On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

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Elessar
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p.1 #1 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

For this collection of photos, we have left Samburu and headed to the Maasai Mara. We stayed at the Little Governor's Camp which is right next to the Mara River. Had we been at this camp in July or August, we would have been near where the wildebeest cross the Mara River and swim the guantlet of crocodiles. The is one of the great spectacles in nature and I have a feeling I will have to make a trip back someday to see it. However, in February, the wildebeest are well into the Serengeti (two camps ahead of this one) for the calving season. Seeing hundreds of thousands of wildebeest cover a plain is quite a sight - even without crocodiles. But I get ahead of myself.

#1 These are eland - the largest of the African antelope. They are most easily recognized by the large flap of skin that hangs from their throats. Also, as I learned last year in Namibia, their steaks are quite tasty!

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:05 AM

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p.1 #2 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#2 Next we have a pair of ostrich. The black is a male, the brown is a female. I think that's about as insightful as it's going to get with this photo.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:06 AM

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p.1 #3 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#3 This was our first cheetah sighting. Although I had many wonderful cheetah encounters and experiences at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, there's still an added thrill that comes from seeing a wild one - even if it's doing nothing more than resting under a tree. Fortunately, this was just a hint of things to come.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:06 AM

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p.1 #4 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#4 This little mud baby was a cape buffalo. The buffs, big and small alike, were rolling in a large mud hole to stay cool and try to control the flies.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:06 AM

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p.1 #5 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#5 These are Maasai giraffe. They are easily distinguished from the reticulated giraffe we saw at Samburu by the pattern of their marking. The brown spots on these giraffe have irregular, jagged edges whereas the reticulated have much smoother edges on their brown spots.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:07 AM

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p.1 #6 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#6 This baby baboon was literally clinging to this adult for comfort. Although it stopped to look at me long enough for me to take this photo, it spent much of the time we watched it holding on tight to the adult's fur.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:07 AM

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p.1 #7 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#7 This beautiful cat is a serval. It is comparatively small - not much larger than a housecat. As such, it easily gets lost in the grasses and so they are difficult to find. We were lucky in that this one was not as shy as they typically are and so we were able to watch it for 10 -15 minutes before it moved out of sight.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:08 AM

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p.1 #8 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#8 This waterbuck was auditioning for The Hartford financial company. Unfortunately, he missed the part of the memo that explained that The Hartford uses elk, not waterbucks, fot its symbol.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:08 AM

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p.1 #9 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

#9 This golden green marsh was the view from our camp. It rained one afternoon and we were treated to this nice afterdinner rainbow. We also were treated to have a family of elephants living in the marsh (and in our camp), but that's something for next time.

As always, C&C welcome.

Jay

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:09 AM

thehotel
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p.1 #10 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Beautiful series, thanks for posting these photos.

Wacky roger

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:11 AM

Jeffrey
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p.1 #11 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Great images from an exciting trip. I look forward to the next round. I'll be in east Africa in May.

Mar 20, 2008 at 01:30 AM

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p.1 #12 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

More nice images Jay. You were really lucky to get a view of the Serval. I have yet to see one. The Waterbucks are really pretty and make a great picture. I love their Valentine shaped noses and the well placed white hair above the eyes and surrounding the nose. They definitely give you a look.

Hopefully the migration will be about peak when I get to the Serengeti June 1st and for Jeffrey in May.

Grant

Mar 20, 2008 at 02:31 AM

Billingham
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p.1 #13 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Great series Jay.

Regards
Jonathan

Mar 20, 2008 at 02:36 AM

Lil Judd
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p.1 #14 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Very nice series Jay

Congratulations, must have been wonderful to see cheetah in the wild like this - - free to live it's life.

Looks like you just had a great trip.

Lil

Mar 20, 2008 at 04:10 AM

alameda
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p.1 #15 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Jay, Another great series - looking forward to your next post. Steve W

Mar 20, 2008 at 04:08 PM

Tim Kuhn
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p.1 #16 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

You have some gorgeous images here and I'm sure some incredible memories. What a treat to view all of these animals photographed so beautifully. Keep them coming.

Tim

Mar 20, 2008 at 04:40 PM

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p.1 #17 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

thehotel wrote:
Beautiful series, thanks for posting these photos.

Wacky roger

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for looking.

Edited on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:18 AM

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:17 AM

Elessar
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p.1 #18 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Jeffrey wrote:
Great images from an exciting trip. I look forward to the next round. I'll be in east Africa in May.

Thank you. I may get the next round ready over the weekend, but probably early next week. I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time in Africa. I look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Jay

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:20 AM

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p.1 #19 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Hersch wrote:
More nice images Jay. You were really lucky to get a view of the Serval. I have yet to see one. The Waterbucks are really pretty and make a great picture. I love their Valentine shaped noses and the well placed white hair above the eyes and surrounding the nose. They definitely give you a look.

Hopefully the migration will be about peak when I get to the Serengeti June 1st and for Jeffrey in May.

Grant

We were very lucky with the serval. We were traveling with several photographers who had made multiple trips to Africa. Two have never seen one before and the rest had only caught a fleeting glimpse. We got a chance to watch this one for a good 10-15 minutes and he was within 50 feet of the vehicle the whole time.

Good luck with the migration. However, whenever you catch up with it, it is a sight to behold.

Jay

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:23 AM

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p.1 #20 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Lil Judd wrote:
Very nice series Jay

Congratulations, must have been wonderful to see cheetah in the wild like this - - free to live it's life.

Looks like you just had a great trip.

Lil

Thanks, Lil. This was definitely a fabulous trip for cheetah sightings. I have a number of good photos to share in future posts.

Jay

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:25 AM

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p.1 #21 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Billingham wrote:
Great series Jay.

Regards
Jonathan

Thanks, Jonathan

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:25 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #22 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Jay,
These are beautiful images and I appreciate your descriptions, as they provide a nice context for the photography.

My wife and I will be on photo safari in Tanzania this June... your photographs now contribute to our growing excitement for our trip. If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me about the equipment you brought... I'm still picking up a few extra pieces of gear and would like to hear about some of your do's and don'ts.
regards,
bruce

Mar 21, 2008 at 12:26 AM

Doug Bentlage
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p.1 #23 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Excellents photos and narrative Jay, wonderful work!

Doug

Mar 21, 2008 at 01:54 AM

Elessar
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p.1 #24 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

alameda wrote:
Jay, Another great series - looking forward to your next post. Steve W

Thanks, Steve. I hope to have the next one put together soon.

Jay

Mar 21, 2008 at 01:55 AM

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p.1 #25 · On to Maasai Mara, Kenya

Tim Kuhn wrote:
You have some gorgeous images here and I'm sure some incredible memories. What a treat to view all of these animals photographed so beautifully. Keep them coming.

Tim

Thanks, Tim. Yes, I have a number of great memories. I also have some not-so-great memories (my luggage getting lost for the first three days of the trip and my mom's passport getting stolen spring immediately to mind), but I'm trying to forget these memories.

All kidding aside, a trip to Africa is a trip of a lifetime and I have been very fortunate to have done it three times.

Jay

Mar 21, 2008 at 02:00 AM


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