Tuesday - Cheetahs

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We left for our first game drive of the day at 06.30. John wanted to take us to the eastern corner of the reserve to look for a leopard. After a few kilometres along the road towards Keekorok we took off along one of the many tracks. We saw a topi, hartebeest, a large herd of wildebeest and some zebras. John knew there was a leopard with three cubs living in a wooded area ten kilometres east of Keekorok. We crossed a river. It looked rather risky without having a four wheel drive, but John took us safely through. Once we reached the area where the leopard most likely would be, the only thing we saw was a group of people standing on top of the roof of their vehicle. John was rather angry with the other driver for letting them stand on the roof. With that kind of behaviour the leopard would surely not come out of hiding. We left quickly.

We strained our eyes to spot lions in the tall grass, but were not successful. It just goes to show that the animals in the Masai Mara are not actors who dutifully come on stage when the audience is there. But on the way back to camp we saw a lioness eating a wildebeest she had killed that morning.

After lunch we walked around the camp of the lodge and saw some of the new “tents” they are building. They will be beautiful. Then we photographed flowers. Elsie even did some sunbathing.

In the afternoon at 3.30 another game drive. More wildebeest. Just before five we saw to lions with three cubs. They were gorgeous.

Then we saw three cheetahs resting on a small mound. They just lifted their heads occasionally to see what was going on. The only thing the cheetahs saw was safari vans coming and going. The drivers continually exchange information on what they have spotted, so, on information we headed to a spot where a male lion was resting. He was not very exciting to see. John said the cheetahs were likely to start moving around six o’clock. Six minutes before six we were back at the mound just in time to see the second of the cheetahs get up and start walking. The third one was soon to follow. It was a magnificent sight. A dozen safari vans were already in position on the track just next to the cheetahs.

The first cheetah had already started to move across the track and was now walking between the safari-vehicles. What a sight to see these proud animals move graciously over the savannah. The three cheetahs made their way to a nearby three where they marked their territory by peeing on it. It was a fantastic experience.

On our way home we spotted a herd of 13 giraffes moving beautifully on the ridge of a small hill. It was a breathtaking sight. The afternoon had been partly sunny, and now the most beautiful warm evening sunlight made the giraffes look their very best. Elsie and I positioned our beanbags, trained our lenses on the beautiful animals and fired away. Once in a while we had to stop shooting while the camera was writing the files to the memory cards. It is somewhat annoying to press the shutter release with no response. It is at those times you wish for a larger internal memory. But after all, in the days of film you would have to stop shooting while changing your film.

After about three minutes all thirteen giraffes had crossed the track just a few meters away from us. The last one of the thirteen was walking with great difficulty. Every step seemed like a pain. According to John it was suffering from foot and mouth disease.

A little further on we saw a herd of zebras. One of them had a fresh bite wound on its hind part about 15 centimetres across. By a very slim margin it had escaped becoming a lion’s breakfast. By then the time was already 6.25 and John was racing to get home to camp in time. There is a fairly steep fine for the drivers who do not return to camp by 7 pm. John, and all the other drivers were racing to meet the deadline. We arrived by the gate of the Sarova Mara 6 minutes after the hour, but I don’t think John was fined. What a day it had been. We were both large grins as we headed for dinner.

After dinner we had to download the pictures to our computer, do a preliminary RAW conversion and back-up all the files to the iPod. This took about two hours. We were in bed a little after ten.

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