Spots before our eyes

Not the best photo of a Serval I admit, but this morning it was spots galore on the cat front (minus the Leopard of course....that's for another day perhaps!)

"Dont mind me, just passing through"

Camping in the Mara is always an awesome experience, but last night proved it just gets better and better! After a long day and a much needed cool beer it was time to retire to the comfort of our rooftent. Just as we were about to climb up our ladder. Christian (a good friend who is with us at present) suddenly picked up movement in the camp and low and behold the flashlight revealed it was a BIG male lion! (It was one of the Notch son's) With excitement we stood and watched as he NOTCHalantly sauntered through only 50 feet from where we stood, with just a quick glance to let us know he was aware of our presence  His posture revealed he was on a mission, and totally uninterested in us. He soon disappeared as quick he appeared! What an awesome first night and again we are happy to be back in the magical Mara!!!

Not long to go......

Andy and I will be back in the Masai Mara in a little under two weeks, after what has seemed like only 5 minutes since we returned from our last trip in early January. Check back soon for the latest updates from the Mara.......

Kwaheri Kenya

Apologies for the lack of blogs in the last few days....recently every day seems to have been filled with lots of excitement, leaving little time to catch up! Sadly Andy and I are now leaving Kenya so this will be the last blog until our next trip in March.

Sadly I have bad news to report, the young cheetah cub that we had spent some time with has been killed/died. We are unsure as to the exact cause of death but given the proximity of the mother and cub to lions the night previous we can only assume it may have been a lion attack, although one cannot rule out buffalo, hyena or even a snake bite. Just 12 hours after we left them the night before we found the mother lying beside the motionless body in the same spot, in the middle of the plains near the migration crossing points.. It was truly a very sad scene and especially so given that she had raised it to such an age that one would usually assume its survival and one would have thought was old enough to have escaped an attack from another predator. Andy and I agreed it was possibly one of the saddest moments in all of our African trips to date, but we also both know how vulnerable cheetahs are and that sometimes nature can deal a harsh blow.

On a more happier note the ‘Notch Family’ lion cubs are still doing well, 8 cubs became 6, then 6 became 9! The mothers have had to continuously move the cubs away from the dangers of the terrible rains that have been continuing to fall in the last few days, that have been affecting much of Kenya. Torrential downpours have caused luggas to fill up within minutes and the roads becoming more like rivers.  Notch crossed over the river to the ‘Narok’ side to ensure that all is in order in the ‘other part’ of his territory, and could be seen mating (again!) with another lioness not far from Paradise plains. Perhaps this lioness was simply in false oestrus or perhaps more notch cubs will be sired!. While Notch took a ‘sabbatical’ his 4 handsome sons chose to stay in the Mara Triangle and to our delight were joined by the ‘5th son’, the one which we had always heard about but never yet seen. There appears to be a very strong bond between 4 of the boys in particular, with the 5th son seeming to be slightly more detached from the group. Given the rain and cool weather the lions have been particularly active and we have seen some incredibly interesting behaviours over the last few days. One morning we were treated with quite possibly one of the most awesome spectacles ever, a lion fight involving 2 lioness and 3 of Notch’s sons. Although all from the same pride the protective nature of one of the lionesses was seen in full force one morning when one of the sons greeted 2 of the cubs who had been slightly separated from the rest of the group. His intentions were harmless but this did not stop the lioness reacting in a ferocious manner. Within in a split second she launched upon the male with incredible force and what ensued was a huge fight that saw 2 of notches sons come to defend the brother and a further lioness getting involved. The noise of the lions fighting was deafening and the fight lasted some 20-30 seconds before all calmed down and the mother had enforced some boundaries to the males. Although the fight had concluded the tension lasted for long into the morning amongst the pride, fortunately later that afternoon all was a little more relaxed in the pride.

The most fitting way to conclude this blog is to finish with our experience on our last night, it does again involve lions, but is something we will never forget. It was nearly 10pm and we were camped high on a hill. The moon was full and seemed so close that we could touch it. Huge storm clouds billowed into the sky all around, filled with lightening so bright it light up the clouds like we have never seen before. The thunder echoed loudly against the escarpment and seemed to resonate all around. During a break in the thunder we heard something that was truly amazing, the sound of 5 male lions roaring simultaneously close by. The power in their roars was incredible, no other male lion would dare to challenge such a united force. Shortly after this united show of strength the males appeared to split and could all be heard all around the hill as they each patrolled their territory and asserted their dominance over the new pride that is forming.

Although incredibly sad to leave the Mara we depart knowing that soon we will be back again and look forward to providing more updates on the blog and look out soon for the photos on our website.....Kwaheri Kenya (for now!)

Dinner time for Duma

Having left Notch and Co with full stomachs last night it was not a huge surprise to find them this morning in the same spot. Vultures were feeding on a new carcass so evidently they had sourced more food during the night. Despite their fullness Notch and one of his sons were still managing to fit in some 'feline love'! To our surprise we came across a cheetah mother with the most adorable young cub, although it was hard to 'age' it appeared to be around 6-8 months old. Suprising as the area they were located in was thick rocky scrubland and rather worryingly near the Notch clan. This cheetah was seen only days ago very near to the Tanzanian border, which is more typical of the habitat where we usually find cheetah in this area. Having waited until most of the vehicles had moved on she spotted a herd of Impala and it was not long until she had singled out her prey, a young fawn. Showing an unbelieveable amount of patience she chose her angle of attack through an area that shielded her from the view and staying downwind to conceal her scent from the Impala. The cub showed an excellent level of maturity for its age, staying very still for a considerable amount of time whilst the mother lay in wait for the Impala to come a little closer. At a point in time when the Impala became distracted from a herd of Zebra running nearby she made her attack, running up an over a ridge and out of sight. For a moment it was not known if she had been successful, but as the herd came running out it was clear that one was missing, the young fawn. Minutes later she could be seen dragging her prey over 100m away, whilst its always hard to see any animal die we felt a sense of relief that the she had been successful. To ensure that no other predators or scavengers were alerted to her activities we moved away from the sighting and on to cook some food ourselves! Leaving happy in the knowledge that she had the opportunity to feed and replenish the energy expounded during the chase. Fortunately Notch and Co were simply to full to have noticed the activities nearby and given no cries were let out at the time of the Fawn's 'dispatch' we were confident she would be left to feed in peace.

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.

Notch...the black mane lion king returns

This evenings drive was a very special one, Since 2005 Andy and I have followed the trials and tribulations of 'Notch' and as a result have become very attached to this handsome chap! After spending some time in the last two days looking for him we have today been rewarded with our first sighting on this particular trip. Looking as majestic as always we found him, high upon some rocks and close by to the Mara River with one of his sons and three impressive lionesses. The sighting was just so lovely, and what made it even more special was that we spent this time totally alone with him, no other vehicles to be found. So far on this trip we have also found two of his other sons, sadly one with a rather sore and deep wound to his face, but given that lions are resiliant to injury we are sure that it wont be long until this heals.

Morning of the Cheetah

This morning our mission to find cheetah was a great success, not only did we find a beautiful lone female cheetah but we were also reunited with some old friends.....namely Sita (BBC's Shakira) and her three female cubs (approx 16/17 months old) It was an especially special moment to see this family having spent many hours with them a few months ago. As we sit and write this blog they are resting on a mound in the harsh African sun, having already made two failed attempts to kill and source food. The inexperience of the cubs is still evident as both attempts were foiled by the lack of patience that two of the cubs showed whilst stalking their prey, sitting up at just the wrong moment. It wont be long now until the young girls make a new independent life for themselves. Meanwhile a lone lioness can be spotted in the far distance having made a failed attempt to hunt a Topi.

Fun and frolics with a Topi carcass

At first light we found that two lionesses had caught a Topi, just 500m from our camp, sometime early in the morning. 8 cute little cubs had a great time while they explored their first taste of meat. But at this age its no substitute for a visit to the 'milk bar' which soon opened after the cubs exhausted themselves from clambering and chewing on the rib cage! (These little guys are the offspring from either Notch or one of Notch's sons)

Happy to be back in the bush

Our first update from the Masai Mara comes whilst we are sitting by our campfire, listening to the sounds of the bush and smelling our steak dinner cooking. The African sky, as always, seems endless and alight with the most amazing concentration of stars. With just a scrub hare for company and the sound of lions roaring very nearby we are truly happy to be back in the bush!

Our first day has been filled with some lovely sightings, just 10 minutes after entering the reserve Andy spotted a male cheetah, relaxed and sitting on a mound perusing the savannah for what could be next on the dinner menu. Tired from the journey and in need of nourishment ourselves we left the cheetah to continue its path.

The afternoon continued to provide more feline activity, including the cutest little lion cubs up to mischief whilst the mother, a beautiful golden lioness attempted to hunt warthog nearby.

As we finish writing this our friendly hare has vanished...,,,will it be replaced by any other night time visitors perhaps? Hopefully our infrared night time camera will reveal all.......