Masai Mara Wildebeest Migration and Cats, Cats, Cats - August/Sept 2007

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Once again this trip was big on Wow factor. Our clients were patient and on some occasions they didn't even need to be! For instance, within an hour or so of arriving in the Mara they were watching their first river crossing! They saw nine crossings in total, all within the first five days but we did have to wait some hours for some of them so out came the ipods, books and banter. The crossings varied in duration, steepness of the banks, the amount of dust etc etc. They were all exciting and most of them were with the Wildebeest coming towards us. Fabulous! For the second half of the trip we moved camp to the opposite side of the river where from experience we know the cat sightings are terrific. So we saw Lions of course including a Lion stalking Wildebeest in the tall Mara grass and bringing one down. She was a good hunter because there were already a few victims lying around for her cubs' mealtime we saw the BBC's Leopards, Bella and Zawadi on separate days and we saw Cheetahs galore including one poor little visually impaired cub with either glaucoma or cataracts in both eyes. The relationship with its mother was one of true dependence and there were many joyful moments spent watching their interaction, with and without the lenses in front of us. We watched as the mother taught the cub to stay whilst she walked off a small distance, she then called the cub which had to find its way back to Mum. We watched them play and we also watched the mother hunt and kill three times within a couple of hours - all small Thompson Gazelles. How lucky were we to catch the stalk, chase and bringing down each time! Another highlight was seeing Zawadi heading out to hunt but she became the hunted when some large Baboons ambushed her and she set off at an incredible pace. She ended up up a tree, perched precariously at the very top whilst every Baboon, large and small, in the area came out to try to pull her down or just to watch the spectacle. It looked bad for awhile for Zawadi the leopard but the Baboons eventually got bored and in due course she was able to come down. Some of the Masai subsequently told us she went back to retrieve her cubs and moved them to a new hiding place as a result of her narrow escape. This was very exciting stuff. We also spent an enchanting early evening watching elephants cooling off in the swamp area. It was such a serene experience and no, we didn't want to leave. What a superb trip!