Our 2nd group started in Amboseli. On our first photo outing we went to the dry lakebed to photograph elephants walking in formation as we did with our first group. Our afternoon photo shoot was with the big tusker Craig. We had multiple opportunities to capture close-up shots of him walking straight towards us.
Our second morning started out similarly with another visit to the dry lakebed followed by an elephant crossing with one huge or should I say “tiny” exception. We watched as a baby ellie struggled to make it to shore. It yelped and some of the older elephants came to its side to assist.
In the afternoon we saw four young cheetahs still with mom trying to hunt but to no avail. The cheetahs in Amboseli are thinner than in the Mara. Our guide said it was because of limited food. Also, as young cubs they don’t have as many predators, so usually large litters survive better than in the Mara. On my last visit to Amboseli in June, we saw five cheetah cubs that were still with mom.
That afternoon we watched as an almost orphaned young elephant was falling over himself on the road and then was whaling in the muddy swamp as mom went about her business stuffing her face as the baby ellie struggled for every breath. It was difficult to watch him soaked to the core begging mom for some comfort and milk as she ignored him repeatedly. So sad… he’s a boy and will probably grow up to be a strong bull if he can survive his mother and his youth!
Our last morning in Amboseli before heading to the Mara was more of a potluck safari as we drove around just looking for whatever we rolled up on. In addition to the usual suspects, we did see a Kori Bustard displaying. His neck feathers were hugely fluffed, and he gave a knocking sound and lifted his tail feathers to his back.
Kori bustard
Our first afternoon in the Mara was good. We had two different sightings of a cheetah, and we saw several lions. We almost saw two separate hunting chases, but both fizzled out. Still the anticipation and build up was exciting. The evening ended with lightning and a heavy downpour. We photographed some Topis in the rain until we had our ISO’s at about 50,000!!
Our next morning started off slow with just a single cheetah sighting and some lion cubs <wink> but the afternoon picked up with an epic sighting of a leopard (named Faulu) that not only climbed a tree to reunite with her two different kills (gazelle and a jackal). But word on the savannah is that the jackal tried to get too close to the freshly killed gazelle, so the leopard caught it and carried up the tree too. The poor jackal’s mate combed the area looking for him not having a clue it was just up the tree.
Tree Topper
Our next day started off with Faulu the leopard coming down the tree, at least we thought it was her. Turns out another female leopard claimed her tree and her two stashed meals. The morning ended with a ferocious fight between two cheetahs—Milele and Olonyok (the last remaining cheetah of the famous Tania Bora (Swahili for magnificent five) coalition. It ended in a stand-off. But not before a couple of brutal battles between the two. They fought over territory and dominance. It was sad to see how old Olonyok looked. He was as brave in battle as he was on a hunt. But still, he lost some strength, and it showed. Barry Barfield captured an excellent video of the entire fight. I hope to share it soon.
Later, after a short rest we photographed some more of the Topi pride cubs. They found a dead (probably died of old age) buffalo, the cubs were walking headfirst into the back end of the beast. With bloody faces they sure were cute. I’m glad they were able to feast, and the meat did not go to the hyenas. After our fill of blood and guts we went back to check on the cheetahs, but nothing was happening, so we drove off. I hope to check on them again!
This all happened by day three. Action-packed does not come close to describing the safari. Once again, the Mara delivers… Below are some more of our sightings from the trip. It is hard to say which of the two Mara/Amboseli groups had more photo opportunities since the first group had better sunrise and sunset light and better dry lake bed photo opps, but the second group had lots of unique sightings. Can we say cheetah fight!! I have lots more to share but need to get some rest before my next group!
Baby zebra tries to stand up on its own.
Two jackals have a tug of war over a rabbit kill. They each got one half in the end.
Carrying the head of the rabbit to the den.
If you look you can see her droppings …
Lilac-breasted Roller
Greater Flamingos
Two images below from my day trip to Nairobi NP.
Blue monkey aka Sykes monkey
