This is John--he was our driver in the Masai Mara area of Kenya for four days. John was amazing: he was able to juggle two cell phones and the CB radio in the safari vehicle, slip his jacket on and off over his head, communicate not only with other drivers (out there looking for sightings) but also with the trip leader and the driver of the second vehicle (with the other 6 people in our group) and make sure we were all safe as he was driving what seemed like a 100 miles and hour to get us to the BIG animals! And we were always first there!We saw Lions, Leopards, Black Rhino, Cheetahs, Hippos, Elephants--we saw the Big Five in four days but I have to say being parked right in front of these Little Bee-Eaters and capturing the mother feeding her babies was really thrilling!
We were parked just above the Mara River looking where the Migration would be crossing if it was migration time. There were hippos in the river below but with the Bee-Eaters right in front of me, I was in my glory snapping away!
It was an actual bee being fed to the babies!
She just plucked the bees in mid air!
Amazing coloring and the Little Bee-Eater is the smallest of the Bee-Eaters!
A mother Cheetah with a juvenile just lying around enjoying a little shade on a warm day. The mother seemed to be very relaxed but the juvenile seemed to be uneasy and had a thing about its tongue. We watched for quite a while and its head was up, down and looking all around.
The youngster's tongue was in and out....
.....and licking all around while he was trying to sleep.
A mother Leopard with a juvenile-- there were two but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of both of them together. Things happen fast once you find the animals. John again was first to spot these gorgeous animals but once they heard and saw the safari vehicle they made their way quickly into the bush.
John didn't give up, and we followed them into the bush but there was a ravine and the leopards went down. We went around to the other side but they had hunkered down and in--we saw them all cozy, so we moved on.
We saw two more sleeping Cheetahs.
No, they were awake. They don't have the luxury to sleep soundly, as there are other predators out there.
What a beautiful sight it was to stop and look at this lioness, and then to realize there were many lionesses and babies all over this small grassy incline.
The next time we saw a big family of lionesses and babies they were off the side of road and all in a pile sleeping. They were all breathing hard, trying to sleep with one eye open, and then one would pick up its head, look around and then let the head fall back down.
These Topis are fighting off the Tsetse Flies.
They are beautiful sleek animals! The coloration is so unique.
The Yellow Billed Stork--a female, pretty sweet bird!
The Hyena is not the most photogenic animal in Africa but finally the camera captured him in all his glory. They are scavengers but are always right there as a kill goes down--they get chased away by the the bigger predators but in the end they get their share.
Sitting he looks like a bear but there are no bears in East Africa!
The Giraffes are so tall, gentle, and graceful!
The king of the bush, the Lion!
Sitting, watching and waiting. Before too long along came another Lion, a brother.
The brothers met up, greeted each other and then both plopped to the ground and fell asleep!
But the next day we met up with the brothers again! This time they were both trying to climb up the tree. We saw them from a short distance away and John got us there in a flash. One was up the tree and the other was climbing!
The second brother gave up when he heard our safari vehicle coming. He climbed down, circled around a couple of times and ended up laying under the tree looking up at his brother! I just wanted to reach out and pet this big cat!
The last of the BIG FIVE, the biggest and the most difficult to find. The Black Rhino is a solitary and not a social animal. Typical weight is between 1,760 and 3,090 pounds!
The Black Rhino has two horns on the skull made of keratin. The largest horn is the front one and typically is 20 inches long.
As you can see from these pictures his front horn had been cut. This was done, presumably by park rangers, and a GPS inserted to allow the Rhino to be tracked.
The Rhinos have been hunted down and killed for their horns due to the false belief that the horn has medicinal powers. The poachers are hired because they know the bush and the animals, and are usually living from day to day. When they are offered an exorbitant price to kill and cut the horn off many are willing and ready. They may get caught but once they are arrested they usually are bailed out and back on the hunt. The National Parks and authorities are working on ways to make this poaching less successful and harder to get away with.
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