Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Honoring a legend

Wednesday, November 7

The first half of today ended up being quite emotional yet still one of the best mornings I’ve had on safari.

There was a fair amount of noise overnight, but no where near what it was the night before.  I got more sleep but when I did wake up I definitely heard lions each time.  Ping says he never has a night here without them.  Staff told us that a couple of lions and a rhino cut through camp overnight, up near our tents.  That still amazes me that that happens while I’m sleeping.

We all were packed and ready to leave camp since we were all checking out today.  Dinner last night was a little longer for all the chatting and this morning I felt a touch of nostalgia as we gathered at the vehicle for the last game drive.  We’d really become an interesting foursome over the last few days.  Our bags would catch up with us later this morning along with our bush breakfast.

We headed out looking for the four big male lions, the Four Muskateers, that roam around the Paradise Pride area.  One of them is Scarface, who we saw from a distance lying asleep on our first night.  I was happy then to have seen him at all, and considered that enough.  We had a delightful drive around the camp and the light was absolutely perfect since it was just 7:00 a.m. and within that golden hour of the morning.  Up over a rise we came and there I saw a beautiful male posing regally in the morning sun.  I pointed him out to Ping (it was my spot!) and he said “It is Scarface.”  I could not believe it, I got an absolute picture perfect experience with him, not 25 feet away.

I took his portrait as I do and admired him in all his awesomeness.  Even with the injury to his eye, he is still a beautiful male. Ping thinks he’s one of the most handsome there have been in the Mara.  He is close to 13 years old now and his days are coming to an end.  I’d read in a few places that he’s slowed down and isn’t well.  I think people suspect he will be gone any day now.  Never was this more apparent than when he started to roar right next to us.  He did a contact roar and it wasn’t answered.  No lions replied or came to him.  Ping said there wasn’t the same power in that roar that there once was, the type of power that would rattle the mirrors of our vehicle.  We decided to wait until 7:30 to see if he would move.  A few minutes later he did, and we saw that he cannot walk on his hind right paw.  He was limping badly.  He changed positions twice and moved into the shade of a bush to sleep.  We’d find him there still a few hours later with a few vehicles around him admiring him.

I put the camera down for a bit and just watched him.  I saw in him all of his legend and history.  He was an epic male of the Marsh Pride and now the Paradise Pride.  Ping said he’d reigned from one side of the Reserve to the other.  And now he’s here, thin and lame, sleeping by himself, his calls going unanswered.  Tears started to stream down my face as I couldn’t hold them back.  It seems such an undignified way for such a personality to go.  As a big cat fan, I am blessed to have seen him so close and so handsome.  I will choose to remember that profile in the soft golden glow of this morning, when he looked as if all this is his kingdom.

We moved along and came across a large herd of wildebeest who looked like they might be trying to cross the river.  Off in the distance was an even larger heard headed our way.  We sat and waited and watched the indecision of the “would they, won’t they” nature of the river crossing.  Ultimately we never found out because Ping spotted another of the Four Muskateers on a nearby hill.  We were too far off for a photo but I watched through the binos and he was big and fat and round, likely having just eaten.  Another sign that either Scarface can’t keep up or they’ve just chosen to leave him; he clearly had not eaten by the looks of him.

Ping wanted to show us the main river crossing, and on the way we passed a large herd of zebra all looking in one direction.  That is always a sign of something to investigate, perhaps a leopard hunting.  It turns out that a wounded zebra was lying just off the road and they were all watching him.  It appeared that his rump was torn into by something (which Ping thinks was a lion).  While the zebra may have escaped the lion, he appeared to be dying, which was hard to see.  But the social and emotional response of the zebras, nearing it closely and watching intently, was really something to witness.  There was nothing they could do for it, it was a helpless situation.

The mood changed a bit when we got to Mara River crossing point.  There were a fair number of crocs in the river and a pair were idling near a wildebeest carcass that would be their meals for the foreseeable future.  Across the river though, was a large croc that had a Thomson’s gazelle carcass, and it kept taking it and whipping it from one side to the other over it’s head, beating it against the water to make it smaller to consume.  The splashing was something, but the photos of the act are quite impressive, with a very dramatic arc of water around the croc itself.  There are so many shots I can’t wait to see when I get home!

We were off now to meet up with our breakfast and our bags.  Breakfast was the same as the others: pancakes, hard boiled eggs, croissants, fruit and coffee.  Just enough to keep us going.

I said goodbye to my vehicle mates and wished them fair winds and smooth flights home.  We had some good laughs the last couple of days.  I wasn’t lying when I said I wished they’d be coming to Offbeat with me.

Ping took me in the direction of Offbeat in Mara North.  Conveniently the area we saw the young female leopard on Monday was on the way.  This is also the territory of the son of Kiboso/Pretty Girl.  In contrast to Monday, there were only 2 vehicles there when we arrived, and they’d found the son.  He was perched up in a tree surveying the plains and the scrub bush around him.  Ping thought for sure he’d come down to hunt.  And of course he did.  We followed him all around this area as he stalked prey.  It was exciting to be just one of 3 or 4 vehicles there, and all of them were behaving perfectly, giving him a wide berth to move around and see as far as he could.  After 90 minutes of this, we had to move on to Offbeat so I could have lunch and before my permitted time in the Mara Reserve ran out.

I was filled with a sense of sadness and even dread as we got closer.  I had an absolutely epic three days with Ping.  I saw things I didn’t even think were possible.  FIVE leopards?  Leopards mating? Lions mating? Lions fighting?  That croc? Two leopards hunting?  Wah, as Ping would say.  He told me that he finds the last day difficult because he’d built up a relationship with his guests and then he has to start all over.  I gave Ping a big hug and thanked him for exceeding my expectations.  I didn’t think the Reserve could be as productive as this, but now I know you just have to have the right guide.  Suffice to say, I’m already thinking in my head about when I can get back.  Again.

There are a lot of things that made both Enaidura and Ping so incredibly good.  First, Ping is the best guide I’ve been with.  He can interpret a situation or animal behaviors like no one else I’ve been with.  A couple times I doubted what he said only to find out he was absolutely right.  We’d be positioned in one place waiting for animals to turn directly towards us while everyone else on the sighting was facing a different direction, and we’d end up being in the perfect spot. I was always perfectly positioned to frame a shot, take advantage of light and avoid shadows from the vehicle.  I was always closest to the sighting.  If Ping was shooting too, he was behind me.  His guests come first, and this shows.  The detail in the tents with two power strips for charging batteries, lights in every necessary location (closet area, toilets, shower) and his staff with their non-stop care and attention were all absolutely perfect.  I can’t await to go back.  As if you couldn’t tell.

Here at Offbeat, I’ll be with David and Kappen again, as I requested.  There is a honeymooning couple from the UK here as well as an older gentleman who turns out to be a photographer I follow on Facebook.  He and I will be sharing David and Kappen!  Small world.

Lunch was good, a chickpea, zucchini and tomato salad, iceberg salad and corn salad with pineapple for dessert.  I washed it down with a glass of rose.  Jesse the manager is no longer here but Chania is along with two other managers.  The mess area got washed away in the floods earlier this year and has been expanded and rebuilt to include a back deck, a bar and a fireplace.  I’m curious to see how this experience stacks up against last time and in the wake of my epic-ness with Ping.

I laid here dozing for a quick siesta and welcomed the rest.  I’d essentially had 5 days of non-stop game drive and/or travel and I think I was starting to feel the effects.  I had just started to doze when the alarm woke me. 

As I came to, I kept hearing what I learned from Ping was an impala alarm call, a very distinct “cluck”.  I looked out the opening of the tent, which had the flaps tied up so was wide open, and saw two impala and an eland all at alert staring to my left.  Surely, I thought, I wouldn’t have the tent flaps wide open if there was any danger.  But those animals looked and sounded on alert.

It wasn’t until I was on the game drive that I learned that a lioness had passed across the front of my tent just at that time and encountered a staff member outside the staff tent to my left.  So I wasn’t crazy.  Or dead yet.

I met in the mess tent for tea at 4:00.  It was great to see David and Kappen again.  I’m glad I have them and am eager to see what they can conjure up.

We headed out at 4:30 and very quickly found ourselves with Leah and Lucinda, two of the remaining Offbeat Pride females.  There are now only 7 Offbeat members left after Frank and Jesse have been chased out.  There are 4 new pride males, who have also taken over Acacia Pride and have their eyes on a pride in Olare Motorogi, the next conservancy over.  Lucinda and Leah the lionesses (who were here when I was last here) each have an adorable 7 month old cub.  There were eight and these are the only two left.  We spent some time with them but they were just lying there dozing, so there wasn’t much to see.

Apparently the resident female leopard here has been mating the last 2 days with an unknown male here. David, Kappen and my vehicle mate Richard saw them last night.  Our next goal was to find them.  We drove to where they were, where they might be and even where they might not be.  It wasn’t until we had headed back for home that Kappen, who by now was standing on the seat with his head out the roof, heard the growl of leopards mating.  David heard it to, but swore it came from the opposite direction from where Kappen heard it.  We drove around a bit more and never found it, sacrificing our sundowner in the process.

The best news of all is the report on Lucky, the lion cub we came to know on our safari here in 2017.  There is a lone male lion living near the salt lick that the guides are pretty sure is Lucky.  They say he is big and powerful and doing well.  Chania the camp manager told me a story that on one kill when he was still little, the pride males wanted to eat without the cubs.  One of them growled and all but one scampered for cover.  It was Lucky who growled back and continued to eat with them.  I think when my vehicle mate has left I’ll see if we can try to find him.

Popped back to the tent and had a quick shower then a dawa and roasted chickpeas before dinner.  The meal tonight was good, with corn risotto as a starter, then a stuffed pepper (I remember those being delicious), broccoli, Peapods and couscous.  For dessert a custard tart.  All in all an excellent day.



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