we saw it go from one end to the other....I was very pleased.

 

I knew the photos will draw a discussion...actually the very reason I posted it. So, I am not expecting anyone to shy away from having this discussion. I obviously don't have the answers to the many of the questions, though.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[wilddog]

Let us hope that the guides reported the vehicle and drivers actions. Apart from disturbing the natural pattern of groups and migration, I could well imgine that these charging animals could have done damage to each other and/or vehicles and passengers.

 

How lovely to have found the black rhino; that is really special. 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

Wow, just spent...well lost in time...reading and enviously enjoying your trip. You managed to see just about everything and the report isn't over yet!

Some great photographs, I think the Leopard pair was the best sighting, but that's just my opinion. Rhino are pretty special too, well isn't everything!

If I have to make a criticism and maybe it's impolite (sorry!) I don't like the borders on the photos where you have framed them, probably just me but the heavier you make them the more they distract from the excellent image within.

[Gilgamesh]

2 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Wow, just spent...well lost in time...reading and enviously enjoying your trip. You managed to see just about everything and the report isn't over yet!

Some great photographs, I think the Leopard pair was the best sighting, but that's just my opinion. Rhino are pretty special too, well isn't everything!

If I have to make a criticism and maybe it's impolite (sorry!) I don't like the borders on the photos where you have framed them, probably just me but the heavier you make them the more they distract from the excellent image within.

Dave,

Thank you for the very flattering comments.

 

Your kind advice is not impolite at all...just having quickly gone through your portfolio, I know I can only learn from your comments - you have some excellent work there. So, I very much appreciate your advice and it feels great to be complimented on my photos by an artist of your caliber.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Gilgamesh

[Seniortraveller]

Your excitement and enthusiasm shines through in this trip report and the photographs are wonderful. With a week in the Mara booked for next March, I have particularly enjoyed reading this section. Glad to hear from other comments, that driving into wildebeest is not a regular occurrence.

[Gilgamesh]

Day 9 (Poni Lion Camp) - Evening Game drive.

 

This is the post I've been wanting to share from the day I started the thread. I saw the previews on my Microsoft surface tablet in Kenya and was impressed with it. I viewed them in full detail for the first time just this afternoon and I am even more excited.

 

Our morning game drive went from 6:15am to about 1:30pm. We wanted to get out again as soon as possible and Meshack and us decided to go out at 3pm. Later we learned our companion wanted a longer rest. We met Jake, the founder of Porini over lunch and explained the situation...Hakuna matata...it was decided we will go on our own at 3pm with Meshack as we had wanted.

 

We left at 3pm and Meshack asked us whether we wanted to see the five brothers hunt or see a Leopard...a hunt of course. So, we were off...but that question didn't make much sense to me. So on the way I asked Meshack to clarify, "Are we going to see the five brothers again and hope they will hunt?"...His reply, "No, if we were just going to see the five brothers, I'll rather take you to see the Leopard as we have seen the brothers already...you want to see a hunt so we are going to see the five brothers hunt"...I had no idea how he was going to make the five brothers hunt...but, having seen him work, I wasn't going to question him.

 

We went to see the Five cheetah brothers again...and they were on the prowl.

 

It was interesting to see how the other four obeys the leader. All five were walking one way, then the leader decided to sit, however the other four continued walking towards a group of wildebeest. They walked for several hundred feet, but the leader did not follow. Then the four waited for the leader to join. Nothing happened. By now the leader was several hundred feet away from the other four. After several minutes of waiting the four turned back and came back to the leader. It was obvious he controlled the action.

 

We could see their target, a small group of wildebeest

 

Then we saw a family of Warthog pass by...Meshak yelled, take a picture of that family, so I did

 

These guys can turn on a dime, like you can see below...but why that is important will become clearer a little later

 

Watching all of this was the leader

 

As I was taking the photos of the five Cheetah brothers, Meshack started the vehicle and as he was inching away he turned back and asked whether it was ok to leave. By now I had 100% faith in him and I did not want him to check with me on every move he wanted to make. I told him "Just do your thing"...with those four words I had made the wisest decision of the whole trip - If this was hockey, I just passed the puck to " The Great one" as we were crossing the blue line. Now, all I need to do is go close to the goal and put my stick on the ice...the puck will find my stick and the goal - it is guaranteed.

 

The defense? at least twenty strong...

 

We went closer but still behind most of the vehicles with a decent view of the trees where the Cheetahs have decided to rest. By now, the wildebeest had seen the Cheetah and everybody knew it's going to be the Warthogs.

 

 I took a few shots...but the brothers never gave me a perfect pose...I really wanted one.

 

Meshack was observing the cheetah and the Warthog. At one time he said the Worthogs have gone inside their burrow. We waited. Apparently the five brothers have been hunting every day for several days. So, it's pretty much guaranteed, but it can happen anytime within the next 2-3 hours. So we waited behind almost all of the vehicles in the group. Cheetahs went to sleep.

 

After about 15 minutes they woke up...a stretch and a big yawn

 

Then this look...I guess by which they must have told Meshack we are ready, you better get in position

 

Immediately after this, Meshack started our vehicle, went around everyone and as he was speeding away my wife and I looked back and the five Cheetahs were up and were giving us the greatest pose imaginable standing right next to the tree...my wife yells, wow! look at that pose, exactly what you've been waiting for all this time...Meshack did not stop, he kept driving around all those vehicles...I wasn't going to coach Gretzky on what to do, let alone on what the 'Great one' should do behind the blue line...so, I kept quiet.

 

Before anyone knew what was going to happen, Meshack did. He drove pass everyone and parked our vehicle at the far end...and it started

 

I put my stick to the ice...the puck found my stick and the goal...we scored, big time!...All this time we were behind almost all the vehicles and when it mattered most, Meshack gave me a front row seating to what unfolded just a few feet away from us.

 

Momentum is the mass of the object multiplied by velocity...This Cheetah will learn that soon

 

The young Warthog turns on a dime

 

The Cheetah could not match it...

 

and now there's the mother to deal with...

 

 

He slows down and the Mother Warthog speeds pass him

 

By now Meshack is yelling "The other one, the other one"...he is watching me and the action and knows I am still shooting the Cheetah that has stopped the chase. I look back and see where he is pointing and start shooting again...

 

 

Momentum? what Momentum???

 

The reach...

 

He got him

 

Meshack is again yelling..."the other one, the other one"...I quickly point my camera towards wherever he was pointing...Pumba's revenge?

 

Have you seen Pumba fly before?

 

Then suddenly she stops and turns around

 

She is not after revenge, she is busy protecting her other offspring...

 

In the mean time at the other end...

 

Then he looked towards us

(I did not know the first photo I will post will appear as the main image in the 'recent trip reports' streaming on the first page of this forum...the first photo I posted was our luggage. Is there any way I could put this instead?  @wilddog Can you change that for me?)

 

Then he walked towards his brothers...

Don't worry!...they did not do that...they just sat together and went at it...

 

We left soon after...Meshack wasn't done with the evening yet!

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by wilddog