Maasai Mara day three

We found a pride of lion last evening and one can really tell how difficult it is for these majestic animals when the migration leaves.  There were seven cubs; usually during the cool evenings cubs get up and romp around and play, these cubs were too skinny and hungry to do much more than sleep.

The light in the Mara at the moment is really amazing with clear blue skies and beautiful cloud formations.  The short rains have cleaned the air so there is no haze or dust, and we can see for miles and miles.  This light is fabulous for photography especially for effects and atmosphere!

This morning we encountered a herd of giraffe sailing across the open plains in the most beautiful morning light.

We took the opportunity to get some fun photographs of Andi and Jonathan for a safari memento!

There are a lot of old buffalo herds around at the moment and these two oldies have huge horns.  They look rather like Hanging Judges with their wigs on just hoping for an excuse to charge!

Maasai Mara day two

 

After the great start yesterday who would have thought that things would only get better?  Last evening we decided to see the three cheetah brothers again and on the way there saw this lovely herd of elephant.   When we got to the cheetah they were still lying around so we opened a chilled bottle of white wine, sat on the roof of the car and enjoyed a sundowner!  As we settled in the cheetah got up and started to stalk a herd of zebra with a young foal.  They sprinted into the herd hoping to scatter the family and separate the foal but he stuck to his mother like glue and she was able to fend the cheetah off.  We went back to camp feeling very satisfied!

Early the next morning we were up at first light and shortly after the sun came up we found a beautiful female leopard walking back towards the Talek river after a night of hunting.  The morning sun shone off her coat and we stayed with her for several minutes before she disappeared into thick bush.

About half an hour later we came up with the three brothers again, almost seven kilometers away from where we had left them.  They had still not fed and as we came up to them they cantered off towards a mother topi and calf.  The topi out ran them and left them panting on the top of a ridge.

After breakfast we arrived back with the cheetah as they were setting off on a stalk for another mother and calf Topi unit.  We positioned the car and sat watching the slow and patient process. After an hour the cheetah had progressed by about 20 meters and we were getting hot under the sun.  However patience is a virtue and eventually the mother and calf started feeding their way towards where the cheetah were hunkered down in a patch of longer grass.  We waited with baited breath as they got closer and closer until it seemed that they should be standing on top of the cheetah!  Suddenly all hell broke loose as the cheetah made their charge, again hoping to panic the mother and calf into running in separate directions.  Again the topi pair stayed together at full pelt with the cheetah alongside them the calf bleating in fear and the mother firmly keeping herself between her baby and the predators. Eventually the cheetah gave up and panting hard they made their way right towards us and plonked down in the shade of our car!

Jonathan and Andi were delighted as you can see! What a first 24 hours for Jonathan and Andi’s first ever safari, I wonder what the next few days will bring?

On safari in the Maasai Mara

On safari again at last!  I met our guests at the Palacina Hotel this morning and we flew straight to the Maasai Mara.  On arrival we were met by these three cheetah brothers who were fast asleep under a lone tree on the side of Emarti Hill.  They were looking really healthy but thin enough to be thinking about an evening hunt!  

 

We then found this lovely old bull elephant who was browsing his way through young accacias as he slowly made his way up the hill.  He came within 10 feet of the car to get a closer look at us.

 

The Egyptian geese were very vocal about our arrival close to their brood of goslings but they calmed down after a while.  All this in our first two hours of arrival in the Mara!  What a great start to our safari!

A great start to your safari!

Palacina- Nairobi

We regularly put our guests up at the Palacina Hotel in Nairobi when they arrive in Kenya.  The hotel is very simple but beautifully decorated and has the most amazing restaurant!  Consistently rated among the top dining establishments in Nairobi, The Moonflower embodies the finest of Kenyan cuisine and hospitality. Featuring the very best of Kenyan produce in a contemporary menu, their subtle fusion of Mediterranean and Swahili cultures is evident and in the unbeatable ambience.  What a great way to start your safari in Africa!

Fodors feed back from guests

Some lovely feed back from guests!

Loisaba Cottage, Laikipia Kenya

In Amanda's missive about the Grumeti Reserves she wrote about our friend Humphrey Carter, who used to fly the helicopter at Loisaba Wilderness.  His lovely home is now open to our guests and we were lucky to visit it last weekend.  Loisaba have added two spacious cottages which blend into the bush and means that we can now take private groups of up to six people.  We had a private chef, car and driver and our own staff who made our stay very comfortable.   It is a great way to experience Loisaba and is just like being in ones own home.  

Like many of the conservancies in this area Loisaba was affected badly by the drought but there is plenty of wildlife and the numbers are growing everyday.  Alayne's research on lions is coming on great guns and the greater Kudu are no longer as shy as they were.

Exploring the great Grumeti Rserve

Finally to Sabora Tented Camp and our night under canvas, my favourite way to experience the African bush! The camp is very opulent and again the attention to detail is fabulous. That night I slept with the front of my tent wide open; I love to hear the night sounds and to have the early morning light creep in as dawn appears. Having the wildebeest and zebra grazing right outside my bathroom added the final touch.

As I lay in bed that night after a sumptuous dinner under the stars, I thought back to my fleeting visit back to the African bush and to our adventures in years gone by. I realise more and more how important it is to have a private guide such as Simon to travel with on safari. He has a knowledge of Africa that is unsurpassed; not just of the wildlife but the history and the cultures. Add to this a sense of humour and this is what makes a safari so much more than just a journey to Africa. It is a journey to parts of our souls that we have forgotten in our day to day lives!

Exploring the great Grumeti Reserves

As Amanda was looking at these properties from our guests point of view she was delighted to be able to sample as many activities she could; we know that sitting in a car all day can take its toll!

 

Amanda is not the most experienced of horsewomen but riding across the plains of Grumeti Reserves is out of this world!  Martin and Ali, who look after the stables are very careful to check out every guest's ability to ride before they take you out.  Amanda and friends also wanted to walk but at the moment the Reserve has to wait for the Tanzanian Game Department to provide them with rangers.  We totally agree with this policy but we were assured that the rangers will be coming soon!  

 

They invited Humphrey Carter (who used to fly the helicopter from Loisaba) to dinner that night, many of you will remember him and his fun sense of humour.  They laughed and laughed until their sides split; stories of the African bush, of past adventures, of people and places.  This is what life is about; exploring incredible places and laughter with friends and family!

Exploring the great Grumeti Reserves

The next morning Amanda drove slowly and without a care in the world through the bush hunting with her binoculars for the wildlife.  They saw large breeding herds of elephant with tiny tiny babies.  Elephant never cease to amaze, they are such huge beasts but so quite and gentle; to sit and watch them interact is a memory many of our guests take home with them and never forget. Amanda and friends startled themselves more than the three lion they saw as they came around a corner; mum and her two cubs playing in the morning sun. 

 

Stopping for breakfast of homemade croissant, fruit, coffee and fresh juice they watched a large herd of wildebeest and zebra who seemingly took no notice of them at all.  Walking down into the river bed to see the tracks left in the night, and yes, there were Amanda's leopard tracks!  She might not have kept awake long enough the night before but he had visited, she was so happy!

 

Eventually they arrived for lunch at Sasakwa Lodge and wow!  They were rather late but that is the beauty of having your own private guide and car!  Sasakwa is incredible, rather like a palatial home from a time gone by.  The vast vast views across the plains are awesome; the attention to detail amazing and the food was delicious!  Many of you who have met Amanda know that it takes quite a lot to impress her!

Exploring the great Grumeti Reserves

As Amanda flew over the vast expanses of the Serengeti with its never ending views and feeling of space, she was reminded why we have dedicated our lives to safari and the conservation of our beautiful continent.  In Africa we can get back to the basics of life; to talk without anything to interrupt us other than the flight of a bird or call of an animal.  To be under the vast African skies; the smell and touch of the raw earth brings back the need for the simple things in life!

Her first night was spent at Faru Faru, a stunningly placed lodge over looking the beautiful and wild Grumeti River.  The whole lodge had a simple feeling and of course her favourite part was the outside shower where she could wash under the vast African sky.  It was full moon and she spent most of the night sitting by her window looking at the river bed just in case that illusive leopard came to visit.  What a magical night it was and so silent!

Exploring the great Grumeti Reserves

Amanda had not been on safari since December last year and had been invited to the Singita Grumeti Reserves (the dream of Paul Tudor Jones), she jumped at the chance to visit this beautiful area of the Serengeti in Tanzania.  I feel that the need to escape day to day life and have time to reflect on the things that really matter is becoming more and more important in today's world!

 

When Amanda and I lived in the Grumeti area, 17 years ago, it was heavily poached and the wildlife was very skittish.  However PTJ has spent considerable time and money preserving this incredible area and you can see the effects. The wildlife was out of this world,  she saw so much!

A short break in South Africa

 At the end of October Amanda, Phoebe and I went down to South Africa where Sebastian is at St. Andrews College,  Grahamstown.  This is a prestigious school with a strong tradition to its Scottish roots and one of the events the school put on was the cadet corps of seniors performing the Beating of the Retreat when the flag is lowered for the night.  Typical to the Scottish roots was the weather which suited the occasion and had us all in warm clothes and umbrellas!

Sebastian is in his first year here and is immersing himself in the many events, sports and other activities the school has to offer.  He says he is enjoying it which is a relief to us and he does appear to have settled in well.

After a few days of formal school activities including speech day, parent/teacher meetings and the athletics tournament, we were able to escape the orbit of Grahamstown and shoot down to the beach for half term.  Three days at Rugged Rocks self catering cottages at Port Alfred gave us the relaxation and fun which we all needed.  Although the Indian Ocean laps against our beaches here in Kenya the same Ocean roars up the beach in South Africa and we thought the water close to freezing! I braved the chilling water with Phoebe but Amanda said that she didn't want to get her camera wet.

Having decided to leave the Ocean to the whales and seals we set our sights on the dunes at the back of the beach and tried out the fun to be had on a piece of polished hardboard and the steep face of the dunes.  Dune boarding is just like tobogganing down hills on the snow but on sand instead.  After our tentative first attempts we got more adventurous and tried ever bigger dunes and ever more daring slides such as standing up or going down backwards.....

Sebastian quickly mastered the finer points of balance and technique as you can see in this photo.  The rest of us did our best to emulate him and many had great success although my best efforts mostly ended up in disaster....

 Anyway despite the sand, which seemed to get everywhere, much fun and laughs were had by everyone and we thoroughly enjoyed our  South African Holiday.

Cheers for now,

Simon.