So many things running through my mind. I’ll need to get the new eTA rather than eVisa. I wonder what it’ll be like to be back with Ping at Enaidura (I was first there right after the camp opened). I’ve been following him on social media and see that he’s spending time in Naboisho a lot too, so he’ll have plenty of on the ground knowledge there. He’s seeing a lot of servals…a wishlist cat for me!
I’m also still keeping an eye on Nashipae and her four cubs through other photographers’ social media. They’re now about 14 months old and still with her. She’s done an amazing job keeping them alive and so vibrantly healthy. It’s hard to distinguish her from her cubs now, they’re almost the same size. I hope they’re still together when I get there, but I know that’s really pushing it as she will want to move on from them before they’re 18 months. Fingers crossed that maybe I’ll get lucky.
I’ve also been following the trials of a few of the Marsh pride lions. I’d seen Yaya when I was with Ping in 2018. She had some young cubs with her at the time. In the last year or so, she and her granddaughter and grandson have sort of split from the Marsh pride and been more on their own. Yaya is pretty old for a wild cat, but she did well raising these two grandchildren in absence of her daughter who was killed at the same time Yaya’s last cubs were killed. I’m nostalgic for Yaya because she is Siena’s daughter, and I’m pretty sure I saw Siena with Yaya as a very young cub in 2016. And of course, Siena was the victim of a horrible buffalo goring that she miraculously recovered from, only to be poisoned by humans who thought she’d encroached on their cattle. So Yaya comes from Siena’s tough stock, but she’s clearly burned through at least 5 of her 9 lives in the last year alone. Various pride incursions have left her weak, wounded and near death. Reports on the ground say the end is near, yet somehow she rallies (knock wood). This last time after a pride incursions, her granddaughter Pamoja2 did not make it but Yaya looks good. Hopefully she can hang in for a meet up in January!!
But as I well know, Mother Nature has her plans for me and it may involve none of that. Whatever the case, I will be at my favorite place on earth with my eyes peeled for my beloved cats, in whatever shape and with whatever names they may have. The thought of it is what’s getting me through this fall, with the onset of some pretty serious seasonal affective disorder settling in (oh how I loathe winter!) so hopefully the next few months fly by to get me there.
On the other side of this trip, I have plans to make for (maybe) Turkey next year and a “next” safari to Botswana, which I’ve been salivating over on the BBC show Big Cats 24/7. It looks amazing! But one step at a time. One safari at a time.
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