Masai Mara - Lions, Cheetahs and Leopard

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We spent a few days in Lake Navaisha and cycled through Hell's Gate National Park watching the zebras, giraffes and warthogs. It was nice to cycle around on our own and get some exercise for once. We went for a long walk down in the gorge passed hot springs until we could no longer work out where to go and had to retrace our steps. At night we watched as hippos came up to our camp site to feed.

Our next stop and the highlight so far was our visit to the Masai Mara. There were literally hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, here for the migration from the Serengeti. Unfortunately we did not see them jumping across the Mara River but we watched as they organised themselves into long lines and grazed. The wildlife experience was nothing short of amazing. It was just like watching Our World, we expected David Attenborough to appear at any moment. Before lunch we saw a beautiful leopard sleeping up a tree. She had just eaten, her belly swollen with her kill, some of which was still in the tree. Despite the fact that we were pretty much under the tree watching her and all the noise from the trucks, she was fast asleep and nothing could wake her. She just stretched a couple of times to show us her gorgeous spotted belly and went back to sleep.

We drove around for a long time seeing plenty of wildebeest, warthog, ostriches, zebras, giraffe and vultures until we came across a cheetah stalking a Thompson's Gazelle. We watched in anticipation as she stalked through the grass for about 100m, then in a flash she was out sprinting at full speed but the gazelle made a quick turn and the cheetah could not turn in time, kicking up dust as she tried. The lucky gazelle jumped away to freedom while the frustrated cheetah flopped down in the grass to rest. To see this was simply nothing short of amazing.

Just when we thought it could not get any better we then came across a pride of lions (one dominant male and a younger male, two females and six cubs). They were hard to see at first, just hiding in the bushes but they then all came over to where we were waiting and entertained us for the next 30 minutes. The cubs tumbled over each other play fighting but the male just lay down in the sun for a snooze. The females cleaned the cubs and snoozed, keeping an ear out for danger. They were so relaxed with at least 20 trucks parked around them and the constant sound of clicking cameras did not seem to bother them at all. We could have watched them all day.

We could not believe what we saw on the early morning game drive the next day next - two separate prides of lions and cubs feasting on a wildebeest. The females had caught the prey but let three huge males eat first. When they were done, the females brought the cubs over to eat. They tucked in, tearing at the skin and cracking the bones. They had blood all over their faces and legs but when they were finished they licked each other faces to clean up. We were so close you could hear the bones crunch and the smell of the rotting wildebeest. Once they were full we watched them walk down to the shade where they would spend the rest of the day sleeping.

Next we spotted a cheetah sunning himself on a rock. We were within 3m of this beautiful cat while he stretched out before he went for a walk. The Masai Mara was the most amazing experience - to watch these animals in their own environment so closely is priceless.

We then visited the Masai village where we were taken around by some of the local men. They showed us how they constructed their homes and how they make fire (without matches!). There are about 20 Masai clans in the area but in this village there were 20 families all from the same clan. The boys performed a welcome dance. One of the young boys was wearing a head dress made from the mane of a lion. We were told that after the boys are circumcised at the age of 14 they then have to kill a lion to prove that they are a man. He had a few scars to prove the story. The women also sang for us and showed us around the local school. It was a really interesting experience and most of them just ignored our presence and went about their daily business which was nice, we could just observe without being intrusive.

After a stopover in Nairobi we now head to Tanzania and to the Serengeti which is meant to be even better than the Masai Mara so who knows what we will see this time.

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Comments

[Adrienne]

Wow!
That's amazing guys! I'd love to go on an animal safari one day.