Cheetah week at Mara Plains; Loita Migration; Fabulous tented camp and lots lots more

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks, Super Leeds. The pic above was in the OOC. That's one of Honey's boys on patrol late in the day -

 

Some areas both reserve and OOC had tall grass.

[stokeygirl]

You refer to Shingo and her 2 daughters. I saw a cheetah with 2 older cubs kill a gazelle on the day we went into the main reserve. One of the youngsters had a shoulder wound-

 

Is this the same group?

[madaboutcheetah]

Yup - Spot on!!!

[loafer247]

Hi MAC - thanks for the report and looking forward to the pics.

 

I too am a big cheetah fan and have been concerned about the decreasing numbers in the Mara. I'll be there for a couple of weeks in April so hope to have the same luck you seem to have had.

 

Just an observation about Shingo that's a bit confusing - Last year, she raised 6 cubs to sub-adults with most people reporting that there were 4 males and 2 females. She is reported to have split from them in September / October in one of the conservancies (OOC or Naboisho?). Since then, various people in the conservancies have seen the 4 males together - I think they were last seen at Topi Plains about 3 weeks ago.

 

Does this mean that th 2 female 'cubs' you and stokeygirl have seen her with are her sub-adults from her litter of six of does she have a new litter? I doubt she could have had a new litter with cubs of that size already?

 

Another issue that is confusing everyone is reports of the 3 males and 1 female being seen in the reserve (near double crossing) and in OOC. Some people think that these are Shingos cubs but MAC I think you make it clear that they are not. Could these be the cubs of the mother cheetah from Naboisho who was killed by a lionesss (original litter was 5). Jackson Looseyia's blog has a few entries on her. Would be interested to compare some of the photos you have to those on Jackson's blog.

 

Did you manage to see Narasha / Alama? She's a cheetah who used to have a scar on her right cheeck which has now turned into a white mark. She's usually found in OOC.

[madaboutcheetah]

Loafer247,

 

There are ample cheetah around - no problem there. Infact, during my trip there were several cheetahs in both sides of the reserve that i didnt venture out to see ........

 

It's all a bit confusing with Shingo. This is the story from the guides at Mara Plains - Ping and Daniel. Apparently, Shingo had 6 cubs all raised to adulthood ........ 3 female and 3 male. The split off was 4 members (3 male, 1 female). It is very easy to confuse this bunch, as the lead hunter is the female....... I know another ST member is confused with this situation too and all the blogs .......... Topi Plains is really not far from the OOC boundary - so, my guess is the same bunch!!!

 

Yup - I saw Shingo and 2 daughters .......... several sightings of them. I can confirm that was Shingo .............

 

I am all confused now ....... another ST member thinks what you are thinking .......... another litter produced the 4 (3 m, 1 female)..... the cheetah that was killed by the Lioness.

 

I saw Jackson's blogs .... it's just too hard to tell from those pics.

 

Narasha is well ..... didn't see her - but, at Mara Plains they saw her a few weeks ago.

 

Alama - never heard of her. I'm sure she is well....... I didn't get to see her.

 

It's just too ironic that there are 2 groups of 4 sub-adult cheetahs running around the Masai Mara at the moment????

[Game Warden]

Come on MAC, get uploading some more pics...

[madaboutcheetah]

 

 

Cheetah mum with approx 9 month old. Not sure if readers remember this lady, she was saved by KWS sometime last year when she had a broken foot/leg ...... no, this not Narasha who had the gash and treated. Another female cheetah from the reserve.

Edited March 6, 2012 by madaboutcheetah

[madaboutcheetah]

Matt's edit: MAC, I opened up the full image from that link, and copied the image link itself. Great shot!

 

 

Followed the territorial duo all day long - resulted in this shot ....... one of Honey's boys

Edited March 6, 2012 by madaboutcheetah

[Kavey]

Sounds like a great trip... and a great camp! Thanks Hari!

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks, GW - I don't know what i'm doing wrong ....... ok, shall figure it out right now.

[Shreyas]

Sounds like a great trip Hari, .... and not a picture of another animal except Cheetahs yet ??!!

You truly are M.A.C., Sir

 

Loving your shots, keep'em coming.

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks, Shreyas. I am trying hard to upload pics here ....... shall have Lions and cubs soon.

[pault]

Great to see you manfully taking on the task of posting your pictures for us at last! Yeh!

 

Big is great - your photos have the quality for it - but if you want to post them smaller I think you need to resize the photos before you upload them here. (I'm looking on a 24-inch screen and they fill it - will be different impact on a small laptop). I could be wrong as I am no expert but sometimes the blind are better at leading the blind than the sighted!

 

 

Cheetahs only and cheetah stories would be fine... although lions and cubs sounds good too.

[twaffle]

Hari, I love the photo of the cheetah on the mound with the zebra and giraffe in the background.

[Game Warden]

[madaboutcheetah]

thanks, Twaffle

Edited March 7, 2012 by madaboutcheetah

[RedLeopard]

Agree with Tawffle - that cheetah on the mound pic is gorgeous.

 

 

Magnus

[Leely]

Fantastic! As always, I am impressed at your single-mindedness. And jealous of your cheetah sightings.

 

More, more!

[philw]

Hari

 

Already planning our next trip ...When we were at Mara Plains last month we undertook all our drives in Olare Orok (didn't go into the reserve as we had already had three days at Rekero). Given you were there 7 days, do you visit Mara North conservancy ?

 

Phil

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks leely..... More pics when I get home from Delhi. Thanks, Magnus .....

 

Phil, planned to go to Mnc, but, did not because I kept bumping into cheetahs and lions at olare. Too much happening round the corner. Went to the reserve a couple of times, but, did not like the traffic there ......

[stokeygirl]

If you didn't like the traffic in the reserve, you wouldn't have liked MNC. I only went into the reserve for one day, but I found MNC on a par (possibly even busier) than the main reserve. There are a lot of camps in MNC, some of them quite big.

 

Speaking of which- I did come across one of the Kwando guides doing the reverse exchange with Karen Blixen. Their vehicle pulled in behind ours at a lion sighting and they promptly hit a rock and got a flat. We sat there shielding them while they changed the tyre, so we had a chat. I think his name was Lucas?

[madaboutcheetah]

Kwando guide?

[stokeygirl]

Yes- when I was at Kwara in December, they had 2 guides from Karen Blixen doing an exchange. The Kwando guys told me they were doing the reverse in early Feb.

 

I'd sort of forgotten about it, then thought I recognised one of the guys who had jumped out to change the wheel, then saw the Kwando logo on his top. The other guide doing the exchange (who I didn't see) was Tom.

[Atravelynn]

Nice to know you saw lots of thriving cheetahs and got photos. Thanks, Hari.

[madaboutcheetah]

Oh wow!!! I would have gone to the Mnc just to say hello to the kwando guides ..... I have met Tom, but, Lucas is probably someone new. I hope they had a good experience in the Mara.

 

I didn't know the crowds at MNC was comparable or worse than the reserve ....... That's a shocker to me ...... Saw that Amani Mara camp from a sighting of lions ...... Not cool!!!!!

 

Thanks, Lynn. Will have more pics when I get home tomorrow evening.