The Great Migration Safari: Day 5

An amazing day on safari – this is why I love the Great Migration Safari! We started with a new hyena den close to the camp, quickly followed by a female leopard crossing the road in front of us. The hyenas kept appearing throughout the day, as did the elephants and buffalo, but there were 4 hyenas in particular that put on an amazing show for us. They spent the better part of an hour playing in a small stream, running in and out of the water, jumping on each other, and even playing with each other underwater! The resolve of the cameras was put to the test on that one, and came out winning. Immediately after the hyena fun, we found a lioness lying on her own, with 3 large buffalos nearby, but she took the safe option, and slipped away past them unnoticed. This was followed by a seriously large and impressive male lion dragging his wildebeest kill through the clearing to the relative shade of a small tree. It was photographically wonderful! As if we had not yet seen enough or photographed enough, 2 more lions appeared, eating another unlucky wildebeest.

All this turned out only to set the tone for the rest of the day! When you join the Great Migration safari, you hope to see and photograph the famous river crossings. We were lucky enough to be at 3 different crossings with a front row seat to all the action. On one of the crossings, a crocodile made an appearance, and caught one of the younger wildebeest. It is always sad to see the little ones get taken, but equally amazing to see those massive crocs in action. On the way back from the crossings, we lucked out even further by spotting a lioness in a tree, and 4 cheetah resting on a termite mound. I have to say it again, what an amazing day on safari!

Major sightings of the day:

Spotted hyena den site with 5 hyenas

Female leopard

Many herds of elephants

Many buffalo

4 hyenas playing in the water

Lioness

Male lion dragging a wildebeest kill

2 female lions eating a wildebeest

3 different river crossings

Crocodile kill

Lioness in a tree

4 cheetah

To join us on safari, click here!

The Great Migration Safari: Day 4

We landed in the Masai Mara and were welcomed by thousands of wildebeest! There was a section of the massive herd all around the airstrip dotted with zebra, gazelle and elephants, so we got straight into this leg of the safari. The day’s sightings only improved as it went on, and there were so many animals to photograph, the only challenge was deciding where to point the cameras. Two lionesses were finishing off a wildebeest kill they had made earlier in the day and stole our attention for a good while, before we found the den site of a clan of spotted hyena. There were around twenty hyenas active around the den site, with loads of young cubs, ranging from a few weeks old to a few years. What a start to the Masai Mara.

Major sightings of the day:

Many buffalo

Many elephants

2 female lions on a wildebeest kill

Many different hyenas

Hyena den site with ±20 hyenas and 9 cubs

To join us on safari, click here!

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

To join us safari, click here!

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

To join us in safari, click here!

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.