Cruel paradise and its spotted angels (8 days in Masai Mara)

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21 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

I have to concur. This is just a great shot!

Thank you! IMO, these boys are just super stars of Mara (and unfortunately it is not only me, who thinks that way. I wish they were only mine  )

20 hours ago, Antee said:

To bad that a car was the reason for the death of the young Eland. I hope he had the off road permit...

I did not pay attention :(, but a rangers' car was there and they checked for permits. So if not, the car was fined.

 

I must say things did improve (at least seemed to be better) since my last visit, we saw rangers every day and people were respecting rules much more.

Edited December 3, 2017 by bettel

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That was my last full day in Mara and it was my Birthday so subconsciously I wanted it to be a special day although I was not sure what the hell would be special comparing to previous 7 days :). At minimum I wanted lion cubs and Mara (together with Meshack) showed me lot of lion cubs (I think during 2 hours or so, we saw 2 separate Moniko pride groups, Enkuyonai lioness with cubs and Ridge pride). I mean LOTs of lions (and cubs).

Well, the first cub made me ask a few questions like who was that tourist? Was s/he tasty? How long was s/he chased by cubs? It's all because lions were extremely fat and because of this:



Meshack's version was that it was not a tourist, it was just a binocular cover. Lol, I don't think somebody would tell you the truth (I am joking  ). Cubs looked as if they would not mind to "play" with another tourist or two





The binocular cover was very popular:







But Meshack did not allow them to play with it. He took the toy away (well, it was NOT a good toy for cubs). Cubs were not upset, they started to wrestle each other:



or played the king of the castle:





or used their siblings as new toys. The guide told that they were thinking that this cub would not survive. S/he was the smallest among quite a few older cubs that did not allow him (her) to suckle and they played rough. But the cub (knock on wood) survived and felt well:  

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It is interesting that Moniko pride has very similar schedule to Offbeat pride in Mara North. Every afternoon they get down from a stony hill where they rest during the day and every morning they return there. If you want to see them you better wake up early and be there :).

Everybody had big bellies and was thirsty. I guess they caught something quite big at night. 











We escorted lions to the hill and waited till they disappeared and then we started to look for more lions :). We came across this pretty cute almost white hyena:

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And then we met knew Moniko pride males. Olerai:

And his brother Ole Kiti:





And this was another part of Moniko pride (it is now quite big, so lions prefer to stay in smaller sub-groups):

[Atravelynn]

It was your birthday but the lions got the gift, if you can call the tattered binocular cover a gift.  That eland calf was likely in a numbed state of shock for much of the ordeal, until it succumbed to death.  But I understand your sadness in witnessing that kill.

 

Overall a stellar trip!

[modleski]

Fabulous report! Thanks so much.

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On 12/6/2017 at 4:24 PM, Atravelynn said:

That eland calf was likely in a numbed state of shock for much of the ordeal, until it succumbed to death.

That is what I was telling to myself. I hope I will never learn the truth if it is different.

On 12/6/2017 at 4:24 PM, Atravelynn said:

Overall a stellar trip!

Thank you very much!

On 12/22/2017 at 10:14 PM, modleski said:

Fabulous report! Thanks so much.

Thank you for reading and commenting!

 

***

As soon as we left lions we came across a hippo that decided to spend more time outside of the river. The hippo was not too happy about us: it "yawned" couple times so we let him be and continued the drive:

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And then we found more lions. I believe it was either Ololparpit or Olbarnoti:





We did not stay long with him as he settled for a long nice day sleep but we came across Ridge pride soon. The Ridge pride was moving to a sleeping place but they all had a lot of fun on their way. Even adult lionesses were playing:


Only little ones were very well behaved but I believe it was hard for them to follow the pride and play at the same time

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Sub adults were playing "hunt" and were chasing zebras around:



Little ones were following their mother:







One of older cubs found a natural toy and was entertaining tourists





It was impossible not to lough

[Atravelynn]

The hits keep coming!

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On 12/26/2017 at 9:27 PM, Atravelynn said:

The hits keep coming!

There are still a few to come

 

And little bit more for Ridge pride

 

Subadults were trying to still the horn from each other:


"Nope, this is MINE!"


Buffaloes are watching:


A lioness arrived ans stole the horn:


Just a cute cub (it is very hard not to post 300 photos of these cuties):









 

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And then Meshack asked if I want to see a rhino. And as the rhino was not too far, I decided that I wanted (don't get me wrong, I love rhinos, but I love cats more  )

 

We spent some time with this guy and then we went for out cheetah "hunt"

Some lions on our way:



We found two Amani's daughters. There is some argument on their names. Some call them Kisaru and Busaru, and some call them Nalangu and Anaashea. I am curious if they stay double-named like Musiara (Rani) or Nolari (Nora) or guides and projects will come to some conclusion

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We were going to stay with them, but Miale and her son were found not too far (and I had not seen them yet) so we went there:

 

The issue with them was that there was not any potential prey nearby at all so when Meshack mentioned that a leopard was found I started to beg that I wanted a leopard :). Safari Live guide Scott was very kind to promise that he would sms us if cheetahs become active. And we went for a leopard, and it was a very good decision as in couple kilometers we found that one of tires got flat. We stopped, changed it and continued the drive.

 

We found the carcass hanging on the tree but we did not see a leopard first, but then she was 50 meters or so away, resting under the bush:

 

 

It is Luluka, an adult Lorian's daughter.

 

And it is not the end as Meshack got a call from his friend that Lorian was found couple kilometers away so we moved there. There is nothing better than a beautiful cat in a nice light

 

 

 

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Meshack was very strategic. At some point he told that Lorian was moving toward the tree with the kill and we would better leave her here and go and wait there as otherwise we might not get a good spot. And it was awesome, as we were the first and got the best spot :). It did not save my photos from being bad, but at least you can see how light and gracious leopards are when they climb:

 

Luluka was watching her mother:

 

I had a surprise at the dinner as there was a Happy Birthday dance from camp staff:

 

 

And a cake!

 

What a great Birthday this was!!!

[modleski]

Wow, people could go on safari for weeks and weeks and not see nearly as much as you did. I hope I see half as much in the Mara in 2019. Thanks again. And a belated happy birthday.

 

[Atravelynn]

A very happy birthday!

[Kitsafari]

you always are a big magnet for the cats. what a happening trip. and A great way to celebrate your birthday. happy belated birthday!

[optig]

I am also wishing you a happy birthday!!! I think that your sightings were just awesome.

[bettel]

@optig, @Kitsafari, @Atravelynn, @modleski Thank you VERY much!!!

 

 

And here was the last day! Traditionally my last day is always on a quieter side... on a very very quieter side... kind like "no cats" side. I got used to this rule and was prepared to enjoy antelopes. Meshack disagreed and decided that we should try to find Tito. She is a female leopard that lives in Motorogi. I obviously supported the intention. To my huge surprise we immediately bumped into new Iseketa pride males (they are so new, that they were not even given names). Very handsome boys:

"Bro, I love you!"


"Dude, we are watched! Smarten up!"


"Got it!"

Edited January 3, 2018 by bettel

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On 12/28/2017 at 0:35 PM, modleski said:

Wow, people could go on safari for weeks and weeks and not see nearly as much as you did. I hope I see half as much in the Mara in 2019. Thanks again. And a belated happy birthday.

I hope you will see a lot. Mara is a magic place!

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Boys were calling the pride but the pride was silent. Lol maybe they caught something and did not want to share. Males decided to try their luck and to hunt for themselves...

 

One of them noticed a warthog family and hid (well, at least he attempted):


He was pretty lucky as warthogs did not see him for quite a long time (Meshack's comment was that had it been a lioness she would have gotten it) :


But the male was impatient and lazy.... VERY LAZY:


He was running after the warthog with the speed that would not be sufficient to catch even four leg lame animal. I think even I would be able to run away with speed better than this.... well, probably...


He ran quite a lot... maybe 30 meters or even 40 meters  




And this unreal extraordinary effort exhausted him so he fell on the ground and rested. We could not stop laughing :

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We did not spend too much time with them as we still were trying to find Tito. But that mission was unsuccessful so we went back to Olare to maybe to try to find Fig. Huge herd of wildebeests was moving in the same direction (it looked almost as if migration did not leave).  Lilac roller on our way:


One of Monico pride males was watching a lioness that was hunting wildebeests coming down from Motorogi:


It seemed to be a pretty good set up for a hunt as wildebeests were moving towards the gullet with a lioness but she was not patient and exposed herself to the herd too soon. Whole herd turned around and ran. What a magnificent scene it was!

[Atravelynn]

 

The lioness gave up her dinner so you could get some magnificent stampeding shots!

 

Remind me, did you contact Gamewatchers directly for your Mara trips?    Was 8 days to take advantage of their special? Thanks!

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On 1/3/2018 at 6:21 PM, Atravelynn said:

Remind me, did you contact Gamewatchers directly for your Mara trips?    Was 8 days to take advantage of their special? Thanks!

I booked directly through Gamewatchers (to be precise Julie Roggow was my agent). I don't remember official special offers at the time, but Julie game me a very good rate for both camp stay and PV. 

 

***

 

We spent some time with wildebeests as there were two different groups of lions right near the herd. But lions were lions and they were just sleeping so we went for better luck search. 







The day seemed to be traditionally quiet and by late morning we did NOT find three different leopards: Tito, Fig and Pretty Girl. It was no surprise to me, but Meshack was still very keen to break the last day rule. We saw a lot of herbivores:









And then we went to Amani's daughters. They also seemed to be very settled (and we never had any luck with them anyway), but we decided to stay there as on the last day it is just nice to see cheetahs before the departure.   And a few hundred meters away from cheetahs there were two ladies from Marsh pride: 

Edited January 5, 2018 by bettel