The Great Migration Safari: Day 3 Samburu extension

This was our final day in Samburu before heading off to the Masai Mara, so we set out early looking again for the Samburu ‘special five’. The main goal was the wonderfully striped grevy’s zebra. We found a herd quite early on, and they gave us plenty of good opportunity to photograph them. Moving on from the herd of zebra, we spent some time with a male somali ostrich and a few elephants before finding a female leopard. As we found her, she gave chase after a black-backed jackal, and very nearly caught it. We followed her for a little while, until she eventually moved up into one of the hills. We thought the good times were done, and were heading back to the airstrip, when we saw a cheetah on the move. The cheetah was looking quite intent, and started stalking a gerenuk, which was standing up feeding and had not seen the cheetah. I thought for all money the cheetah was in for a meal, but the crafty gerenuk turned while standing on only its back legs, and saw the cheetah twenty or so meters away from it. It gave a short sharp call, and made an enthusiastic dash for safety. Very exciting stuff indeed.

Major sightings of the day:

2 black-backed jackals with a dik-dik kill

Herd of elephants

Female leopard chasing a black-backed jackal

Female cheetah stalking a gerenuk

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The Great Migration Safari: Day 2 Samburu extension

We set out nice and early looking specifically for the Samburu ‘special five’, and were rewarded with a lion sighting! We did manage to find the animals we were looking for and got some pretty cool photographs of them, most notably the gerenuk standing on its hind legs and feeding (the only antelope known to do this), and a journey of reticulated giraffe that very kindly posed underneath a near full moon for us. There was a lot on offer for us to photograph, and our bird lists rocketed – another great day in Africa!

Major sightings of the day:

2 herds of elephants

1 female lion

5 female lions

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The Great Migration Safari: Day 1 Samburu extension

We started our annual Great Migration Safari slightly differently this year, by heading further north into Kenya, to a wonderful place called Samburu. This area is known for what they call, the ‘special five’. You can find leopards, lions, elephants and a host of other species, but the special five are the gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, grevy’s zebra, somali ostrich and beisa oryx – all of which we managed to find on the first day! All these new species sent the cameras into overdrive. The bird life is also very cool, and our lists got filled quite quickly. The adorable little dik-dik’s running around the camp only add to the experience, and give lots of good photographic opportunities.

Major sightings of the day:

Herd of elephants

Gerenuk

Grevy’s zebra

Herd of buffalo

Reticulated giraffe

Beisa oryx

Somali ostrich

3 male elephants

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 10

Unfortunately, every great safari has to come to an end, but luckily, no great safari need stop end in disappointment! What a final day to end off with! A pride of 8 lions were out and about early in the morning, moving around and playing with each other. The beautiful morning light didn’t hurt one bit, as the cameras started off on the right note. Shortly after these lions, we found a female leopard and her 2 young cubs, around 12 weeks old. She was moving them from the site of her last kill, to a new, safe den site. We were lucky enough to catch them on the move, and got plenty of opportunities to photograph them out in the open. What a privilege to see these little balls of fluff and spots running around, trying to keep up with mom. We then decided to stop for a civilised cup of tea and coffee, and a couple big male elephants came down tot he river for a drink. It is awesome when it all comes together. It really was an amazing safari, with a great group of guests!

Major sightings of the day:

Pride of 8 lions

Male rhino

Female leopard and 2 cubs

2 male elephants

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 9

The day was all about leopards. Starting out early on the mornings safari, we set off on the trail of a female leopard, but found a male leopard instead. We stayed with him for a while, but having eaten his full (of what turned out to be the females kill), he was not going to be moving anywhere soon, se kept on the female leopards trail, and found her, having recovered what remained of her kill, lying up in the shade of a tree. She too was well fed, and needed some rest. We headed straight back to the same spot in the afternoon safari, and found the female leopard balancing quite superbly on a tiny branch, feeding on the impala. The wonderful setting was washed in glorious afternoon light and the cameras went crazy! It was a great scene to photograph.

Major sightings of the day:

Male leopard

Female leopard with a kill in a tree

Male elephant

Male rhino

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