More from the Mara

Cheetah with a Kill - Maasai Mara, Kenya

Day two commenced much as the first and indeed the whole stay was to follow the same pattern. Our plan was to head back to the Lion pride we had been following the previous night and spend some time with them while we waited to hear if there was any other action taking place.

Two males we had seen on our last trip, Olbarnoti and Lolpapit, have taken over the females in the Double Cross/Enkoyonai pride and a feature this trip was the number of times we witnessed Olbarnoti mating. We had seen it the previous night and as soon as we caught up with the pride on day two, he was still with the same female. Twenty minutes passed and we heard that a Leopard had been spotted with a cub.

Arriving at this sighting it turned out to be a well-known female Kaboso’s cub, but no sighting of either Kaboso or her other cub. The early morning light was good and we had a full 30 minutes with the cub before moving on.

The next hour yielded a mother and baby elephant, a herd of Topi and a rather confiding Fiscal Shrike, before another lion encounter. By now it was time for bush breakfast as the sun warmed the plains and we could remove a layer or two of clothing.

After breakfast we set off to a location where our guide knew there was a great chance of witnessing a large elephant herd crossing the Mara River. On the way we had opportunities to photograph Saddle-billed Stork, a favourite bird of mine the Grey Crowned Crane and Grant’s Gazelle before arriving at our chosen spot.

Around three-quarters of an hour passed before upwards of 30 - 40 elephants of all ages turned up at the water’s edge. We were treated to about 90 minutes of them frolicking and washing in the river, but sadly on this occasion no crossing. It was nevertheless a fascinating sight. That took us nicely into lunchtime.

Setting off in the afternoon we headed for the Talek River and our first sighting there was of the Crocodile I published in my last post. It was the biggest Croc I have ever seen, suggesting there is no shortage of food.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with a relaxed Tawny Eagle and trying to capture Giraffe images that showed the Mara plains. I always find Giraffe a difficult subject, due in no small part to their physical shape. It’s either a portrait, or a full-length shot with a lot of background to deal with. In the close bush, I always find those shots messy, but in the open plains of the Mara, much more pleasing shots can result.

We also managed to get some beautifully detailed Wattled Plover shots, portraits in fact, as they were just too close to the vehicle. That was about an hour before the sun was due to set and as we were some way from the lodge we started to head back in that direction.

Arriving at the point where we had seen Kaboso’s cub in the morning, it was obvious from the number of vehicles around that something was happening and we soon found out that Kaboso herself was hunting a herd of Impala. This was another fascinating sight, not just watching the technique she was using, but also witnessing the apparent suicidal behaviour of the Impala. Far from running away, they have a habit of turning back towards predator to keep a watch on what it’s doing. As Kaboso got into a position where she felt she was close enough undetected to launch an attack, things took a surprising turn. About 50 metres away a Lion emerged from the undergrowth heading in the other direction. This was enough to spook the Impala and Kaboso broke cover, but was unable to catch anything.

With the light failing, we headed back to the lodge and a well-earned dinner. It had been an eventful day with some wonderful sightings and plenty of pictures to edit. Clearly the plan for next morning had to be a revisit to where Kaboso had been hunting to see if she had any success later on. Roll on 6am.