News from Maasai Mara, Kenya September 4th 2008

The last week has seen the migration taking a new twist reminiscent of the migration situation in 2005, only with more herds this year! The wildebeests that had congregated on Paradise plain have all crossed the river onto the Mara conservancy. There was a massive concentration on the central Mara triangle earlier in the week, but the herbivores have now drifted southwards towards Engoikwateet salt lick on the border of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystems.

While this was happening, the herds on the eastern side of the Mara have moved northwards. Almost all the wildebeests and zebra that were all over Musiara and Olorukoti plains have headed south and settled on the central and Meta plains. There is only a handful left on Topi plain and along the Talek River between Mara Intrepids and Talek market.

While the herds were heading south, guests in the Mara witnessed the largest ever crossing on the Talek River, when thousands of wildebeests crossed the river at a meander on the river - where they ended up crossing the river three times without knowing! At the end of the crossing, there were about 300 dead wildebeest that succumbed to injuries from the stampede. The river here is almost dry but the rush-through was so intensive, our experienced guide, Paul Kirui, last witnessed such a crossing twelve years ago at the Sand River.

The availability of carcasses on the open river beds have led to some of the highest congregation of vultures ever witnessed in the recent past.


Big Cats
Big Cats' sightings over the past week could not have been better. There were good sightings of lions actively hunting during the day, which resulted in a few kills. The Olkiombo pride has settled along the Talek River east of Mara Explorer from where the launched the hunting. The alpha female in the pride has two cubs, about two months old. She took advantage of the animals crossing the river near where she is staying with her cubs, and has killed more than any other lioness in the pride.
The other prides in our game viewing areas are still easily seen.

The two cheetahs with cubs near Mara Explorer continue to be seen hunting during the morning on the recently burnt area, where there are some gazelles and Topi. It is expected that they will move the cubs out of the thicket any time soon, and there is heightened anticipation of the new cubs. The gazelles are giving birth from next month and this is when the mother cheetahs catch the gazelle fawns to let their the cubs play-act with them to gain and hone their hunting instincts.

Leopards are also seen daily near our camps. Bella, Olive (inset) and her two cubs, Big-boy, Pump-house female and two other unidentified leopards were all seen in the past week.


Paul Kirui. Chief Safari Guide
Kindly contact: safariguide@mara-intrepids.co.ke for comments or inquiry on the migration
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News from Maasai Mara, Kenya August 29th 2008

The last week has been very enthralling for crossing enthusiasts, with our guests getting their holiday's worth! Very many wildebeests crossed the Mara River at Paradise point for three consecutive days, with the crossings lasting up to ten hours each day! Another crossing point commonly called cul de sac, or Kichinjio by the guides in the Mara, was also very active with many wildebeests and zebra succumbing to crocs, and many more dying from being trampled.

These same herds had crossed about three weeks ago from the Mara Triangle just below the same point for ten hours one day, east onto Paradise and Olorukoti plains and Rhino ridge. Some of them had pushed further north outside the park into Koiyaki and Olare-Orok conservancies.

Some light rains in some areas across the park have triggered random movement by the wildebeest, but our guides expect the herds to be around for a while.

Predators:

If ever there was a good time to catch predators in action in the Mara, then the past week was! Our guests saw very many hunts - attempted and successful - in broad daylight as the lions, cheetahs and leopards couldn't resist the temptation of going for one more wildebeest - even though they had just fed or had caught another recently.

Just yesterday, the Olkiombo pride made a record by killing eight wildebeests in one afternoon - and four more overnight! The wildebeests were crossing the Talek River, which is almost dry but in such a rush that many died in the stampede and others suffered broken limps.

Olive the leopard killed three wildebeest over the past week, which she feed on with her three different litter cubs - a sub-adult female born late 2005, two 18 months-old cubs that are still with her, and a 5 months-old. The family has showed an extraordinary interaction that is now drawing considerable attention from wildlife enthusiasts and experts, as it is a rare occurrence. Fortunately for our Mara Intrepids guests, the happy family is occasionally spotted strolling past the bar area across the river in the evenings.

There are four cheetahs with very small cubs at the moment in our game viewing area. Two of these are not far from Mara Explorer, and still have their cubs hidden in thicket. One has four cubs and the other has six. Our informed guides expect them to move the cubs out any time in the coming two weeks. The third female is in Musiara area, while the fourth is near Look-Out Hill. The latter has already moved her cubs from the thickets and can now be seen moving across the plains with them.

Paul Kirui. Chief Safari Guide
Kindly contact: safariguide@mara-intrepids.co.ke for comments or inquiry on the migration
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News from Maasai Mara, Kenya August 22nd 2008

Our guides in the Mara report crossings have heightened activities in the reserve. The northern and central parts are the epicenter, with most of the herds crossing from the Mara triangle and spreading out over Paradise and Olorukoti plains. Others have gone beyond the borders of the reserve, all the way to the neighbouring game dispersal areas.

There are high concentrations of wildebeests, zebra, Topi and buffalo around Rhino Ridge, Paradise, central and Meta plains, and all the way to Look-Out Hill. Such a huge gatherings were last seen in 2000 migration season, and is in part due to the amount of grass the animals found when they arrived. The grass in these areas was not burnt leaving plenty of grass for the numerous herbivores. The amount of grass available for the animals may slow their movement, making them prefer to settle longer in particular areas than move around.

However some animals have started crossing the river back onto the Mara triangle. They started this today at around 2.30pm. We later had some showers in the afternoon along the crossing points and this is expected to increase the pace at which the animals will cross back. We are therefore looking forward to more activities in the coming week as thousands of animals cross back


PREDATORS
It was another week full of predatory activities, as the different lion prides swung into action and killed many herbivores. There are wildebeest carcasses littered the plains around areas where prides of lions are found, a reason being most of the prides have now come together, and their territories are teeming with herbivores. There has never been a nicer time to witness hunts, as many of our guests have seen!

The cheetah with the little cubs is still where she was last week and her cubs are still safe. We are just a bit worried because the Olkiombo pride has settled nearby. Our guides hope they will not discover the little cubs since they will be killed instantly. There are other cheetahs seen around as well at this time. The three brothers - Honey’s cubs - are now actively hunting even young wildebeests!

Leopards sighting was good, and we kept seeing all the individuals in our territory.

The wildebeest and zebra with all their attendant animals have really brought life to the Mara, and it is a joy to bear witness to it all!

Paul Kirui. Chief Safari Guide
Kindly contact: safariguide@mara-intrepids.co.ke for comments or inquiry on the migration

News from Maasai Mara, Kenya August 11th 2008

There is only one word to describe the situation in the Mara at the moment, ‘It is all wildebeest’. The past week characterized the highlight of the migration in the Mara. There were intensive crossings at the Mara River at the Paradise and Pump-House crossing points in large herds that were last witnessed in 1996 and 2001. To the utter amazement of seasoned Mara guides, there were so many animals converging before crossing, the crossings - especially at the Pump-House point - went on for almost 10 hours!

There’s an air of excitement for the guests who have been planning their trips in advance to witness this event, and for them, it’s been worth it! The wildebeest have been moving en masse from the Mara triangle onto Paradise Plain. Many have died from predation by crocodiles, others from being trampled during the stampedes at the river crossings, and predation from the Big Cats and hyaenas.

The concentration of the migrating herds is now almost spread out across the whole reserve, with more trooping in in their thousands from the Serengeti. The highest concentration currently is towards the central and north plains. Some rains earlier in the week have in a way hastened the movement, with temperatures were somehow low in the mornings but the mid day was fine.


PREDATORS
The last was also quite active for the predators. There were more lion kills witnessed in one week, than in the past couple of months! Wildebeest carcasses littered the plains around pride territories, with even the so called “greedy hyaenas” having their full - as carcasses remained untouched for long periods!

Cheetahs were seen through out the week, with kills and attempted hunts witnessed a number of times. There is a cheetah with 6 four days old cubs, just one kilometre from Mara Explorer along the Talek River. The area had to be sealed off to reduce incidents of the cubs being ran over by vehicles. This same female had a similar litter two years ago, with four of these cubs surviving to adulthood.

Bella the leopard was seen a few times and on two occasions seen with Ntito - one of her daughters - and her 7 month old cub. It was nice to see this very rare occurrence, three generation of leopards interacting!


Paul Kirui. Chief Safari Guide
Kindly contact: safariguide@mara-intrepids.co.ke for comments or inquiry on the migration and other animal sightings in the MaraMigration%20Map%20-%20August112008.jpg

News from Maasai Mara, Kenya July 31st 2008

The wildebeest migration continues to thrill guests to the Mara. For the past week the herds of wildebeest and zebra continued in their traditional migratory routes into the Mara. The herds which have been crossing the Mara river near the lower Mara bridge are now massed up on the recently burnt section on the south Mara triangle. More herds have kept crossing over from Serengeti into the Mara and these are still near Look Out Hill and some have spread out on the central and Burrungat plains.

The animals continued crossing near the lower Mara bridge onto the Mara triangle in the past week, though in reduced numbers. In contrast, there were many wildebeest and zebra crossing at the Paradise Point, where there has been a lot of action with crossings in both directions.

The crocodiles at the Mara River have increased slightly, but the crocodiles have never ceased taking the opportunity. There are many animals snapped by the ever-hungry reptiles during the crossings, with our guide once counting upwards of 30 crocodiles in a feeding frenzy on one wildebeest carcass! With more animals on the Mara triangle now moving east, there are now more than one crossing points at the river - which increases chances of one seeing a crossing while reducing over-crowding.

Predators
The lion prides in areas where the migrating animals have reached are now hunting daily. So much so, that when there are easy pickings, even full-bellied lions will hunt just for the fun of it! This has heightened the excitement during the game drives.

There were good leopard sightings over the past week. Even in areas where leopards are known to be shy, there was evidence from carcasses in trees. A young female - christened Penda by Mara Intrepids guides - can still be found at Olkeju-Rongai area. In the past two days, she has been seen actively hunting in the middle of the day.

Paul Kirui, Lead Safari Guide, Heritage Hotels

Sighting of the year!

There was a rare sighing in the Mara yesterday of an unusual visitor - a rare lesser Kudu! Spotted by our guide, Aggrey Angogo at around 4.00pm yesterday (29/7/08) just east of Mara Explorer, it was excitement all around. He generously shared this information with other tour guides, and in one hour almost a quarter of the Mara guests were here to see for themselves. Though commonly seen in other areas like Tsavo east and west, and other parks in eastern Kenya, the lesser Kudu is scarce in the Mara. It is believed a few of these animals occurred in these parts before the1940s, and nobody remembers ever seeing one in the past few decades.


Paul Kirui, Lead Safari Guide, Heritage Hotels

News from Maasai Mara, Kenya July 24th 2008

The Mara River has been active in the past week, with many wildebeests and zebra crossing the river near Look Out Hill onto the Mara triangle. As reported last week, the herds then head west and northwards, settling on Burrungat plains across the river from Mara Intrepids. The main crossing at Paradise point was not very active, but our guides expect it to be the highlight of activities in the coming weeks when the herds will cross at this traditional point over to Paradise plains.

The water in the river is still low, making the crossing for the wildebeest just an easy walk across, with the crocs snapping at every opportunity for a meal. The herds have now seemingly settled down, especially along the lower side of the Mara River. The Loita herds have now joined with the Serengeti ones south of Mara triangle, where the grass is sufficient to sustain them through the migration season.

Looking down into Serengeti, herds of wildebeests and zebra on the recently burnt areas along the border can be seen nibbling on new shoots of grass growing in these area after some light rains swept through there the previous week.

Predators:
For the predators, the season of plenty has finally arrived! Lion prides south of the Talek are now very active, responding to the herbivores moving into their territories. The same is to cheetah and leopards in the area.

Our guests at Mara Intrepids witnessed a few kills by lions at Olkeju-Rongai and Look Out Hill area. There have been a lot of attempted and successful hunts by the Shonko pride between Mara Intrepids and Olkeju-Rongai stream.

Other notable predators have also been on the prowl. The hyaena clan living on Burrungat plains – traditional scavengers - took to an active hunting when the herds got to their territory. The vultures that accompany the migrating animals are now a common sight in the lower Mara section. They are the clean-up gangs that clear the mess left by the predators or carcasses of animals succumbing to diseases/injuries.


Paul Kirui, Lead Safari Guide, Heritage Hotels
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