The world seems to move more and more toward violence, setting aside the health of the planet for short term gain. I wrote a bit about this in a post on my blog a few years ago: The Picture’s the Thing. It is important for us to at least understand a little of what we are losing. So I am going to try and share a little of the magic I experienced at Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. I was there for only about 72 hours, but…wow!
Our guide/driver was one of the more experienced ones at Kichwa Tembo and we saw more animals, for longer periods than many. But he drove pretty fast and it was bumpy!
Even several years later, the smell of the Serengeti grassland and feel of bouncing along dirt roads come back strongly. I can’t share the smell, or feeling of bouncing along, with you, but here goes with the pictures.
Lions first
The first lion we saw was a young-ish male. He was strolling nonchalantly along in the early morning sun. Our driver, nicknamed “Action Jackson” by someone in our group, did quite a bit of maneuvering. Hekept the lion in sight, not quite following, staying where we wouldn’t scare him off. Whatever the reason, due to his skillful approach, we quickly came see lionesses and cubs.
That was just the start.
We saw many more lions. Turns out they aren’t all that rare in the area where we were. To the point where we practically yawned when, one time, our guide stopped beside another safari group to see what they were looking at, and all of the people in the group pointed excitedly to the lions they were watching.
How can you ever be blase about watching a lion in the wild?
Cheetah
Other big cats were equally spectacular. We watched this pair of cheetah brothers a couple of times. The first day they had such big bellies that I thought they might be pregnant females. Turned out they had killed a Topi and gorged themselves.
The elusive star of the big cat show: the Leopard
Many people never get to see a leopard. Even those who come to Africa. They are both elusive and well camouflaged.
We spent 45 minutes watching a mother leopard with two cubs, one that was two years old and one that was one. As they moved about surveying their territory then settled in for a midday nap in the brush beside a wooded area.
We were out somewhere when the radio emitted static and some scratchy words in Swahili. He hit the gas, even more than usual, and we bounced to where a few safari vehicles were waiting, hanging back away from the leopards. Obviously “Action Jackson” knew what to do not to spook the leopards.He organized the vehicles to move in ways so we could all see the gorgeous creatures without spooking them.
Big Cats are an indicator species
They need a lot of land filled with other animals to survive, in other words a healthy ecosystem. In Africa they are a fearsome problem where they co-exist with people. Finding the right balance to preserve big cats and humans is complex and politically difficult. I don’t claim to know the answers. I do think that, just when trying to find solutions for two groups of people, respecting and looking for the value and beauty on both sides is a necessary, and often neglected first step.