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

Grey Headed Gulls - Lake Nakuru

Great White Pelican - Lake Nakuru

Pied Kingfisher - Lake Nakuru

Cormorant - Lake Nakuru

Male Impala in rain - Lake Nakuru

Topi - Maasai Mara

Cloudscape - Maasai Mara

Elephant - Maasai Mara

Female Leopard - Maasai Mara

Cheetah with two cubs - Maasai Mara

Plains Zebra - Maasai Mara

Male Lion - Maasai Mara

Ostrich - Maasai Mara

Spotted Hyaena - Maasai Mara

Ruppells Griffon Vulture - Maasai Mara

Black Rhino - Maasai Mara

Lioness roaring - Maasai Mara

Lioness catching a vulture at her kill - Maasai Mara

Secretary Bird - Samburu Reserve

Topi running - Maasai Mara

Lioness and cub - Samburu Reserve

Sunset - Maasai Mara

Eland - Maasai Mara

Little Bee eater - Maasai Mara

Elephant - Samburu Reserve

Male Lion - Maasai Mara

Male Lion - Maasai Mara

Superb Starling - Samburu Reserve

Reticulated Giraffe - Samburu Reserve

Reticulated Giraffe - Samburu Reserve

Vulturine Guineafowl - Samburu Reserve

Lioness stalking - Samburu Reserve

Somali Ostrich - Samburu Reserve

Common Waterbuck - Samburu Reserve

Male Gerenuk - Samburu Reserve

Olive Baboon - Lake Nakuru

Lion in Forest - Lake Nakuru

Cheetah crossing the Talek River - Maasai Mara

Olive Baboon - Maasai Mara

Oryx and Reticulated Giraffe in Samburu Reserve

WILD4 TAILOR MADE PHOTO SAFARI AUGUST 2012 - South Africa

Here are a few photos from the latest Photo Safari, the last one for a while in South Africa !

We had great opportunities at the Big Cat Reserve, but sadly we found out that the Caracal Teneray, had been killed by a Leopard, along with Prince the old Labrador. Very sad to hear about, but they do share the reserve with other wild animals.

Thanks again to Jaco, our guide at the Big Cat Reserve - another awesome one Jaco !!

The Kruger National Park has dried up considerably since our last tour and it looks like it is going to get very dry before the rains hopefully come again in late Sept / Oct.

The highlight of the tour and perhaps for the season as far as rare sightings go, would be the 30 mins or so we spent with a Pangolin (see video) many thanks to Guy for spotting this incredible creature !!

I will be off to Kenya for a whole month running two trips back to back, look out for a BLOG post in just over two weeks time.

Kindest regards

Stu

PANGOLIN VIDEO - Kruger Park

White Backed Vulture

Leopard starburst - Big Cat Reserve

Male Leopard - Jabula, Big Cat Reserve

Young Lioness, Big Cat Reserve

Red Billed Hornbill, Big Cat Reserve

Cheetah brothers, Floppy and Hunters, Big Cat reserve

Floppy and Hunters with their Impala Kill - Big Cat Reserve

A rarely seen Pangolin (Spiny Ant Eater) - Kruger Park

African Fish Eagle taking off - Kruger Park

Grey Heron riding on the back of a Hippo - Kruger Park

Egyptian Goose in flight, Kruger Park

Purple Roller perched - Kruger Park

Sunset - Kruger Park

Cheetah marking territory - Kruger Park

Impala and Crocodiles, Kruger Park

Laughing Dove, Kruger Park

Glossy Starling, Kruger Park

Lioness with face full of Porcupine Quills - Kruger Park

Two Magpie Shrikes, Kruger Park

Two of the 8 Lion cubs seen near Lower Sabie