Halfway there

 22 Jan 2024

Halfway there…

There is an oxymoron of sorts between the safari/visitor experience outside the airport and the visitor experience within the airport.  Anything in the airport makes me never want to travel again.  Landing is always a nightmare with immigration (although this time I totally won the lottery and breezed through) but leaving…ugh.

I got the Four Points shuttle from my hotel to the terminal.  I have Sky Priority, so I got to use that entrance, but it was still about 20 minutes to get in the building because of the suitcase scan.  And no one respects queues.  Or personal space.  No one.

Then passport control.  There was a Sky Priority line that had easily 150 people in it. That is somewhat odd because there were 3 Sky partners flights going out last night, Kenyan, Air France and KLM.  Business Class has about 25 seats, so where do all those people come from?  And the people who think they can just breeze past everyone waiting in line….argh.

Then a second security check.  Yes you just had to take off your shoes, remove your laptop and have your bag scanned to enter the terminal.  Now you’re doing it again as you enter the airside section of the airport.

I went to the Sky Lounge which was jam packed and no seats available.  I finally found one and sat long enough to drink a Sprite but that was it.

I avoided the worst of the boarding area pandemonium (another sore spot of traveling out of that airport) by having Sky boarding priority, so I was settled into my seat and sipping champagne with my seat mate while everyone else was herding on.  I cannot get used to that.

My seat mate was Julius from Uganda, now living and working in Kenya.  We talked a lot about his work and moving to Kenya and why I go to Kenya so often.  We then both slept for about 7 hours of the 9 hour flight and picked up our conversation where we left off on the flight and in the Sky Lounge.  He’s off to L.A. for work, so I gave him a list of things to do for fun there.  We also exchanged details in case I decide to go to Uganda next year or meet up in Kenya when I go back.

The re-entry to reality is more turbulent than landing at Schipohl in 60 mph winds.  I’m trying to hold on to that safari feeling but man, humanity doesn’t make it easy.

About an hour to kill until I have to go through pre-screening to re-enter the US and get ready to board.  In the lounge drinking them out of cappuccino and orange juice.  Not long now until I’m back with my own big cats.

Damn you, Mara

 21 Jan 2024

Damn you, Mara, you did it again.  Why oh why are the last few game drives so.damn.good?  If I was even remotely on the fence about coming back next year, I’m definitely not now.  Let’s start from the beginning…

It only rained until about 11:30.  I heard it stop and didn’t hear it again all night.  I only heard lions once, and very far off in the distance.  Between wet grass and puddly roads and an overcast start, I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope.

I was up and finished packing by 5:30.  Got my wake up coffee at 5:45 and in the truck with Twala by 6:00.  Except he got there early and another vehicle parked in front of us, and I had to wait for some extremely nice but incredibly slow elderly folk from the UK to get situated in their vehicle.  As soon as they did, we were off and passed them pretty quickly as this was their first official game drive and they were stopping for everything.  As you do.

Our plan today was for cats, but I had no particular order or preference.  I’d have loved to see the big pride we left last night and Twala was on the phone to the rangers to see if he could find them.  They hadn’t seen them yet.

A very very tiny hippo and its enormous (comparatively) mother were off to our left and I commented on how tiny the hippo was.  Twala stopped and we looked at it.  The slow folks were still in front of us and taking longer to appreciate the hippo.  Twala started the vehicle and just as he did, we hear a lion roar incredibly close, like mere yards away.  I said “did you hear that?”  He said “yeah, which direction?”  I pointed to 1:00 (whale watching style, you guide people to a sighting by the face of a clock, with noon being straight ahead).  He agreed and we turned into the next bunch of bushes to find the three little cubs and two lionesses from yesterday (with the dead zebra) as well as their dad who is one of the Koka boys.  (Actually all three of the Koka boys are probably the cubs’ dad since the lionesses mated with them all, so who knows for sure).

One of the moms was inside with the zebra leftovers.  The other mom was just at the edge of the opening to the bush with the little two month old cubs.  Problem was, it was still way before sunrise and pretty dark.  I didn’t even attempt photos at first.  And then as we got more light over the course of 20 minutes or so, I threw the ISO on my camera up to about 32000 and fired away.  Those shots came out looking like daylight.  Who knows how good they’ll be on a big screen or as an enlarged print, but I just wanted photos of the little ones.

I could sit and listen to lion cubs chirp all day long.  It’s the cutest sound and they always seem so happy or playful when they do it.  The male caught sight of another female and ran toward her, which irritated the female with the cubs.  She went charging after him a bit, but then retreated to the cubs again.  The other female kept eating the zebra.

There were now about 8 cars around this sighting and I felt bad (limit is 5).  I told Twala we could go back to whatever he had planned and check on them later since they were so close to camp.  So off we went. 

We looped around the area where we left the big pride.  No luck.  It was pretty quiet for most everything actually.  Then we crested a hill and saw two vehicles near an acacia.  I figured leopard and I was right.  One of the cars was a ranger, so crowd control would be a must here.  It was the leopard known as Spot or Nolari.  She was sprawled over a tree branch, with paws dangling over either side as leopards do.  We pulled up on the best side and just sort of hung out until she moved.  Then the other vehicles started to come, so the 5 observing rule was in motion and there was a line of vehicles a bit away from her waiting to swap in. 

Nolari moved up further into the tree where she’d stashed a warthog kill and started crunching.  I could see a bit more of her face as she occasionally raised it to take a breath from eating.  I got a few good photos that way but I really wanted to see her come down the tree.  Then the rangers asked us to swap out, fair enough.  Twala moved us so I had full view on the most likely side of the tree she’d come down, but also far enough away to please the rangers.

She moved again to another part of the tree to finish off the warthog head (this would become a theme, stay tuned).  That took a little longer.  Then she emerged from any greenery to roost at the point where the branches met the trunk of the tree and she cleaned herself.  As cats do.  No different than any house cat I know!

I was ready with the camera, checked the settings and the focus, set it to multiple-shots and off we went.  She hesitated on the first few steps that allowed me to grab focus and down she went.  I think I may have pulled that off. They look good on the camera screen, especially the last few as she hit the ground.

Twala’s first observation, “she looks pregnant”.  How good would it be to have another cute leopard cub around?  She started to look in one direction, away from us.  Then Twala put the vehicle in gear and passed the other vehicles still sitting and watching her.  He somehow aligned me just right so she was walking right at me as she headed for the bushes.  It was about as good as it gets.  He’s been really good with helping me with photos this trip, and by the looks of what I’ve seen so far, it’s paid off.

Once she disappeared, a couple in another vehicle yelled my name and it was Celia and Nigel (of the mountain hike walk at Lewa fame).  They are at another camp here and recognized me.  They were so sweet.  Their driver came over to us so we could chat.

On 

Next up we were headed for bush breakfast with the hopes that maybe the big pride surfaced again when we came across two more vehicles from other camps that were stuck in the mud.  Both were pretty hopeless looking but Twala stopped and advised and ultimately pulled one out.  He tried to get the other out but the right front tire was almost entirely immersed.  He said they’d need the conservancy’s heavy equipment to get it out.

Then as an unexpected bonus, we passed Nashipae and the cubs again. They’d moved from where they were usually found and were sleeping right out on an open plain, no bushes or trees around at all, and just off the road.  Since they were sleeping and no one else was around, we went off to eat.  

We had a nice chat as always, plenty of laughs.  Same breakfast as previous days.  I will miss those chocolate granola bars!

Then we passed back by Nashipae and they were all awake AND PLAYING!  I was over the moon.  We must have watched them for 45 minutes.  I took an embarrassingly large number of shots today (1500+) using the multi-shot for the leopard and them.  They were just so cute and they have their own little chirp which is just as fun to listen to.

It is really neat to see how play mimics hunting and killing and how serious they get about it.   Not only were they piling on each other and roughhousing but they’d also turn to their mom and start play attacking her.  It really was precious to see how patient she is with them.  I don’t know how she does it!  When they’re up and full of energy, they’re really a handful!!

It was starting to near the bewitching hour. Twala got word that my flight had been moved earlier, so I had to leave camp by 2:20 for a 2:45 flight.  We had time to check out the lion cubs near camp one more time but when we got there, only the big pride male was there, gnawing the face off the zebra head that was left for him.  It was both gruesome and fascinating how he got ever last bit of nourishment off the zebra.  At one point the zebra teeth were pointed up as if smiling at the whole process, which again is sort of funeral home humor.

What we didn’t fully appreciate when we stopped in front of said lion was that we’d stopped in big muddy puddle.  We were face first into a bush, so not a lot of room to go that way.  Twala was spinning tires and lurching back and forth hoping to get some purchase. Another of our camp’s vehicles sat nearby.  Mud was absolutely raining in the open roof and the side windows.  I tried my best to stay clean, to no avail.  After only a couple of minutes, we lurched free.  The big old lion kept eating the zebra head the entire time.

Lunch today was great.  They had fish sticks made with red snapper, veggie fritters that were excellent, a tomato, cucumber, feta and dill salad and a mango custard for dessert.  I had my last Stoney Tangawizi until next time.

Twala came for me at 2:20 and by then the rain had started.  It wasn’t as hard as last night but still a pain.  And I didn’t get to see my last views of the Mara with my own eyes but rather through the filmy plastic window coverings meant to keep me dry.

I always find the airstrip goodbyes hard, especially when I’m leaving for good.  I like my guides a lot, especially Peter and Twala, so it’s probably better that it happen quickly so I don’t get mushy.  The plane was already there so I ran behind him through about 4” of standing water (not kidding) and said a quick goodbye after he loaded my luggage.  I’ll miss him, but I’ll be back.

There were four other stops in the Mara before we headed to Nairobi, and none of them had rain.  Maybe Naboisho was crying because I’m going.

Once I got over my liftoff tears, I started to pay attention to the landscape below me, and noticed giraffes, gazelle, wildebeest, buffalo and even a few elephants (I’d seen none at all in the Mara on this trip…Twala said they go to higher, rockier terrain when it’s this wet).  I was back in Nairobi by 5:00 and at the hotel by 5:30.  Dinner and a shower before I head to the airport at 9:00.

A few quick thoughts before I head home….

I’m not done with safari, no more than safari is done with me.  Anita said to me one night “maybe this is the only place you are the real you.”  And the more I think about it, I think she might be right.

I was utterly blessed with weather.  I worried nonstop about it as I saw more photos and reports from here.  To make it the entire trip until last night without any serious rain is an absolute blessing.  I’m beyond grateful.

I have far too many highlights.  The guys who drove me to my day room hotel at the airport asked, and I have too many to pick one.  Of course the cats…every interaction was incredible.  But the rhinos were great, the scents of Lewa were so memorable.  All the landscapes, all the special people. 

I’m so incredibly lucky.

Blessings

 20 Jan 2024

Another good night of sleep with the tent flaps open.  No noises to speak of though Twala says he heard a pride of lions to the northwest.  I woke at 5:15 to get ready and by 5:30 heard gentle rain falling on the deck.  I checked Accuweather radar and it looked to be a small batch of showers that would end by 6:30 and indeed that was the case.  Twala rolled the plastic coverings off the side windows of the Land Rover shortly after.

We headed in the direction of the lions he heard.  Passing other vehicles en route he conferred with other guides to see what they’d seen or heard since they’d been out early too.  In a word: nothing.  At least no cats.  I even felt that plains game was really light too, and it’s hard to say why.  We made a big loop and came back around to cheetah Nashipae and her cubs, who were a bit more active than yesterday since they’d eaten but were about to lapse into their first nap of the day.  We stayed a bit longer until we realized there’d be no more action from them for a while, and then moved on.

As the sky started to clear there was more activity but still no lions.  Twala was scouring the territories of a couple of prides and we finally came across one lone lioness of the Ilksiausiau pride sitting by a bush.  She was annoyed by flies around her, so eventually she got up and moved deeper into a bush, so we left to look for something more.

There was an inter-troop territory dispute between two troops of vervet monkeys that was kind of fun to watch.  A lot of posturing and stepping over some imaginary line that was completely unacceptable to the other side.  Eventually one side pushed the other side back and all went their separate ways.

It was also neat to happen upon a newly born wildebeest.  Since the placenta still hadn’t dropped from the mom, Twala reckoned it was less than 10 minutes old.  It was already on its feet and sticking very close to mom as it continued to find its footing.  It can walk within 3 minutes and run within 7 minutes of birth.  Good thing because it’s move or become someone’s lunch here.

The sun was out and the skies turning blue by the time we had bush breakfast.  I shed my raincoat and was comfortable in short-sleeves the rest of the drive.  My vehicle mate departs today at lunchtime so it’s just me and Twala for the afternoon game drive.

Lunch today was a cold avocado and cucumber soup which was quite good (and I don’t like cucumber!).  The main was veggie lasagna and a tomato, onion and mango salad.  I wish I could cut matchstick veggies like they do, it looks so uniform and tidy!  Dessert was a slab of chocolate brownie with a peppermint ice cream….Dad would have loved that as much as I did!  Mike the manager ate with me today now that my vehicle mate has moved on and he was delightful to talk to.  It’s interesting to hear how he got into doing the interim manager work and all the camps he’s been to in Kenya.  Really nice guy.

I’ve already packed most everything for tomorrow, so I can just relax the rest of today’s siesta and be ready for leaving.  Sniff…

<much, much later on….>

Well then, remember all that karma I built up earlier this week with that cheetah hunt I missed out on….yes, this is where it all comes back to me.  Today’s afternoon game drive could not have ended this trip any better.  But dang it all, why are the last days always the best days?  Kenya keeps dangling a carrot, “come back, Amy!”

Twala and I headed out at 4:00.  He’d been doing some research during the break and had a general idea where the Ilksiausiau pride was now. This is one of the larger prides and one I saw last February when it was much larger (it is now broken into two and has new pride males, the Maja ya Fisi males Bully and Limpy).  

So on we drive, chatting and stopping to watch a big mob of banded mongoose and a lilac breasted roller.  Then we came upon three female giraffes, one of which I thought was being curious about us stopping to watch them.  I said out loud “look how curious she is” and Twala said “maybe she sees something behind us.”  He started up the Land Rover again and moved maybe 30 yards down the road and on the right he saw a lioness lounging up against a bush.  “Lioness,” he said as he stopped.  And then I heard it.  The unmistakable little chirp of lion cubs.  

“LION CUBS,” I said.  And he had the Land Rover in gear before I even got the words out.  He circled behind the bush where the first lioness was and we saw that in the bush next to hers was a second lioness with three tiny 2 month old cubs.  This was the lioness we saw with the failed impala hunt last night.  Twala had thought she’d lost her cubs, but here they were!  And she’d delivered a zebra kill, the remains of which were lying between them in the bush and me.

I could just about make out the cubs as they tried to coax their mother to let them nurse, but she was having none of that. She was panting heavily and clearly was not in the mood.  Struggling to take photos through the bush branches as well as over a gory, exposed zebra carcass was a challenge, but I got one finally when a curious little cub peeked over the carcass.  I’ll crop it well so you’ll hardly know.

The sighting would be a bit of a challenge unless they cubs came out and by now the other camp vehicle was just arriving, so cute as these cubs were, I gave up our spot to go find something else.  That’s always a risk because on safari a bird in the hand is usually always better.  Usually.

Now we were back to heading to where the rangers had told Twala the big pride was.  They’d seen them in their territory just that afternoon and it was still only around 4:30 so plenty of time before the heat of the day subsided and they get active.  We made several passes around where we thought they might be, to no avail.  Twala was busily trying to reach the rangers again while driving, so I was doing the best I could to help scan the bushes around us.  When we reached the end of the territory, there were two huge herds of cattle that a local was herding back home for the day.  If lions are around, they won’t come out with all those cattle there. I saw vehicles off in the distance and we investigated and it was the rangers and another camp vehicle, and they confirmed the pride was in the bushes there and mostly asleep.

So we decided to head to the cheetah with cubs again to see if they were up and more active than this morning. They were more awake certainly but not necessarily more active.  I got a few shots off while Twala was scanning the horizon with binoculars.  Quite a ways off in the distance coming down a hill toward where we were was a big male lion.  I don’t know how on earth Twala saw that, but he asked if I wanted to check out the male, which was likely heading for the big pride in the bushes.  Of course!!  I could hardly believe my luck, imagine having so many options it was difficult to decide what to do!

We managed to get just ahead of this big boy as he crossed the plain, clearly a cat on a mission.  Looping around the bushes and circling back to the pride who were now just starting to awaken, we were the second vehicle at the sighting. The rangers were still monitoring the vehicle volume around them.  They would allow no more than 5 vehicles at a time and not let anyone hog their spot.  This is great for the lions but obviously I wanted to sit and stay.  No worries, we swapped out and had our sundowner as we waited our turn to get back on the sighting, not bad at all.

Initially Twala told me there were 4 lionesses and 4 cubs asleep in the bushes.  That would have been a great score on its own.  But the longer we sat there, the more cats came out of those bushes.  The pride male we saw crossing the plain showed up, but then a second male (these are the Maji ya Fisi males who took over this pride in December, I think) and then at least 7 cubs total that I could count and 8 lionesses!  How on earth did I manage this?  And what an amazing lion sighting after a bit of a drought here in the Mara. I was worried earlier today that I’d “only” seen 7 lions since I’ve been here, but today added another 30 to that tally.  Phew!!

What was interesting sitting there watching them was that there was some turmoil and drama going on in the bushes.  Twala thinks they may have caught something in there or brought a kill in because there was clearly some fighting going on, one cub had some blood on itself and another cub was spotted carrying something around, presumably a piece of a carcass.  We never saw what was in those bushes that kept them so on edge.  It was an interesting dynamic anyway, to see lionesses and cubs moving in and out of those bushes and dealing with whatever skirmish was going on in there.

My other observation that was concerning was one lioness was heaving or spasming every 3 seconds.  I thought at first she had a furball coming up (because I have vast experience with that at home!) but Twala said she’d been doing this for 6 months now.  I felt horrible for her but she did not seem to be terribly hampered by it.  She looked otherwise healthy.  I asked if rangers would do anything about it and he only said that they were aware. Hmmm.

So I got to sit for about an hour as other vehicles peeled away to go back to camp for dinner.  It was well past daylight when I could take photos but it was just nice to be there with all these lions.  In the dying of the light, the lionesses all got up one by one and headed across the plains.  Twala thought for sure they were going to hunt.

Meanwhile the sky was turning black and not just from lack of daylight.  The storms were building again, and I could see lightning bolts in three different directions.  I was hoping to make it back to camp before a deluge started, and we just made it.  When the sky ripped open it came lashing down.  When I caught up with Joyce in the mess area she said “rain brings blessings.  In Kenya we are blessed when it rains.”   How true that is.

The Askari walked me to the mess area and I decided to hang out there until dinner or until the rain stopped.  It lightened up a bit but never really stopped.  That didn’t happen before dinner, so I just stayed and ate with Mike the manager again.  I met a couple from Newfoundland who were also long-time Bruins fans, so we swapped some stories about the good old days.

Dinner tonight was french onion soup, a stuffed pepper with mashed potato for me (the rest of the group had beef), a cheese plate and a mango profiterole.  It was a nice end to the day.

As I sit here at 11:20 pm, I am satisfied, happy, energized and over the moon at how my day and indeed my safari ended.  I have been blessed by the safari gods here in Kenya once again.  I still have one game drive left with Twala, but anything now is just a bonus.  I can’t imagine how we could improve on today.

24 hour cat-trick

 19 Jan 2024

It was warm enough when we returned last night that I opted not to have the front flaps zipped shut.  The air was nice and clear and since I wouldn’t be cold and it didn’t seem to be about to rain, I just figured why not.  I slept really well, heard lions in the distance, but shortly before my alarm went off the lions were here in the valley.  They were close.  It made me second guess my decision to keep the flaps open!  Twala said they were across the valley (maybe 1/8 mile) but still…. He suspected they were two young males from Ol Kinyei Conservancy who’d recently been forced out of their pride.  He could tell they were young and inexperienced because their roars were clipped off at the end; he said they were lacking follow-through of a mature male.  Too funny.

We headed out at 6 am and there was good visibility and no fog to speak of.  It was nearly 90 minutes of nothing but a hippo or two and some plains game (translation: no cats).  The sky started to clear up and we were seeing blue sky and sun for the first time this week, according to Twala.  This gorgeous weather would last through the afternoon and help to dry up a lot of the puddling everywhere.

I was so honed in on finding lions that when we pulled up to a sighting with a bunch of vehicles around it, Twala said to look between the cars.  I saw beige fur and immediately thought lions, but instead it was the cheetah Nashipae and her four 5-month old cubs!  She is a social media sensation!  I was so psyched.  Nashipae was cleaning her cubs and one returned the favor.  I had trouble confirming there were still 4 because they were piled up on each other a bit.  Finally they all settled down to nap.  Twala says she hasn’t successfully hunted in 4 (now 5) days, so they’re all hungry.  She was eyeing the horizon behind us but with too many zebra there, she wasn’t going to be able to snatch a gazelle without them alerting them all.  We rotated off the sighting to let others have a chance with her but the longer the cubs slept and Nashipae acted indifferent to the gazelles, more people left.  We took another turn with her and then went for breakfast.

Bush breakfast was good, my favorite thing being homemade chocolate granola bars, they were incredible!  Also had a hard boiled egg and some granola with yogurt.  And more coffee….I think I’m living on Kenyan coffee and Gordon’s gin.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that….

We returned to her after breakfast and they’d all moved since we left, with the four cubs now asleep under one little tree and Nashipae under another nearby.  She was eyeing the horizon but two huge herds of cattle were being moved through so she was unlikely to try to hunt while they were around.

My vehicle mate asked to try another night drive tonight and I told Twala I’m not interested.  I was too tired last night and I’d rather relax here and get a good night’s sleep.

I took a shower after the morning drive and downloaded a few photos.  I’m really pleased with this camera but think I still have a lot of work to do, more to learn.  Paul Goldstein, a wildlife photographer I follow and who owns this camp, is here with a small group.  Those folks just left so I may try to pick his brain later tonight.  In my head I have mapped out the next 13 months really working on my skills (and maybe either getting a different lens or a second camera body…) so that when I’m back here next year, I’m far better at this than I am now.  A girl’s gotta have goals.

Lunch today was cold lentil soup, veggie burgers (to die for! No mushroom or beans, all veg and mozzarella cheese!) and a delicious cole slaw.  Dessert was an amazing strawberry mousse.  They are really trying to fatten me up here.

My little rock hyrax friend is back on the porch. Yesterday as I tried to nap he sat on the porch staring at me through the screen.  If I went out to talk to him he acted interested.  When I went back to bed he brought a second friend along to watch me.  He’s out there now waiting for me to hop into bed for my nap, I think!

Just read on social media that Nashipae hunted while we were at lunch, so she and the cubs have eaten after nearly 5 days.  PHEW!  I’m sad we missed it but more happy for her and the kids.

We headed back out at 4.  The first thing of interest that we came upon was a jackal that had a hoof and lower leg bone of a buffalo.  It was chewing on it like a dog would a bone.  We scared it a bit when we shut off the truck, and it grabbed the leg, which was larger than himself, and ran off, right into 3 other jackals.  It dropped the leg and started an impressive bout of growling which scared the other three off so it was allowed to enjoy it in peace.

Another stop was to watch two baboons courting.  Twala pointed out that the females’ bums are bright pink when they are in heat.  As we drove up a male was picking at the bright pink bottom of a female, and as we got closer they moved for a bit of privacy next to a bush.  While we never saw the act itself, it is clear they were on a first date of sorts, grooming each other intensely and really looking each other over very carefully.  

Not long after, we came upon three lions (YAY! FINALLY!) and it turns out these are three from the Ilksiausiau breakaway pride.  That was one of the massive prides from my visit last year, now broken into two parts, the breakaway is 17 of the originals.  Twala says they are about 13-14 months old now so they would have been 2-3 months old when I was last here and it is very likely I have photos of them as cubs.  I’m going to try to match whisker patterns on these three with the ones I saw last year when I get home.

All three were covered in flies on their chest, belly and nether-regions.  The guy sharing my vehicle with me thought it was disgusting but Twala explained that that’s actually good.  They aren’t nuisance flies but serve the purpose of cleaning the lions.  They eat remnants of any kill that get stuck in the fur as well as anything the lion may secrete, like blood or urine, so they serve to keep the lion clean and healthy.  I did not know that! 

We made a pass around the area to try to find more of the pride but came up empty.

Coming down the hill we saw a vehicle from another camp stuck in some very deep mud.  The guide was not very experience and just needed a tow, so Twala hitched up and dragged him out.  It only took a few minutes.

It was not that much longer after that that we came across the breakaway group for the Sampu Enkare pride. They had already splintered off last year, I think.  This was the oldest female and two younger lionesses.  They were just sitting looking about casually.  Suddenly, one of the females got up and walked past and behind us.  Another followed a bit behind.  We backed up and rode alongside the first lioness.  That cat was on a mission!  We looped around a large patch of small trees and down a decline. At the very bottom of the decline was a very large harem of impala and their male.  By the time we got to the bottom, all 40 or so impala knew something was up and coming down the hill.  They were all staring uphill and were very, very uptight.

Twala saw the lions stop about 3/4 of the way down the hill and just sit i front of a bush in broad daylight.  I was half paying attention because I still hadn’t figured out what was about to happen when Twala said “she’s coming” and at just about the same second I noticed impala start to flee to our right, the same direction the lioness was headed.  

I don’t feel like she really planned it out well or really was fully into doing it because it did seem like the whole thing was a bit half-hearted after her concerted walk down the hill.  The impala panicked and alarm called for several minutes after the attempt.  The lioness just stood there as if she didn’t understand what had just happened.  She turned and looked up hill, and slowly meandering down was the other younger lioness.  She missed the show and a chance at dinner.  I wonder if she was meant to help hunt.

While it was great to finally see lions (my favorite), I’m really shocked by how few we’ve seen and how tough it’s been to find them, when in February it was lions everywhere, to the exclusion of every other cat.

By now the wind had shifted, the air felt cooler and the sky started to thicken and turn gray.  As absolutely beautiful as the day was, it was quickly looking to turn diabolical.  I sort of hinted that maybe we should go back but there was a creepy orange-red sun going down and Twala thought we could make it to our sundowner spot to get silhouette photos in front of it.  So we did.   This is where I came to appreciate the full meaning of a sky being “pregnant with rain” because I really felt like if I reached up and pricked one of the clouds with a pin, I’d just get hit with a deluge. Where the sky hadn’t turned black already, it was a weird yellow.  Those clouds were about to unleash on us.  I could feel how heavy the air was with rain on the way.

We skipped putting the roof back on because Twala thought we’d make it back to camp before it started (he was right).  I opted to stay in the common area until dinner rather than venture back to my tent.  By now the lightning had started.  But oddly, no rain ever hit camp.  And no thunderstorm ever emerged.  So strange.

Dinner tonight was mushroom on toast starter, baked fish sticks and fries for entree and a small pear filled with pomegranate for dessert.  My vehicle mate and I ate with Mike the temporary manager and Paul the camp owner.  It was great conversation.

I took a Bitter Lemon back to my tent with me and blogged, barely keeping my eyes open by 10:30.  One more full day out there.  Lewa seems so long ago now!

Back home in the Mara!

 18 Jan 2024

The days I change camps are always a challenge for me for some reason and can even be difficult when I have a really good guide with whom I’ve connected.  Today was going to be tough.  After spending basically all day for 3 days with Peter, and sharing some incredible sightings, I really didn’t want to go.  I still had lions to find and a cheetah to see hunt!  But alas, it was time to move on to the Mara.

The overnight was quieter than it has been.  I still heard lions but they weren’t as close as they were previous nights.  I felt like they weren’t where we left them at the end of yesterday’s drive either. That was pretty close to camp.

We still managed to do an early morning game drive even though I was leaving on an early flight.  I was up at 5 to pack and get dressed.  We took my luggage with me and I had a packed breakfast that I ate quickly at the airstrip (cinnamon roll, granola bar, hard boiled egg, frittata and OJ).  I had my grab and go coffee on the game drive.

Because it was overcast overnight, it was warmer this morning and no mist had settled at ground level, so we could see all around us.  Immediately we returned to where we left the lions and the plain was entirely devoid of any sign of life.  Not just no lions, but no animals of any type.  It was strange in its vacancy.  After maybe 20 minutes, we turned off the engine and waited.  And we heard a roar.  And another.  Both of us cocked our heads to try to pick up which direction they came from.  And then we turned and headed that way. It sounded not immediately close but not too far either.  We got to where Peter thought we’d find them and stopped again.  Another roar, slightly more to the right than we were, but still not so close.  We tried again there.  This time when we turned the engine off, the roars were quite a ways off and not close enough to get to, find the lions, and make it to the conservancy gate to leave for the airstrip.  Maybe they were just giving me enough of a tease to want to come back.  I already do.

On the way out of the conservancy, we saw a helicopter and heavy equipment with transfer cages for the black rhino that Ol Pejeta is relocating to another conservancy.  Both Ol Pejeta and Lewa (where I was before this) have large black rhino populations that there are almost too many for the area, so they are giving some to a conservancy that has none.  That translocation was happening today. Ami Vitale, the wildlife photographer who has documented the northern white rhinos’ plight, was here to shoot this for a documentary later.  This is really a rhino conservation success story.  Ultimately, I think they’d like the chain of conservancies from Ol Pejeta to Lewa to Loisaba to be the largest rhino conservation land anywhere, which would be an impressive feat.

It takes about 45 minutes to get to the airstrip in Nanyuki.  The wait for the plane wasn’t long.  It was already there, we were just waiting for the pilots to show up.  Peter and I brainstorm what my next itinerary should be.  I’ve given up pretending this will be the last safari.  It can’t be.  This is the only place for me, why am I kidding myself.

With little fanfare an airstrip worker takes my bag.  Peter and I say until next year and I board the plane with Bob and Sue (two other guests from my camp) and there are two other stops to pick up guests before we get to the Mara.  It was turning hot and very sunny when I left Nanyuki but as we flew south the clouds were building and at times I couldn’t see the ground.  As we descended into the Mara any time the sun hit a patch of ground all I could see was water.  The stories of the biblical amounts of rain they have been getting here appear to be true.

When we land, the plane leaves a deep impression into the soft wet earth.  But we’ve made it and I say out loud “I’m back in my happy place”.

There’s a momentary panic as it seems that no one from my camp is here.  We did leave 1/2 hour earlier from Nanyuki, but usually the airline communicates that out.  A guide from another camp calls for me and watches my luggage while I use the toilet.  When I come back to him, Twala is there.  He greats me with a big smile and a hug.  NOW I feel like I’m home.  He remembers my family and my cats, asks how everyone is doing.  Asks what I’m hoping to see and then adds “other than cats?”  I mention the cheetah moms with the cubs and he said there are two now in the conservancy.  Hallelujah!

We get to camp and I’m greeted by Mike the manager.  No Minnie!! I can’t ascertain whether she’s on leave or gone, because Anita was going to phone her last night to let her know I was on the way!  I recognize a lot of other staff faces though.  I’m shown to the furthest tent from the common area with the most expansive view of the valley.  I can see zebra on the hill across the way and hear hyena down below.  I have hyrax sitting and watching me in bed as I type my siesta away.

Everything was a bit confusing as the staff were juggling a large party that was leaving and the owner who was just leading that group.  He’s a photographer and one I admire on social media, so it was neat to meet him.   He was showing me some of his work on his laptop which was cool.

Twala says both mother cheetahs with 4 cubs are still in the conservancy and doing fine.  One made a kill this morning, the other hasn’t for four days so she’s ready.  I’m sharing a vehicle and guide with one other solo person.

Lunch today was an avocado and beet tagine that was to.die.for!  They had asian bao buns stuffed with tuna, pickles and carrots for me, rice and a celery/apple/feta salad.  Dessert was a macerated pear, not sure in what but it was tasty.

We headed out on the afternoon drive with the though of trying to find one of the cheetahs with cubs.  Twala headed in that general direction and then got a call that a mother leopard and cub had been spotted and it was decision time: either the sure thing of the leopards or searching for the cheetahs.  We decided to go for leopard.

Over some muddy terrain that Twala seemed to really enjoy surfing through with the Land Rover, we finally arrived to find the mother Sanguet (sp?) who is a 10 year old mom with her fourth cub, who is about 4 months old.  They were standing just outside some scrub brush, near a tree where she’d stashed not one, but two impala kills.  The cub was behind her playing in a bush by itself.  Mom finally started to saunter over to the audience of vehicles facing her (sadly, about 11 of them!  Better than in the public reserve, but more than should be here in the conservancy.   She kept looking over her shoulder at the cub as if to say “you coming kid?”  Finally the cub followed, and I managed to get some shots I’m very happy with of the two strolling together and then the cub jumping on mom and playing.  It was a kid being a kid for sure.

The cub went up the tree and disappeared a bit from view and I could hear it eating what was left of the carcass up there.  After a bit it came back down.  Mom  rested at the base of the tree, or tried to, until three guinea fowl sounded the alarm and boldly walked around her.  This leopard was beyond annoyed.  She sat there hissing and looking altogether discontent.  Finally, like most cats with self-respect, she got up and walked off.  She wasn’t putting up with that racket taunting her while she tried to relax.  So off she went back into the bush from where she’d come.  That lasted maybe 5 minutes until she came back out and went up the tree herself for a bit of a meal.  All in all a really good sighting and I”m pleased with my camera from what I can tell doing quick downloads.

My vehicle mate suddenly got it in his head that he wanted to do a night drive.  He asked me about it and I said normally they plan that ahead (like more than an hour’s notice) because you go back early from the afternoon drive, eat early, and head back out at 8.  It was already 6:45.  God love Twala though, he got on the radio and started making it happen.  He asked if I wanted to go, and I really didn’t, but I also had intense fear of missing out, so I did.

We headed to a plain for a sundowner.  Despite it being really overcast all day, it looked like the sun was going to make an appearance for sunset.  And it did.  The only problem with the sundowner was no one packed one for me.  I thought it was weird that no one asked what I wanted, but I assumed they had that on record somewhere from last time.  I was fine, I ate some nibbles and drank my water.  But Twala snuck off with his back turned and I suspected he was madly texting away.  Not 15 minutes later, we moved on and pulled up next to another vehicle from camp and he got out and made me a G&T.  Huge points to him!

We got back to camp and ate almost immediately.  I didn’t even go back to my tent.  Thursdays are African cuisine, so for me there was a veggie coconut stew with seasonal veg, a green banana casserole (excellent!) and then a mashed potato/kidney bean/butter bean dish that was actually really good and very filling.  We’d had a sweet potato coconut milk soup starter that was quite good.  Dessert was a small donut with a dab of ice cream.  It was all really well done.  It amazes me what they can do in a bush kitchen!

The night drive was not nearly as exciting as those I’ve done before (translation: no cats).  The only real score for me was a white tailed mongoose, which I’d never seen before.  We did see some hares, bat eared foxes and jackals.  The jackals were running off with a baby thompsons gazelle they’d just snatched.  I ended up falling asleep in the car and not having the energy to finish this blog last night.  We got back around 10 and I was safely asleep by 10:30 after a quick shower.