Wild4 African Photographic Safaris

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Kenya MIGRATION Photo Safari SEPTEMBER 2012

The second Migration Photo Safari is now complete and yet more great photo opportunities were enjoyed. The Migration in the Maasai Mara seems to have ended early this year, most of the big herds have crossed over the Mara and Sand rivers and seem to have headed back towards Tanzania very early.

The predator action continues though and we were very lucky to see the female cheetah with 4 cubs bring down a Thompsons Gazelle, as well as two cheeky Jackals attacking a baby Thompsons Gazelle.

Lions were in abundance on the northern side of the Talek River and we met up with a pride with 4 beautiful males.

Perhaps the most unique sighting was of an Aardwolf !! which we saw as we left our lodge early in the morning. Difficult to get close to, but we did manage to pop off a few frames.

Lake Nakuru continues to fill up and the water level is at its highest for a number of years. We did see flamingo flocks flying over as well as Black and White Rhino, Rothschild Giraffe and a good variety of waterbirds.

Samburu Reserve was a real treat yet again, it is one of the most productive places I have been to and this time we were treated to a sighting of a mating pair of Caracal !! - quite different to look at compared with their southern cousins and wonderful to see.

Many thanks to our guides, GK and Silas who looked after us extremely well and we are looking forward to the November trip where once again we will visit the three very productive and different locations.

Enjoy !

Short Video from the trip with clips from all three locations

Black Backed jackal attacking Thompson's Gazelle - Maasai Mara

Bateleur Eagle - Maasai Mara

Male Lion yawning - Maasai Mara

Cloudscape - Lake Nakuru

Black Rhino - Lake Nakuru

Egret - Lake Nakuru

Great White Pelican - Lake Nakuru

Black Winged Stilt - Lake Nakuru

Von der decken's Hornbill - Samburu Reserve

Grevy's Zebra - Samburu Reserve

Male Gerenuk - Samburu Reserve

Female Gerenuk - Samburu Reserve

Elephant Herd - Samburu Reserve

Female Rosy-Patched Bush Shrike - Samburu Reserve

Lioness - Samburu Reserve

Spurwinged Lapwing - Samburu Reserve

Elephant Ear and veins - Samburu Reserve

Juvenile Pale Chanting Goshawk - Samburu Reserve

Female Caracal - Samburu Reserve

Male Grant's Gazelle - Samburu Reserve

Golden Breasted Starling - Samburu Reserve

Grey headed Kingfisher - Samburu Reserve

Vulturine Guineafowl - Samburu Reserve

Dwarf Mongoose - Samburu Reserve

Pygmy Falcon - Samburu Reserve

Baby Giraffe - Maasai Mara

Aardwolf running - Maasai Mara

Lioness and cub - Maasai Mara

Male Thompson's Gazelle - Maasai Mara

Lion cub and butterfly - Maasai Mara

Cheetah cubs - Maasai Mara

Serval - Maasai Mara

The female cheetah with the 4 cubs running - Maasai Mara

Female cheetah bringing down the Thompson's Gazelle - Maasai Mara

Cheetah chasing gazelle - Maasai Mara

3 of the 4 cheetah cubs - Maasai Mara

Sunset near Ashnil Camp - Maasai Mara

Common Ostrich - Maasai Mara

Coke's Haartebeest - Maasai Mara

Female cheetah with cub - Maasai Mara

Topi - Maasai Mara

Cheetah's running - Maasai Mara

Female Cheetah - Maasai Mara

Male Lion Roaring - Maasai Mara

Male Lion - Maasai Mara

Black Shouldered Kite - Maasai Mara

Lion cubs feeding - Maasai Mara

Male Lion after the rain - Maasai Mara

Monday, September 3, 2012

Kenya MIGRATION Photo Safari AUGUST 2012

Greetings to all, we have just completed our first Migration Photo Safari in Kenya and the combination of the three parks once again did not disappoint.

After a night in Nairobi we headed off to Samburu Reserve for our first 4 nights. This reserve is a real gem with fantastic scenery and unique wildlife. Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk, Beisa Oryx and the incredibly beautiful Vulturine Guinea fowl provided us with fantastic photo opportunities. The local pride of Lions were seen everyday, and we were treated to a few hunts, cubs and a mating pair on the Buffalo Springs side of the reserve.

A leopard and a striped Hyaena were also seen, and we left with a bag full of great photos.

Next stop was Lake Nakuru, unusually full and most of the tracks to the lake edge are underwater, however we still found lots to photograph including Lions, Reticulated Giraffe and a good variety of water birds. Unfortunately the Flamingo's were not in their numbers, favouring the better feeding ground of Lake Baringo.

Our last stop was the Masai Mara, where we saw 3 crossings, 7 cheetah in one day, a beautiful female Leopard and a good number of Lions including the two sons of Notch, the famous BBC Big Cat Diary male Lion.

The scenery, was spectacular once again with beautiful sunrises and sunsets and this trip was one of the most productive trips yet.

Tomorrow we are off to the Mara again for the second Migration Photo Safari and I will be posting a report at the end.

Many thanks to our great guides, James, Mamai and Julius, without them we would not have got the opportunities we did - thanks guys !!

All the very best

Kindest regards

Stu