Photosafari Kenya (lions)

Dear all,

Thanks for your positive feedback on the previous post about the leopards of Maasai mara! This is motivating. As promised this post will deal with the king of the savannah, the lion. The lion population of Maasai mara is very dense. The reserve is about 30 by 50 km and is home to about 500 lions. There are several prides of which the so-called marsh pride is largest and consists of about 35 individuals. Because of the large population we had several lion sightings a day. In spite of their mighty appearance and expression, a lion sighting can be very boring. Actually, they are quite lazy creatures that spend most of the day resting in the shade. When a vehicle arrives with tourists they lift their eyes for a few seconds and quickly they return to the relax mode. But, whenever they become active ...... this is when the 'fun' starts ...........

There was the honeymoon couple that were mating almost every 15 minutes for a week. Every copulation ended with an agressive tête-à-tête between the partners, which is rather curious from a human perspective.

There was the female with a small cub. We found her while she had just started to hunt wildebeest that were migrating a few hundred meters further with thousands all together. First, she was slowly sneaking through the high savannah grass, perfectly using her magnificent camouflage. Followed by patient laying in ambush for an hour until the wildebeest were within her reach. A sudden run, panic in the herd, and there she was wrestling with an adult wildebeest that had no change to escape. A few minutes later the wildebeest migration just continued like nothing happened.

There was the small lion pride with a freshly killed wildebeest in the first morning light. It had been cold during the night and each breath of the lions condensed, a photographically very interesting situation. While there were about 5 vehicles present at the kill I still don't understand why we were the only ones taking shots from a backlit viewpoint. Later, we understood from our guide that the other guides had asked him in Swahili through the radio why he positioned his vehicle in such a strange position.

Hope to see you back for the next post on the wildebeest migration.

Dirk-Jan

Photosafari Kenya (leopards)

Dear all,

Just returned safely from an exciting photosafari to Kenya. It was a marvelous time and has surpassed all my wildest expectations. The Maasai mara plains were flooded by 100-thousands of wildebeest and zebras. They were everywhere! The predators and scavengers had the time of their lives and were feasting because of the abundant presence of food. Everyday brought new highlights and it felt like being in photographers' paradise. The organisation of our private photosafari was perfectly arranged by Sunworld safaris, our guide James Nganga was outstanding, and Mara Bush camp is a fantastic place in the heart of the wildlife reserve with excellent food, beautiful safari tents, and a fantastic staff. I realise that this text is full of superlatives, but to be honest, it's true.


But now ........ returned home with about 3000 photos and it will not be easy to select them. Next month, I would like to share with you a photographic coverage on the highlights in 10 chapters. Today we start with part I: leopards.


These elusive predators prefer riverine biotopes. Despite their beautiful patterned fur, they are not easy to spot as they spend most of their time in dense shrub areas and trees. In the direct vicinity of Mara Bush Camp a female leopard has its territory with her two one-and-a-half-year old cubs. We had four leopard sightings in 9 days and the last occassion gave the best photographic results as it happened in early morning light, there were not too many vehicles around, and the cat showed us some typical behaviour. Can one imagine a better start of the day?


Next post will be on another big cat, the king of the savannah.


Best regards,
Dirk-Jan