28 August 2015 (07:55PM)

I left SA for Kenya on the 26th attending an energy conference in Nairobi. On the Friday afternoon colleague Jason and I went to the Karen Blixen museum in the Karen suburb only 12 km outside of Nairobi. It is quite interesting that a whole suburb remains named after someone that only stayed in the country for about 18 years.

Eighteen eventful years as part of the infamous Happy Valley set led by Lady Edina Sacksville, otherwise known as “the Bolter” famous for her five marriages and trend setting affairs.

It was quite refreshing to experience the blissful serenity on the farm after so many years:

“ I had  farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong hills.” On the face of it, little has changed and even Meryl Streep and Robert Redford’s clothes are still there….

In the appropriate  mood, I buy some local Maasai art and afterwards we enjoy a meal        (and some beers) at a nearby restaurant. I am winding down as I prepare to travel to El Donjo and Mara Toto for the next ten days, have cameras with me, so bliss is best.

29 August 2015 (08:52PM)

We travel to Great Plains, El Donjo Lodge in Chyulu Hills, next to Amboselli game reserve at the foot of majestic Kilimandjaro. We ( Wim van Heerden from ODP Safari’s, my host and I)  depart from Wilson’s airport Nairobi. It is a short 45 minute flight. We see little of the big K given the extensive cloud cover and sadly there is only a very small ice cap left. (They say the cap is bigger in January, but clearly global warming has reduced the cap that cam down almost halfway as alate as 1960!

After admiring the wonderful accommodation at this delectable resort and a lunch we depart on our first game drive. We see many new series of bird, we admire a trio of large tuskers ( the 100 pounders have made this area famous!) oryx, impala, Grants and Thompson gazelle. We also run into a rare striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and spend most of the afternoon trying to get close to this very rare animal. I recently saw an aardwolf in Etosha and have now met the full family. I have previously met the brown and spotted hyena. This hyena is only present in the areas indicated in green on attached map.

At sunset we see a glimpse of the great one (Big K),  but that is all. We are rewarded with a wonderful full  (in fact)  blue moon!

We have a delightful intimate dinner with the few lodge guests. we all sit around the table. Wim and I renew our acquaintance as we recently also spent ten days in Namibia. Needless to say we enjoy some good wine.

30 August 2015 (08:26PM)

We get up very early. This is par for the course with Wim, but the idea is if you are not behind the camera you cannot get the shot.

We find some great early light on the plains. We shoot wildebeest and zebra before we have a drink on top of  a hill with a great vista of the Chyulu hills and surroundings

Our guide Jackson is also an avid photographer and we then spend the rest of the morning hunting for the shy geranuk ( Litocranius walleri, also known as the Waller’s gazelle). The gerunuk is difficult to spot in the thick bush but we do manage a few long distance ones. The geranuk is only found in East Africa, so this counts as  life sighting for me.

 

We return for lunch around 11 30 and a wee break but depart again around 3.

The afternoon we take some shots of the Van der Decker Hornbill and other birds. We try and get some predator, but to no avail. At dusk we hear from a passing ranger that the local biggest  tusker, One Ton and his “askaris” are nearby . We find the awesome big one in fast fading light, but not too late to sneak in some great shots even with flash. A fabulous end to the day, which we celebrate again in good spirits.

31 August 2015 (09:33AM)

We leave early again. It is quite a long way to go as we are hunting lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) today. It is a similar experience as the gerunuk (in fact we find a few of these as well). It is harder work though as these guys are really shy! We manage to find then, but the rams are very shy. As we can see from map, the animals are not found behind any bush!

After lunch we spend most of the afternoon at the local lodge water hole with some great elephant interaction. We try and find One Tonne again, but no luck. We do find a giraffe that gives us some sort of dreamt of  sunset.

We have a great final evening at El Donjo and I finally get to sleep outside on the roof. Unforgettable sounds and experience under open skies, except for Big K still under wraps.

1 September 2015 (10:06AM)

We get up not so early as we are off to the airport this morning after breakfast. Jackson says good bye in full Masai regalia. We are very much honoured Jackson!

We have a brief stop at Amboselli and then we touch down at Wilson’s airport afterwards where we touch base with the new arrivals from South Africa. Wife Sue and three fellow photographers, one missed his flight.

We finally head to the Masai Mara where we are met by the Mara Toto team and taken to our tent camp. After a briefing we have lunch and head for the Mara and maybe a crossing.

We see a small crossing and we see enough to wet our appetite.

We arrive back after 7pm. In time for food and liquids.

2 September 2015 (10:14AM)

We try for a crossing today. We leave around 6 am after a 5 am wake up call!  Early morning we see a leopard as we leave the camp. We also see some lion and the evidence (vulture activity) of a feast on the plains as the migration provide welcome opportunity to the various lion prides, a number cheetahs with cubs, the odd leopard and scores of hyena.

We see at least five vulture species. (White backed, lappet face, Ruppelli gryphon, white headed and hooded ) The so-called  soap of the savannah make the best of the migration as it hits the Mara plains. Carcasses both fresh and old abound as evidence of the conveyer belt feeding, sushi style.

Apart from the circa 2 million wildebeest on the move there also are herds of zebra and topi the fleet-footed cousins of the tsesebe and the red hartbeest. On the plains there are also giraffe, buffaloe, eland and both Grant and Thompson’s gazelle. The latter is the main diet of the leopard and cheetah.

At the fast flowing Mara river we wait with many others to witness an iconic wildebeest crossing. Also in waiting lurk  many crocodiles with scores of hippo as spectators. We sadly wait in vain but not without reward.

We are able to shoot some landscapes and sunsets on the way back as we arrive back after 7. We settle for a good dinner, the obligatory red wine and we get to bed after 11…

   

3 September 2015 (05:28PM)

We are off early as usual at 6pm under the guidance of our driver Duncan. We again hope for a crossing.

We have a busy morning with lion! We first hit a male with some great shots against the horizon at sun rise. We also find a female and shoot her too bits!

We then find a herd of giraffe before we finally get to a leopard again, getting only fleeting shots. A bit further we get to two lionesses on a kill, all good stuff. we finally get to the river and wait. We see many wildebeest, but very few wildebeest crossing that is, nada!

In between I have forgotten to mention that we get served full english breakfast out on the plains and the same exercise is repeated at lunch time. That allows us to make it during the 13 arduous but enjoyable hours every day. Duncan is in radio contact with his team and we just suddenly find a land cruiser market under a wild date tree, complete with table. The cumberland sausages and crispy bacon has become a hit and we all pine for it before the day gets very old.

Sadly we return having seen the migration, but still no crossing. All happy as the lion experiences were divine.

4 September 2015 (05:53PM)

Today we decide to rush to river, no stopping for trivial lion or other interesting subjects. We just have to get a crossing….

We get to the Mara and find the usual spots shy of activity. Duncan takes us to a new spot and there appears to be build up. We find some more lion and baboon as well  some great topi shots on the way to what promises to be our first crossing…

We spend most of the morning in unsuccessful animated anticipation as we watch a heavy buildup all morning before breakfast  and afterwards. The main spoilers are the crocodiles waiting in the shoot as well as the mass of vehicles waiting to get a shot. One stampede fades quickly when two  crocodiles get over active. We wait and wait wait while we tell some jokes and stories..

We again have to be happy with great lion shots and the usual sights of the migration and  sunset. Tonight we are with a male and two female lions when the evening rain hits us. We take some fantastic shots of the male in the rain sucking water. Some of us even get the sake of the water soaked main (sadly not me). I do get the rainbow and the lion as the pot of gold. The male seems to be very happy with his females tonight.

We arrive back home tired, gutted but happy that we still had the opportunity to see some wonderful animal activity. We end the day as usual with some good food and wine…

5 September 2015 (06:38PM)

We decide to abort spending time at crossings and rather find some good game.

The morning starts with a good hyena kill followed by you guessed it lion…

We take good landscapes of the migration mostly wildebeest with some zebra. We see some good vultures, topi, ostrich, giraffe necking and finally we hit zebra crossing, voila, we know theses animals can cross rivers.

We end the day with great lion sighting and even a buffalo chasing a lion as well as usual great sunset. We make it in time or our usual final daily dosage of food and wine.

6 September 2015 (07:08PM)

Today Duncan takes us to look for cheetah. We first get possibly the best sunrise of the trip. We find a female with three cubs in the conservancy area. There are too many vehicles and we move on to find other sightings.

We are fortunate to find another female with four cubs close to some tommies. (Thompson gazelles). we stay frosty but despite that some of us miss the wonderful charge over about 600m as the cheetah female chases the tommy and finally overhauls it for a spectacular kill. Sadly I am not well positioned and miss the charge, damnit…

The cheetah lies with its kill exhausted but able to call her cubs who are over 500 away. The small foursome make their way to mommy whom has provided food today and defended her family from hunger, well done mommy.

Over lunch we spot a martial eagle, we also see a tawny and another eagle,  gymnogene!

On the way back we witness our first big wildebeest crossing alas not over the Mara but one of its tributaries. Finally we have something. We can return safely and happy after the busy day.

7 September 2015 (07:29PM)

Today the schedule changes for some of us, the four of us that go on the hot air baloon ride.

We get picked up at 5 after a 4 am wake up, eina! We have a trip of 45 minutes to the launch site.  My driver and I while our time exchanging cultural titbits. He was amazed that our President Zuma has five wives and planning for a sixth. That is what he aspires to do as well in typical Masai culture. I leave the discussion there noting the clear wide difference with my own…

We have an hour flight over the migration. We see most of the animals including lion, hyena and vultures. we see great wildebeest, buffalo and zebra. We finish with breakfast noting the awkward landing in the gathering breeze.

After breakfast we get taken to meet up with rest of our team who in the meantime had gone on a normal game drive. We find them in the middle of a potential lion kill! They are in fact three hours invested in the hunt.

The lone lioness lies behind a boulder near the road chute in the river bed. Although the wind is not in her favour it is a great ambush site as wildebeest and zebra are very prescient. We remain “frosty”.

Two large zebra make it down to the water for a drink a mere five metres away from the lurking female. She makes an important decision- i.e. not to attack- as she is aware of the greater danger taking on a large zebra on her own.

In the meantime some wildebeest start crossing upstream. Our huntress make her way along the river abutment and disappears out of site. we see wildebeest running everywhere. We reposition our vehicles anticipating a miss. In stead we find that our huntress has made a hit and was busy suffocating the unlucky wildebeest to death. After about ten minutes she starts dragging the wildebeest to a spot about 100m away that is more protected and where she can enjoy her kill in privacy. we leave her and go for lunch at nearby Mara Toto base camp.

After lunch we go on anther drive and soon find ourselves in an interesting position with pride of eight lions in a river bed. We went down into the river bed to shoot the pride lying under a wild fig tree.  Driving down into the riverbed we suddenly saw another lion looking into the river and then saw that a crocodile was busy with the carcass of a wildebeest. The lion was figuring out how to wrestle it from the croc. The croc was also fighting off another croc while some hippos also were watching the drama. There we were about 40m from the croc/lion interaction  and only  about 20m from the pride.

In the meantime two of the lions joined the one with the crocs but they came second as the crocs was in their territory and we all know cats are reluctant swimmers. looking down the river we were also being joined by two buffaloes and upstream an elephant was approaching meandering up the river. We had three of the big five in a  very intimate encounter. (I was in fact checking for exits in case of  unexpected events)  Thankfully the need for such action never arose as there were none!

The pride had clearly had too much to eat and was not interested despite the good hunting conditions.

In the meantime the migration was passing on top of the river embankment and the light was the golden light photographers crave. We enjoyed the occasion  and then went to look for a good tree and perhaps some elephant or giraffe. We found a good tree, had our best sunset and low and behold found a buffalo grazing nearby as well after we almost shot the poor wild fig tree to death, it was that pretty.

8 September 2015 (09:28PM)

We get up early for the last time for an early morning quick. A quick game drive before we fly off back to Nairobi.

There is some lion and elephant interplay, some final migraine scenes and for the first time we also see the wattled crane. The two hours fly by and we get back in time for breakfast and the departure for the local Mara airport.

An hour later we are in Kenya where we spend some extra time at the giraffe centre. After a lunch at a curio shop we depart for airport and wait and reflect on a very intense wild life experience. Mara forever. I leave some fond memories on these pages as well as the some crazy signs. Enjoy! Thank you also to ODP that made it all possible.