Slipping and sliding in the Masai Mara!

Following torrential rains yesterday afternoon, lasting long into the night we awoke to a wet and cloudy Masai Mara. The evening was filled with lion roars from all around and first light revealed the Notch family in all its glory. First we came across one of the darker sons, mating frequently with a lioness. As the cloud lifted the light revealed more of the Notch clan, including the 'big man' himself with two of his sons and three lioness feeding on a wildebeest carcass not far away. Following a sumptuous Christmas lunch with good friends we set out again into the afternoon to find one more of Notch's boys with 6 small cubs and three more lioness, its always so hard to believe that one day these little lions will be as big as the parents themselves!  Sadly it appears that two cubs may have succombed to nature, perhaps being left behind or falling victim to Jackal or Hyena, as three days previous the number of cubs belonging to these lioness had totalled 8.  But the day's excitment was not only centered around the animals. The rains had created a wet and sticky terrain which made driving around an interesting challenge, the sticky black cotton mud providing a surface not unlike an ice rink! A Christmas day to always be remembered.