Our photographic trip to the Masai Mara was based at Wild Eye’s Mara river bush camp called Enkishui. This camp is located on the banks of the Mara river about two kilometres up river from the Purungat bridge. The Mara river played an intimate role in our wanderings and sightings during the six days we spent in the Mara triangle in early November last year.

“Only by understanding how the world around us works, can we understand our bodies and live well in and with nature and among others.”
~ Julia H Sun

The Mara river originates in the swamps and forests on the Mau Escarpment in the Nakuru district of Kenya. The Mau Escarpment is a steep natural rampart along the western rim of the Great Rift Valley in western Kenya. The escarpment is around 3 000m above sea level and receives rainfall of around 1 400mm each year. The streams that exit the forest and descend over 1 000 m down the southern slope of the escarpment form the Nyangores and Amala Rivers in the upper basin. These two tributaries merge to form the Mara river.

As the Mara continues through the protected areas of Masai Mara National Reserve it is joined by the Engare Ngobit and then the Talek tributaries. The enlarged Mara river snakes its way through the Masai Mara National Reserve and exits under the Purungat bridge. Once in the Serengeti in Tanzania it is joined by the Sand river after which it flows west down to lake Victoria at Mara Bay which is around 1 800m below its source.

“The universe and all creation are there for you to connect your spirit to, and you are special part of the whole. If you can sense the wonder of the vast infinite and eternal universe, your spirit will be lifted to great heights and you will tap the source of your life energy.”
~ Timothy Simpson

In the Masai Mara and Serengeti National Parks, the Mara River sustains one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world—the annual migration of millions of wildebeest, zebra and various antelope which arrive in the Mara Basin during the dry season in search of water and to forage. It also sustains the region’s incredible biodiversity, from forest ecosystems to the multitudes of migrating herbivores between Serengeti National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve and back again.

This sign at Purungat bridge only refers to the Kenyan section of the Mara river basin.

The Mara river is 395 km long and has a drainage area of 13 750 square kilomteres (sq kms) of which 8 967 sq kms (65 %) is located in Kenya and 35 % in Tanzania. The Masai Mara National Reserve contributes around 17% of the drainage area of Mara River Basin in Kenya. The Mara River basin is bounded by the Soit Ololo, or Oloololo, Escarpment on the west, and the Loita and Sannia plains in the east.

You just never know what you will see along the Mara river no matter what the time of day. This was the iconic male lion, Scar, exuding his dominance at dusk.

Flowing from the high mountains of the Mau escarpment in Kenya to the Mara bay of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, Mara River is one of the most ecologically significant rivers in the region. The plains receive only half of the rain received in the Mau escarpment .

The Mara River currently has no major dams acting to significantly modify its flow regime. Peak river flows average 300 cubic metres per second, though this can vary from 90 to 400 cubic metres per second. To put this flow rate into perspective, the Zambesi river flows at an average of around 3 500 cubic metres per second and the mighty Congo river flows at a average rate of about 41 000 cubic metres per second. So this is a relatively small river by African standards but it plays a vital role in the wilds of the Masai Mara and northern Serengeti.

Looking from the Purungat bridge down river into the Serengeti. A flock of white-backed vultures had been cleaning and sunning themselves on the rocks. This is often an area where the wildebeest carcasses stack up when there had been a tragic crossing.

A view of hippo pools where, of course, you will see pods of hippos. This is also a major crossing point in the the migration season.

There are plenty of pods of hippo along the Mara river because it flows all year round. Just up river from Figtree crossing, we saw this female hippo with her calf. Judging from all the bite marks on her right flank she must have got into a fight while protecting her calf. Needless to say the yellow-billed oxpeckers were doing their cleaning work on her wounds.

One of a triad of three year old nomad male lions resting on the Mara triangle side of the Mara river. This nomad was watching the antics of two pairs of Egyptian geese down on the sand island in the Mara river. The deep shallows show its was still early in the morning with the rising sun in the east.

Looking up river from where the nomads were resting. It shows how much the Mara river meanders through this relatively flat section of the Masai Mara National Reserve and also shows how deeply the river has cut into the thick soils. The steepness of banks in certain sections of the river ensure much drama when the wildebeest decide to cross the river at this point.

“No price is too great to pay for inner peace. Peace is the harmonious control of life. It is vibrant with life-energy. It is a power that easily transcends all our worldly knowledge. Yet it is not separate from our earthly existence. If we open the right avenues within, this peace can be felt here and now.”
~ Sri Chinmoy.

A single male lion looking at the three nomads from the other side of the Mara river. We were hoping that he would cross and was perhaps part of the coalition but after watching the triad for about 15 minutes he wandered off back up the hill away from the Mara river.

The Wild Eye camp is located on the banks of the Mara river. The proximity ensures you are serenaded by hippos during the night and you can occasionally hear leopards coughing and lions roaring. Being a bush camp you really feel like you are immersed in the wildness of the place.

We left the camp just as the sun was rising and this was the view through the croton bushes looking south onto the Mara river.

Just after we had left our camp road and turned onto the main reserve road to the Purungat bridge, we saw this young female leopard in the early morning light making her way along the edge of the croton grove next to the Mara river.

There are many fantastic dramatic photographs of wildebeest and zebras crossing the Mara river. They all fear one predator in particular, the one they cannot see under the water when they cross the muddy Mara river – the Nile crocodile. On average, a Nile crocodile can live for up to 70 years even in the wild. Their age dictates their size and the larger older crocodiles have seen many crossings and must have vast knowledge and experience when it comes to hunting in the Mara’s muddy waters.

On average, the adult Nile crocodile can grow to between 2,8 and 5 metres in length with the the Kenyan Nile crocodile in the Mara River averaging of about 3.65 meters. The adult crocs can weigh between 70 to 700 kg, averaging about 200 kg in the Mara River. These crocs can survive for long periods between meals – though when they do eat, they can eat up to half their body weight at a time!! !

The Nile crocodile is a sexually dimorphic animal, meaning the males are physically different to the females. The males grow to between 25%-35% larger than the females, but a female is bulkier than male with the same length. This species does not reach an adult size but keeps growing as long as it lives. Adult males can be between 2-5 meters long; larger males can weigh close to 700 kilograms. Due to their growth and long lifespan, the upper limit of their age and size is still unknown. There have been records of large wild crocs, measuring more than 6 metres in length and 900 kg in weight.

Maui Maui is a well frequented migration crossing point and it is easy to see why this is the case. It has relative flat entry and exit points. What does make it tricky for the animals is that it is full of rocks and there are rapids to catch those that cannot swim fast enough through the flat water. The crocs are usually waiting for the exhausted swimmers at the bottom of the rapids.

Later in the afternoon we went back to where we had last seen the nomads but as is usual in the bush, nothing stays the same. We drove down to Peninsula point, which was another major migration crossing point but all was quiet except our guide, Jimmy, saw a leopard moving along the bank in the gloom. How he picked up the visual of the leopard in the first place I will never know.

That in-between time in the bush is when the fragrances are released by the latent temperature change and when the bush seems to holds its breath for a few magical moments.

“There is a universal, intelligent, life force that exists within everyone and everything. It resides within each one of us as a deep wisdom, an inner knowing. We can access this wonderful source of knowledge and wisdom through our intuition, an inner sense that tells us what feels right and true for us at any given moment.” ~ Shakti Gawain.

We were surprised to see wildebeest and zebra still massing on the west side of river in early November. In the foreground, the Mara river is bordered by bushes which disguise the steep banks at the Figtree crossing point. The animals further back against the hill were grazing but watching the zebra and wildebeest massing next to the river. Interestingly, as soon as the numbers massing on the banks of the Mara river got to a certain point it triggered all the animals on the plains to make their way down to the crossing point.

We never did get to see a crossing although, at times like this, it looked like the crossing was about to happen. The odd animal did cross though.

The Mara river is a fascinating focal point in an otherwise diverse Masai Mara National Reserve. It sustains life and takes it away. It acts as a choke point in the massive migration which results in a huge build up of animals waiting to cross its lethal murky waters.

The major rivers in Africa on which I have been privileged to spend time, such as the Limpopo, Mara, Orange, Chobe, Zambezi and Congo have left an indelible mark on my psyche because of their indomitable presence.

“A river is water is its loveliest form; rivers have life and sound and movement and infinity of variation, rivers are veins of the earth through which the lifeblood returns to the heart.” ~Roderick Haig-Brown

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike.

We spent six days wandering the Mara triangle in the Masai Mara National Reserve in early November. One of the aspects I was interested in was seeing how the predators were coping after the main migration had passed through the area about two months earlier.

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its is worth watching.” ~ Gerard Way

The bulk of the migration passes through this area between August and October but there is a stream of wildebeest and zebra which are still journeying through the south eastern end of the Mara triangle in November. This means there is still plenty of food for the predators who are bound by their territorial imperative.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” ~ Charles Darwin

Where there are predators there are bound to be kills and where there are kills you are likely to find raptors. Not all raptors are primarily hunters, but many will scavenge when the opportunity presents itself and some are obligatory scavengers.

Many raptors like the Martial, Crowned and Fish eagles are primarily hunters as are Hawk eagles, Snake-eagles, Harrier-hawks, Goshawks and falcons. Others are opportunitist like harriers, buzzards and kestrels which will hunt or scavenge based on the available opportunities.

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ~ Albert Einstein

One hunter and opportunist is the Secretary bird. It has the head of a raptor but the physique of a crane. This raptor is primarily a terrestrial being which can often be seen striding, in pairs, through the open grasslands looking for prey. The Secretary bird will fly if pushed, but prefers to walk through the grasslands.

This raptor has a open skinned face which is a red-orange and its intensity depends on how excited it is, much like a Bateleur or Harrier-hawk. The Secretary bird hunts and catches prey on the ground, often stomping on its victim to kill it. Secretary birds can also be seen stomping on grass tussocks to flush out food. When caught and sufficiently stomped on, the prey is usually swallowed whole and often alive. The Secretary bird feeds on anything from snakes and other reptiles to young gamebirds, and from amphibians to tortoises and rats, and any other small mammals they can catch.

Most raptors are purely hunters but some eagles, such as Steppe and Tawny eagles and Bateleurs, although primarily hunters, also scavenge. While travelling down a valley alongside the Myvumba Nane hill to find a pride of lion we saw this young Bateleur sitting in the shade of a sausage tree along a lugga.

Young Bateleurs are brown in colour with white dappling. They have greenish, blue-grey facial skin. It can take a young Bateleur 7 to 8 years to transform from its brownish colouring into striking adulthood colours of black, white and chestnut brown.

The adult Bateleur has a red face and feet. Bateleur eagles can change the colour of their faces and feet depending on their mood. The blood vessels are very close to the surface and they can control blood flow to these vessels. A mature Bateleur’s face can be an orange-yellow when it is relaxed and turn into a bright red-orange colour when it is excited or agitated. The Bateleur’s red feet are also unique because they have shorter toes and thicker scales on the tops of their feet compared to other birds of prey. These adaptations help protect them from the bites of venomous snakes, their favorite food in the wild.

Unusual for raptors, mature Bateleur males and females are physically very different from each other — something known as “sexual dimorphism”. Both sexes are mainly black with a rusty chestnut back and ashy grey wing coverts, but females also have grey secondaries with a trailing black edge. This makes it very easy to differentiate males from females, whether they are perched or in flight. I do not know if it is possible to differentiate the sex of an immature Bateleur.

While some eagles both hunt and scavenge, vultures are obligate scavengers. Vultures are classified into two groups: old world vultures, found in Africa, Asia and Europe, and new world vultures, found in the Americas. These two groups are not genetically related but have developed similar biological traits, such as their method of scavenging.

“I am still learning.” ~ Michaelangelo

Most raptors hunt for their prey and prefer hunting alone, but vultures are rough, cooperative scavengers. One of the key reasons they do not hunt is that they have relatively weak legs and feet and are not able to carry away their prey.

Vultures scavenge, but to scavenge they need to find a carcass. They do this by flying to great heights in the sky and scan large areas of the ground below for signs of a kill or carrion. Vultures are skilled soarers and gliders but are too heavy to be overall good flyers so they rely on thermals to lift them to the heights needed for long distance travel and high altitude surveillance. With the rising warm air pockets they are able to soar over distances up to 150kms.

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” ~ Dolly Parton

Africa is home to 11 “old world” vulture species, the largest of which is the Lappet-faced. This an impressive raptor due to its huge size and aggressive behaviour.

Old World vultures do not have a good sense of smell so they rely mainly on incredible eyesight to locate food. A soaring vulture is estimated to be able to spot a one metre animal carcass from up to six kilomteres away, suggesting that their vision is eight times better than that of a human.

The lappet-faced vulture can have a wing span up to 2.9 metres. This old world vulture has perfect adaptations for a scavenging life. Its powerful hooked bill cuts easily into a carcass’ skin and tendons, and its bare head and neck reduce lengthy feather-cleaning after it has pushed its head deep into a messy carcass.

The Lappet-faced vulture prefers open savannah areas with scattered trees, so you will not find them in forested areas. The next image shows a Lappet-faced vulture grabbing a Ruppell’s griffon vulture which has a small piece of bone and sinew in its beak.

Even if other vultures have arrived at a carcass first, most are not able to cut into the hide of a carcass if it has not be opened up by other predators. A Lappet-faced vulture is powerful enough to tear open a carcass with its massive beak and because of this is often the first at an untouched carcass. The aggression of a Lappet-faced vulture is directed toward other vultures and even Black-backed jackals. It is big enough to take on all of them.

A Hooded vulture flying in to join the feeding fenzy on the left overs of a zebra killed by lions the previous night. The Hooded vulture is the smallest of the African vultures. It is usually seen on the fringes of a vulture-covered carcass. It is too small to mix it up with the White-backed and Ruppell’s Griffon vulture, so it eats scraps dropped by the other vultures and Black-backed jackals.

Ruppell’s Griffon vulture is also a very large raptor standing up to one metre high and having a 2.5 metre wingspan. Males and females have similar colouration — brown or black feathers with a white edge. The underbelly is white flecked with brown. It has a white fluffy collar and its neck and head are essentially bare. Its eyes are usually amber to yellow in colour. This vulture has a large powerful beak with a pinkish tinge to it.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

The Ruppell’s Griffon vulture is thought to be the highest flying vulture and has been known to reach heights of 36,000 feet. It clearly must have some temperature and oxygen adaptations to be able to stay at these exceptional heights.

Scavenging birds play a vital role in our ecosystems. They clean up carcasses before they have time to rot. Without scavengers, rotting carcasses would become hubs for harmful pathogens. Vultures specialise in eating carrion and are highly efficient at cleaning up a carcass. The African White-backed vulture is the most common African vulture species in much of sub-Saharan Africa. The next image shows a White-backed vulture with full flaps down in final approach to a crowded kill site.

A kill site attracts a macabre group of scavengers from opportunist eagles to an assortment of vultures, storks, jackals and hyaenas. This carcass even attracts a Marabou stork. This is a massive bird towering over vultures and eagles. The Marabou eats mainly carrion, scraps, and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow, including nestlings, fish, frogs, eggs, lizards and even crocodile eggs if it can find them. The next images shows a Ruppell’s Griffon vulture tugging at a bone that a Marabou stork had picked up.

Scientists believe that the White-backed Vulture, like most other vultures, often rely on other vultures and scavengers such as jackals and hyenas, to locate food. The White-backed vulture will look out for concentrations of other vultures or watch the movements of terrestrial scavenging animals. Once a carcass is located, the vultures descend to the ground and will wait in trees or on the ground nearby for long periods of time if the carcass is occupied by large predators. Once the large predators, like lions and hyaenas move off, the vultures descend on the remains to feed. There appears to be a pecking order in the vulture mayhem around a carcass dictated by size, strength and aggression.

Researchers have found that these scavengers are laden with flesh-degrading Fusobacteria and poisonous Clostridia. As bacteria decompose a dead body, they excrete toxic chemicals that make the carcass a dangerous meal for most animals. Interestingly, vultures often wait for decay to set in, giving them easy access to dead animals once the tough skins have partly decomposed. Vultures have developed an extremely tough digestive system, which destroys the majority of the dangerous bacteria they ingest. They also have a tolerance toward some of the deadly bacteria that would kill other animals and these bacteria seem to flourish in the vulture lower intestine.

Different vulture species have different-shaped beaks, which means that each feeds on a particular part of a carcass (like innards, muscle tissue or hide). This adaptation reduces competition for food. While the Lappet-faced, Ruppell’s Grffon and White-backed vultures are usually in the thick of it, the smaller hooded vultures, which do not have the same physique and powerful beak, tend to hang around the fringe of the vulturine feeding frenzy waiting for scraps to be dropped amid all the squabbling.

When Lappet-faced vultures arrive and they normal come in pairs, they do not wait to be asked to the dinner table. They have a imposing approach.

Unlike many raptors, vultures are relatively social and often feed, fly or roost in large flocks. A group of vultures is called a committee, venue or volt. In flight, a flock of vultures is a kettle, and when these raptors are feeding together at a carcass, the group is called a wake.

“Knowing is not enough we must apply. Willing is not enough we must do.” ~ Bruce Lee

Seven of Africa’s vulture species are on the edge of extinction. With the demise of vultures comes a problem on an economic and social scale as yet uncalculated, and certainly unrealised. Vultures provide a vital ecological service benefiting humankind. They are nature’s scavengers – clearing up carcasses and waste that would otherwise rot and spread disease. Source: Birdlife International.

“The more we value things the less we value ourselves.” ~ Bruce Lee

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

There comes a time in a young male lion’s life when he get kicked out of the pride. He becomes a nomad. This happens to virtually all young male lions. These nomads are part of the group of 25% of lion cubs which survive their first two years of life. According to documentary wildlife filmaker and conservationist, Dereck Joubert, only about one in eight male lions make it to adulthood.

“A quest of any kind is an heroic journey. It is a rite of passage that carries you to an inner place of silence and majesty and encourages you to live life more courageously and genuinely.” ~ Denise Linn

At about two to three years of age, young lions are no longer tolerated by their pride. Their mothers are ready for their next litter of cubs and their fathers begin to see them as a threat to the stability of the pride. If there is a pride take-over, juvenile males are likely to be forced out of the pride at an even younger age just to stay alive. This sometimes also applies to females, particlarly if the pride is getting too large. Nature has its very own methods of keeping the gene pool diversified and healthy.

“The very essence of instinct is that it’s followed independently of reason.” ~ Charles Darwin

There are very few instances where fathers form coalitions with their sons to dominate a territory. A notable exception was Notch and his five son coalition controlling the Marsh pride up in the northern part of the Mara triangle in the Masai Mara National Reserve.

Usually, after being evicted from the pride, young male lions either roam alone and land up scavenging until they learn to hunt, or, disparate young males come together to form coalitions. Sometimes they are brothers and cousins, other times they are young males who decide to cooperate because it is easier to hunt and defend themselves as a team than on their own. The eviction process is harsh and initially the young males do not seem to understand why they have been banned from their family group. It is an ancient, if unceremonious, rite of passage.

Nomads are very wary. They know they are trespassing. Perhaps it is their father’s turf or another unknown male’s territory. Either way, if they are found, there will be big trouble and life lessons will be taught swiftly and violently.

Frequently, as the nomad walks through another male’s territory he will stop and just look and listen, scanning his surroundings for any sign that the owner of this piece of hunting ground is awake and onto him.

Male lions mark their territory. The odour must be distinctive. These two young nomads were deciphering the chemical messages by drawing the odours through the Jacobson organ in the roof of their mouth which give them the “grimaced” look. These chemical messages appear to give the recipient a clear sense of the size, strength and age of the messager’s owner.

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” ~ Charles Darwin

These nomads might be physically big and strong but they have still to build that inter strength which comes from self belief. Consequently, they are frequently reassuring each other by head rubbing.

Even as nomads, at times the cub in them is revealed. Some brief respite from the realisation that life is rushing in.

“Self respect, self love and self worth, all start with self. Stop looking outside yourself for your value.” ~ Rob Liano

There are moments in the bush when we as human’s can identify with what that young male lion is going through. No words are necessary.

“Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.” ~ Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

Each lion has a different character. Some are brawlers, some are lovers, some are confident and others not so much. It is apparent that confidence in a male lion is acquired. In his nomad years he learns the value of cooperation, he also learns independence by learning how to hunt and defend himself. It is these strengths, knowledge and skills learnt through testing himself against the world that he matures into a self assured full maned male lion, capable of sustaining his own pride.

This was another coalition of three nomads, around three years old. They were up river from the previous three younger nomads that we found a few days earlier. These three nomads were older, bigger, stronger and had more confidence. They were in Scar and Ziggy’s territory along this stretch of the Mara river. They knew they were trespassing but did not seem to fussed about it.

The dominant male in the coalition of three seemed the most confident and relaxed. The other two were less so, and lay in the croton bushes partially hidden on the edge of steep bank down to the Mara river.

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” ~ Suzy Kassem

This confident young male lay on the banks of the Mara river surveying the land as if he owned it. Perhaps starting to get a sense of what it feels like to rule a territory.

“Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, arrogance is when you think you are better than others and act accordingly.” ~ Stewart Stafford

Nomadic males entering a pride male’s territory inevitably affects cub survival and mating access. Success rates of nomadic males gaining tenure with a pride increases with age and coalition size.

Nomadic males can even regulate populations through their dispersal patterns, territorial structure, and reproductive strategies. Usually, lions live in permanent female groupings (prides) that maintain exclusive territories and are temporarily defended by male coalitions. Males compete with each other for prides and nomadic coalitions in an attempt to oust the resident male or males.

Nomadic takeovers are the primary drivers of natal dispersal, resulting in large variation in dispersal age, with higher mortality among young lions, and infanticide by nomads tends to mediate population growth. Source: Lion population dynamics: do nomadic males matter? Natalia Borrego

For maturing males to survive their nomad years, they have to be fit, strong, and must have learnt the ways of the wild. All of these skills together with the confidence that comes with survival lessons well learnt will be needed to take over and maintain their own pride.

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ~ Rumi

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

I visited the Masai Mara in early November last year. I have never been to the Mara at that time of the year. Most of the wildbeest migration had passed and the rains had begun so that time had the potential to deliver low productivity, difficult photography. The one thing that I was sure of was I would witness the circle of life.

“Your soul awakens your mind. Your mind makes your choices. Your choices manifest your life. Your life is your lesson. Your lessons create wisdom. Your wisdom enriches your soul.”
~ Karen A. Baquiran

I was particularly interested to see the Mara with dark thunderstorm skies as backgrounds against verdent green plains and hills of the Oloololo escarpment. I was also intrigued to see how the predators, especially the lion prides, were doing after the main migration had passed through two months before. I was very pleasantly surprised on both counts.

“Returning to the same place can bring new insights, new awareness and greater depth of understanding and appreciation. When wandering with nature everything is always changing providing new opportunities to learn.” ~ Mike Haworth

I joined several other enthusiastic photographers from all around the world at Wild Eye’s Mara bush camp located on the Mara Triangle bank of the Mara river. The bush camp is located in the croton grove about a kilometre up the river from the Purungat bridge and district gate, right in the south east corner of the Mara triangle.

To see active lions you need to be out and about in the Mara by 6h00 as the lions are ususally looking for some shade and a place to rest and sleep for the day between 7h00 and 8h00. Given that most of the zebra and wildebeest had already moved on down into the Serengeti on their journey through Tanzania towards Ndutu in the south where the wildebeest calve on mass around February each year.

The good rains, before we arrived, had transformed the Mara into a blaze of verdant green. Most of the wildebeest and zebra had moved on, though surprisingly there were still several large herds around. The lion prides had scattered, moving away from the river to follow the grazers. The rain had filled up many of the seasonal drainage gullies, called luggas, and created numerous small ponds which meant the grazers had plenty of places to drink in this vast space.

This first image is of one of Scar’s coalition partners, “Bob Marley”. He was also a massive male lion in his prime but had an easily identifiable growth on his top lip just below his nose. I have never seen this on a lion before and never got to find out what caused it.

Even though we were out on the Mara at 6h00, the time we allowed out of camp, by the time we found Bob Marley and his two lioness on a zebra kill it was mostly eaten. The lionesses must have killed the zebra during the previous night. Bob Marley’s stomach shows he got his lion’s share.

A couple of cubs were clearly impressed with their father but he remained aloof despite advances by the cub to solicit some fatherly affection.

Bob Marley wandered down to the lugga at the bottom of the hill to where there was shade and water leaving the lionesses and cubs to sort themselves out.

One of the two lionesses lay next to the zebra kill while her growing son was still getting stuck in.

This young male looked like he took more than his fair share of the zebra, judging from the size of his belly.

Full belly or not, this young male full of blood and mud was having great fun chasing off vultures.

One lioness was the last to reluctantly leave the zebra carcass even though there was little left. The next phase of diners were waiting all around. Two pairs of Black backed jackal and a variety of vultures including White backed, Lappet-faced, Griffon, and Hooded.

Once the jackals and vultures finally managed to get access to the zebra kill, it was a free-for-all brawl. In the midst of the squabbling vultures was a pair of Black backed jackals. These jackals did not seem too concerned about the larger vultures such as Lappet-faced and Griffon vultures. Success favours the bold.

“The devil whispers ‘You can not withstand the storm’. The warrior replies ‘I am the storm'”.

Late in the afternoon, we moved down to the Mara river to find more lion activity. It was almost dark when we had found Scar, and Ziggy close to where we had left them sleeping in the shade next to the river in the morning, so we knew the rough area they were likely to be in. I used a flash because of the low light. Even with full power and a MagMod Magbeam flash extender I could not effectively light up Scar because of his distance from us.

“The greatest fear in the world is the opinion of others, and the moment you are unafraid of the crowd, you are no longer a sheep you become a lion. A great roar arises in your heart, the roar of freedom.” ~ Osho

When we arrived, we found Scar aggressively marshalling two of the young males in his pride. He exerted his dominance in no uncertain terms. After he had sorted out his sons, he wandered down to the edge of the Mara river and began to roar. Even the hippos kept their distance.

It was clear the lionesses and cubs were scared of him. Once Scar began to teach his sons who was boss the lionesses and cubs quickly moved out of the way.

Scar has a marked limp on his rear right leg. Apparently his leg tendons were damaged in a tangle with a buffalo. The damage has not stopped him and he has held onto his dominant rank in the pride.

We left Scar lying on the bare sand bank next to the Mara river because it was getting too dark to photograph and we had to be back in camp by 19h00.

Current estimates for lion populations suggest there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, with less than 2,000 left in Kenya. Their numbers have dropped by nearly half in the last two decades.

“To hear a male lion roar as the light fades at dusk will send shivers down your spine. A prime memory is awakened welling deep from our genetic past. That gut-wrenching roar will resonate like thunder in your chest leaving you feeling breathless. Through the power and intonation the message is clear and the shiver reminds you that the darkness favours this warrior.” ~ Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike