2014-01-14 Masai Mara, Kenya

Yesterday night we had found a beautiful male Leopard with a Reedbuck kill on a solitary tree near Survey Hill. It’s an area I seldom visit due to the high number of vehicles that are normally found at sightings in this area, but this time it was extremely pleasant, with very few cars. The Mara is very quiet these days, with very few vehicles around. Last night the male Leopard was very relaxed on the tree, with his kill safely stashed among the leaves. We were sure we were going to find him there this morning. As we approached way before sunrise, he descended the tree and started walking across the plains. We followed him at a distance, all by ourselves, until from the same bushes he was heading to a Lioness with a young male Lion emerged. They saw him right away and quite astonishingly we were witnessing the second Lioness chasing Leopard scene in two days! The Leopard ran to some bushes and melted away. The Lioness followed him but like us, she obviously had no clue where he had gone. The ability of Leopard to disappear just in front of you is unbelieavable. We parked some distance away as we didn’t want to interfere putting the life of the Leopard at risk. All of a sudden the Lioness obviosuly saw him and started running again, but when we got close the Lioness was sitting up, looking in the distance. The Leopard had climbed a Euphorbia tree down in the valley and was looking at her from the safety of his high perch. We drove closer and took some images, and we were soon reached by the two Lions who were looking for a place to rest, just under the tree where the Leopard was! I am sure that Leopard spent the whole day up there! We moved on and found another Leopard not far, and I was pleased to see that it was the same female that I had seen with three cubs in 2012. It was good to see her alive and keeping well. She was resting on a tree. As the day grew warmer she descended and melted away in the tall vegetation.
There are many Elephants in the reserve at this time, attracted by the green grass growing profusely after the rains. I was particularly happy and relieved to see quite a few big Bulls, survivors of the horrendous poaching wave that is hitting Kenya and Africa as a whole.