Our driver/guide is Nelson, a Masai who has worked at Kicheche Bush for 10+ years and is Silver rated so extremely knowledgeable. Chris and Susie have been with him for a couple of days already so for now we're happy to fit in with their plans as we don't mind what we see. Chris is also a keen photographer with a newly acquired mirrorless Canon R6 so I'm looking forward to picking his brains on its capabilities. This is only their 2nd safari, their first was with their teenage children about 7 years ago (at this camp) and luckily they are also happy to see "anything and everything, including birds". So first off:
Little Bee Eater
European Bee Eater
Without the distinctive shape and bright orange beak, it's not as easy to identify this Grey Headed Kingfisher.
Cape Buffalo are considered to be one of Africa's "Ugly 5" however this herd seemed rather attractive and I took many pictures, both with and without Yellow-Billed Oxpeckers. And despite scouring the internet I've not been able to find out anything about the white facial markings.
This one was literally hanging off a leg!
I quickly found out that Chris's new camera is near-silent and felt I had to apologise for my incredibly noisy shutter which does make a real racket especially on fast multi-shot. They both said they didn't notice it but I'm sure it will get very annoying before long - it even annoys me.
The Masai Mara is much more "reliable" for big cats than either Amboseli or Laikipia and sure enough it wasn't long before we came across lions (also with 4 Kicheche trucks out in the conservancy there are more reports of sightings coming over the radio than poor Peter had).
There was one female and two males, but one was in a dip and not easy to see. Although still at altitude (twice that of Snowdon) it is considerably warmer on the Mara than Laikipia and as a result the males' manes are not always as full - simply because they'd get too hot.
There were a couple of other trucks around and not a great deal of "action" so we decided to leave them and move on to a dead hippo - nice! It had been killed yesterday and partly consumed by lions and Nelson thought they'd probably still be there finishing off their meal but warned us the smell might be rather unpleasant.
En route we came across this Straited or Green-Backed Heron
A solitary Dik Dik hiding in the bushes.
Its mate was hopping around on the ground below.
And then another pair of lions who were clearly "sleeping it off". I loved how this male was preserving his modesty.
Except he then rolled over and showed the world.
It didn't look like either of the would wake soon so we continued on to the dead hippo and turning a corner came face to face with this fellow.
Certainly the largest hippo we been this close to since Serian's Hippogate 2018 near tragedy and what a magnificent creature it was.
Hippos are very territorial and will defend both in water and on land, killing approx 500 people each year in Africa. Generally they spend their day in the water and feed on land at night, following the same routes, known as Hippo Highways, each time to get to their favourite feeding grounds.
Their eyesight is poor as you might imagine with such tiny little eyes. But they have an excellent sense of smell which is a surprise as the nostrils look like very strange, almost like someone's gouged them out with a knife.
I was glad we were safely in the truck.
We carried on and sure enough could smell the dead hippo before we reached it. It took me a moment to work out why the lioness's nose was black - of course she'd been feeding from both inside and out.
Although the cubs seemed to be eating the hippo too, they were clearly not fully weaned as all four badgered mum for milk.
This is certainly how I prefer to see lion cubs; clean, cute and cuddly.
Despite the black on her face she was still a very handsome animal.
The light was fading fast and Chris and Susie were keen to try and find the Cheetah with 3 six month old cubs they'd seen yesterday. Chris was also eager for a sunset image so we headed out on the plains to see what was around.
We found a lone Topi and suddenly Nelson was telling me to get out of the truck quickly as the sun was rapidly sinking - I wish he'd told me beforehand that was the plan as I wasn't prepared and probably lost Chris a few vital moments of light.
Such is the skill (or luck) of guides like Nelson, as he was pouring our sundowners the cheetah promptly wandered past, followed at some distance by the 3 cubs. My photos are poor as the light had gone and I'm reliant on high ISO just to get anything.
She clearly had her eye on something.
The cubs did eventually walk past too but not close together enough for me to get a decent photo. Ian tried a video on the very old camera but it couldn't cope with the low light.
In the distance a storm was rolling in and we decided it was time to head for camp and shelter. Chris and Susie hadn't finished their G&Ts so we had a hilarious, fast drive back with them desperately trying not to spill their drinks.
All around us lightening lit up the skies but the rain held off until we were almost back at Kicheche and even then it wasn't heavy.
Kicheche Bush Camp is completely unfenced so when we got back around 1930 there was an Askari waiting to escort us to our tent. We then had only about 15 mins for a quick change of clothes before he was back to take us to dinner. Dinner was set up in the main tent and there was plenty of space between seats to feel comfortable. We were all English speakers apart from a lovely French girl whose Father had elected to stay in their tent as he wasn't feeling well. I felt a little sorry for her when the menu was read out so tried my hardest to explain what was for dinner in my very limited French. I then heard several people declaring I was fluent in French and indeed Darren asked if I'd mind sitting next to the girl to help - what a hoot! Luckily she did speak a little English and was also fluent in Dutch having grown up in The Netherlands (not that it was much use as the only Dutch I only know is thank you and goodbye!). I was amazed when she told me she was 42 as she really was completely unlined and could easily have been about 26. She also told me she'd had an operation in September and her weight had reduced from 120kg to 105kg but as a consequence of the surgery she could only eat tiny portions. Dinner was steak (chicken for me) and because she'd had some tendon damage to one hand, she asked if I'd mind cutting up her steak for her. I did my best - it seemed very tough - but Darren was clearly mortified that she'd asked me and kept on apologising and thanking me. I really didn't mind - I'll help anyone and she's very sweet, so I've probably made a friend for life!
Whereas lunch is a help yourself buffet, the 3 course dinner is served to you; but for both meals if you don't want dessert you simply cross your dessert spoon and fork in front of you. Wine is plentiful and grape varieties are suggested/designed to complement the meal, but of course you can have whatever you prefer. Dinner was delicious and just the right amount as it was more or less straight back to the tent for sleep once we'd given our coffee/tea 0500 wake-up time to William.