Masai Mara Animals
To go between Nairobi and Masai Mara, the most direct route is on the Escarpment Road. This is a two-lane blacktop that runs diagonally down the side of the cliff. It is full of trucks and aggressive safari drivers. There are some stopping points along the way, including where the above shot is from. We typically stop there for a restroom break, usually buy souvenirs, and take photos.
The landscape of Masai Mara is beautiful open grassland as far as the eye can see. Below, a lone acacia tree.
Above is the Mara River. This river is fairly well known due to all the videos of the great wildebeest migration that happens annually. This is the river they cross and get attacked by crocodiles. In fact, there were several crossing spots along the stretch where we were. And, below, is one of the culprits. The Nile crocodiles in this area get up to 13 or 14 feet in length. This guy is probably 8-10 feet. I didn’t measure him, at his request. There were also plenty of hippos along this stretch, submerged, so no photos.
We were required to exit the truck and walk along a footpath to see these guys. Not the world’s most comforting prospect. We had an armed park ranger with us in case of crocodile/hippo attacks or unruly tourists. We also asked about how the hippos and crocodiles coexist. Basically, the hippos kick crocodile butt. If attacked, the hippo would win over the crocodile unless it is a very young hippo. But if mama is around... If the hippos weren’t the kings of the river, they wouldn’t live with crocodiles.
Impalas. There is one adult male per herd. He spends most of his time either mating or fighting off other male impalas. So they get exhausted pretty quickly and relinquish the crown. The male in this pic is the one in front, with the impressive horns. The females don’t have horns. There may be a few others with small horns. These are juvenile males. When they get older, they will most likely be driven out of the herd by the dominant male.
Below is a mother and young impala. The baby was pretty wobbly. They were by themselves. I suspect they were separated from the herd when the mother gave birth. Being alone is very dangerous. They will be looking to join up with a herd as soon as they can. Many of the antelope herds are mixed species.
Below is a topi. As Cameron put it, “the landscape is covered in topi.” There were more of them than I’ve ever seen. They are very unique animals. The dark patches look almost blue.
We had a heartwarming topi moment one day. We drove by a young topi who had been separated from its mother in tall grass. The topi had found a gazelle, also alone, and they were together. We saw the mother probably a quarter to half mile away standing on a hill looking for the baby. The baby was calling to her.
After a while, the baby apparently heard the mom and ran a ways towards her. The mom spotted the baby and started towards her. They had a happy, running-through-the-tall-grass reunion, with the baby immediately nursing. The gazelle followed the baby. When we last saw them, the three of them were all together.
Below is a Maasai giraffe.
A water buffalo. Or, as I was corrected, an African buffalo.
Three baboons, including a baby.
And no trip is complete without elephants. Each of the game parks seems to have a reputation for the animals it is known for. Amboseli, where we’ve been several times, is known for elephants. You often see a few hundred. We probably only saw 60 or 70 this trip.
Masai Mara is particularly known for the cats and, at the right time, the wildebeest migration. The wildebeest are almost all on the Tanzania side of the park at this time of year, which is Serengeti. We saw some. But we spotted plenty of cats.
