Reporting Date: 29.01.2012

For the last two weeks or so we did not sight any elephants in our private conservancy. The fact is that there is plenty of food all over the mara. Many are still taking advantage plenty of grass in the reserve. However, this morning during a walk, we sighted a family of 21 elephants moving into the conservancy around the camp. They spent the whole afternoon in the hills adjacent to the camp. It was exciting seeing them again after a while.

Our private conservancy is a migratory route for elephants into the areas surrounding the reserve.

To view the sighted animals table click the "Read more" button.

Reporting Date: 26th January 2012

Elephants “ invades” camp.

It was at about 9 am when a group of elephants decided that it was long since they paid the camp a visit. They were about 100 animals all together which included males, females with calves of various ages. They were not in a hurry as they peacefully grazed on the grass and shrubs near the tents whereby ever so often they would stop to listen and study their surroundings then continue walking slowly. The early morning sun made everybody in camp to have a good view of these mega-herbivores. Later after about half an hour, they were rallied by the matriarch to move on but left a promise to come back.

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Reporting Date: 27.01.2012

We set out at 6.00am for our sunrise spot in the hills in our private conservancy. As we left the camp, we heard a lion roaring near an area known as Leopard's crossing. The lion heard our vehicle and evaded us. We thus continued on our drive to see the sun rise. At the sunrise spot we had tea, coffee and hot chocolate with croissants as we watched the stunning sunrise. The location and the views were just perfect as hyenas laughed in the background. At about 7.15 am we set out for a walk back to camp. The walk which lasted about 2.5 hours was very exciting with sightings of various game including Giraffes, Elands, Birds, Topis, Grant's gazelles, Impalas just to mention a few. The most interesting part was when Daniel the head scout enthused our guests with his great knowledge on ethnobotany. The two plus hour passed without us noticing and soon we were back at the camp for breakfast.

This is just one of the activities one can now enjoy at our camp within the now expanded private conservancy.

Reporting Date:  26.01.2012

A pride of 12 lions had killed 2 adult zebras and each one of them had their share. We were fascinated by a lioness with her three cubs who engorged themselves so much that they spent hours lying in the hot sun, panting endlessly, probably unable to move due to too much meat or was left behind by the rest of the pride to guard the kill from scavengers.

A lioness needs to eat about 5kg (11 pounds) while a male needs about 7kg (15.5 pounds) of meat a day. However, lions tend to overeat gorging up to 30kg in one sitting. If unable to eat everything, it rests for a few hours before consuming more.

To view the sighted animals table click the "Read more" button.

Reporting Date: 23rd January 2012

Very rarely would people come across a mother hyena in the open field suckling her off-springs as it happens with the cats. But on this day, ranger Godson and his guests were attracted to this hyena mother suckling her two babies which were about six months old. The two babies were enjoying the mother’s milk in the heat of the day in the grass as she lay down on her side. Hyenas milk is very nutritious and is the cause of the development of the strong jaw- bones that they have. When young, they have prominent spots on their bodies which disappear as they grow older.

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Reporting Date: 25/01/2012.

Wildebeest migration in the Mara is welcomed whole heartedly by the big cats especially the lions. During the four months that the wildebeest roam the vast Mara plains lions tend to feed more often than normal. As a result of this its common to see lions on 'honeymoon'. Lioness have a gestation period of 90-100 days after which they give birth to 1-4 cubs and are known to cross-suckle from any lactating mother in the pride.

Peter and his guests were lucky to see three lionesses and their eight cubs who were all below 2 months old. They watched the cubs get breast-fed before they all walked past their vehicle and headed for some near-by bushes.

‘’JUST MARRIED’’

It was in the strong heat of the day in the afternoon when we came across these two young lions that were mating. Because they were in their early years of life with the male having short blonde hairs, they looked as if they were just starting a new pride, hence the reason why our guests gave them the name ‘’Just married’’. Usually male lions leave the original pride at about the age of two years to start establishing their own pride. During this time, they would move from place to place in search of existing prides to conquer. This two lions were not bothered by the heat of the day as they were busy enjoying their honey-moon.

Reporting Date: 20th January 2012

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Head Scout’s daily report

Reporting date:      23.01.2012

One of our staff was driving to one of our scouts base in the morning and came across 'some strange dog-like animals' he said. He added that at first he thought they were hyenas. But they looked darker as opposed to hyenas which are more brownish with dark spots. Further more, hyenas are usually shy, taking off as soon as you approach them. But these  painted dogs were brave and ran towards the car. He had to speed off.

Immediately he informed the scouts about his ordeal but the scouts already knew what the 'strange animals' were and informed me. When I heard this I was excited and inquired more about their location and pack size. I immediately went out to look for them. Luckily they were lying under the croton bushes. They had killed two impalas and had just finished eating and were resting. Peter, Martin and Ferdinand's guests all had the opportunity to see them. A rare sighting indeed.

It been over two weeks since they were last seen in the conservancy. We are so happy at their return! 

To view the sighted animals table click the "Read more" button.

Reporting Date: 18th January 2012

Climbing down to finish off breakfast.

A leopard had stored her meal in the tree for three days, he had killed a sub-adult warthog which is a very rare meal for a leopard as they are mostly known for killing antelopes. We found him in the early hours of the morning finishing off the meal when suddenly it fell off the branch as it could not hold on it any longer. We watched him struggle to hold the meal tight onto the horizontal branch but because it was now too little, it was in vain. It then quickly climbed down to finish it on the ground.

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Reporting Date:  20.01.2012

The morning started on a low note for peter,martin and their guest.A little after ten o'clock they came across a huge herd of buffaloes  who seemed to  be in a panic mood. After looking around for what was causing the unrest, they saw a pride of lions feeding on a buffalo carcass. It seemed they arrived an hour  late because the carcass was already half eaten. They all watched the lions dig in as some of them rested with full bellies in some near-by the bush.

Buffalo is not an easy prey for lions but they provide ample food for the whole pride.