The craziness continued in Kenya as we headed to the Mara North Conservancy to the Offbeat Mara Camp. If you want to see how we got here then take a moment to read the previous post, Kenya – Ekorian Mugie Safari.
After a couple of hops on a plane we landed at Mara North Conservancy. We were greeted by our new driver and guide, Simon and Stanley. We were going to be here for four days. I was over my jet lag and ready to explore. Each morning we woke up at dawn to be able to greet the animals.
Offbeat Mara Camp
We arrived at the camp and were greeted by Ms. Jen and their team. The camp was amazing. We had a giant “tent” for sleeping and resting. The crazy part was that there were no fences…anywhere. Dinner began after sunset, but we weren’t allowed to walk from our tent to the main hall after dark. We had to step outside our tent and shine our flashlight into the air and wait for the guard to come escort us.
One night, when the guard came to our tent, he told us to move quickly. We didn’t quite understand. So he shined his flashlight into the brush about 30 yards away and said “hippo.” And that was no joke. You could see the hippo’s eyes glowing in the dark once the light hit them. Needless to say…we picked up our pace!
The Lesser Known Animals
I want to highlight a few of the lesser known animals that quickly became some of our favorites. There were many animals in the “antelope” family. There were topi, aka “Blue Jeans,” because they have a bluish tint on their rear end and hind legs. There were impalas with their crazy shaped horns. There were oryx with their straight horns. And Pa’s favorite, the dik dik, which were these tiny, adorable antelopes, no bigger than a foot or two tall.
There were also a lot of cool birds, like eagles, and reptiles, including colorful lizards. We even came across several mongoose and a few monkeys. There were even a couple monkeys that would join us at breakfast at camp. Ma was worried, because on a previous trip to Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls, she had a monkey steal her breakfast off her plate! These guys were nice, though, and they kept their distance.
Elephants
Let’s introduce a few of the animals we saw during this trip. The elephants were the largest creatures out there. We saw hundreds of elephants on a given day. There were multiple herds (or a parade) with several generations of elephants. It was super cool to see the herd watch after the younger elephants. Elephant herds can be destructive. Stanley would point out some uprooted trees and bushes throughout the plains. These are truly majestic creatures.
Giraffes
There were hundreds of giraffes too. These guys moved in smaller groups called a tower. They were a bit more skittish of our Jeep so we could not get super close. Most giraffes were just hanging out and eating leaves off of trees. However, we did see a couple interesting moments.
We pulled up to a river to check out some hippos when a small tower of giraffes approached. After what looked like a few minutes of debate amongst one another, the first brave giraffe entered the water. It started making its way across, when all of the sudden, a hippo popped his head out of the water about 10 yards away. As we watched, the giraffe kept meandering its way across the river, one slow step at a time. The hippo kept a close eye on it as well, floating closer and closer. Finally the giraffe made it to the other side and the hippo turned his gaze back to the other giraffes. One by one they made their way across. All under the hippo’s watchful eye.
Apparently there was a disagreement when they went to the other side, because two of the giraffes ended up getting into a fight. If you have never seen giraffes fight, they use their long necks to create a whip-like motion and try to strike the other’s neck. This fight went on for several minutes with each giraffe striking a couple good blows. Finally, they separated and went on their merry way.
Hippos
The hippos stayed mostly in the water during the day. They are the most dangerous creatures in the African wilderness so we kept our distance. Hippos would stay mostly in their group (called a bloat). There were a few that were keeping a close eye on those giraffes, but for the most part, they just floated in their bloats.
Hyenas
Next up were the Hyenas. They travel in small groups, called a cackle. And boy did they. We came across them several times. Our craziest encounter involved lions, hyenas, and a dead warthog. The lions were chowing down, but they were getting to the end of their meal when the cackle came strolling up. Most of them were waiting patiently a few yards back, but one fool decided to test the lions. Not just any lion, Mama lion. The hyena slowly approached from Mama lion’s backside…inching closer and closer…about to poke its nose in to grab a valuable piece of organ when BOOM! Mama lion pounced on the hyena, completely covering him. She could have easily gone for the kill, but she just swatted him with her giant paw, and the hyena went crying back to the rest of the cackle with his tail between his legs. Mama went back to her meal and the hyenas collectively decided to keep their distance. Smart move!
Cape Buffalo
Unsuspecting, but terribly interesting creatures were the Cape Buffalo. They travel in giant herds. Well, one night, a crazy thing happened. We came across a herd of buffalo chasing a pride of lions. When we arrived, there were around 100 buffalo at the base of a hill with all their eyes on a couple of young male lions. Perched on a small dead tree, the lions roared and swatted at the buffalo. The buffalo were slowly beginning to surround the tree. Two of the lions jumped off and ran to join the others in the pride up on the hill. One lion stayed, still swatting and roaring. The buffalo had almost completely surrounded the lion. If the buffalo were successful, it could mean the end of this young lion’s life. But, he finally realized how close they were and jumped off the tree and ran off quickly. Several buffalo gave chase to no avail. The lion survived this encounter, but who knows what may happen next time with the Cape Buffalo?
Lions
The king of the jungle… more like queen of the jungle. Mama lions are the ones in charge of the pride. They are the ones that go out and hunt, while the males will stay back and take care of the children. At our first camp, two of the older males began to fight. Both ended up on their hind legs swatting at each other. This lasted all of 10 seconds before Mama roared. She roared so loud that my belly jiggled from the inside. I mean you could feel the roar in your bones. Both male lions stopped. She snuffed a bit more and both males walked in opposite directions to go and cool down a bit. Spend a day with the lions and you quickly find out who was the boss.
Our first day at the Offbeat Camp, a sound came out over the radio. The guides use radios to communicate with each other so guests can see some of the interesting animal encounters. This time, one of the guides had stumbled upon a pride having an early evening dinner. This particular pride of the Mara North Conservancy was 20 lions strong. And they were all chowing down.
What was this pride chowing down on? A giraffe! They were eating an entire giraffe. It was wild. The whole pride each had a spot at the dinner table. All 20! There were a few moments, when a male lion would come up to breathe, and you could see his entire face and mane were completely covered in blood. As you can see in the picture, it is completely covered! We watched for a few more minutes, appreciating the circle of life (insert lion king tune).
The spot for the lions’ dinner was off a main road so we would drive by each morning and evening. By the next morning, roughly 12 hours after we saw the lions chowing down, there were only bones left. 12 hours! Only bones??? Stanley explained that all items will eventually be consumed. After the lions finished, the hyenas would move in to pick the bones clean and even consume some of the bone. Eventually the vultures would show up to devour the bone. And, boy did they. By the following morning, 36 hours after the initial kill, there was no sign of the kill. No bones, no scraps, no blood. No sign at all of the craziness that we saw just two nights ago.
Cheetah
You would think we should have ended with the lions, being queen of the jungle and all. However, the most incredible part of our trip happened on our last night in camp. And it involved a cheetah. There was some buzz on the radio about the cheetah not having had a kill in the past day or two. The guides knew the cheetah would be looking for dinner that evening. So we packed up the jeep and went out to join the party that was following the cheetah.
We found the cheetah as he was laying on a rock resting up. Finally, after about half an hour, he was on the move. We hung back, but kept him in our sight. This went on for about an hour. Stanley would keep his binoculars out, looking for potential animals for the cheetah. Then, he spotted it! There was a small herd of impala grazing several hundred yards away. Stanley knew that was going to be the target.
We sprinted ahead, away from the other jeeps. Pa was in the back quietly questioning Stanley. We set up about 50 yards away from the impala and waited. And waited. And waited. Then, all of the sudden we saw a speck in the distance moving quickly. It was getting closer and closer. It wasn’t full cheetah speed, but it was the fastest I have ever seen an animal move. The first to notice the cheetah was a “blue jean” topi. Once he took off, the herd realized they were in trouble. They sprinted away, but one young impala got cut off from the herd. The cheetah paused, maybe 20 yards in front of us (see Pa, Stanley knows what he’s doing!). Then the cheetah spotted the young impala and the race was on. The poor impala didn’t stand a chance. Within about 10 seconds the cheetah had caught him in a pool of water. There was some thrashing and water flying everywhere. Within a few more seconds the cheetah emerged with the impala in his mouth. Then he dragged it off to go enjoy a nice dinner at sunset in the plains of the Mara North Conservancy.
My heart was beating so fast. As sad as I was for the young impala, I knew this was a part of the circle of life in the African jungle. It was such an incredible event to witness. And credit to Stanley! He knew exactly where to be. We were, by far, the closest to the action. What a way to end this epic adventure.
Goodbye Kenya…for now
Kenya is beautiful. Kenya is magical. Kenya is full of incredible people. We could not have asked for a better trip. From the moment we landed, we were so well taken care of. A giant thank you to the teams at Ekorian Mugie and Offbeat Mara camp. This was a trip of a lifetime…even if I am only 5 years old!!!
