I am writing this outside on my deck after lunch, watching impala graze within easy walking distance of me.
So far I have had no rain but there is thunder in the distance so we will get rain in a bit.
Such fun on my morning game drive. Within 45 minutes I had seen 6 cheetahs, 7 lions, 1 hyena and 2 jackal along with a cheetah kill.
The first animal I saw this morning was the pregnant cheetah from last night.
Then we found the 3 lions from last night with their 3 siblings and mom. They walked right by our car—you can see the shadow of the car in this picture.
Notice this young 2-year old male is just starting to get his mane.
After we left the lions, the drama began! We found a mother cheetah and her four 8-month old cubs. Here is the mother:
Here are two of her cubs:
The cubs played, chasing and tackling one another. The mom was looking for food. She started walking and the cubs followed. Then she started running and the cubs followed. She did not run at full speed but it was still pretty fast. She ran straight toward two jackals (they look sort of like German shepherds except with different coloring) who were eating. The jackals saw her and took off. My guide said he had never seen a cheetah steal food before. Usually other animals steal from cheetahs.
All that was left was the leg and one cub got it and would not let anyone else near it. When other cubs tried to get a bite, he would run off with it. And he growled when anyone came near! I never knew cheetahs growled!
All the other cubs stayed near the one greedy one in case he gave up. And then most interesting thing happened. Twelve wildebeests lined up in a row about 100 yards away and just stared. Cheetahs are no threat to them; wildebeests are too big for a cheetah to hunt. They were just announcing to everyone else something was going on there. And this Thompson gazelle herd did not clear the area.
Well, one poor baby Thompson gazelle got too close and one of the cubs seized the opportunity and attacked it.
The other cubs joined in. Well 8-month old cubs are not very good hunters and the gazelle kept getting up and running. I felt so badly for it. Then the mother cheetah came over and quickly finished the job. I videoed the entire thing. The family ate and again the wildebeests stood in a line and stared.
All of this happened in the first 45 minutes I was out!
Afterwards Mom took the cubs off to a place to rest.
We went to a small river next filled with hippos and one crocodile and ate breakfast out in the bush. This is one of my favorite things to do on safari.
We found separated from the school of hippos a mother with the tiniest hippo baby. The baby was lying by its mothers head and didn’t even reach her nose.
The giraffes here are different than the ones in Samburu. Here is a picture of a Maasai giraffe. Notice the different markings:
Here is a picture of the reticulated giraffe found only in Samburu for comparison:
We saw a one-week old giraffe:
We also saw a lone female lion walking. Every member of an impala herd was staring at her making warnings noises. She paid no attention to them.
Then it was back for lunch and a break. My new things today: cheetah cubs trying to hunt and very newborn hippo.
Looking Out Seeing Within 