Lion Cubs

The lion cubs in the photo are only a couple of months old and had not yet joined the rest of the pride. We first spotted these cubs in the late afternoon when returning from a full day in the mara. Four of them, so tiny as they walked with their mother and another female, probably their aunt. It looked as though their mother was leading them to a new place. Lion cubs are generally born in a thicket or a rocky outcrop where they remain hidden for the first six to eight weeks, the only reason a mother would chance moving them is if she felt that they were in danger. We had noticed a large buffalo herd not too far away, so maybe the buffalo had got too close for comfort. Buffalo and lions are mortal enemies; the buffalo know instinctively that when a lion cub grows up it will hunt their calves, so when they do come across a lion cub they will kill it instantly.

We couldn't follow them to see where their mother was taking them as dusk was approaching and we had to leave the reserve. So we noted the general direction they were headed so that we could try to find them tomorrow.

The following day we spent hours combing the area where we last saw them, trying to guess at where they might be hiding. Our guide was convinced that they hadn't gone too far, she wouldn't have risked wandering around in the dark with them. We devoted a couple of hours each morning to try and find those lion cubs, with no success. We checked with the other guides, no-one had seen them, most didn't even know there were any young lion cubs in the area. I voiced my opinion that I didn't think we would be lucky enough to see them again, the guide just said 'hapana Marie, you will see them again before you go home, never give up.'

It was five days later, the sun just breaking the horizon, changing the colour of the sky from a deep red to a cool blue, bathing the land in a soft light, in the distance there they were. I couldn't believe my eyes, all four of them, still alive. Their mother had done a great job of hiding them, keeping them safe. The guide was right on both counts, they hadn't moved too far and I did see them again. It was a wonderful sight, still with their mother and aunt the group was more relaxed than the last time we saw them. While the two adult females looked on the cubs ran and tumbled around in the short grass, jumping up at the adults and on top of each other. We stayed for a while watching them play, catching three of them together as they rested on a mound of earth in between bouts.

Eventually they went on their way and reluctantly we on ours. The image of that beautiful and peaceful scene will remain with me forever, as will the guides advice, 'never give up.'

Mount Elgon Reserve

This week's photo has nothing to do with the story, well not directly anyway. It was shot from the porch of a banda we stayed at, on the edge of Mount Elgon nature reserve. The well manicured lawn which boasts a purpose built BBQ and picnic area is surrounded by woodland and is home to many different animals, some of which we got to see at very close quarters. Each morning a large troope of baboons and a large herd of waterbuck ambled across our lawn as they ventured deeper into the woods looking for food. The waterbuck being quite shy kept their distance, the baboons on the other hand were more gregarious and came quite close, some of the males were pretty big. The baboon in the photo took an opportunity to rest on one of the seats in the picnic area on his way through.

My story is in fact about getting a hot shower. A hot shower is a big thing for me while on safari. I can go without many comforts but a hot shower is not one of them. There's nothing nicer than getting into a hot shower before dinner, after spending a day on the road often in quite dusty conditions, its heaven! Actually getting what I consider to be a hot shower is a bit hit & miss. The water that feeds the showers in the campsites is heated in a big oil drum, which is supported on a rickety, homemade platform at a height of around 8ft in order to get enough pressure. A fire is lit beneath the drum so the temperature of the water is determined by the distance of the fire from the drum, how big the fire is and how long the fire has been burning. Getting it just right is tricky. This set up leaves the structure vulnerable to strong winds and it's not unknown for the whole thing to collapse, fortunately due to its simplicity it doesn't take too long to put back up again.

On this particular day we had arrived at Mount Elgon after spending two days in a tree house in Saiwa Swamp which we shared with a swarm of flies and a swarm of wasps who had made their home in the small shower room. So for two days I got by with washing in cold water using an outside tap. I was now really looking forward to a hot shower but was preparing myself for possible disappointment. I sent Ken in first so I would know what to expect, his verdict was it was hot, it was too hot. I thought thats not possible, how can a shower be too hot. I gathered my shampoo and other toiletries and rushed eagerly into the bathroom. To my surprise it really was too hot, in fact I would describe it as scalding! and I couldn't get it any cooler. I tried squatting down close to the floor as I figured it wouldn't be quite as hot at the bottom, it was just bearable. I got my hot shower anyway; I emerged looking like a ripe tomato. All ken said was "I told you it was hot."

I'm still hopeful of finding a perfect shower while on safari, Maybe next year.

The Lions Share

When we came across this lion kill the warthog was already dead with two lionesses and a small cub tucking
into this tasty meal, well tasty for them! We didn't actually see the kill this time, but we settled down to watch, one of the best things about being on safari is to quietly watch the behaviour of the wildlife in their natural habitat as they go about their normal activities. After only five minutes we heard a low roar, it didn't sound too far away. The lionesses had also clearly heard it because they reluctantly moved a short distance away from the kill and settled into the long grass to wait, while the large male lion sauntered in to take what he believed was due to him. It was absolutely fascinating to watch as this scene unfolded.

Everyone knows that the male lions get fed first, that's why we have the saying 'the lions share' but when you are watching, first hand and up close, you can actually feel the frustration of the hungry lioness. When the females moved aside, they didn't go far and although they looked very nonchalant about the whole thing they were keeping a keen eye on things. The cub fared a little better as the lion allowed him to join in and they fed together for a while.

After a short time the whole thing got too much for one of the lionesses, maybe she was still young and hadn't quite accepted the correct etiquette in these matters. Hoping not to be seen she used the cover of the long grass, to quietly and slowly move in. The lion continued eating and all was relatively peaceful, that was until the lioness got just a little too close. He turned on her in an instant, using his huge paw and growled a warning in no uncertain terms, she quite wisely retreated. After five minutes she tried again, using the same tactics, but with the same result. This time she got the message and stayed put until the lion had his fill.

Most times on safari when you come across lions they are generally sleeping, they spend a lot of time during the day sleeping in the shade, this gives a false impression that they can be pretty docile, however when food is involved there is no mistaking there aggressive behaviour.

Elephants of Mount Elgon

I haven't posted for a while as I have been organising an exhibition of my wildlife photos, but I'm back with a story of how aggressive some elephants can be.

Elephants are the largest of all the animals so they don't have any natural predators, except man of course, who kill them for the ivory, which fortunately is now banned. That's not to say the trade has completely died out but it is rare now and the rangers are always on the lookout for poachers.

Most of the time, while on safari, elephants seem like very placid and quite sedentary animals as they slowly make their way across the rolling plains of the Mara, eating the grass and leaves off the trees as they go. You will notice though if you're ever on safari that the guides don't get too close. There is no real reason to either, they are so big and create such a presence that you can watch them and photograph them at a reasonable distance. The elephants themselves are very tolerant of the tourists in their jeeps, so long as their space is not invaded and they are not threatened in anyway. If you do accidentally get too close they trumpet a warning in your direction and this is usually enough. You will often see an elephant walking down the tracks that the vehicles use, if you happen to be driving along the same track as an elephant you can be sure that it will be you that has to get off the road and give the elephant a wide birth.

This year we spent a few days at Mount Elgon national reserve, the terrain is very different there when compared with the Mara. There are large forested areas and the elephants like all the other animals that live there have adapted to their environment, they are smaller than the plains elephants and redder in colour. They are also more aggressive if disturbed.

While driving through the forest on one of the days we came upon two female elephants with two calves, one of the calves was just a baby. They were just crossing the road, we immediately stopped but kept the engine running, there was a brief standoff which is when I managed to get this photo. You can see from the photo that the two females were shielding the calves from view. Once they had nudged the young ones into the safety of the bushes, they faced towards us and went into a full charge, trunk raised, ears flapping, running straight at us. I have to admit I was very frightened, I'd say a lot more than the elephants were. The driver immediately put the jeep into reverse and we sped off backwards as fast as we could. They only stopped charging when they felt we were no longer close enough to the calves to be a threat. It was a very scary encounter, not one that I would want to experience again, there have been incidents where elephants have overturned jeeps, we were fortunate.

The whole experience left me shaken and with a greater respect for elephants.

Dinner in the Bush

When camping I think the two most important things are food and a hot shower, in that order. I love my food so I would hate to go two or three weeks without a decent meal. We have tried both camping and lodges on our visits to Kenya and by far the best to me is camping. For one thing it's cheaper, but more importantly you also get closer to nature and to the local people, who work in the campsites and look after you really well. Although camping is basic that doesn't mean it's not comfortable, most campsites now have tents with en-suite toilet and shower which is brilliant. The campsite above was the exception. It is somehow relaxing to lie in bed at night under canvas listening to the lions roar in the distance and the calls of the hyena, they really do sound as if they are laughing. The animal calls remind you that the plains are very much alive at night.

As part of the camping experience we travel with a guide and our own personal cook. We were lucky enough to get a really good one, name Charles, he has accompanied us and fed us on most of our travels around Kenya. Being in the middle of nowhere means that you can't just pop down to the shop to get a bag of crisps or a sandwich, which is why its great to get nice food and plenty of it. Generally Charles would use the kitchen facilities in the campsite, but occasionally we have stayed in campsites where there are no cooking facilities which is why Charles brings along his little camping gas ring, the one he is using in the photo. He actually managed to rustle up a delicious three course meal for us on this, I was very impressed.

I hope that he is free to join us again on our next visit.

Mount Longonot

This photo of Mount Longonot was taken from lake Naivasha, on this years trip we decided it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more active. Usually we would spend our time following and watching the wildlife, which means that we are confined to our vehicle most of the time, for obvious reasons. I wanted to get out of the jeep for a change, walk around and enjoy the scenery, so I chose Mount Longonot. This is a small dormant volcano, well small when compared to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya but fairly large in my opinion. At 9,108ft it is just under half the size of Kilimanjaro. I have to confess that I don't normally do alot of walking especially not in mountainous regions, however I thought it would be challenging but fun. The guide book I consulted said that it takes about an hour to reach the top then another two hours to walk around the rim, I thought even I could manage 3 hours! The guide book also said it was worth the climb for the incredible views from the top, they were at least correct in this. I had though, seriously over-estimated my fitness levels and my stamina, being a grandmother I'm no spring chicken. I probably could have climbed it in one hour if I had been training at boot camp for six months, in reality it took me two hours, with plenty of stops for water, applying sunscreen because the sun was very hot and of course to catch my breath. It was hard going but I finally reached the top.

It took 20 minutes for me to recover enough to take in my surroundings, it was a fantastic view in all directions. After we recovered Ken was all for going back down but I talked him into walking around the rim, after going to all that trouble to get up there it seemed silly to go straight back down. It didn't look that bad, but for the second time I had over-estimated my abilities. It took us three hours, the path was narrow with loose stones and dry grey dust that made certain parts slippery and almost lethal. I fell more than once so my clothes were covered in the grey dust. By this time I was also becoming quite burnt from the strong African sun, despite applying liberal amounts of sunscreen. So I had the idea of covering my bare arms and face with the dust to protect my exposed skin. It worked but I must have looked a sight when I finally descended and reached the picnic area where lunch was waiting for us. I was so exhausted after the hike that I couldn't even eat anything and boy was I happy to get a hot shower that evening.

Once I had showered and rested and was sitting out under the stars with a cold beer and mosquitos for companions. I was really proud of myself and pleased that I had done it, I felt a real sense of achievement, maybe next year I will attempt Kilimanjaro.

How to Shoot a Fish Eagle

Of course I mean with a camera and not with a weapon. This story is for photographers, anyone who has tried to photograph a bird knows how tricky they are to capture. When they are still, they are generally in a tree, and without a powerful zoom lens, which is very expensive, then all you get is a bird in a tree. You can't make out what type of bird it is, what subtle colours its feathers have and why you took the photo in the first place. Photographing a bird in flight is even more difficult, again you need the expensive zoom lens, then you have to find the bird through the viewfinder in the expanse of sky and finally you have to keep track of its flight path, not to mention keeping the shutter speed high enough to freeze the action while ensuring you get enough light into the camera so that you don't end up with a bird shaped silhouette against the bright sky. Not an easy task!

There are particular times that give better or should I say easier shots. When they are just taking flight or just landing, at these times they are not moving too fast but still have their wings partly out or in the case of the fish eagle above at the point when the eagle snatches a fish out of the lake, for a fraction of a second the bird is almost motionless. This is when you shoot, simple! So the trick is to know when the eagle is going to swoop, to know where the eagle is going to swoop and to be prepared.

This is how I did it; While staying at lake baringo I took an early morning boat ride with a young local man as a guide. The boat was just like a small rowing boat but with an engine at the back. The guides around lake baringo know all about the wildlife as they make their living from tourists. We first went to see some local fishermen, they fish the lake in small, no, very small hand made boats that look more like small moses baskets. They catch fish to feed their families, sell any extra at market and also sell to tourists looking to photograph fish eagles. They were very proud of their boats and their catch and offered to pose for photographs, I didn't realise until afterwards that the photos had to be paid for as well. The guide took three fish, each fish was stuffed with a light balsa wood so that it would float. Each one was prepared very carefully to give just the right amount of buoyancy. The guide obviously thought that I might need three goes to get it right, as it happened he wasn't wrong.

I admired the lake and the huge variety of birds concentrated along the shoreline as we drove over to where the fish eagle had its nest. The engine was cut so we were just bobbing around in the water while the guide explained what would happen and gave me time to get my camera ready and decide what settings I would need. All prepared, I gave the nod and he let out a shrill whistle, this alerts the fish eagle that its time for breakfast, the eagle perches in a tree on the shoreline and waits. The guide then throws a fish in the water at a spot not too far from the boat, this is where I focus, I count to six then pressed the shutter button, I had made sure I was shooting on continuous first. It takes a fraction of a second for the eagle to lift the fish out of the water, it was such a surprise that I stopped shooting and didn't get a very good shot. Fortunately we had the three fish and I was better prepared the second time.

It was great to get a shot like this, It is a truly amazing thing to see, even better to capture it forever. 

Jackals Dinner

While out in the Mara one afternoon my guide pointed out some vultures circling in the distance. They start this circling behaviour when they see a kill and hope to pick the bones when the predators have finished with it. I don't know how high these birds fly but when I first saw them, they looked like small specks highlighted against the blue sky. How they manage to spot a kill from this height is impressive, they must have some special kind of eyesight. It was not long before more and more vultures joined them, they come in real high then gradually get lower and lower until settling in a tree, near the kill, to wait.

We headed off towards them and sure enough found a pride of lions enjoying the remains of a buffalo. I knew it was a buffalo because of the distinctive curled horns. The vultures were not the only scavengers in the vicinity, there were a couple of hyenas and five jackals also eyeing up the food, obviously none were brave enough to get too close until the lions had had their fill and moved off.

The guide got a good position and parked up so we could see what would happen. When we arrived 15 lions were eating, as we waited one by one the lions, when full, moved off to lay in the shade and sleep off their large meal. It was down to the last two lions and the scavengers were still waiting patiently, but you could sense their increasing anticipation, as they slowly edged closer, with the vultures squabbling over bits of entrails and gristle that had been scattered on the ground away from the main carcass. Finally the last two lions finished. Before they had gone three feet the vultures were in, swarming all over the carcass so not even an inch of it could be seen, at least 50 of them all jostling for position.

The hyenas started to walk away; they had clearly decided that the rewards possibly wouldn't be worth the effort required in fighting off that many vultures. The jackals however had no such qualms and dived right into the melee. I was surprised to see that the vultures made space for them, in fact if any of them got too close the jackals would turn and snap at them, even jumping right up into the air as they flew just out of reach. More than once a jackal got a mouthful of feathers when a vulture didn't move quickly enough.

It was hard work for them, they must have been really hungry to stand their ground and fight off the huge numbers of vultures for such a small share of the food. After 10 minutes between them they had picked the carcass clean.

Hippo's are dangerous

I love this sign, kenyans have a knack of stating the obvious, especially when it comes to sign writing. I came across this sign while at a campsite on the shore of Lake Baringo. There was another sign as you drive into the camp suggesting to visitors that camping in this particular place might also be dangerous and you do it at your own risk. It seemed a bit over the top but you could imagine that if a tourist did actually get attacked by a hippo one of the locals would rush up and say 'you were warned!' Since I wasn't camping as such, it didn't worry me unduly. Myself and my husband were staying in a banda, not a tent, although our chef had pitched his tent next to our banda and he didn't seem too concerned either.

While we were waiting for dinner me and Ken strolled down to the lake which was in fact only about 20 metres away. The scene was just perfect, water gently lapping against the sandy earth, birds singing in the background and hopping around picking up insects. The sky was turning a golden orange and pale pink as the sun was setting. Then right in front of the lake was this sign urging us to be cautious and stating the obvious, that both hippo's and crocodiles are dangerous, It didn't say that hippo's were likely to pop up right in front of you without warning, which is exactly what happened, suddenly two hippo heads appeared out of the water so gently they barely caused a ripple, they were less than 5 metres from where we stood!

My first reaction after the initial surprise was to take a photo, I always have my camera with me. They were so relaxed and didn't look in the least bit threatening. Hippo's are generally only dangerous if they feel their babies are threatened, we found this out the following day when we were out in a boat and accidentally got a little too close to a mother and baby, she didn't like it one bit. She actually chased us away, making really load noises at us and leaving us in no doubt that she meant business. You tend not to hang around when faced with two tonnes of angry hippo, they can overturn a small boat no problem. Or they might attack you if you surprise them while they are grazing. They come out of the lake each night to graze on the land retuning to the lake at dawn. We could hear them communicating to each other outside our banda, I wasn't about to pop outside in the dead of the night and surprise them anyway!

We never got to see any crocodiles, dangerous or otherwise. My lasting impression of Lake Baringo was one of tranquility, so relaxing and calm, a perfect place to write a book. The reason for this is that there is not much to do, no activity or distractions.

Thieves in the Camp

Monkeys are probably the most adaptable of animals, they actually welcome us visitors to their country as they find many ways of expoiting and benefiting from us. While taking other peoples things without asking is actually a crime, for monkeys it's more an opportunity. It's not always an easy task to protect your belongings especially if it's edible!

We camped for two nights at a site just next to lake bogoria, a lovely campsite with a resident troupe of vervet monkeys and a plague of mosquitos. The monkeys hang around the camp full time in the hope of getting left overs and anything else they can get their hands on. They go to the bins each morning and evening to see what has been thrown away. They inspect everything and will eat almost anything they can digest. In the photo above they are tucking into the remains of our spagetti bolognaise and thoroughly enjoying it.

We arrived at the campsite late afternoon and settled in while Charles, our chef, cooked dinner. He managed to cook a three course meal on a one ring camping gas stove, which was pretty impressive in itself, not only that but the food was lovely. Tomorrow we were heading off for a full day at the lake, so after breakfast Charles made up a packed lunch and put the rest of the food in his tent, securing the zips with a padlock to keep it safe and out of the hands of the monkeys, or so he thought. We hadn't realised how determined and persistent they could be. Because they couldn't get in via the zip they picked at different parts of the tent until a small hole appeared, then they continued to pick at this until the hole got bigger and bigger until finally it was large enough for them to squeeze into and steal the food stored within.

We returned late afternoon to find a selection of partly eaten vegetables scattered around the tents. One of the monkeys was actually sitting on the branch of a tree just above the tent, crunching away on a carrot, watching us as we inspected the damage. They had taken most of our food for that evening; fortunately we had just enough to get by until we could stock up again the next day. There was a German family also staying at the campsite who were present when this took place. When they realised what was happening they had tried to chase the monkeys away but to no avail, there were just too many of them and they were very well organised.

This is just one of the hazards of camping, sometimes no matter how careful you try to be, the wildlife are usually one step ahead, they have learned how to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.

Tree Top House

I'd like to tell you about one of the places we stayed on our recent trip. We spent two nights in a small nature reserve called Saiwa Swamp, which as the name suggests is a swamp which is surrounded by woods. This is the only place in Kenya that the very shy Sitatunga antelope can be found.

We arrived at the reserve late afternoon and drove to a clearing in the woods to find a lovely well kept camping area with space for tents, a brick shower unit and a tiolet. In the centre of the camp was a rather large round open building with a camp fire in the middle that acted as a kitchen. We were not camping however, we took our rucksacks out of the jeep and were led to a small winding path that disappeared into the woods. At the entrance to the path was a signpost saying 'Tree Top House' Now in Kenya they tend to be quite literal, especially with their signs so we were left in no doubt as to what type of accommodation we were staying in. Sure enough about 50m in was a large tree with a house at the top of it. We climed the steps that led to a platform and entered. It was quite nice, it had a small entrance with the bedroom on one side and the toilet/shower room on the other side with a small balcony at the back overlooking the swamp. The balcony had a small sink just outside the shower room, to be fair there wasn't enough space inside to put the sink. The bedroom had two single beds and had just enough space at the bottom to put the rucksacks. The beds had mosquito nets even if they were torn in places with holes big enough to let mosquito's in but I wasn't going to let a minor detail like that bother me. after settling in we went back to the kitchen for our dinner and didn't return until after dark.

The first problem manifested itself when I entered the toilet to find really big bluebottle flies lying dead on the floor and a whole heap of wasps, very much alive, in one of the top corners. Needless to say I didn't hang around, I got out of there as quickly as I could. I shut the door on the whole thing and went into the bedroom. Ken decided that the tree outside might be a better option. We had electricity in our tree house so I put the light on while we got ready for bed, that turned out to be a big mistake. I had only just got under the mosquito net when I heard a loud buzzing sound, one of the bluebottles had got in, probably attracted by the light, then another one appeared, then another, they were coming in through a big gap at the bottom of the door! We jumped out of the beds, grabbed a towel each and tried to either get the flies out or kill them. I immediately switched off the light while Ken stuffed one of the towels along the bottom of the door to keep them out. It was like something out of a horror movie, we were completely on our own, in a swamp, with a swarm of flies and wasps outside our bedroom door and with the wind getting up our little house had started to sway a little. We did the only thing we could do in the circumstances, we went to sleep. I hoped that firstly we wouldn't end up in the swamp and secondly that I didn't need to go to the toilet in the night as I had drank a couple of beers.

Morning arrived to my great relief which was only marred by the thought that I would have to go through the whole thing again tonight. On a positive note the days were lovely, it was very relaxing and we did get to see and photograph the elusive sitatunga.

Lioness & Buffalo Calf

Well, I'm back, had a fantastic time with lots more stories. The first one I would like to share with you is about this lioness and buffalo calf. This photograph was taken in Nakuru wildlife reserve and we were the only vehicle around to witness the unfortunate demise of this baby buffalo calf.

We had arrived at the reserve the previous evening and were getting an early start for our first game drive as I wanted to photograph the sunrise over lake Nakuru. On the way to the view point Ken noticed a hyena in the weak twilight of dawn. We didn't want to stop in case we missed the crucial moment when the sun first appears on the horizon and we still had to get into position and set up the tripod. So we made a note of where the hyena was and aimed to go back later. It was around 7am by the time we had finished so we packed up and set out to find the hyena. We returned to the same spot and found not one but five hyenas on the road, straight away we knew that something was happening. As we slowly drove closer to them we also noticed two lionesses and three jackals not far away. All these predators and scavengers in one area could only mean one thing, they were after something!

They were all looking in the direction of a mother and baby buffalo a little way down the road so we drove away from the predators towards the buffalo. As we got closer it was clear that the baby was sick. The rest of the buffalo herd were making their way to the lake but the baby couldn't walk far and kept collapsing on the ground. The mother was trying to encourage the baby to get up and follow her, she would move off then return when the baby called out for her. The hyenas took this opportunity to creep closer, when they got too close the mother would turn on them and chase them away. This went on for around forty minutes, all the time the lionesses kept their distance and stayed in the background, they were very patient.

The mother stayed and protected her baby as long as she could, but she instinctively knew that there was nothing more she could do and she had to follow the rest of the herd to the lake, she got further and further away from the calf, finally deciding not to return despite the cries. The hyenas we in like a flash, one, two, then three of them snapping at the calf's legs. The calf was bravely trying to defend itself, to little effect. In less than a minute one of the lionesses, who had been waiting in the background ran in and pounced on the calf. The hyenas scattered, there was nothing they could do against two powerful female lions. Once one lioness had pinned down the calf the other lioness came in and smothered it before they began their meal. The hyenas vocalised their protests, but wouldn't approach too closely, they had to wait for scraps along with the jackals.

For around an hour the whole scene played out right in front of us and not a single vehicle joined us. It was a privilege to watch the behaviour all these animals in their natural habitat and one that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Cheetah Kill

This is something that I never thought I would witness first hand. Three cheetah's stalking, chasing and killing a baby Topi, yet you see it on wildlife programmes all the time. The main difference between real life and the TV is that it is over in literally a few seconds. You don't get to see it repeated or in slow motion. Also when you see it on TV it seems less real, even though it is natural behaviour in order to survive, being so removed from my everyday life I didn't know how I would feel about seeing at first hand, one animal kill and eat another. All I can say is that I didn't think much at all, it's just so amazing to watch, to be part of it. The skill and speed of the cheetah is breath taking. My husband always wanted to see a cheetah kill so that he could say the words 'that was ballistic' like Johnathon Scott on the Big Cat Diaries, and the one chance he got he was so mesmerised that he didn't even remember to say it!

Tension builds from the moment one of the cheetah's first looks around and spots a likely target. They must communicate in some way or just maybe act from pure instinct, because they work as a team, with one stealthily approaching the baby Topi directly, keeping as low as possible and blending in with the long grass, while the other two move out wide in different directions to cut off the Topi's escape. All the while, barely able to breathe, wondering will they be successful, both wanting them to be and wanting them not to be at the same time.

After watching the chase and the kill we drove around to where the they had settled to enjoy their meal. The cheetah that that had taken the lead and had done most of the running and chased the baby Topi down was out of breath and was resting while the other two were already tucking in. The only thing was, the Topi was not yet dead and cried out one last time, the mother who was standing not far away also heard this. I've never been one to transfer human sentiments onto animals and I have no idea how gazelle's think and feel but I for one was a little upset for her.

Cheetah's tend to eat as quickly as possible in case another, bigger predator comes in and takes their meal away from them but today they relax a little as there was nothing else around.

I will be in Kenya for the month of April so will not be posting any new blogs for a while but will be back in May with lots more stories and photo's.

A Hippo's Life

Hippo's are not yet an endangered species but they have recently been added to the vulnerable list due to destruction of their natural habitat. Fortunately due to their size they don't really have any natural predators. That's not to say lions, hyenas and crocodiles wouldn't attack a baby hippo, they might have a go if they were hungry but they would then have to face a very angry mother hippo equipped with long, razor sharp incisors and is not afraid to use them.
Hippo's are generally placid animals and lead fairly sedentary lives, lazing at the waters edge during the day where they can submerge when it gets too hot, then grazing for around five hours each night, while its cool. Each night they would cover an area of one or two miles and travel even further from the river during the dry season when grass is not as abundant and the ground is dry and over grazed.

The groups of hippo's that live along the banks of the mara and talek river quite happily share their habitat with crocodiles. It is the large males that pose the biggest threat to other hippo's when they fight each other for the right to mate with the females and to keep hold of their territories when the water dwindles in the dry season.

It is quite relaxing watching the hippo's, its one of the few times when you are allowed out of the vehicle to sit quietly on the opposite side of the river bank to see how they behave. Female hippo's are very maternal, when out of the water the babies try to lay in the shade created by their mother. I watched one mother with two babies try to encourage  them to enter the river in a shallow area by gently nudging them in the right direction. One of the babies walked straight in, no problem and was enjoying the cool water, the other one though was having none of it, the mother would get him (or her, I'm not sure if their is an easy way to tell the gender of baby hippo's) so far then he would slip away from her pretty niftily, so she would have to start again. It was amusing to watch, after about fifteen minutes she did finally get the second baby into the water but you could see that he wasn't happy with the situation and didn't stay in for long.
It's so nice just to sit and watch as the natural world unfolds in front of you, there is nothing like it.

Night Life in Camp

This is an example of the wild night life you can expect if you go camping in Amboseli and if your idea of a holiday is late night partying then this is definately not for you.

We found this local bar sort of by accident while camping in Amboseli, we were relaxing after an afternoon game drive, just waiting for dinner, when a man and his daughter strolled past and stopped to ask us for directions to the bar. The first thing that suprised us was that anyone was strolling around at all since there was no fence around the campsite and you wouldn't know what you might come across, the second thing was the idea that the campsite actually had a bar, and finally what suprised us the most was that they were Irish! These were the first Irish people we had seen since we first started coming to Kenya and he seemed conviced that there was a bar around somewhere. He promised to let us know if he found one.

The next day after our game drive the thought of a nice cold beer seemed like heaven so we asked our guide if there was a bar in the campsite and to my amazment there was, he said he would drive us there because he was concerned for our safety, I'm not sure if it was that or he just fancied a beer. So we pulled up at what looked like a garden shed with a guiness sign on it, as you can see from the photo, I'm not exagerating. Inside it was very busy. It wasn't much bigger than a garden shed, there was the serving hatch at one end with a few plastic tables and chairs for the customers. Most of the seats were taken by groups of Maasai men in their traditional dress complete with rather large knives and playing cards. This was a little worrying as I had never seen so many large knives outside of a kitchen. Can you imagine a Dublin pub where everyone came carrying a knife, you just know that nothing good would ever come of it.

Our guide explained that these local people were working for a conservation agency and were currently carrying out a project concerning the elephants. So we grabbed a couple of chairs and relaxed with a beer. After a while I noticed that there was another room with people coming and going, I was a little curious as to what was in there or as my husband would say just plain nosey. I couldn't resist going over to have a look inside, I tried to be casual about it, which was difficult since we were the only white people there and I was the only female, but no-one stopped me so I carried on. To my complete surprise it was a games room, just large enough to hold a pool table. It didn't matter that the ground was uneven and the pool table unsteady they were having a great time and so were we. It was definately a day of surprises. We stayed for a while before going back to our tents as we had an early start in the morning taking a final game drive before our long drive back to Nairobi.

The Hungry Lioness

Last week I described the most frightening experience of my time in Kenya, the baboons in the night, this week I want to tell you about the highlight of all my safaris.

We were out in the Mara as usual, me, my husband and our guide, when we came across a couple of lionesses snoozing in the afternoon sun. There were no other vehicles around so we pulled up not too far from them and switched off the engine. It was so quiet and peaceful. I took a few photos and just relaxed, enjoying the view, after a short while one of them woke up, stretched herself and started to check out the surrounding area, completely ignoring our jeep. She had her eye on something much more interesting! not far away a small female impala was grazing. The lioness slowly started to move in the direction of the impala, or dinner as she probably thought of it.

The lioness began stalking the impala, keeping low in the grass and hiding behind bushes, the impala had no idea she was there. It was fascinating to watch, the lioness was so patient, waiting then creeping forward, then waiting and creeping forward again, this went on for about 20 minutes. I was really torn between wanting to see the lioness catch her dinner, especially after all the work she was putting in and not wanting to the innocent looking impala to be caught and be that dinner. Finally she made her move, however this time she was unsuccessful and the impala got away. I had been standing up looking out from the roof, I sat down now and leaned out of the open window as she started to saunter back, walking right towards the jeep. It just felt so natural to be there, watching her until it ocurred to me that she was getting very very close. I stayed where I was, well actually I froze, I didn't want to startle her. Truth be told she was the least startled one there. Then she walked alongside the jeep right beneath the window I was leaning out of, and on towards the shade and the other lioness.

That was the highlight of my day, in fact the highlight of the whole trip, it was exhilarating to have been so close to the largest of the big cats, and you can't imagine just how big and powerful they are until you are right up close. The only reason this was possible is because the big cats are used to seeing the jeeps that they really don't pay them any attention at all. It was something that I will never forget.

Beware Baboons

The Baboon is much larger than the vervet monkey and a lot less cute.

Tourists have more close encounters with the primates than any other animal, simply because they are much more intelligent than other species and have learned that tourists can be an easy source of food as well as other trinkets, so never leave your mobile phone unattended.

On one trip we were staying in a lodge built into the side of a fairly steep hill, so it had three or four levels all with magnificent views. One morning I was standing on the top terrace, looking out over the plains, there was a young couple on the terrace below doing the same thing and chatting. All the terraces had walls around them, about waist height for the safety of visitors. I was watching a huge male baboon make his way over towards the base of the hill just below the lodge, he moved out of sight and I didn't think much of it, until about two minutes later when he popped up in front of the young couple and hopped over the wall. You don't realise how big the males really are until you see them up close. They both stepped back in surprise, well, the guy did, the girl actually ran away screaming. The baboon promptly grabbed hold of one of the handles of a bag that had been at the girls feet. I was quite impressed with the reaction of the guy as he immediately grabbed the other handle and a tug of war for the bag ensued. I wouldn't have put money on the man but fortunately he won, which was lucky because the bag contained all their money, their passports and their tickets home! It could have been a disaster for them.

They have also mastered the tecnique of unzipping tents and ransacking the place while you are out. I have experienced this first hand, luckily for me only my crisps were taken, so its a good idea to use a padlock, even when going to the toilet, they can be very quick.

One of the scariest moments for me was while we were camping in a wooded area, the campsite had a large troop of baboons living in the area. At night they like to sleep in the trees where it is safe, but the noises they make are un-nerving, especially when walking through the trees to get to the toilet, in the pitch black of the night. The torch I was carrying only lit up a small area of ground in front of me and the screams from the baboons sounded so close. I was so relieved to get back to the tent unharmed, after that I made my husband accompany me and stand guard.

Young Cattle Herder

I wanted to include this photo as it is not just animals that call the mara their home. This photo is of a maasai boy, around 12 or 13 years old. It is no longer necessary for him to attend the local school and he now has the job of minding the herd of cows that belong to the cheif of the local village. The number of cows a man owns represents his wealth and also his standing in the community, so this is a very inportant job. During the dry season when good grazing is hard to find the cows are allowed to wander into the reserve, this often causes conflict between the domesticated cattle and the wildlife. Preditors, especially if they are having trouble hunting will often see the cattle as an easy meal and it is the minders job to protect the cattle. As you can see from the photograph the only tools the boy has to defend himself and the cattle from predators is the two sticks in his hand.

They obviously have a good understanding of the wildlife as it is part of their lives, but I think they are very brave to share the same space as the big cats. We saw this boy keeping watch over a large herd as we returned from a day on safari, it was around 5pm in the evening. We called him over and with the help of our guide, who translated, we discovered he had been out alone since sunrise with no food or water and would not return to the village with the cattle until sunset. We were able to offer him sandwhiches, that we had left over from lunch and a bottle of water, he was very happy with this and was more than happy for us to take his photo, he was very proud of doing his job well.

The maasia people who are traditionally nomadic by nature, moving around to where there is good grazing for their cattle realize how much tourism benefits them, but they still need grass for their herd. Unfortunately this does sometimes bring them into direct conflict with the wildlife.

Black Rhino

Not actually black but a dark grey in colour the black rhino is an endangered species. It is rarely seen by tourists, it is difficult to find, mostly because there are so few of them and they rarely venture out into open grassland, preferring to spend their time on the edges of small dense wooded areas where they like to graze on low trees and shrubs. These areas are not really accessible to jeeps.

We were lucky enough to be out in the Mara when a call came over the radio that one had been spotted. We were not far away so our guide headed for the location reported. Because a sighting like this is so rare, every vehicle in the vicinity rushed to see it. We could see jeeps and mini buses from all directions, as many as 20 or 30 all converging on the same spot. Fortunately the rangers were already in position to keep some sort of order. The rhino doesn't have very good eyesight but they do have a strong sense of smell and if they get upset or feel threatened they can be aggressive. Restricting vehicles at such sightings is absolutely necessary for endangered species like the rhino even if its a little disappointing for the viewer.

I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and to have an experienced guide who was able to make a good guess as to which direction the rhino was headed. Together with about 9 other jeeps we waited quietly as the rhino came into view, slowly walking across the open grassland right towards us. At one point it stopped and looked right in our direction. It was amazing to see this huge creature in real life and up close before it disappeared into an area of bush. It is definitely a sight I won't forget in a hurry and its nice to know that the black rhino are being brought back from the brink of extinction by the dedicated work of the rangers in stopping poachers who kill them for their horn.

Vervet Monkey Having Lunch

The Vervet Monkey must be one of the most lovely of the ape species with their small cute face framed by the white fur, they are also quite intelligent. They welcome tourists as a source of easy food. I'm not talking about tourists feeding them, which is obviously not a good idea, more that they steal from you whenever they get the chance.

The vervet monkey in the picture is one of many that hang around a designated picnic area next to the mara river because they know that at certain times of the day there will be lots of food around. The guides bring you here so that you can take a stroll along the riverbank, with an armed guard, where you can see families of hippo's and the many crocodiles that spend their days lazing about, before having lunch. The wooded picnic area is littered with fallen trees that make good seats and the guides always carry blankets for these occasions. Every lunchtime the monkey's choose a group of people and take up their positions in the trees just above them. As soon as the opportunity presents itself they sneak down, steal what they can before heading back up the tree to safety. They are particularly fond of bananas.

They sometimes work together in pairs, we had a troope of vervet monkey's living on the edge of our campsite. One morning myself and my husband were enjoying a very tasty breakfast of sausage, omelette and small cubes of potato when a delightful monkey came and sat at the end of our table, just watching us. My husband quickly grabbed for his camera, which he always keeps to hand, as he turned and focused for the shot another monkey came in from the opposite direction, hopped up onto the table grabbed handfuls of his breakfast and made off into the bush before he realised he had been robbed. As soon as the  the first monkey had got the food the second one ran off after him to share in the spoils. It was a brilliant strategy and clearly one that works!

An elephant and kilimanjaro

I decided to start my blog with an image of the largest of land mammals. A huge bull elephant, strolling across the open savanah in Amboseli, with the majestic Kilimanjaro mountain as a backdrop. If you look closely towards the top left hand corner you will see the snow capped peak.

Even though Kilimanjaro is the largest mountain in Tanzania you are not always lucky enough to see the snow capped peaks. The first time I saw it in all its glory was during breakfast while staying at a lodge in Amboseli. We had arrived at the lodge the day before, taking an afternoon game drive before having dinner in the large open dining area with wonderful views of the surrounding area. The next morning we sat down to breakfast at 8.15am, I was enjoying my food when I glanced out and was stunned. 'Jesus, where did that come from!'
Right in front of my eyes was the largest mountain I had ever seen with brilliant white snow laying along the top, and it simply hadn't been there the day before or even when we had walked into the dining room, I would have noticed. It was truly magnificent and within 15 minutes it was gone again, covered by cloud, as if it had never existed.

I was told by the locals that the best time to see Kilimanjaro is for a short time in the morning and again in the evening, the rest of the time it is hidden from view. I was really glad that I got up early for breakfast that particular morning.