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The Kill at Ol Pejeta

BY Ravi Patel

Ol Pejeta Conservancy is full of surprises. Early one morning, we hopped into the car and drove west towards Kicheche, a quieter side of the conservancy.

On the road, we came across 3 juvenile lions – 2 lionesses and a young male – relaxing by the road. In the distance, we saw 8 hyenas all staring in the opposite direction to the young lions. A few minutes later we understood why – a beautiful huge male lion in his prime was coming towards us. He stopped a few hundred meters short and sat down.

Not too long after the three juveniles got up and started walking away. Up ahead, there were a couple of zebras with a young baby. Out of nowhere, the young lions started running towards the zebra. There was no calculated move, no stalk, no plan, nothing! With sheer luck, they suddenly took the foal. We were dumbfounded by what happened, and quickly rushed to the scene and we saw the three youngsters tearing away quickly at the foal.

In the background, the big male’s interest had been piqued and he rapidly made his way down to the scene. It was inevitable that he would snatch this prize from the youngsters, who tore away what morsels they could and scattered.

Within minutes, a second large male came running into the picture, and then a third. We hadn’t seen these lions earlier, but both were huge-maned lions in their prime as well. To see three big male lions all in their prime fighting over a kill was a vision that has been etched into my memory. The third male wasn’t too bothered with the kill, he seemed to be more interested in ensuring the juveniles were kept at bay. It was a battle between two each took their share and then settled down for the rest of the morning.

This was a truly amazing sighting, something we’ve never seen before and gave us fresh insight into the dynamics of a lion pride.

First Foray into The Conservancies

BY Ravi Patel

December 2012 – Kicheche Mara & Kicheche Valley Camps, Masai Mara, Kenya

Our first “long trip” into the Mara spanned six nights over two conservancies – Mara North and the newly-formed Naboisho Conservancy in the north-east. The December rains had started, along with the holidays. Flying into Mara North airstrip, we headed towards Kicheche Mara Camp for two nights.

Kicheche Mara Mara North Conservancy

Kicheche Mara seemed to be a blur of short-lived memories, but nothing spectacular. The photos seem tell a somewhat different story. We came across a large pride of lions relaxing on a rocky hill. The youngsters were tired, fending off the provoking guinea-fowl, while one of the pride males was particularly amorous with one the lionesses. Other sightings included a hyena dragging away a baby zebra foal kill from a group of vultures, a serval cat right before dusk, and giraffes sleeping.

From Kicheche Mara, we did a half-day game drive across Mara North, Olare Orok and Naboisho conservancies, before arriving at Kicheche Valley in time for lunch. Along the way, we came across two cheetah brothers, and spent a good part of the morning with them.

Kicheche Valley Naboisho Conservancy

The landscapes in Naboisho are completely different from the rest of the Masai Mara. Here the land seems to undulate more, between lush valleys and rocky hills – a far cry from the flat plains to the west and south.

The bulk of our four nights here was spent following a family of cheetah – a mother, and her four young cubs. The first day we found them, she was limping and thin – possibly a hunting injury. This was a major concern as the cubs were young, dependent on her and unable to hunt. When we caught up with them the next day, she still hadn’t hunted and the situation was looking bleak. We decided we should leave her alone in the hope that she would be able to hunt. We headed back to camp for lunch, hoping for some good news – and it came in the afternoon. She had managed to kill. We caught up with the fat-bellied cubs in the evening and a feeling of relief came through. Her wounds would heal in time, but she had managed to ensure the family’s survival until then.

Although the cheetah family stole the show, Naboisho was brimming with game. An extremely brief moment with a shy leopard, a few different lion prides, elephants, giraffes and a host of birdlife were also all part of the show.

Waiting for a River Crossing

BY Ravi Patel

August 2012 – Sala’s Camp, Masai Mara, Kenya

In August 2012, with the wildebeest migration making its way into the Mara, we headed to Sala’s Camp, near the border with Tanzania on the Sand River.

The camp directions given to us involved a lot of natural features – turn right at this hill, left at this tree. So it came to be that at one junction near the camp, we were perched on higher ground searching for signs of a camp nearby. No one bothered to look the bush right next to us until we started moving again – a pride of lions were seeking shelter from the searing midday sun. If it weren’t for a quick glance back from Phera, we would have missed them! Fortunately for us, the camp was only a few hundred meters away, and the afternoon was spent with the lions.

Having only 2 nights to spare, and with the wildebeest herds crossing the Mara River, it was a pretty singular affair as we headed to the river. The queues of wildebeest were building up, so we found a good spot and waited. On the riverbanks, the crocodiles were full, watching as wildebeest carcasses floated by them. Finally, the crossing began. Pressure from the back of the herd pushed forward and the wildebeest (and some zebra) took the plunge. This lasted only a few moments as reckless minibus driver drove straight through the queue and the wildebeest scattered. The crossing came to an abrupt end.

On the way back to camp for lunch, we came upon a leopard, out in an open area between the riverine forests. Her head darted in and out of the ground several times. At a distance, it was hard to see what was happening. On her last dive, her head came back up with a warthog piglet in her mouth. She was searching the burrows for a quick snack.

Chilling with The Kichwa Pride

BY Ravi Patel

May 2012 – Kichwa Tembo, Masai Mara, Kenya

The drive to Mara itself was an adventure. The rains had recently passed and the black cotton roads going from Mara Serena to Kichwa Tembo were slick. We got stuck three times, and there was a stretch of road where we weren’t in control – the car followed whatever tracks were made before us. In the end, we made it to Kichwa Tembo close to around 2pm, close to 8 hours after leaving Nairobi!

Close to camp, the Kichwa Pride had setup shop for the next few days, and we spent a large part of our 3-night trip with them. The pride was made up of 5 lionesses, 9 cubs and 4 males. We only saw two of the males; the other two were on duty patrolling the territory.

The first afternoon was action-packed pretty much right outside camp. The pride was hungry – we watched as one by one each of the 4 lionesses spread out across the plains in front of us. They were on the hunt, and as the sun was setting over the plains, they made their move on of zeal of zebra. They were unsuccessful – getting our hopes up and then back down quickly. We turned and went back to the cubs. We hung back, close to the cubs, and kept a careful eye on them.

More Zebras were heading up to the escarpment for the night. The lionesses felt the opportunity fading. They made their move – one foal went down immediately, and close by two lionesses struggled with an adult zebra. Out of the blue, a huge male came running in (we didn’t even notice him nearby), and proved his usefulness. With one swift lunge, the adult zebra came down. A very successful hunt for the pride, less than a kilometer from camp.

The next morning, we set off from camp in a different direction – from the far side of camp towards a dense thicket of bush. We saw a huge male leopard walking into the thicket. Nearby, in a deep ravine, we spotted a leopard with a warthog carcass. Viewing was difficult. Although we went into the Mara Triangle area, we did not see a great deal of game. A lot of the action was around the Kichwa Tembo area, and by and large, we remained with in a few kilometers of camp.

We explored the area nearby and saw some other small game, but eventually we returned to the Kichwa Pride. We spent the next 2 days with them, watching their pride dynamics. Full and satiated, the adults lazed around, as the cubs played in their new-found territories.