It was a quiet afternoon after such a full morning! It is often like that. You can drive around for a couple of hours and really not see anything very much. It isn’t a zoo so the animals could be anywhere in a huge area. You pick a route and see what crosses your path….
The morning of the 24th October had so far been totally amazing. We’d seen cheetahs playing,leopard chasing cheetah and cheetah chasing a leopard, lots of plains animals, touching moments, birds and banded mongoose. But the morning wasn’t over yet! As we moved on we found a delightful cheetah family – mother and 3 really young…
It had already been an amazing morning – with the confrontation between the leopard and cheetahs. There were plenty of other animals around us. Looking through the other photos for that day, I was struck by some of photos that didn’t make my first cut. When you take so many photos on a trip you…
When we set out the next morning we passed the tree we had staked out the previous day. There were vehicles already there so we checked it out. It was likely the leopard was there since she had a kill stached in the tree. She was hidden in a similar position to the previous day….
We were on our way back to camp for lunch when we saw a group of vehicles lined up by a tree. Worth a look – and sure enough there was a leopard up the tree. This particular tree stands in a vast open area. Just like with the lions you need to look really…
OK not both at the same time but on the same morning! Elephants out on the Mara plain are easier to spot than lions but at a distance, especially if they are stationary and partly obscured by bushes or scrub you can mistake them for hippos or rhino or at a push large buffalo! If…
It isn’t always easy to spot a lion especially when they are in the distance. Any game drive finds lots of ‘wood’ lions or ‘stone and rock’ lions! The guides’ familiarity with the landscape means that they notice when the profile of a rock, bush or tree has changed. For me , even with days…
There are birds and then there are birds! Of the strange looking ones the Ground Hornbill must be right up there. The size of a large turkey, it struts around on the ground like it owns the place! It can fly but usually only up into a tree. The first time I saw one in…
It had rained on this afternoon and the light was low when we went out. We found a couple of lionesses with three cubs. The cubs are still wet from the rain but they were very lively. Initially one of them just sat and watched while the other two leapt at each other and engaged…
It is easy to get hung up on the ‘big five’ when on safari and on a first/only trip that actually makes sense as it can take a long time to find them! I’m lucky because I have been several times so have had sightings of most things before. Much of my enjoyment now comes…