Thursday, December 3, 2009

Final hours in the Maasai Mara, then off to Shompole Lodge, Lake Magadi




Our last evening in the Mara gave us a amazing farewell gift!  We found a beautiful female leopard basking in the last of the sun on a termite mound.  We sat on top of the car and watched her carefully.  As the sun got lower in the sky the full moon rose behind her and after carefully scanning the surrounding area, she gracefully bounded off the mound and disappeared into the bush.



This morning we flew to Shompole Lodge, in Africa's Great Rift Valley.  We flew in a Cessna 206 owned by a friend of mine who's main job is crop dusting; with thousands of hours under his belt he is one of the most experienced and safest pilots I know!




This area is still suffering from the drought and you can see from the sunset that dust is in the air.  Our Maasai spotter, Ngatia, posed for us on a rock!

 

This morning, after a night filled with the roar of lion, we made our way off on a game drive and happily found the source of the noise!  This beautiful male lion is bigger than the Mara lion with a much darker mane and despite the drought he looks exceedingly healthy and fit.




It is too hot to do much during the heat of the day at Shompole Lodge!  Each room has its own 'cool pool' and what better way than to literally cool off than to make a big splash!


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