Masai Mari National Reserve, Kenya (June 12-15):
Kichwa Tembo Main Camp: This camp is on the South West end of Kenya near the Tanzania border. This area was more lush and had more hills than the Amboseli region. We found a pride of lions (4 adult females with 4 cubs) living a mile or so from our camp. They didn’t move much so we were able to visit them on 3 or 4 occasions.
Having lunch at our lodge:
Very common crane in Kenya. They were as prevalent as our Florida Sandhill Cranes.
This little guy was trying to assert himself and scare us away.
These guys also lived on the camp site. They woke us up every morning just before dawn by scampering around on top of our tent. They also have a reputation for stealing things from peoples’ luggage when they don’t zipper up their tents properly.
Our camp had about a dozen warthogs within it. These guys had no fear of people and actually just slept on some of the walk ways. We had to be careful not to trip over them. It kind of made me wonder about the bacon we were served for breakfast each morning.
Our guide said that Warthogs are one of the stupidest animals on the planet. They could be running from a lion, and pass by a nice patch of grass and they will forget they’re being chased and stop to eat. Game over.
Update: Apparently, some of my “friends” are confused. For clarification, the “ugly pig” is the one in the foreground.
No, he’s not mad at me. He’s just yawning. These guys don’t do much but sleep and yawn 20 hours per day. It’s a rare treat to see them stand up.
I spotted these two birds in trees a few hundred yards apart, calling to each other. When one took off, I knew it would land next to its mate, so I was prepared and fired off a burst at 6 frames per second to catch him landing. These were best of about 20 shots of the landing.
This is a small cat not much larger than a house cat. Our guide said we were very lucky to spot one since they are very shy. Even so, this guy came very close to our vehicle, and pretty much ignored us.
