Thanks to our great friend and supporter Chip Owen, the Ewaso Lions team had a fantastic opportunity to visit the famous Maasai Mara Reserve in Southern Kenya, in early February. This educational trip would give everyone the chance to see new wildlife, view a different landscape and interact with other conservationists, guides and Maasai community members.
We left Samburu early on the 2nd of February and stopped in Naivasha for the night. Most of the team had never been past Nanyuki before and so every hour was an exciting moment as they saw the Rift Valley lakes and mountains such as Naivasha and Mt Longonot. The group, equipped with binoculars and cameras, were really excited as we approached the vast open plains of the Mara and drove through the Sekenani Gate. As soon as we entered, we saw topi, hartebeest and a large herd of buffalo. The group was thrilled! Topi, hartebeest, Thomson’s gazelle and eland were new animals and also seeing huge herds of buffalo. At the moment we only have 5 buffalo in Samburu and Buffalo Springs and none in Westgate, so seeing more than 300 buffalo was something very special!
Francis exclaims in excitement after seeing large herds of buffalo
We spent the first 2 nights camping in the Mara Triangle – a beautiful area at the base of the Oloololo Escarpment. The third night was in the Musiara area (where we froze – it was so cold!) and the fourth night in the Siana Conservancy at the foothills of the Loitas. This gave us a good view of the entire area and we pretty much covered the whole of the Mara in those 5 days.
Camping in Musiara
We were so fortunate to see a lot of wildlife during our stay in the Mara. We barely had to look for lions – they were everywhere. Mating lions in the Mara Conservancy, females and cubs at the Oloololo Escarpment and near the Mara Bridge, a huge pride of lions in Musiara and others dotted all over the landscape. The guys especially enjoyed seeing males with huge manes – our lions in Samburu either have small manes or are maneless. I particularly enjoyed seeing so many spotted hyena and spent hours watching their behaviour. We also could not believe our luck when we saw a young male black rhino on the plains in the Mara Conservancy. Other new animals included wildebeest (Jeneria’s favourite – he said he would not have left the Mara without seeing them!), Maasai giraffe, Maasai ostrich and loads of hippos everywhere.
Photographing spotted hyena
Everyone loved seeing the hippos!
A rare treat – a black rhino in the Mara Conservancy
Lions at the stunning Oloololo Escarpment
We had superb sightings of spotted hyena and watched their behaviour for hours
Female with a bad eye mating with a huge male lion!
A pride of 14 lions in the Musiara area – the first time for everyone to see such a large pride of lions
The trip was fantastic. Jeneria loved the wildebeest. Francis said he wanted to take all his cows to the Mara to graze on all that grass! Jeremiah loved seeing large prides of lions and also the hippos. Lemeen enjoyed seeing topi and rhino. Lekuraiyo had fun meeting new people and conservationists working in the Mara. I loved being in the Mara Conservancy area. It was well managed, not crowded, regularly patrolled by rangers and just stunning.
The group on the border of Kenya and Tanzania
The Ewaso Lions Team enjoying their first safari to the Maasai Mara
After leaving the Mara, we spent 1 night in Lake Nakuru National Park to break our return trip to Samburu. This gave everyone a chance to see flamingos, loads of white rhino, Rothschild Giraffe and superb birdlife. It was a great way to end our trip.
White rhino and buffalo in Lake Nakuru National Park
The team with David Daballen from Save the Elephants in Lake Nakuru National Park
We are all extremely grateful to Chip Owen for this opportunity to visit the Mara. It was a real eye-opener and we all learned so much to assist with our work in Samburu.
Please do read our next blog which will be about the various partners we met and conservancies we visited in the Mara and the successful programmes we learned about.