Kenya 2024: Long grasses, lazy lions, lounging leopards - but where’s the action?

[Zubbie15]

We got to the valley, and it looked promising as there were a few parked cars sitting around.  Jackson positioned us, and we looked over to see Sankuet lying on the ground while her cub explored the area. I actually haven't processed any photos of Sankuet, so we'll have to make due with just leopard cub photos. 

 

 

I hoped she (I believe it's a female cub) would pose for us, and she obliged quite readily. 

 

 

 

While she was up on this little tree, Sankuet got up and started to weave through the cars, so little one began to follow her.  In most areas the grass was very long, and so it was hard to get any photos.

 

 

Even though we were the last of 3 or 4 trucks there, Jackson had again positioned us perfectly and both leopards walked right in front of us.  I think I was so focused on baby that I didn't realize mom was so close until she was right there and I didn't have time to refocus so I just appreciated being so close to a leopard.  But when the cub came our way, we were all ready.

 

 

 

It would've been better with shorter grasses, but still very cool to see!  After these photos both of them went up a rocky, bushy rise, so we decided to head off for breakfast.  

 

 

[Zubbie15]

After we left the leopards we headed off, I think the goal was to try to find a wildebeest giving birth but didn't write anything down so I can't be sure. In any case, wherever we went was not where anyone else went, as we did not see another vehicle for the rest of the morning.  This is always nice, but when you are having a slow time (like we did) you always wonder a little if the other vehicles aren't around because they are at something awesome. In any case, we had no luck with the wildebeest, and the only sighting worth mentioning was a small herd of giraffe that included several very young (less than a week old) babies.  We figured we had to have been some of the first humans they had ever seen, and they were suitable curious and hesitant about our presence.  We focused in particular on a group of 3 babies, who had a single adult female babysitter with them, and really enjoyed some time with them.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a while they decided that hiding in the stunted trees wasn't working, and so they headed off with the adult between them and us.  We decided we had spent sufficient time with them and so let them go.

 

 

We slowly made our way back to camp from here, eventually driving past Encounter Mara, where we had stayed 15 months earlier.  I have to say I wouldn't have recognized the area at all, the grasses were impressively higher than when we had been there the previous time.  

[Zubbie15]

We were on our way back to camp when Jackson stopped and used his binoculars to look at something, before suggesting we make a detour.  What we arrived at was actually a rather interesting scene.  There was a dead baby topi on the ground, and a lone jackal that had eaten so much that he or she looked just about ready to explode (unfortunately I don't have a great picture showing this).  For whatever reason this jackal was very shy around the vehicle, and as soon as we pulled up it trotted off about 100 meters.  So we pulled back a bit, only for the rest of the jackal family (the other parent, and two puppies) to come running over from somewhere.

 

Jackal puppies!

 

Hey, what have you been eating?

 

The entire family was surprising wary of us, and clearly weren't going to approach if we were anywhere near the carcass, so we moved off to a tree where some avian scavengers were hanging out.

 

 

We were trying to avoid the jackals, but the curiosity of the puppies meant they came over to see what the birds were eating in the tree. 

 

 

At this point, the three jackals who had arrived seemed to have no idea that there was a whole carcass waiting for them, and the stuffed dog was just lying in a food coma in the shade.  We were wondering how long it would take them to find it, and indeed as they wandered around more and more vultures arrived in the area.

 

 

 

 

The jackals did get in on the carcass, and grabbed some food, but as soon as they moved off the vultures moved in.  At one point one jackal returned and chased them off briefly - unfortunately there were a lot of bushes around and we didn't have a great view of that action, but it was cool to experience.

 

 

Actually, here's the fatso - look at how big that belly is! Haha!

 

But the jackals decided to leave, and the carcass was picked clean by the vultures in almost no time.  This was another situation where I really should have thought to take a video, as the pictures didn't really come out but I'm sure a video would have been interesting to see.  

 

 

Once the vultures started to clear out, we decided it was time for us to get our lunch, so we returned to camp.

 

[Zubbie15]

This was already our last full day in the greater Mara, and the kids had been bugging us since day 1 to do a night game drive and so our last chance to arrange that.  I have to say this is one of the things that I think might be improved by Asilia, in order to do a night drive you have to completely miss all afternoon/evening game drives, with a departure scheduled for between 7 and 7:30.  You can technically ask your guide to stay out late on the afternoon game drive and get a very abbreviated night drive, but I wish there was a way to do something like a 6PM - 9PM drive, where you'd get the last light of day and still a decent amount of night drive.  Or maybe an extended drive with a picnic dinner?  I was also somewhat concerned as by this time in the trip the kids were falling asleep in their chairs at dinner, and so I wasn't sure they would be able to  stay awake.

 

Odd, this photo is pasting upside down, but anyway you get the idea (from dinner the night before).

 

So I tried pretty hard to negotiate - could we eat at 5, leave around 6, and come back at 9?  No.  In the end, because of the kids, they did agree to a slightly earlier than normal dinner time at 6PM, with departure around 6:45-7.  Well, even with the night game drive the kids refused to nap and instead spent the afternoon at the pool, but we were waiting around by 5:15 so I suggested we go to the restaurant area and see if we could get served early.  We did get drinks, but no food, and in fact our 6PM dinnertime came and went with no food. We finally got food after 6:30, and service was slow so we didn't leave until after 7:30.  Definitely later than hoped!

 

It was cool to be out though, we were the only ones doing a night drive in our area so we were all alone with the night.  Heading off into the plains we were searching for lions, and relatively quickly we found a pride. They were clearly in a hunting mode, and there were zebra nearby, but unfortunately the moon was up and quite strong - sufficiently strong that we could see the lions moving without any spotlight.  They must have realized that hunting under these conditions was likely going to be futile, as while they moved around a bit they never really went into stalking mode.

 

 

We stayed with them for quite a while, but by 8:30 they had stopped moving and both of our kids were snoring away so we decided to cut the drive short and make our way slowly back to camp.  The only sighting of note was a very small baby Grant's Gazelle that had been left by its mother near the side of the road.

 

 

So not the ideal experience for our night in camp, but I can understand why deviating from the schedule can be a challenge at these remote locations.  

[Zubbie15]

Our last morning in Naboisho, and my son and I were the two who decided to go out.  I should mention at this point that one thing we experienced, to varying degrees at all three camps in the Mara area, was some pressure to sleep in on our last day and forego our last possible drive.  It would typically be presented along the lines of how we must be tired and would like to sleep in, but when I would say that I really wanted to go out it would take some convincing before it would be agreed to.  I certainly want to maximize my game drive time!  I would certainly say it worked out well in Mara North and Olare Motorogi, as some of our better sightings happened on those last morning... would the same happen on this drive?
 

We headed back out to the plains looking for the lions from the previous night, and while it took a little while we found them.  We were fortunate that the pride males were out as well, we hadn't had too many views of prime male lions on this trip so it was a good finale!  

 

This is Oloiborrkwe, one of the Koka boys.  It's not so obvious here, but he had been in a fight recently and seemed to be going through a tough recovery period

 

I believe this is his partner, Kiminati.  

 

You can see in the second picture that the lions were near a small waterhole - on the other side of the waterhole was the rest of the pride, and they were harassing a hippo.  Jackson said the pool was rather shallow, and so the hippo wouldn't feel safe from the lions in it.  

 

 

 

 

I mentioned previously in this report that there was another sighting where I wasn't sure if we had made a strategic error, this was it.  The two male lions got up, and started to walk away over the plains.  

 

 

So we had to decide, stay with the males as they went for a walk, or stay with the rest and watch the interaction with the hippo. In the end we decided to follow the males... but Jackson heard eventually that the lions did attack (without success) the hippo, which would have been a sight to see!  So we zoomed around the males, and positioned ourselves so they were heading toward us.  

 

He's coming...

 

Closer...

 

Right there!

 

We certainly weren't the only ones aware of these males, all the other animals on the plains stopped what they were doing to keep an eye on them.

 

(Have to admit I really like the colors of this one, and that for once all zebra had their heads up!)

 

These photos, and the couple that follow, are all of Kiminati, he was clearly leading the way.

 

 

 

Eventually Oloiborrkwe caught up, and we could see why he was slower in coming along.  He had clearly been in a big fight, you can see on his back behind his main that he has a big, healing wound.

 

He was very skinny as well, but we were told he would recover fairly quickly and shouldn't have any long-term issues.  

 

Both big boys eventually disappeared into an area we couldn't follow, and so we headed back to where the rest of the pride was to see what was happening. 

 

 

 

[Toxic]

Another series of great updates @Zubbie15. All of your photos are so good, even the ones where the subjects aren't playing ball -- the horizon zebra with the gorgeous colours, the beautiful leopard cub, the baby giraffe (they still make me chuckle every time I see them, they look so silly) and there's something quite menacing about your jackal/vulture pictures! 

 

Your last morning lions also very impressive. Agree it would be quite a sight to see lions try to take on a hippo but if we look at it the other way, you wouldn't have got your impressive male shots! 

 

 

[Zubbie15]

Thanks @Toxic, I would agree at least both choices led to interesting sightings, it's not like we totally missed out on something good. 

 

As we drove toward the waterhole, we could see that the hippo was out of the water, and running at speed away with the lions in halfhearted pursuit.  They were too far for us to take any photos at that time, so we just enjoyed the interaction.  But with the hippo heading off at speed, gradually the lions slowed down and we managed to get in front of them.

 

 

Clearly the hunt wasn't really a priority at this time, as there was time to mark their territory.

 

 

This female came quite close to us at one point, and she was in some dappled shaded light which made for a cool effect in B&W.

 

 

And then even closer, I couldn't get her all in my frame so I leaded into it.

 

 

While they were being nonchalant they were slowly following the hippo, and they ended up on the banks of the deeper pool that the hippo had ended up going into. 

 

 

 

But the hippo was much more relaxed here, and basically ignored them, so they slowly started to leave the area.

 

 

We followed them for a while as they headed toward a forested area for the day.  The "teenage" lions actually were in a really good mood, and we got to watch them play with each other for quite a while.

 

 

 

 

But gradually they disappeared into the bushes, and it was time for us to start making our way back to camp in any case.  

[TravelMore]

"The best part for the village is they had a lot of stalls set up for trinkets"   

 Did you need to use local currency?

 

[Zubbie15]

@TravelMore - the village we visited had a good thing going, they probably had a new group of tourists arriving every 10-15 minutes, and so it was one of the more "commercial" type of villages rather than really authentic.  In any case there was a hotel just down the road, when I said I didn't have enough money (either KSH or USD) to pay they said no problem and sent someone to get the credit card machine from the hotel.  I'm not sure this would be possible at all villages, though!

 

Alright, coming to an end here, let's see if I can get this finished up.  There really isn't much more to say about Naboisho, it had been windy on that final morning (you might have noticed the wind-swept mane of some of the lion photos posted previously), but the wind really kicked up while we were wrapping things up in camp.  So while we were driving from camp to the airstrip we were mostly concerned about not losing our hats!  It was bad enough I wasn't sure we were going to be able to fly, but apart from some wobbles taking off we were good to go and had a good, smooth flight.  

 

Good bye Naboisho, I think this photo gives an idea of how windy it was!

 

Landing in Wilson, we were met by Elizaban from the Emakoko, and transferred to the hotel for a late lunch.  The goal was to head out for an afternoon game drive in Nairobi National Park, with a focus on finding rhinos.  But first, we spent some time with the hyraxes that were prevalent around camp.

 

 

We really had a good drive in NNP, not only did we find a lot of rhinos but several lions as well.  In particular this one younger lion posed well for us.

 

 

We quite quickly found a group of 3 white rhinos, our best guess was it was a mother with an older and a younger child.  They put on a great show for us, first walking through the grasses before stopping for a drink at a small waterhole.  Be ready for rhino overload!

 

 

 

 

 

They aren't necessarily easy subjects to photograph, with the small eyes and how much they keep their heads down to the ground. 

 

 

 

Then at the waterhole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once they were done drinking, they headed off down a gully and so we moved along.

[Zubbie15]

From there, it wasn't long until we came across another small group of white rhinos, blocking the road so we stopped and sat with them for a while.

 

 

 

 

There was a fairly small one around, which was nice to see.  

 

 

As they wandered off, we continued on.  The kids set a goal of trying to find black rhinos, and we were successful, but they were always quite distant and requiring binoculars to appreciate.

 

 

But it was definitely nice to see such a healthy level of both species (ultimately we saw 8 white and 6 black rhinos across this afternoon and the next morning).  

 

Speaking of the next morning, we did head out on a fairly short game drive early in the morning, but the weather was very cool and rainy so we really didn't take any photos, except of this lone hyena.

 

[Zubbie15]

Part of the reason to have an overnight in Nairobi was to allow us time to go to Sheldrick's elephant orphanage.  The kids are parents to an orphan each, my son to the little rhino Raha and my daughter to what was, at the time, their youngest elephant orphan Mokogodo.  So both were excited to visit them - it had gotten very cool and rainy by the late morning, which made for a challenge in terms of footwear.  I had reached out about 6 months before our trip to see if the private visit was available, @gatoratlargehas described this recently, but they were fully booked (note: we are returning in February 2025 and I asked 11 months before our trip, and they still were fully booked for our available times.  So reach out far ahead if you really want that visit!).  

 

First one out was Raha, so my son was very excited.  

 

I think this photo gives a good idea of the weather, and the mud, during our visit!

 

 

Then the various elephant orphans. Sadly for my daughter, it was decided that it was too cold for the youngest elephants to come out. This made my daughter really sad, and is a big part of why we are returning next year to try to see Mokogodo!  Despite this, we all enjoyed watching the elephants, hearing their stories, and watching them play together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hour went by quickly, it was really a worthwhile experience.

[Zubbie15]

Following that we headed over to the Giraffe Center to allow the kids to feed the giraffes, they had a good time but I found that the amount of time to get there and back maybe didn't fit the value.  I'm sure the kids will want to return, but for me a one time visit would be enough. It's also a bit of a zoo with all the people there!  But just a few pictures to share.

 

 

 

 

This led to a bit of an odd situation, at some point this day one of the employees at the Emakoko (I really have no memory who it was) asked if we had seen "their" giraffe.  We were told that the owners had adopted an orphaned giraffe, and it was living by their house until it was old enough to be returned to the wild.  In any case, the kids asked to see it so after we returned to the lodge and had lunch, we were escorted up to see the orphan.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed a little different that they had this giraffe living in their yard, and I have no idea how well it would do going back to the park eventually, but the kids definitely enjoyed the experience. 

[Zubbie15]

And with that we have come to the end, we packed up, had dinner, and then started the long process of returning home.  Thanks for all the comments, likes, and for just reading along.  I'll finish with a handful of photos that didn't really fit in for whatever  reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[janzin]

what a fantastic report, so many wonderful photos, and seeing things from the kid's perspective adds to it. Such lucky kids  

 

I've always resisted spending time in Nairobi National Park--figuring I'd just rather add more days elsewhere--but it seems like it may be worth it next time (we also return in Feb '25, although a bit of a different trip.)

 

Thanks for the great report!

[AndrewB]

Glorious @Zubbie15  !!

I have enjoyed several lovely drives around Nairobi National Park, I even think I recognise where you saw the Black Rhino. Love Sheldrick and have various adoptions over the years. I do miss the 5pm visits but they really got rather hectic and silly on our last couple of visits.

Like you the Giraffe centre is/was a one off. We went with relatives who were on their one and only safari with us.

A lovely report and thank you.

[TonyQ]

Great report, lovely photos. Thank you!

[Zubbie15]

Thanks @janzin, @AndrewBand @TonyQfor the comments, much appreciated!  Regarding NNP, I always find it really tiring to fly back to Nairobi, only have a few hours, and then do the return to North America (it doesn't help that I don't sleep well on planes).  So the slower pace definitely is nice, and it's a good spot to at least get a rhino fix at a minimum.  We're doing the same in 2025, although we are going to try Ololo Lodge instead of the Emakoko on this next trip. 

[gatoratlarge]

Such beautiful photos!!! Thank you!!!

[Toxic]

A fantastic TR @Zubbie15and what a successful trip! Raha with his little blanket is just ADORABLE! 

[mopsy]

Really enjoyable report @Zubbie15you had some wonderful sightings!

 

Bet the kids had a blast!

[Zubbie15]

Thanks @gatoratlarge, @Toxicand @mopsy! 

[michael-ibk]

Great photography, very enjoyable report. Thanks!

[Zubbie15]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Great photography, very enjoyable report. Thanks!

Thanks Michael! 

[HeatherY]

Thank you for a wonderful trip report!  It took me right back to some of those special places. Your photos are also fantastic. 

[Zubbie15]

Thank you @HeatherY, glad you enjoyed it!