The Great Wildebeest Migration

 

The Great Migration.  Even more of these were all around us!  

Some refer to it as the Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth.  From what I could tell after three days there, if it isn't the greatest, it's certainly one of them.

It was rough getting in there, to the Masai Mara National Reserve.  Seven hours driving, the last two over dirt and rock-studded roads that'd jounce your liver and loosen your fillings.  Most of us in the safari car were tired and snarly as a result.  But much of that evaporated when we went on our first game drive.

Our timing was good.  The bulk of the big game had streamed out of Tanzania and into the Kenya side of the Serengeti grasslands, which is where we were heading. 

We were up top, where it says AUG.

It's not so much a migration as a continual circling/grazing of approximately a million-plus animals.  Sometimes they can mass up for miles across and are even visible from space!

Wildebeests make up the most of it, but also zebras, impalas, cape buffaloes, antelopes and so on.  They follow the rains and the resultant green grass and have been doing so since time immemorial.

Wildebeest or "gnu" around acacia tree.

Cape Buffalo -- ornery critters, sometimes called the "black death."

Where you have grazing animals on the move, usually you have predators following:  Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs and more.  We saw our share of these, including twelve to fifteen of the king of beasts.

The big cats rest and sleep up to fifteen hours a day.  The equatorial sun being what it is, most we saw were lounging in the shade.  But not all...

His Highness out on the prowl -- with column of wildebeest at top.

Her eye color matches her hide!

Toting junior off like a domestic cat.

The migration is fraught with drama and danger.  Calves are born along the route and make easy pickings for predators.  The old or crippled often are singled out and taken down.  River crossings are scenes of chaos and panic as huge crocodiles chomp unto the unfortunate and stampede the rest.  

We didn't see a river crossing, but we did watch from a distance as a lioness chased down a wildebeest.  She seized it by the neck and choked the life out.  Along with other safari cars, we bounced over and observed as she ripped into it with fang and claw.  

The lioness and her kill.  Note blood-stained snout.

A male ambled over to partake.

Before we set out that first morning, our guide told us that we'd be fortunate to see a leopard, even one.  Generally they roam and hunt at night, and perch up in trees by day.  With so much of their movement after dark, it's hard to pinpoint where they might be.  Plus, compared to lions, there's not so many of them.  

As it turned out though, we didn't see only one leopard, we saw three.

Sleepy bones.  

  This leopard stashed a wildebeest carcass up there for later -- note legs dangling along right side of tree trunk.

Cheetah taking its leisure in the shade.

Hyena wallowed into the mud to keep cool.

Safaris are not just about spotting big game, of course.  Camp life also is an integral part.  We stayed at a safari camp near the entrance to the Masai Mara Reserve, which allowed for easy entrance and exit.

However, because we were all so exhausted from the day's activities, there wasn't much of the usual conviviality and sitting around the campfires afterward.  Most of us shuffled off to bed early to rest up for the next day.

Nonetheless, the food was decent and the service courteous and friendly.  Mornings and evenings, the staff fired up the generator for a few hours to provide lights and hot water.  It wasn't like at the Hyatt, but all you needed.

My digs at safari camp.

Our wheels, a Toyota Land Cruiser.  Two spare tires are due to rough roads.

"Jimmy," our driver and guide.

Safari camp was located near a Maasai tribal village.  I wanted to go for a walk through the bush before I left, but the village chief wouldn't let me.  An Englishman had been stomped to death by a rogue elephant there years earlier and the chief insisted that I have an escort.  However, for good measure evidently, not just one escort turned out, but six.

My entourage for my walk.

A Maasai starting a fire the traditional way.

Maasai tribal dwelling.  The stick is traditional for males.

The Great Migration was a fitting climax to my three weeks in Kenya -- it was one of the most memorable sights that I'd ever witnessed.  In fact, I could've stayed there longer as I couldn't quite get enough of the wildlife.  But all such idylls come to an end.  In this case, reality intruded in the form of that darned pandemic thing again. 

I had to get a Covid test to board the airplane back to the U.S. and had to allow a few days in Nairobi to accomplish that.  So when I boarded the Land Cruiser at safari camp, to go back to Nairobi, I was actually beginning the long journey home.

(For what it's worth, I hardly thought about the pandemic the whole time in Kenya.  I didn't think about it, didn't hear about it, didn't talk to anyone who had it.  All in all, I was more worried about mosquitoes and malaria!) 

If I ever come again, I'd land here and avoid those roads in to the Reserve.

In closing, a hearty thanks to those of you who followed along with me on this, through all four posts.  Wishing you the best on your own safaris, wherever they may take you.  Until next time then, if there ever is one... 

J.M.

End Of Series On Kenya