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Sunrise my last day on safari.

This morning when I got up we had a giraffe and two waterbucks in the camp!

What an amazing final game ride I had. There was so much drama!  Especially wonderful because I spent it with lions!

We first found a sleeping hyena.

Then far off in the distance we saw a lion sitting at the edge of some trees. As we got closer we saw that nearby was a cheetah eating her kill. The lion was one of the 2-year olds we have seen every day. The young male (aka boy 1) started walking slowly toward the cheetah. The cheetah saw him and watched. The lion kept walking. In the meantime two more 2-year olds, a male  (aka boy 2) and a girl,  came out of the trees. As the lion got closer, the cheetah grabbed a piece of her kill and took off. Boy 1 chased the cheetah who of course easily got away. While Boy 1 was chasing the cheetah,  boy 2 picked up the kill (a full grown Thompson gazelle) and walked off with it. As he was walking the monkeys made a loud warning cry. Boy 2 jumped and dropped the kill. It was funny!  These are the same boys who tried to be tough with the buffalo the other night.

Boy 2 picked up the kill, carried it away and started eating it. Boy 1 and the girl came over but to my surprise they did not try to get in on the action. I was expecting a fight  over the food. We watched Boy 2 eat for awhile. Boy 1 eventually came over and laid down beside Boy 2, even rolling around.

Finally the fight I had been anticipating occurred. Boy 1 (who frankly had done the work of getting rid of the cheetah) tried to get some of the meat. Boy 2 growled and snarled at him. The girl came over, more growling. Boy 1 finally grabbed a leg of the gazelle. Boy 2 then laid down in top of the kill and hung on with his paws. Boy 1 kept trying to get a piece but Boy 2 was not letting go. He had his entire body weight on it.

Meanwhile the girl just calmly went to the other side , ignored the boys, and began eating what she could reach. The boys kept tussling. The girl kept eating.

Then an all out fight broke out between the two boys. It was violent and loud. The girl leaves out of the way.  Boy 2 got a bad scratch on his nose and cheek. They ended up tearing the kill into parts and they each had something to eat.

All the racket brought mom up but when she got there everyone was eating in his/her own corner.

Then two jackals arrived. They kept trying to sneak in and get a piece of meat but the lions would not let them.

The girl and Boy 1 had less to eat so they finished and went over to mom. The jackals went for the scraps and so did an adult tawny eagle  and two juveniles. Mom and the girl and Boy 1 left the area. We followed a bit to see where they were going. In the meantime we found the cheetah eating  the scraps she got.

Finally Boy 2 who had eaten nearly the entire gazelle finished. When he left his kill the jackals and eagles swooped in for scraps.

Boy 2 saw the cheetah and chased her off again and ate her leftovers.

Then He started walking and he went the wrong way. He would stand still and do very soft roars. It was pitiful. They sound like cries. He would walked some more and then stop and softly roar. He was not going the right way and I was convinced he was lost.

We stayed with him. He by accident ran into a family of elephants. They trumpeted. He backed up and went another way. Finally going a roundabout way he found his family and was reunited. Now I could leave without worrying he was lost all alone.

I saw this same group of lions every day. I felt like I got to know them, especially the two silly boys. So although I saw far fewer different lions than I did in previous trips, it was special getting to know one part of a pride and learning their personalities. The girl I saw today was always with her brothers and there was always much head rubbing whenever she saw them.

On the way back to camp we saw our mom cheetah with the four cubs. The cubs were playing— wrestling and climbing a tree.

It was a great morning!

My new things today were seeing lions steal a cheetah’s food and two lions fighting over food in the wild ( I’ve seen it at the zoo but not in the wild ).

I got back to camp, ate breakfast and packed. Now I’m in a plane headed to Nairobi. I’ll change planes there for the beach.

I’m really quite sorry the safari is over.

This is the plane I’ve been flying in.

Here is the inside of the small plane.

Final count of individual animals :

• Lions: 34
  • Males: 6
  • Females: 11
  • Subadults: 15
  • Cubs: 2
• Leopards: 7
  • Cubs: 1
• Cheetahs : 28
  • Cubs: 10

At night I’ve been hearing a hyena. I tried to make a recording. You will have to turn the volume up to hear it. It sounds like “whoop” comes at :04, and about ev 4 seconds following. The crickets are loud. You may not be able to hear it.

Today we went to the very large Mara Reserve.  It was 15 miles away yet it took two hours to get there over very very very bad roads. I now feel the need for a chiropractor!  In addition, it was extremely windy (but no rain!!) I feel like I’ve eaten a sandbox. Everything is covered with dust.

It was worth it.  Yesterday was an elephant day.  Today was a carnivore day. We saw many jackals, one leopard, six hyenas, six lions and seven cheetahs, plus a cheetah kill.  A real cheetah kill—where the cheetah ran at top speed.

There was a single Thompson Gazelle lying down in the middle of an open field, no herd in sight. He was oblivious to everything and had no idea a cheetah was watching him.  She was behind a small hill, and the only thing you could see was her head. She watched the gazelle for about 10 mins.  Cats are so patient.  Then suddenly she shot over the hill at top speed.  The gazelle saw her then and started running.  Antelope zig zag and make sudden turns to fend off a predator.  It works for a lion or leopard. niynfir a cheetah. I was amazed to see the cheetah made every sharp unexpected turn while running at top speed. Of course it didn’t take long for it to be over.  In reality, it was over for the gazelle as soon as the cheetah started running.  Watching a cheetah really run is an amazing experience.

I had my last meal in the bush overlooking a river full of hippos and crocs.  I have one more game drive early in the morning, And then it’s a travel day to go to the beach.  I hope the rain has stopped there.

It’s quite odd being here out of touch.  I have no idea what is going on in the world

Current count:

• Lions: 34
• Leopards: 7
• Cheetahs: 27

Enjoy some photos from today.

We left early this morning and immediately saw a wild dog hunting. This dog is the only dog that remains of her pack.  They say she has lived here alone for two years.  She didn’t catch what she was after.  Then a hyena showed up nearby so she abandoned her hunting for the time being.

Then off we went to find the male lion from last night. We found him just as he was giving himself a bath.  Then he walked within inches of our vehicles off in the bushes to find his resting spot for the day.

Then we went off to the neighboring conservancy, Naboisho, to look for lions.

As we drove a tremendous cloud of dust came up and three warthogs went off running in different directions.  I learned when warthogs come out of their den they throw up dust as camouflage for any predators nearby.  They also run in different directions to confuse predators.

We found a very pregnant lioness.  She looked uncomfortable. .

And two male cheetahs. I just can’t get over how many cheetahs I am seeing!

We again had bush breakfast.  Here is the breakfast view and a picture of my two guides and vehicle.

After lunch I I told the guide I wanted to go back and see the pregnant lioness. He said it was 3 km the other way, but something told me to go so we did.  We found her with four of her older (3-year old) subadult children!! In this picture the pregnant lioness is on the right and a 3-year old daughter is on the left.

Then we ran into a herd of about 50 Cape buffalo.  It was awesome.  They always look angry.  Little birds, oxpeckers, were on them cleaning mites and ticks off of the buffalo. The birds even went inside the buffalo’s nose and ears!

It was an elephant day today! We saw a total of seven elephant families. One family had a tiny month old baby.

In the video if you look closely you can see the baby elephant walking under its mother.

We ran into two  elephant families who were greeting one another with noises that sounded like low grumbles.  It felt like the earth was shaking!

In another instance the elephant matriarch spent some time sniffing the air around us. (I have a video on my camera.) I guess we passed the test because she let us stay!

Just before reaching camp we found the mother cheetah and her four cubs—the cheetahs that killed the baby Thompson gazelle yesterday. They had obviously eaten more than that.  Look at their bellies!  It’s like they have a bowling ball in it!

Later in the day we saw a great herd of wildebeests all traveling somewhere in a straight line.

We ended the evening the same as the past two evenings—with the lion pride.  For me there is no better way to end the evening. We’ve see the same partial pride each of three nights, though in different configurations.  Night 1 – one mom + 6 young lions.  Night 2 – one mom + 7 young lions.  Night 3 – two moms + 5 young lions. Tonight one mom starting leading the lions, the young lions all formed a line, and the second mom brought up the rear.  We followed them for quite a while.  Quite often, a young lion  would just plop down.  The second mom had the difficult job of bringing all the stragglers. The first mom had to often wait awhile.  It was interesting to watch the mothers work together. And then there was of course the good daughter, who was first in line and stayed right with mom.  We think they were taking them to join the rest of the pride. I really wanted to stick with them but we had to return to camp.

I’ve been very lucky in that this far it has not rained at all here in the Mara. However this afternoon the wind really picked up. Here is a video of the INSIDE wall of my tent blowing.

I learned some Swahili before I came but I didn’t use any up in Samburu. Here I have been with the guides! It’s been fun!

Current count:

• Lions: 28
• Leopards: 6
• Cheetahs: 20

The first animal I saw this evening was a cheetah!  One who had just eaten an impala and had a very full belly. This has been the trip for cheetah sightings!

Then we ran across the leftover carcass of the impala.  Vultures had just run off a jackal family, who had two little pups. No one looked well fed. I felt bad for them.  There were 76! Vultures around the carcass—noisy, fighting each other.  That went on a bit. Then two huge lappat-faced vultures who looked like kings in their robes stepped in and shooed all the other vultures away. The proceeded to finish the carcass on their own and the 76 other vultures sat around and watched.

From there we found five bull elephants; one with the longest tusks I have ever seen.  He must be quite old.

We found the same lion pride from this morning and they had added a male 2-year old to the group bringing it to 8.  I learned they only have one pride of lions in this area.  The pride consists of 3 adult male brothers over it, 3 adult females and the remainder consisted of 2-year olds (litters from all three moms).  So at this point I had seen one female and 7 2-year olds.

I am not going to see the numbers of lions I did on previous trips (2014-117; 2016-94). To do that I needed to go back to where I stayed previously. I purposefully decided to go to a new area.  Since it abuts the old area, I mistakenly assumed there would be a lot of lions. Now I know.  (For my next trip, which yes I am planning, I will go back there.) So I am determined to see each member of this pride.

A giraffe noticed this lion group while we were watching. He stared at them and kept walking toward them.  He didn’t go right up to them but it was like he was saying I see you and I’m keeping an eye on you. 

In the meantime a humongous Cape buffalo came up the side of the ravine to eat.  Two of the young boys had been lying there. They were so interested in the buffalo.  Then the buffalo saw them and snorted. The young lions got scared and literally jumped so all four feet where in the air.  Then of course they had to try again and they got closer and the same thing happened. This time they ran to their mom! It was so funny.

I like zoos and I really admire and appreciate the work they do for conservation. You can learn a lot about animal behavior at a zoo. But what you cannot observe are the dynamics between species.  That is what I am finding the most fascinating in the wild.

The sun went down while we were watching the lions.  On the way back in the dark we found one of the male lions. He is so handsome – Only about 6 years old with a dark mane. He started walking so we followed him hoping he would lead us to the other group of lions.  He did— he led us to the other two adult females. So tomorrow morning we are leaving especially early to go back.

And right after dinner from my room I heard a hyena!

Current count:

• Lions: 23
• Leopards: 6
• Cheetahs: 19

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. 

My flight went off without a hitch.  On the way to the airstrip I had two new experiences.  I saw two zebras mate.  And I got stuck in a Kenyan bathroom!  We stopped at the gate to the game reserve so I could use the restroom.  I didn’t realize there was no handle on the inside and it was the type of door with no gap above and below.  I couldn’t get out!  I could hear a guy next door cleaning and I kept yelling.  I know how to say “excuse me “ in Swahili so I kept saying that.  I need to learn how to say help.  He didn’t come. Then I kept yelling everything I could think of and finally Jelly came.  He let me out. He told me the guy had told him I was talking on the phone. Then he saw my phone in the car and knew that wasn’t the case.  So I would say this qualifies as a new experience!

Jelly has become a friend.  We really had fun together.  I was sad to leave.  He waved as my plane took off!

When I landed, I was met by Wilson my guide and ______ my spotter who drove me to camp.  It is so different here. Different even from other places I’ve been in the Mara. It’s beautiful. Flat and open.  You can see for miles. The animals have so much room to run.  In fact we saw two Thompson gazelles running and playing.

I am a city girl. I don’t camp. And we are really out in the middle of the bush, completely cutoff from anyone and anything.  The world could fall apart and we wouldn’t know it. I am completely out of my comfort zone. I guess this counts as a big adventure!

Here is my tent;

Here is the view from my tent

I still have to put mat and chair against  tent zipper but thankfully no carbinger clip. I guess monkeys here have not figured out how to move the chair!

When I left my tent to go to lunch there were two bushbucks right outside my tent! A doe and her mate!

The afternoon game drive was great! The first thing I saw was a cheetah!

She is pregnant but her belly is so much smaller than the belly of the cheetah that at the gazelle!  I’ve been thinking it is strange I’ve seen so much mating behavior and so many cubs.  Then I realized that it’s spring, nearly summer, here since we are below th equator!

We were driving around looking at giraffes and various antelope when my guide learned a wild dog had been spotted so we rushed to see her.  It is quite unusual she is not in a pack.  They say she’s lived here several years.  She’s not in good shape. I am glad I got to see a wild dog this trip.

I had another first. I saw a few day old monkey baby.  It did not even have fur yet. Also found an elephant family.

We found three 2-year old lions.  First we found the two brothers who were just lying casually out in the open. In a bit their sister came from pretty far away to join them. There was a lot of head rubbing greeting when they got together.

We came back to camp after dark and we had a very exciting find on the way.  We saw a tiny African wild cat kitten! The guide had never even seen an African wild cat!  It looked exactly like a tabby kitten we might have in our home. So cute!

It turned out to be a good day!

Current count:

• Lions: 14
• Leopards: 6
• Cheetahs: 13

Having an early breakfast. Then we will take our time going to the airstrip. 

I’m a bit sad to leave Samburu. I feel at home here. The Samburu people are gracious and gentle and have a soft-edge about them. 

I have had the best guide, Jelly. Not only is he fantastic at finding things, he’s been a joy to spend time with. It’s been a lot of fun. 

Now onto what surely will be an adventure.  

Just sitting on my porch in Kenya, listening to the birds and looking at the view…

We went out about 9. It’s so fascinating to me how quickly things grow in the desert once they get some water. Grass is already up. There are tens of thousands of tiny bushes that I thought were all dead. They have already sprouted leaves!

We went to check in the lion cubs. They were hidden in a bush but we saw mom and the three subadults. 

Then we discovered another lioness! 

Next it was onto the youngest cheetah cubs. The three were under a bush, playing with one another.  Mom was in front searching. She’s hungry. She was searching both for something to eat and to make sure there was nothing around that is a threat to the cubs. Then she started stalking. Gazelles were at least 1/2 mile away. I followed as long as I could with my camera and then switched to my binoculars. She is patient. It took a long time. She would go a little way. Then stop and hide over and over. We thought she was going to get one but they smelled her and ran. The cheetah never made her final run. 

The cubs had been playing and when no left she did not turn around and say anything to them. She just walked away. As soon as she left the three cubs quit playing, laid down and stayed still until she returned. i am fascinated and befuddled at how they get trained to do that. 

Mom came back empty handed, got her cubs and crossed the road right in front of our car to another bush. She didn’t stay there long but crossed another road. This time they were in a field and the cubs played, ran, jumped and wrestled. I got great video. 

Mom climbed some deadfall looking for prey. Then off they went. She’s going to keep moving the cubs until she finds something to eat. 

All in all I think we spent about 1 1/2 hours with the cheetahs. 

I saw the smallest bird of prey, the Pygmy falcon, eating a lizard. Yesterday I saw the largest bird of prey, the Marshall eagle. 

We went to Buffalo Springs this evening looking for our cheetah and her cub. Baboons were in the area so she had moved on. We just drove around snapping a lot of pictures. 

We saw a baby crocodile on dry land well away from the river. He must have gone up there when the river was at its height and gotten stranded. A group of about 8 doves and 3 dik diks were following it. The doves even walked behind it into the bushes. It was funny. I don’t think they knew what to make of this strange creature. 

The very last thing I saw was a leopard up in a tree. A very large leopard. And two small giraffes and their mom were very close. Our vehicle scared the leopard and he ran off. When he moved the mother giraffe saw him. I think we saved the life of one of those young giraffes! 

I leave tomorrow for the Maasai Mara. This is the area on the Tanzanian border which is most popular for safaris. There are a lot of animals which are easy to see. It’s a flat plain. I am told I will have no WiFi there. If that proves true you will not hear from until Friday Oct 25 when I get to the beach. However I will keep writing daily so on that Friday you will receive 5 days worth. 

It will be different there because I am not going on reserves. Here I’ve been in two game reserves. No one lives on them. Anyone can pay the fee ($70/adult ; $40/child) and go on them. You can rent a private vehicle and drive in them —though I’m sure those people miss a lot. I am not going to the huge Mara reserve. The Mara reserve is a crowded place. I’ve been twice. Instead I’m going to be in two conservancies. People live and coexist with wildlife in conservancies. They limit to a very few the number of camps allowed there. And the only people allowed to drive in the conservancies are the camp vehicles. It’s not  crowded and is more peaceful. I’ll be in two I’ve never been in before. 

There are a lot of animals in the Mara including huge lion prides. 

My camp will be different too. This one is large. The one I am going to only has five tents. This one is fenced. My next one is not so the wildlife can roam through which I think is awesome!  I will be able to hear the noises of the wildlife at night! My next camp is more rustic. While I thankfully will have a toilet, I will take bucket showers. They heat up a bucket of water and pour it into the top of your shower. You get wet, turn water off, soap up, turn it back in etc. At this camp there is a restaurant and we have three choices for meals. My new camp is communal meals where we get one thing. Here I can charge things in my room. There we have a charging tent where you put things to be charged.  It’s cold there at night so they out a hot water bottle in your bed to keep you warm. 

Things will be new for me. A camp and guide I don’t know. A new area. So we will see what adventures I have!

Current count ;

• Lions -11
• Leopards-6
• Cheetahs- 12

I will miss Samburu. This is a special holy place for me. Please enjoy these photos from Samburu. 

The rain woke me up at 4:30 today. Until today we have had rain in the afternoons and evenings. Not today. And when it rains here, it doesn’t just rain. It rains in sheets. Everything I own is damp. 

I came over at 6 to go out but we are waiting a little bit. And we changed our plan. The leopard won’t be out in this rain and the area across the river really floods. We are going to hope to try that this afternoon. Instead we will stay on this side of the river and go up higher where the animals are going. They have all moved away from the river. A lot of groups are canceling this morning. We are going out in a bit provided rain slows down 

Rain slowed down at 7 and we tried to go out. The road was flooded. 

We had to turn around. People going to air strip cannot leave. The camp is fully booked tonight so I guess they will find another place for them. 

I did in my brief time out see my new thing for today.  A complete rainbow!

And the end of the rainbow! The actual end of the rainbow! Of course I took that picture with my camera and not my phone. But I captured the end of the rainbow going right into the mountain! 

Here is a picture of my tent here. 

We will try later to get out. 

Addendum to 20 October

It stopped raining this morning but six hours later the river is higher than ever. Water is coming down from the mountains. It has rough waves like the ocean and has started spilling over its banks. 

https://youtu.be/78p_uOMMaYM?rel=0

Each day is more amazing than the one before. It rained very hard last night and the river was even wilder and higher than yesterday. 

And Samburu is even greener. 

We were out before the sun.

We just happened to stumble upon the end of a fight between a leopard and a striped hyena. The hyena was running off with most of the kill. The leopard has killed a waterbuck. She had taken the head and the stomach up a tree but the hyena stole the body. The leopard laid down and watched to make sure the hyena was gone. She gave herself a bath. And we could hear her talking to a cub. We waited and finally she called the cub. It was up in a tree! It came down and went with mom who hid it in a very thick bush. The cub was about 2 months old. I’ve never seen a leopard cub before!

I also saw my second new thing of the day—

The kori bustard

Is the heaviest bird that can fly and I saw two flying!  We have kori bustards at the zoo so I’m familiar with them. But I have not seen that heavy bird fly. 

We got a call from Jeneria, a Samburu warrior who works with Ewaso Lions, that he was stuck in the mud.  (I know Jeneria quite well; he has stayed at my home in Arlington.)  So we went to help him.  He was stuck so deeply!  After we got him out one of the guys stood in the place where his front tire had been and he was in mud up to his knees.

Jeneria said he was there to find the male lions and would let us know where they were.  Well, we found one first! It was the one I had not seen.

He was on a honeymoon!  And the female he was with was one Ewaso Lions (who tracks all of the lions) had not seen for months. The male was following the female—she was making all of the decisions.

Then we got a call someone else was stuck in the mud and went to rescue them. On the way we saw a ginormous crocodile sitting by side of road. You can see the edge of the car in the photo.

I came back to camp for a about two hours; time for lunch and a quick break.  The morning was sunny but while I was at lunch it started raining very hard. Roads are getting flooded or becoming impassable due to mud. 

I want to make sure I have pictures of everything so this afternoon we just meandered around.  I took pictures of birds, impala, an owl, a giant lizard.  Then we went and saw the lioness and her cubs again. I’m so glad we did.  That was part of my pictures I lost and although I saw them last night my photos were not good because it was too dark. Today I got fantastic video and photos so I’m very excited!  Those little ones have fat bellies.  

Then we found a cheetah who was eating a Grant’s gazelle. 

Then nearby was another cheetah with her three 8-month old cubs!  (This is not the same cheetah with cubs I saw earlier in the week.  These are much older.). They were eating a dik dik.

I got great video and photos.  One cub cleaned its mom’s face!

I’ve seen very few elephants here and usually I’ve seen a lot.  I have found out that even though elephants love to play in water and love mud baths, they hate rain.  And they move away from it.  I find that humorous.

Tomorrow morning we are going back early to see if we can find the leopard and cub from today.  Then I am going to take lots and lots of pictures.  I really am sorry tomorrow is my last day up here in Samburu. I love it here. Even though there are many more animals where I am going next, there is a wildness here I find attractive. And I have really enjoyed my guide, Jelly.  He’s outstanding at spotting things and fun to be with. 

Current count:

• Lions – 10
• Leopards – 5
• Cheetahs – 12!