Maasai Mara Day 3 Afternoon

Maasai Mara Day 3 Afternoon

We stopped by a large tree for our picnic lunch, and in the distance we see a truncated pyramidal marker of the border of Tanzania and Kenya. We all take some fun photos of couples and friends in various arrangements around the market. As we depart, we see some vultures gathered around the carcass of a wildebeest, which Sammy says was killed by a lion. Farther on, we come to the gate to the national park, and a bridge across the Mara River. As we head back up the Riverbottom Road, we hope to catch a wildebeest crossing this afternoon. For about a mile, huge termite mounds are everywhere, and nearly consume 8-10’ tall shrubs, as  the landscape undulates gently but there are few trees.

Some people who were near the river in the morning told Sammy of a leopard there in a tree, so off we go, and the leopard indeed is in a tree with its kill. The sky has darkened, and we see rain on both sides of us. And from one horizon to the other, it is nothing but wildebeests on the march, with a few zebras here and there. Back to the area of plains and acacias trees dotting the landscape, we see two male cheetahs under a tree, the cheetahs looking at some zebras nearby, the zebras looking at the cheetahs – classic. A few zebras take off with some of the young to give them a head start, going away from the cheetahs, who eventually turn and go away from the zebras toward another tree.

We’re driving toward the dark clouds of the storm now, and for 20 minutes or more, we see only wildebeests on both sides, as far as the eye can see. They are everywhere. We turn up a side road, and see 6 mongooses running along, stopping briefly on top of their den and then hurrying on. Five vultures are perched on a tree, and as they take off we can see their enormous wingspan, maybe 6-8 feet. 

We begin to smell the rain as we continue on the road, and see another family of 9 elephants, and then two more lions sitting  in the sun quite a ways away. On the way back to the lodge, we see some hartebeests, including two young ones, one of which is nursing. It has been a wonderful day, filled with our last views of many of these beautiful animals and this spectacular scenery.