2014-01-11 Masai Mara, Kenya

After the heavy rains in December, the Masai Mara has turned green. On the first afternoon after the arrival of my guests, we were lucky to find the Leopard Bahati shortly out of camp. She was laying under some bushes watching the Topis and Gazelles coming and going at a Salt lick near the Talek river. We followed her for the whole afternoon, and it was fantastic to see her resting on the rocks in the last evening light, and crossing the Talek river in the falling darkness. It was interesting to note how many times Bahati marked the bushes or rocks while she walked. In the past I don’t recall her marking so frequently. The next day we saw her near the Ol Kiombo airstrip, right in the heart of her late mother Olive’s territory. It could be a sign that she is settling down in this area, now that her mother has died. She is more than three years old now so she could be having cubs of her own soon. There are very few people in the Mara at the moment, so game drives are particularly enjoyable.