Since 1977, more than 150 distressed orphans have been brought to the orphanage in Nairobi. Many of them had no chance to make it in the wild after being left alone for some reason: the mother was poached for her ivory, or the baby was hurt and had to be left behind, and some have even fallen into wells.
The David Sheldrick organization has very special people to work as the rescuers and the caretakers of these babies. Many visitors adopt one of these beautiful elephants with a yearly donation of $50 which helps feed the babies. This is a wonderful experience and very rewarding. A very creative email comes monthly highlighting your elephant but also telling the tales and adventures of all the baby elephants in their daily routines at the orphanage and play in the Nairobi National Park.
After leaving Wilson Airport (Nairobi, Kenya) on a small aircraft--we land in the Masai Mara on a dirt and grass landing strip. Our driver is there to pick us up and transport us to Mara Sentrim Lodge. But until we arrive we are on a game drive!
We see a Serval Cat hiding in the high grasses and under a tree. Not many travelers see a Serval Cat, as they are hard to find. This is our fourth time to East Africa and our first time to see the Serval in the wild!
After leaving the Serval Cat, we discover these Cape Buffalo ribs with the Lioness feasting. The ribs are not peppered: the flies are everywhere, enjoying the kill also. The Vultures and Hyenas will come to clean the bones--nothing goes to waste in the bush.
This mother Lioness must keep her strength up to feed and raise these little ones.
The cutest little cubs are not yet old enough to eat meat.
These are the smallest cubs that we have ever seen up close and personal--we loved seeing
them and enjoyed their playfulness.
After the feast!
Lions sleep most of the day away, and they do most of their hunting at night. The Lionesses do most of the hunting but the male Lions always eat first, then the Lionesses and the cubs.
Masai Mara
Our 2014 adventure in the Mara was remarkable --we saw the Big 5 the first day! The plains were full of Lionesses in every direction. Lions are the most sought after subject of visitors and photographers.
We have made this journey four times, leaving America and traveling 25 to 30 hours each time to get here, but when we find these beautiful animals it is all worth it! From a distance we can see a male Lion climbing up a tree--really!? By the time we reach the tree he has spread out on a branch trying to make himself comfortable.
This Lion climbed up the tree so as to be almost at eye level with us sitting in the Land Rover. He was tossing and turning in the tree, while his brother was resting on the ground. Male Lions usually team up-- often with brothers--into what is called a coalition.
Teaming up is the beginning of a brotherhood so strong in bond and friendship that nothing will separate them! And the next day we came upon the same brothers again...
Male Lions are extremely muscular and only serve to protect their territory and mate with the females . They live in prides and are very sociable.
Cheetahs are the world's fastest land mammals, capable of running 70 mph for a short distance. They are built for speed, having a slender body, long thin legs and a long tail. The Cheetah's acceleration can leave most automobiles in the dust!
Cheetahs live in three main social groups: female and her cubs, male "coalitions" and solitary males.
Cheetahs are visual hunters--they hunt in early morning and late afternoon.
Cheetahs climb termite mounds to get the best vantage point for spotting prey against the horizon. Sometimes a Cheetah will jump up on a safari vehicle--what an adrenaline rush!
The birds are so beautiful--a family of Bee-eaters
The Bee-eaters and Lilac-breasted Roller brighten the bush with their vivid colors!
The Red-throated Bee-eater, green crown, black eye mask--with turquoise blue above eye mask,
bright red throat, with a buffy breast.
From some of the smallest birds to one of the tallest--the Yellow Billed Stork.
Giraffes (tall blondes) are the tallest living animals!
There are three different types of Giraffe: Masai Giraffe, Rothschild Giraffe and the Reticulated Giraffe.
Masai Giraffe at the Masai Mara National Park, Kenya
This Black Rhinoceros in the Masai Mara (2014) has had his horn cut and a GPS inserted to allow tracking of this rare animal. Poaching is a problem in all the national parks. The parks are doing their best to protect the Rhinos and stop the practice, but even with armed park rangers and strategies the poaching goes on, because of the money offered for rhino horn.
Cape Buffalo with a friend--the Oxpecker.
There are Red-billed and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers--this one is a Yellow-billed. These very strange and interesting birds survive by relieving Africa's grazing wildlife from blood sucking ticks.
The Elephant is always a favorite of most people!
Elephants are the gardeners or landscapers of the forest and the savanna. Without these gentle giants the bush would be terribly overgrown. African Elephant population, estimated at 12 million a century ago, has fallen to 400,000 in recent years. Now at least 20,000 elephants are being killed in Africa each year just for the tusks. The greatest threat is wildlife crime, as people are still poaching for the illegal ivory.
Don't sit under the Sausage Tree but be aware that the Sausage Tree is often a resting place for Leopards! The fruit of the Sausage Tree is heavy and dense, and can hurt. The trees on the open plains are beautiful!
The elusive Leopard!
Unfortunately this is what most travelers see. Who knows how many Leopards go unnoticed sleeping up a Sausage Tree? Most the time the only visible part is a tail hanging down!
This is what travelers want to see but it doesn't happen often--
you have to be lucky!
(2014)
The Leopard is one of the Big Five and everyone wants to see this very handsome cat !
The Birds are so amazing--from the biggest to the smallest!
Birds are everywhere in Africa from the busy cities to the plains and grasslands in the bush.
(2022).
The Secretary Bird is a predator walking up on toes that seem like high heels, looking for anything hiding in the grass. The top feathers look like quills of early pens, hence the name--
Secretary Bird!
Lake Nakuru (2014)
White Rhinoceros are grazers and brewers--both sexes have a large front horn with the back horn being shorter. The Rhinoceros is one of the Big Five. Again the Oxpeckers are present--are they busy at work or are they just hitch-hiking?
The White Rhino's name has nothing to do with the color. It has a wide mouth so when the Dutch explained the difference between the White and Black Rhino they described the white as having a wide mouth but what people heard was white, hence the name.
Giraffes usally inhabit the savannahs and woodlands where their source of food is plentiful most of the year. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of the woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they can browse at heights most other browsers can not reach.
A family of Cape Buffalo is just checking us out. Don't be fooled by the docile appearance. The Cape Buffalo is one of the Big Five and we must respect their stares and move on. After all we have become the ones on display by entering their territory.
Amboseli National Park
The Elephants in Amboseli are world renowned for the longest tusks and largest Elephants!
The Kenyan safari is completed after visiting Amboseli National Park where the African Elephants are in large numbers and very close.
(February 2014)
In the evenings the Elephants head up towards Mount Kilimanjaro;
in the mornings they come down from the mountain to the habitats of cool wetlands and woodlands
where they spend much of their time during the dry season and the sunny hours of the day.
Tarangire National Park
(2015)
What a great sighting and perfect picture.
The Cheetahs didn't stay content very long--a Warthog was in the distance and they were off!
Cheetahs are Africa's most endangered big cat.
Common Warthogs live in the savannas and woodlands across Africa, housing themselves in the abandoned homes of other animals, such as Aardvarks. Despite its appearance, the Warthog is a peaceful and passive animal.
Tarangire National Park (2022)
It is the 6th largest national park in Tanzania.
Most travelers come to Tarangire to see the Elephants and the Baobab Trees
The Elephants will eat holes in the Baobab Tree to get the water or moisture when it is dry.
Always back to the birds--so amazing with colors so vivid and bright--and they are always around. Some are visitors that migrate from other countries and continents.
The Woodland Kingfisher is a small bird with beautiful blue flight feathers. The White-headed Buffalo Weaver is one of the so-called "Small 5".
The Saddle-billed Stork is enormous and one of Africa's most attractive birds.
The Lilac Breasted Roller is said to be Africa's most photographed bird, as it perches and waits for the insects to come to it. This most colorful bird looks like a flower, with its turquoise and other shades of blue, dark purplish lilac, cinnamon-rufous and pale green!
Grey Crowned Cranes display their lovely golden bonnets. Before nesting, these beautiful birds perform an amazing courtship dance which includes bowing, jumping, calling and circling.
This is a group ritual and it is spectacular to see!
The next stop is in Karatu and the excitement of going down into the Ngorongoro Crater.
It is called by some, "Africa's Garden of Eden", because of the isolation and rich wildlife presence.
We drive down the steep road for a mile and when we reach the bottom of the crater we are ready to see all of the the animals.
The Zebras and Wildebeest have had their babies and are preparing for the rainy season to move across the Mara River and enjoy the lush green grasses in the Masai Mara.
These are Plains Zebra or Common Zebra. One foal is born during the rainy season, after a 12 month gestation.
Again, we are invading their territory, and we are the ones on display.
In 1997 UNESCO designated the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as a World Heritage Site; it is a massive volcanic caldera.
The floor of the crater is 2,000 feet below the rim and covers 100 square miles of grassland, lakes and streams. It is a huge wildlife bowl!
The Lion is one of the Big Five that resides in the crater.
Lions in the crater went through a population decline in 1962 which left only a small number of survivors. Over the next decade three different coalitions of males established themselves in the crater and the crater's lion population recovered rapidly! There are about 65 to 75 Lions living on the crater floor with about 8 prides in 2020.
Can you imagine coming up and out from the Ngorongoro Crater, overwhelmed
by that experience and heading to the next and last adventure of a nineteen day safari?
The Land Rover comes to a stop and we watch as at least 50 Giraffe cross right in front of the vehicle?
What a spectacular sight!
Moving on to the Serengeti!
The Cheetahs have made a kill--they are exhausted and nervous. They must eat all they can before a stronger predator comes along, e.g., a Lion, Hyena, or Leopard. The Cheetah will give up the kill without a fight in order to stay healthy. If a Cheetah has confrontation and suffers a leg or foot injury, it may no longer be able to hunt, and will probably die.
Satisfied and Happy!
(2017)
The Black-masked Weaver appraises his handy work after weaving the nest. Quality control is important--
if the female doesn't like the nest she will rip it apart and the male will have to start all over again!
Some of the sights in the Serengeti are unbelievable! A hard days night--just satisfied and lazy!
The females are more alert watching the cubs and on the lookout for prey.
They also watch for predators who may think the cubs are an easy target.
A little Hippo love!
Hippopotamus are the most dangerous mammal in the jungle. The king of the jungle is no longer
the most dangerous, as even the mosquito (malaria) is higher on the list of killers than the Lion.
The juvenile bulls practice with each other for strength fighting skills. They must leave the families once they become of age--no in-breeding in the animal world. Just like other male animals
they will form bachelor herds and fight each other during mating season.
The biggest and strongest gets the girls!
Lionesses go up the trees to get cooler and to get away from some of the bugs and flies. Plus, it is a good vantage point to look for prey.
D'Arnaud's Barbets sing a duet, often with the birds facing each other!
Unlike other big cats, Cheetahs are more relaxed and naturally shy. These beautiful spotted animals tend to avoid direct contact with humans. Still, they are wild animals, and dangerous, and they deserve their space and respect.
Serval Cat in the Serengeti National Park.
The Serval Cat has brownish or greenish eyes; this cat's eyes look more greenish--light, bright and beautiful! These cats are solitary and silent, and are seldom seen by humans.
The most amazing adventure in the Serengeti occurred on the last day of the safari. We followed this female Cheetah in the Land Rover for a while, and were hoping that she would lead us to where her cubs were hidden.
But instead, using the spare tire as a step, she leapt on top of the Land Rover! What a surprise--she stayed on top of the vehicle for 20 minutes. She was an arm's length away--after our shock and disbelief dissipated the cameras went crazy! We remained calm and quiet, enjoying her spectacular presence.
It became obvious she was looking for her next prey--with the height of the Land Rover and her excellent vision, she chose a great vantage point. Still, with the pop-top of the vehicle up, she could have jumped down to visit us, or whatever she might choose to do, at any time.
She yawned, stretched, scratched, licked and shooed the flies away!
The sound of her tail hitting against the roof of the Land Rover was eerie but awesome to hear!
What she saw or what she was thinking as she looked down and into the vehicle, we will never know. But for us, looking into her beautiful big brown eyes was a special treat, and the memory of her visit will remain forever in the minds of everyone in that Land Rover!
2022 was the adventurous trip of the Cheetahs!
"Copyright 2022"
