Posted on September 26, 2016 by admin
WEATHER
- Mornings: cold
- Day: hot
- Evenings: cool with occasional drizzling
- Every day: amazing sunset and sunrise
Temperatures
- 15c morning
- 28c at midday
- 18c after sunset
GENERAL GAME
It’s been great around Mara Intrepids and Mara Explorer camps. There are huge herds of impala, waterbucks, Cape buffalo and good sightings of hippos out of the water in the mornings. The grass is getting scarce by the day due to the prevailing dry weather forcing the hippos to go further from the rivers in search of pastures which delay their return to the rivers. The water level in the Olare Orok and the Talek rivers is very low and the rivers are almost stagnant and very muddy forcing the hippos to stay on the river banks.
The topi, gazelles, impala and warthogs are having their young as this is their season for dropping their young.
Several sightings of ostrich nesting have also been recorded. Some are with chicks.
PREDATORS
LIONS: Ridge Pride
The pride is in very good shape and seen around the camp. With the migration still on they are hunting with multiple kills in a day.
The males are busy mating with the females. Blacky has been very active with the Ridge females and two other females from the
Double Cross pride.
The Double Cross pride had split and disappeared. Semenya the masculine female is the latest female to mate with Blacky along Olare Orok River. The pride has a new set of four cubs aged one month old. Lipstick appears to be taking care of them.
Olkeju Ronkai Pride
It’s also doing extremely well with 13 members inclusive of six cubs and one male who is in charge of the pride. The lions are making successful kills every other day. The male has been mating with different females over the past few days.
Olkiombo Pride
The pride has eight lionesses but no male. We are waiting to see whether the Ridge males will take over and incorporate them in the Ridge pride as they are in their territory. The pride which has relocated from Fig Tree is relaxed with plenty of wildebeest and zebras to hunt.
CHEETAHS
Malaika has relocated with her two cubs to survey the area south of Mara Intrepids and Mara Explorer camps. The cubs from her previous litter – Malkia and Mfalme – are doing very well and are mostly seen around Chemarta, though not together – but also not far from each other. They hunt independently. Nora is still with her cub and they are around Olkeju Rongai hunting mostly young gazelles. This is good learning for the cub.
Ranii and her three cubs are still together around Lookout Hill. Imani has parted ways with her cubs and she was seen in Chemarta looking very pregnant. We expect another set of cubs soon.