2011-06-28 – Masai Mara N.R.

Another amazing morning in Mara. With clear skies and the rivers back to their normal flow, I headed back to the area where the Leopards were yesterday. All was quiet, no sign of them. So I returned down to the river and there they were, Olive, Bahati and Ngayoni, walking upstream and heading straight into our camp in the forest. It is interesting to see how Pacha and Ngayoni appear with Olive in turns, and to notice how Ngayoni is dramatically bigger than Pacha, despite being two males from the same litter. Ngayoni has always been bigger, bolder and dominant over Pacha, but with time and when they separated Pacha managed to make many kills of his own, including a Crocodile!
Later in the morning I found the Cheetahs Shingo and her cub. As they walked into a patch of dense bushes, Shingo spotted some Thompson’s Gazelles on the other side of a croton. She quickly rushed in the thicket followed by the cubs, I couldn’t see what happened inside but a few seconds later a male Gazelle emerged, pursued by all the cubs. It was fascinating to see the cubs trip and jump on the Gazelle’s back, practicing their hunting skills on a real target for one time, instead of one another. After a few attempts the Gazelle was on the ground exhausted. Shingo joined them and they all started feeding.