I just returned home from a fantastic trip to the Mara with a wonderful group…here are my notes from the trip…
Day 1 —On our very first day in the Mara we spotted two large Cape Buffalo bulls that were fending off the very large “Topi” pride of lions. I counted nineteen lions in the pride but others in our group said they had counted twenty-three. After a very long waiting game and garnishing all the back history on the shot we learned that the lionesses had once already attacked the one bull. We also found out that he was injured on his backside, though he didn’t appear to have any visible wounds. The other larger buffalo was not injured and was there as added protection trying to fend off the lionesses if they dared to get closer to his companion.
Soon, the sub-adult lions and younger cubs joined in the taunting; being careful not to get too close. A male full-sized Cape Buffalo can weight up to nine hundred kilos. Their horns are massive and with one strike could kill a female lion. At one point one of the male lions entered the scene. We all thought he came in to kill the injured buffalo for the anxiously awaiting pride. However, he was chased away by the second bull. The day ended in a stand-off with the injured bull held up in the water and the lion pride surrounding it. The second male buffalo left the scene as it started to get dark. I guess he figured he had done all he could for his friend.
Day 2–We returned to the drama we had left the night before. Expecting that the injured buffalo would be dead, and the entire pride would be picking on the remainder of his bones. But, when we got there, things were just as we had left them. Same buffalo in the water, same male sitting in the grass, same cubs playing nearby with an eye on their planned meal and the lionesses on high alert, patiently watching everyone.
After a short while the second male lion from the pride joined the rest. He was more anxious than the other male to end the stand-off. I think the buffalo was getting waterlogged and needed to eat, so he tried many times to sneak out of the water hole when the lions were starting to fall asleep. He was met time and time again by the sub adults and lionesses.
One of the times he did manage to get out and he instinctively started to feed. But he had wandered a bit too far from the safety of the watering hole and the second male lion gave chase. It ended with the male lion on the bulls back trying it’s best to take it down. His teeth never did puncture the skin of the buffalo. The buffalo made its way back to the safety of the water and the stand-off resumed. At sunset we left. It was a good 12-hour day of waiting and watching…
The next day we learned that the buffalo was taken during the night, details of his final moments were never revealed.
During the safari we were fortunate to witness a few Wildebeest crossings; everyone was thrilled that we had a front row seat for those. We also photographed several lion prides, a few cheetah, some serval cats. In addition, we photographed an assortment of birds, elephant, and giraffe. We had several photo opportunities with my favorite leopard —Luluka. She is the daughter of Lorian(rip).
We also saw a hyena clan and pair of jackals attack a Topi with her newborn. Mama Topi fought fiercely and the young one did its best to get free from the jaws of death, but her baby was finally taken by the hyena. It was an extremely difficult exchange to witness and photograph. Some of the images are hurtful to see so I won’t post those. But the story telling images of life and death in the Mara do interest me.
On a good note, we photographed a newly born Thompson’s gazelle. The tiny creature could not have been more than 20 minutes old as mama had just finished cleaning it before moving her attention to cleaning herself and eating the placenta and membranes, it was about the size of a large jar of spaghetti sauce and she tore into it— eating every morsel quickly and efficiently, so that predators didn’t smell the blood. During all of this, the baby napped for about 7 minutes before getting up to stand. At one point as it tried for its first taste of mother’s milk it clumsily stuck its head out from between mamas’ legs… simply adorable! It was a joyous occasion and Myra Reneau (who was sitting behind me) was as thrilled as I was to have watched the entire scene unfold. Life is good…
On one of our last mornings, we had a wonderful photo opportunity with a lioness from the Rongai pride and her two 6–8-week cubs. Her older son from a previous litter was with them, he was quite playful with the cubs; you could tell he adored them. When our vehicle arrived, it was about 7:15am and the light was still beautiful. The two adults were sitting on a termite mound as the cubs played nearby. Within minutes, the cubs climbed the mound and we all had huge smiles on our faces as we clicked away! The shot below was my favorite from the morning. The big brother trying to engage the little one.
For our last evening game drive, it began to rain. We captured a herd of impala, buffalo and zebras all standing into the rain. I used a slow shutter speed to create some creative blurs.
In the morning we had our last game drive. It started with a pair of lionesses hunting a baby Topi. Sadly, the baby was an easy target and the chase lasted only minutes. On our way back to camp we photographed a Topi baby being born and taking its first steps. It was truly the circle of life.
I’ll miss my group, because once again they were all terrific and I enjoyed spending time with them in the field and at meals. A special thanks to Donna Bourdon for helping Paul and I on this trip. Some of us are heading to Lentorre Lodge for a 3-night extension for nighttime blind photography along with some aerial photography. Stay tuned.
PS-the images were processed on my long flight home. Color tweaks are needed for some but I am just too tired, will get to them soon.