Maasai Mara – Ewaso Lions

Mama Simba to Maasai Mara

300 miles, five new wildlife species, and of course The Great Migration. The Mama Simba trip to the Maasai Mara held a lot of firsts, and a lot more surprises. It was the longest journey of their lives, most of them not having gone more than 30 miles away from home.

As they approached the Mara, giraffes began to appear on the sides of the road. But the ladies were far more mesmerized by the grass: luscious, green, endless. Nalmarai looked wistfully “Will you let me out so I can walk in it?” It was more grass than they had ever seen.

Once the ladies settled into their hotel where they would be sleeping in comfortable beds and having sumptuous meals later on, they were whisked away to Enonkishu Conservancy, Enonkishu meaning place for healthy cattle. At the Mara Training Centre there, they learnt about how the conservancy manages their grasslands from Musa Kiseer, the Forage Assessment Manager.

On the way back, Conservation Programme Assistant Evanson Kariuki, christened Nkobikobi meaning “fast planner” or “straight” by the ladies, got the great idea to take the ladies in to see his old friends at the Kenya Wildlife Service nearby. They soon found out the secret: they were going to a rhino sanctuary. The ladies got up close with the two rhinos, whom to them were mythical creatures. Masulani later said, “Today I touched the heart of a rhino like I would touch a cow.”

The game drive the next day was the real highlight of the trip: a chance to see the Great Wildebeest Migration. At the gate, the ladies met traditional Maasai women, with whom they share a common language. The Maasai women were awe-struck by the Samburu women’s beautiful neck pieces, and even more enthralled when Munteli hopped into the drivers’ seat and drove the ladies into the park. Munteli insisted on driving the entire day, leaving all who saw her dumbfounded. They simply could not believe that a traditional Samburu woman was driving!

Soon, they were surrounded by wildebeest, topi and zebra as far as they could see. Witnessing the largest congregation of megafauna in the world was breathtaking, each animal driving towards the great Mara river.

Despite their wonder, the Mama Simba ladies spotted challenges faced in the ecosystem. As they drove back to the hotel, Mparasaroi lamented the amount of fencing everywhere. “This land has been cut up,” she said, and later went into a diatribe about how terrible the effects would be for the ecosystem and wildlife movement.

After all the wildlife watching, the ladies got a chance to see the work of the people of the Mara. First, meeting the women of the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association where they sang together and talked about what they each do. They then hopped across to Maa Trust where they saw incredibly intricate beadwork done by ladies from the Mara. And finally they went to the Mara Predator Conservation Programme to see how lions and other carnivores are conserved in the South of Kenya.

As the day drew to a close, the ladies requested a final game drive. Deep in the heart of Mara North Conservancy, they had their most magical moment. They stumbled on a pride of lions, 22 strong. The whole earth stood still as the ladies blessed the lions, and just sat with them for what seemed like an age.

The Mama Simba ladies had only been away a few days, yet, their attitude, confidence and outlook on their role had changed drastically. We knew this because the next day, back in Samburu, Nadala’s sub adult was killed, our first lion loss of the year. The ladies were informed, and they were devastated. Having seen a pride of lions for the first time, you could see how aware they were now of how precious the solitary lions of Samburu were. After sadness came fury. “How can this happen?” they asked. “We must have a meeting!” The ladies began planning the next meeting they wanted to hold in Samburu, and even called conservancy managers.

Emboldened and empowered by this trip, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Mama Simba ladies as they look at life and lions with fresh eyes.

For this trip, cannot thank enough our amazing supporter Singleton Rankin and World Women Work who made this incredible trip possible. Heaps of gratitude go out to Angela Sanau Paswa of MMWCA who organized everything for the women in the Mara, far beyond her call of duty, and of course, all the organisations who gave their time to take these women through all they do, and to Kenya Wildlife Trust Executive Director Dr. Irene Amoke for linking us all up.

Mara Connections

We recently returned from a fantastic trip to the famous Maasai Mara National Reserve. Although this provided us with a wildlife spectacle that most of us had only dreamed about before, we also got to meet some amazing people doing important work and establish crucial connections. We first met the hyena researchers from Michigan State University who are based in the Mara Triangle monitoring the hyena population in this area. We bumped into them on the road where we were engrossed watching hyena behaviour with their young outside a den. Andy, the researcher, commented that it was one of the first times he had seen a group of community members watch hyena for so long and take so many photos! Andy and his colleague from the hyena project hosted us for a few hours at their camp and we got the chance to learn all about their research in the Mara. It was a great meeting and we were excited to have stumbled upon the researchers.

In November 2009, I traveled to the Porini Camps in Ol Kinyei and Olare Orok Conservancies where I spent a few days training their guides on lions and other predators. I wanted to visit the camps again and check in with the guides and the lions! We visited the Porini Lion Camp in Olare Orok and had the great privilege to spend a few hours with Philip the manager and two of the guides, Jackson and Meshack. Our group benefited immensely from learning all about how this successful conservancy came to be and the success of the Porini Lion Camp as well. We all learned a lot and enjoyed the discussions tremendously. I was pleased to hear that the lions in Olare Orok were all doing well and numbers had increased. It is a fantastic place to visit with predators everywhere!

Our group gets to learn all about Olare Orok Conservancy and a successful eco-tourist camp in a community area

On our last day in the Mara, we connected with the team from the Predator Aware Project in the Siana Conservancy. I had made contact with Betsy and Nick from Siana last year and have always followed their exciting news and progress through their blog. I was thrilled to meet them at last. The team hosted us during lunch and we spent the afternoon learning all about the Conservancy, the important work that the scouts and team carry out and the challenges they face. This interaction between the Maasai scouts and our Samburu team was a real pleasure to watch. They shared stories, challenges and successes about their work. We look forward to reciprocating and collaborating with the Predator Aware Project in the future and encourage you all to support this project who are doing such vital work in this part of the Mara.

Learning about the Predator-Proof Bomas in the Siana Conservancy

The Samburu team interacts with the Maasai scouts from the Siana Conservancy

A very special thanks to the Hyena Project Researchers, Olare Orok and Porini Lion Camp, and the Predator Aware Project in the Siana Conservancy for their hospitality, kindness and all the information and knowledge they shared with us.

Ewaso Lions visits the famous Maasai Mara

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.

Training Porini Guides in the Maasai Mara

In November, I traveled to the Porini Camps in the Maasai Mara to train their guides on predator ecology and identification. I visited the Mara Porini Camp in Ol Kinyei Conservancy and the Porini Lion Camp in Olare Orok Conservancy. The objective of my visit was to train the guides at the camps and also to start profiling the lions in both areas. I spent 2 days at each camps, conducted presentations and talks with the guides, and spent time in the field identifying the individual lions and cheetahs.

Training at the Mara Porini Camp

Olbarnoti and Lolparpit, two brothers we identified in Olare Orok

Two guides at Porini Lion Camp sit an exam after the training

Since Ol Kinyei and Olare Orok Conservancies were created, wildlife numbers have increased dramatically. Lions, cheetahs and other wildlife move freely within the safe confines of the conservancies thanks to the efforts of the community members and the Porini Camps management. I was amazed to see lions everywhere! I saw more than 40 lions in 4 days which to put it into perspective, is double Samburu’s population! We would drive out of camp and a few minutes later see lions. Lions were heard every night and we got to see some interesting behaviour as well. We saw 2 prides fight against each other, 5 females kill a zebra literally about 100 metres away from the camp, young cubs being introduced to a kill for the first time, and so much more! I was really excited to see so much in such a short period of time.

Lolalai, male lion, in Olare Orok Conservancy

Females on a zebra kill near the camp

The Porini Camps were truly fantastic. The camps are the most eco-friendly camps I have seen. If the camps were packed up and moved away, there would be no sign at all that a camp even existed there. The Maasai guides are superb and some of the best I have ever worked with. They are so knowledgeable about all wildlife and passionate about the area. They recognise the importance of having these conservancies and have seen the benefits of them. They told me that years ago, there were manyattas (villages) everywhere and now, all we saw were vast plains teeming with plains game and dotted with predators.

A view from the Porini Lion Camp

My room at the camp (very different to my little tent in Samburu!)

I highly recommend these camps if you want to get away from it all, and have an exclusive experience with lions, cheetahs and much more. Whilst staying at these camps, you will be in the company of these fantastic guides and your stay at the camps will be supporting the Ol Kinyei and Olare Orok communities and will secure a future for the wildlife in these stunning areas.

John and Joseph, 2 great guides, who will share their wealth of knowledge with you

Gamewatchers/Porini Camps and I have just started a Lion Research Safari. Guests will stay at the stunning Joys Camp in Shaba National Reserve and Sasaab Lodge in West Gate Community Conservancy, where they will take part in research activities with myself and the Ewaso Lions team. Our first safari is in January and I am really looking forward to it! For more information click here.

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