The rains of Africa

Masai Mara National Park, Kenya

Our Dutch friends Conny and Dirk have joined us on their first trip to Kenya, they have been to Namibia and Botswana, so it's not their first trip to Africa. Lindsay was worried that they might be disappointed as he is so passionate about the place, he needn't have.

Our hotel was just across the road from Wilson airport but you have to enter from the other side which makes it anywhere between a 10 minute to a half hour drive depending on the traffic. Our flight was due to leave at 8pm and even though it's a domestic flight they still check your passports. The person who booked our flights had misspelt Conny's name and put us all down as British citizens which caused a bit of a problem but didn't stop us from boarding.

About to get on our plane to fly to the Mara - Dirk, Conny & Lindsay

We have come back to the Masai Mara in Kenya, it's been four years and it looks different, so what has changed? It has been usually wet and the roads are sodden and very muddy. This is supposed to be the time of the greatest migration on earth, when a number of species namely the wildebeest, along with some zebras and topis migrate from Tanzania in the south to Kenya in the north as the feed down south diminishes and the rains abate. But not this year, it's still raining in Tanzania too, so why cross the Mara river with all those crocodiles or risk breaking a leg getting up those steep cliffs if you don't have to? The mud is very slippery and for the first couple of days we often are sliding sideways instead of driving straight.

Brian greets Lindsay at the airport

Day 1

A small plane takes us from Wilson airport (all small planes) to a dirt landing strip in the Masai Mara. We drop a group of  people off at another location before we get to disembark at our destination. Brian and our guides are there to welcome us and we are asked if we want to go to camp first or go straight on a game drive. I jump in quickly and say a game drive as I don't want to waste time going to camp when our luggage can be taken there without us. We grab our cameras, jackets, hats etc and off we go.

On safari

The mud reminds us of a trip we did in Mildura where we had no control over where our car was going and this was no different.

Cheetah and her cub

crossing the river

Trying to hide in the grass

gallop

in full flight

A cheetah and her cub have been spotted and we get there in time to see them sitting under some bushes. They move out and travel across a river and we get some lovely pictures of them crossing over rocks. The mother spots an impala and she chases after it. It's extremely difficult to shoot a cheetah as they are the fastest animal on earth - they can run up to 120kmph. While it would be nice to zoom in, you can't because you can't track her quickly enough, so you have to compromise. My photos are taken at a focal length of 300mm even though my lens will go to 400mm. She didn't get the impala, they are pretty fast too. While they can only get up to 80kmph, they zig zag which the cheetah can't anticipate.

Wildebeest are here, just not near the river

There is only one other person in camp at this stage, a Scottish woman with a really strong accent who seems to have travelled to everywhere on the planet. She likes to be the centre of attention we are about to find out and while she says she had a fantastic day every day, we rarely hear what was so good about it. We go back to camp around 12pm, then go out again at 3:30pm until 6pm, but this afternoon we don't take many pictures and it starts to rain before we get back to camp.

sultry

Hippos come into camp at night and munch on the grass right near Lindsay's ear and keep him awake. The hippo kills more people in Africa a year than any other animal which is why we aren't allowed out of our tents at night. Our camp employs Masai to walk around at night as security, sometimes you can here them talking to each other. In the morning I just stand outside my tent door, wave my torch around so that they can see that I want them and they escort me to the mess tent. Lindsay is a bit more cavalier and walks by himself. His reasoning is that they have already shooed the animals out before we get up, but what if one of them decides to come back.... just for one more munch? Not to worry, they'll get Lindsay.

Young Hyenas

Hippo footprints outside our tent the next morning

Day 2

It rained all night and it's still raining when go out the next morning at 6am in the dark, so I put on my wet weather gear and hope it stops before we see anything we want to photograph. And it does.

Elephant 

Grey-headed kingfisher

Topi's standing guard

And that was all we saw...

We find a mating pair but the grass is so long you can't really get any decent photos as they are pretty low to the ground and in the past I know I don't really want these photos anyway. They do it every ten minutes or so for days on end, our guide said that the female is probably impregnated in the first few times and then he is shooting blanks which makes sense as the sperm wouldn't have a chance to be replenished. There are actually three lions, two male brothers and one female. The male that missed out has gone to sulk under a tree while the other two make their way in the general direction of the tree but stopping every few seconds it seems to do, you know what. We think there is going to be another fight but Martin says that the defeated one will give up his shaded tree and take off, he's had enough for one day. But they leave him alone and bypass him.

The mating pair

I missed out: I look good don't I, was it my hairstyle?

The lions hide in the long grass

Zebra

We get some entertainment from Duncan, our friends guide has got himself bogged and spun the wheels so much that he is entrenched in the mud and has called us to come and help. Our guide tries to drive the car out but it's useless. They wave down what looks to be a water truck and we think this will be all over in no time. It takes them a little while to pull off the draw bar that they are going to attach - one end to the Landrover and one end to the truck. Then both drivers try to drive off - but in opposite directions. Only in Africa! - the veritable push me pull you. Then the truck gets stuck. After a few minutes he gets away but they realise that the tyres are too bald for it to take any part of the rescue mission. Then comes along another Freeman Safari Landrover and using the truck bar they pull him out - I can't believe none of the cars had any recovery gear in them - no rope, no snatch strap, no winch. Aggh, madness.

Martin tries to see if he can get Duncan out

A Canadian family arrive this morning, so our camp numbers are starting to increase.

In the afternoon, we hear that Koboso's cubs are visible. Koboso is one of Bahati's cubs. We photographed Bahati four years ago and she is gorgeous. It seems the bush telegraph has been working well and everyone seems to be there. The only way to see them is to drive into the river crossing but one car is hogging the spot and won't drive off. We decide to drive around to the other side and try and see if we can see anything from the other side. This isn't easy or fast as crossing are far and few between. We are next in line, but the rangers arrive and order everyone out and then we can go back in one at a time for a few minutes each. We were told we could go next but sneaky Duncan gets in before us, we should have left him in the mud, LOL. Finally it's our turn. We can only see the female, her brother is behind some bushes. Leopards love bushes, that way their motley camouflaged coat hides them well in the dappled light. It's dark and I open up my f/ stop to it's fullest and crank up the ISO to 5000 - I need to get some light in to increase my speed which is a paltry 200-320 depending on where I focus, which is not nearly enough to get a sharp picture if they move. Even so, I know the picture is going to be a bit grainy but I may not get another opportunity to shoot these beautiful elusive creatures.

Leopold

One car at a time is the only way to see these leopards

The clouds are building again but we have a wonderful sunset.

New clients come into camp and we meet a South African who lives in London who has brought his parents here for a holiday and are good company.

28 August 2018

Day 3 & 4: An unlikely trio
Day 5 & 6: Lion's prize
Day 7 & 8: Very special lion day
Day 9 & 10: Can it be called a crossing?