Maasai Mara Day 2--lions, a cheetah mom and baby...heaven!

We were (of course) looking for big cats at Offbeat Mara...leopards, cheetah, lions. we had heard there was an "Offbeat Pride" of about 13 lions that lived on the property, right in the sanctuary so viewing was not horribly rare. And the camp is set right along the river (we learned that leopards like river areas for the water and larger trees so they can stash their kills up high)...perfect leopard territory.

Here is a shot of our tent taken from the track coming into the camp. See what I mean about remote?  No paved parking lots, Disney-esque landscaping, electricity or running water.  The thick trees mean a river runs through it.

Alas, Miia, the camp manager, and Josh said that the Offbeat Pride had been gone (walkabout?) for a few days. Perhaps we wouldn't see them.

Our morning game drive started off with no Offbeat Pride, but soon we came upon a pack of spotted hyenas gnawing on an old elephant carcass. As much as I love dogs, hyenas kind of spook me.

Cute, huh?

We decided to head a bit further and look for lions in the National Reserve, even though we would be vying with lots of other vehicles for good viewing.  Luck was with us...we were the second vehicle to arrive at a sighting of two males, well-hidden and resting under shrubs and behind tall grass.

You can see how well they hide themselves. This fellow was quite calm....

...until another eight or nine vehicles arrived.

just two of the many!

He was outta there!

We headed back into the conservancy, which has limited access and were rewarded with a very demure common giraffe. Notice how the coloring is more muted than the reticulated giraffe, which has very white delineation between the patches.



I honestly can't say if this is male or female (outside my area of expertise and I couldn't see the "package"), but to me it looks like a "she" with a come-hither attitude!

Our biggest reward came soon after, when Kimoni spotted a cheetah lying on top of an old termite mound--they like to look for prey from a high spot and there aren't many in the Mara. It was way far away, and I was worried that she would bolt before we got there, but no.  There was only one other vehicle and she seemed very calm about us being there.

Best of all, she had a cub.  Normally there are two or three, so something must have happened to the others.

The cub was playing with the mom's tail and didn't seem to notice us.

We couldn't believe our luck!

This was so delightful...a true highlight of the entire trip!  But Kimoni and Josh were intent on one more attempt to spot a leopard, so we worked our way further into the conservancy to Leopard Gulch, a large rocky swail known to be a leopard favorite.

We found a red and blue lizard.

And some smallish animals called rock hyrax (rock for obvious reasons!).

These chubby fellows make good eating for all manner of carnivores.

But...no leopards! It appeared that our close-up and personal sighting back at Sosian was going to be the only leopard viewing of the trip.

The evening game viewing proved interesting with a sighting of several wildebeest, a leftover group from the big migration. The Maasai say they are animals made up of spare parts--the tail of a horse, the head of a lion, the horns of a buffalo...you get the idea.





Wildebeest and their annual 1.5 million strong migration are, of course, the main drama of the Serengeti and the Mara. We were there at the wrong time (which we knew), and missed the spectacle.  But Josh and Kimoni explained that the viewing can be less than an intimate experience with a natural phenomenon. It is hard to know the exact moment they will cross the rivers, and there will sometimes be 100-150 vehicles lined up for the viewing--often waiting for several hours.

We much preferred having Kimoni and Josh and all the animals to ourselves!

Heading back into camp, we came upon another herd of cape buffalo.  They have a symbiotic relationship with a bird called the oxpecker.  The oxpecker keeps the buffalo (and rhino) free from ticks and bugs, getting a ready-made buffet in the process. the female buffalo had no problem at all with the oxpecker hanging off her lip and cleaning her nose, inside and out.  Yuck.

Just before sunset we saw one of the many dik-diks, the smallest antelope--and it posed for a bit. They are normally extremely shy...and see how small?  Not even the height of the grass.



And another sunset in the bush.  We loved the openness of the Mara, and how so many animals just co-habitate.  Zebras, antelopes of all types, giraffes, elephants.

When we got back to camp, Miia had set a romantic table for two in front of the fire pit for us...another fabulous meal!

In the morning we would have to pack up for the trek home, so we lingered over dinner and enjoyed a few glasses of wine with Miia, who intrigued us with stories of a Tanzania-to-Cape Town road trip. Could that be next?