Kategorie: Kenia 2023_1

Well, there is not much to say when lying lazy at the white powdery sandy Beach with pristine green and blue water and having lots of coffees with Mama.

It’s time for a last game drive and then time to say goodbye to my beloved Masai Mara.

A special thank you goes to all the staff of Basecamp Explorer Eagle View which made my stay in the Mara so memorable. And another one to the man who is responsible for all the amazing food we got to enjoy here.

Chef Benson, an amazing cook with a very inspiring story which he allowed me to share. Benson is a Massai as all staff here and has grown up in the region. His career in tourism started of as an Askari (security man), but his interest onto cooking brought him into kitchen, first for cleaning duties, then peeling and cutting vegetables but son started to cook himself. By now this successful Maasai has become a fully educated chef and has been trained in Italy, Zürich and Oslo. His food is great but moreso is his intention to give something back to the community. To do so he’s written a cook book and all proceeds from the sale go into education of young Maasai who get a chance to attend an 18 month training to become a chef themselfs. Benson has become a dear friend and I very much admire his self made success and his intention to give other people a chance to do the same by investing into their education.

A long 2.5 hours flight brought me down to the coast.

My second day in Naboisho started with another beautiful sunrise but also with fog in the dells, this time all alone on the safari vehicle.

First sighting were two male lions from Molibany pride, majestic.

We spent the rest of the morning game drive taking ourself time to watch elephants and giraffes.

.. And some more…

Visitors at lunch time…

For the afternoon I unfortunately got to say goodbye to my guide Edward who took some time off to visit his family, therefore we got a new guide Dickson and three more people on the vehicle. All of then for the first time on safari for which I really envy them. Safari is always exciting but the very first one is just magic and newbies tend to appreciate any sighting not only the very special and rare ones. The downside was that our new guide drove me almost crazy with giving information I’ve already heard dozens of times. I wouldn’t mind so much, cuz information is important, if he hadn’t chosen a spot just outside of the camp with no wildlife around, why not stop in a place with one of these beautifully mixed herds of zebras, gnus, Thompsons and Impalas and lecture us there for this half an hour?

Anyway, we got quickly lucky and found a schakal which was feeding on a baby impala, a fascinating sighting but also a bit sad because the mother was still nearby looking for her young.

The rest of the afternoon was rather quiet with a long drive trough Whistleblow thorn bushes with no wildlife around at all.

Strangely enough our guide was actually looking for a leopard… Luckily we suddenly spotted Molybany pride with its two lionesses and their eight cubs of different ages on a Rocky hill. Unfortunately they were neither in the mood to hunt nor to play and also a bit to far away, whish makes watching lions surprisingly boring.

We therefore proceeded to a safe place to take a sundowner and watch the beautiful sunset.

Just after returning to the camp a fierce thunder storm drove over the savannah and destroid my hopes of a refreshing drink at the camp fire this night.

After a long night in the airplane with hardly any sleep, an inland flight with a Cessna and a full day on game drives I’ve slept like a baby and honestly getting up before 6 a.m on vacation isn’t my favorite thing to do, but… Yea, there is always a but… This sunrise compensate for the lack of sleep.

And the following drama even more. When the three lioness of the by far to small Enisikiria pride showed up just I nfront of our camp, they looked very hungry and seemed to be on a mission.

However, just closeby was a male lion if the Ilkisiusiu pride feeding on a zebra.

When the three lioness from Enisikiria came closer my guide smelled troubles and we left the anyway to crowed kill in order to see, if there is a territorial fight to be started. And indeed, I swear I’ve never ever heard such a scary lions roaring like when the lionesses from Ilkisiusiu followed the feeling Enisikiria lionesses.

Unluckily the ran into three young lions from Sanpanguare pride, meaning more roaring, fighting and running, there was just a bit of action and drama this morning.

After all this excitement we’ve earned ourselfs a nice bush breakfast. Unfortunately my guide sent me back into the vehicle because a to close coming elephant bull made him nervous.

On the way back to the camp for lunch we passed again Ilkisiusiu Pride which interestingwise hadn’t finished off this por zebra. The subadult male lying in the shade of a bush just along the road was to funny to watch he was so bothered by flies that he downright jumped madly around.

What shall follow after a morning full of lions? Right, more lions. Ilkisiusiu Pride was still feeding when we left the camp.

After this it was time for something else, therefore we welcomed to watch a group of elephants as well as a big heard of buffalos afterwards.

But what’s a sundowner without lions…

After this all to exciting day we managed it just into camp before the storm arrived, literally a storm.

Well since nowadays I’ve to fly to Kenya to drink a coffee with my mum I’ve decided to combine it with some days at Basecamp Eagle View, my currently favorite safari camp in Eastern Africa. After a rather stressful night flight to Nairobi and a luckily quiet inland flight

I’ve arrived in Naboisho Conservancy which kind of feels like coming home. Already the drive from the Airstrip to Eagle View was an adventure. First thing that appeared was a giraffe with a one day old baby, to cute to be true.

Next just along the road was Leteipa a male cheetah laying lazy in the shade.

Eagle View camp with it’s stunning view over the Savanna is as beautiful as ever as well as the warm welcome.

Afternoon started withe a big elephant bull breaking a big tree.

Afterwards we got to see a part of the over 30 head big Ilkisiusiu Pride with their cubs. Funny enough it was me who spotted them first, tapping proudly my shoulder cuz it’s very rare to spot an animal before you local guide does!

Right next to this sighting were lions feeding on a baby warthog whilst a naughty schakal was sneaking around trying to steal his prey and succeded😂.

Suddenly late in the day even after sunrise we got the chance to see a leopard, Nolari a beautiful female.

Well, one couldn’t wish more for a day in the Mara, except for a nice dinner, a cold drink, a nice camp fire and a good sleep.