Thursday - Lions hunting

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One last game-drive before we had to head back to Nairobi. John wanted to show us the leopard, so we drove as fast as possible in that direction. At seven we saw a couple of lions cross the road in front of us. They walked stealthily. John said they were hunting. More lions followed. Seven of them in all. In total silence they inched forward in the tall grass. Their target: a small herd of wildebeest 100 meters away from us. Six of the lions took their positions in a semicircle around the wildebeest while the seventh lion moved to the opposite side. The wildebeest continued grazing unaware of the threat. Suddenly the herd became aware of the six lions. They turned and fled directly into the jaws of the waiting lion. In a matter of seconds the wildebeest were gone, but one remained on the ground. Four of the lions came close to finish off their victim. We do not know where the wildebeest had been bitten. Probably in the throat, but we saw no blood. The lions did not bite it, but licked it. As it tried to struggle to its feet, one of the lions jumped on top of it and bit it in the throat. Another held up the head of the wildebeest while placing its own large mouth over the mouth and nostrils of the victim, quietly suffocating the animal. What a drama to witness. We were just shaking our heads in wonder.

The leopard we were looking for? It was nowhere to be seen, but Elsie spotted a lioness with three cubs. She felt so proud that she had been able to spot them. They were so nice, but unfortunately very difficult to photograph due to the grass they were hiding in.

At 9.30 we left the Sarova Mara. It was sad to leave. People were so friendly, particularly Jonathan Lepape, the waiter I got to know last year.

The roads back to Nairobi had not improved, but the novelty of the bumpy roads quickly wears off. Elsie was even able to sleep for part of the journey. It is the 40 km stretch between Narok and Ntulelei that is particularly bad. We used a little over one hour to cover that distance. When we came to Maimahio the road was very good for the remaining distance to Nairobi. The trip from the Mara to Nairobi took exactly six hours. When we arrived at Advent Hill we were totally covered in a layer of the proverbial African dust. The drive was much more dusty on the return leg than drive to the Mara. On the way out we had the benefit of recent rain showers.

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