In November last year, friends together with my wife Helen and I spent a week at Rock Camp, which is a syndicated camp in Mashatu Nature Reserve in south eastern Botswana. It is not a commercial camp and has retained its bush camp ethos over the years, which we love.

There are wonderful places to see leopards in southern Africa but to my knowledge there are only two places where you are almost guaranteed to see leopards when you visit. The one is the Sabi Sands Reserve and the other is Mashatu Nature Reserve in south east Botswana.

I have included three interesting sightings and interactions which we were privileged to see.

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance” ~The Lion King

The first was this young adult female Leopard. We caught sight of her in a croton glade lying quietly on a fallen tree trunk. She was just listening to all the sounds around her.

At one point she looked left out into the open area next to the glade and she caught sight of a Steenbok.

Immediately she got up and started to walk into the open area away from the Majale river. She was careful to use the earth mounds and vegetation to hide her approach.

The leopardess walked around the side of a fallen tree and there, in the top right hand upper third of the image, next to a Stink Shepherd’s bush, lay the Steenbok in the shade. The Steenbok saw the leopardess and moved further along the river bank.

Very quickly the Steenbok caught sight of the leopardess, thanks in part to an alarm call from a Natal spurfowl. I was fascinated to watch the predator and prey interact. The Steenbok just watched her knowing it had enough flight distance between the two of them. The leopardess acted as if it was her intention all along to go and sit in the shade of Stink Shepherd tree and nonchalantly gazed at the exposed Steenbok.

The Steenbok actually walked closer to have a good look at the leopardess. We assumed the Steenbok was trying to get a better look to see whether the leopardess was injured or not. The leopardess never looked directly at the Steenbok while the latter was directly looking at her. The sighting ended with the Steenbok circling the area and then running off unscathed.

“Whatever you do, do with deep alertness, then even small things become sacred.” ~ Rajneesh

The next morning we found a young male leopard looking very relaxed in one of the forks in a large Mashatu tree. He had a good lookout. It was shady and cool but only offered him a view away from the Majale river.

“If you are intelligent, if you are alert, the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.” ~ Osho

He was completely unfazed by our game vehicle which was parked about 30 metres away.

This male leopard was watching a herd of impala in the distance which were slowly making their way toward him.

“I am not my thoughts, feelings, circumstances or changing events in my life. I am the awareness, the alertness, the changelessness which remains present behind it.” ~ Marcus Thomas

The one thing this male leopard did not take into account was that he could not see anything approaching the Mashatu tree from the river side. Consequently he did not see a troop of baboons approaching the Mashatu tree. The troop was quiet until it got to within about 20 metres from the Mashatu tree and then the baboons must have smelt the leopard because they started to bark in a particular way. The large male baboons quickly ran in from the rear of the troop. The barking baboons gave this young male leopard a fright. His whole demeanor changed. He was staring out of the tree but not seeing only focusing on what he could hear. He was assessing the threat.

“He heard them barking but was instinctively still so he could listen to assess where they where, how many there were and what their intentions were. Listening means so much more than hearing.” ~ Mike Haworth

The baboons, far from being afraid of the leopard, must have sensed the predator was a youngster. They quickly climbed up the tree far enough away not to be caught by the leopard. The large male baboons were followed up the tree by brazen youngsters. The safety in numbers added to the troop’s bravery.

There was no way the leopard could escape from the Mashatu tree because it was surrounded by baboons. A large male baboon stayed on the ground and kept a close eye on the leopard’s movements.

The young male leopard climbed higher into the Mashatu tree onto a wide bough which could give him purchase if he was attacked. Needless to say the baboons shouted and barked at him and even threw branches at him but his deep throated growl even unnerved us in the game vehicle watching the whole scene. Eventually having given the leopard enough of a hard time they realised he had an advantage and they wandered off. The leopard did not come down from the Mashatu tree but moved to an unphotographable position, so we left him in peace.

On our second last afternoon game drive we came across a female leopard lying in the shade on the bank of the Majale river.

She was minding her own business just lying quietly listening.

“Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance.” ~ Amit Ray

A small family herd of elephants walking on the riverbed passed below the leopardess. The elephants wandered about 50 metres further down to a bend in the river where they had previously dug into the sand for water. In November, the Majale river was dry but the water table remained high so the elephants dug down in the sand to get the filtered water.

Having slated their thirst they even used some of the water to cool themselves. The elephants returned in the direction they had come but took a path up the bank where the leopard was lying. I was surprised that the female elephant did not see the leopard until she was about ten metres away. The elephant got a fright, trumpeted and kicked sand at the leopardess who quickly got out of the way.

There are numerous leopards along the Majale river which courses through the centre of the Mashatu Nature Reserve. The banks of Majale river are lined with Mashatu trees (Nyala Berries) , Apple-Leafs and Leadwoods. There are also many croton groves all of which provide the leopard population with plenty of cover, shade and areas in which to to hunt.

“Our senses are the doorway to the present moment and the more we expand our awareness in every moment, the less we’re lost in our thoughts, and the more we’re fully living and getting the most out of our lives.” ~ Todd Perelmuter

The sightings of leopard are usually very good because of most of them have been habituated to the game vehicles. The adult male leopards tend to avoid the game vehicles and are not nearly as relaxed around the vehicles as the females. This possibly has to do with young male leopards being forced away from the Majale river by the older more dominant males. The young males consequently do not get the degree of habituation as the females.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

This is the last post from my trip with Wild Eye to the Masai Mara in October last year.

The Mara river and all the goings on around that river is the centre of attraction but by no means the only attraction. This post shows the diversity of scenery which you can see while travelling around the Mara Triangle.

“Jobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul.” ~ Jaime Lyn

The Mara river can cast quite a moody spell depending on the weather. In October, it was the start of the short rains so the skies darkened on occasion which created quite an intense feeling of expectation when peering up the river.

On other occasions when the sun was out it created a relaxed carefree feeling and without animals on either bank all was calm.

We were parked on the west side of the Mara river. On the east side the wildebeest would mass and eventually the animals at the back would push the animals on the river bank closer to the river. In the next image, the wildebeest were congregating among the croton bushes waiting for the right signal to cross.

“Adventure is not outside man; it is within.” ~ George Eliot

While waiting for the crossing to build we would pull back from the river and watch from a rise about a kilometre away where we could watch the movement of the wildebeest and try to predict where they were likely to cross.

From the west bank of the Mara river looking east to Out Look Hill you could see thousands and thousands of wildebeest making their way over the hill and down towards the Mara river.

Crossing the Mara river is a daunting challenge because of the very steep banks along sections of the river. The river itself is flowing at around five kilometres per hour and each bank attracts predators. To add to the crossing’s challenge the river is home to many large Nile crocodiles.

The compulsion to follow the rains and move towards fresh grazing grounds seems to be overwhelming. Eventually the first intrepid river “crossers” venture down the steep bank and plunge into the fast flowing water.

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” ~ Stephen Covey

From the horizon, if wildebeest see a crossing taking place and they race to join the crossing. There is relative safety numbers so it is worth joining the mass crossing.

The Peninsula crossing is close to the Wild Eye camp so we were able to get there just after six in the morning. Of the four large crossings we saw, two were around sunrise at around 6h20.

Pensive but compulsive. The wildebeest were watching the surface of the water for any signs of crocodiles.

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.” ~ William Feather

The multiple crossing routes at Miti Moja were further up river from the Peninsula crossing point. Here the bank was much steeper and deep paths had been cut into the earthen bank by thousands of previous wildebeest descending the bank towards the river’s edge.

Once in the water the wildebeest swim for their lives. The crocodiles tend to stay on the periphery of the crossing so as not to be trampled.

The Mara river takes a left hand bend just before the Purungat bridge. It is very rocky in this section and does not have the steep banks seen at Miti Moja. In the past many wildebeest tried to cross a few hundred metres up the river but drowned and would be caught up on the rocks. As you can imagine the smell of all the decaying carcasses must have been horrendous. Wild Eye was allowed to set up a camp a few hundred metres up river to prevent the wildebeest crossing at that point. The position of the camp stopped the wildebeest crossing in that section and solved the carcass build up so it no longer smells. The next image is of the view from the Purungat bridge looking up river from the bridge. The Wild Eye camp is a few hundred metres up river from the bend in the image below.

The view is also from the Purungat bridge but taken looking down the Mara river from the Purungat bridge towards the Serengeti in Tanzania.

A lone Masai giraffe looking east over the Mara river while the rain clouds were building in the background. Some of the advantages of visiting the Masai Mara in October are that it is low season and the rains were building so the skies became very colourful and moody.

Looking out over the plains on an almost clear warm October morning – bliss.

“The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.” ~Albert Einstein

By contrast, the afternoons tended to be characterised by huge cloud build ups which at sunset would create a vivid scene saturated with colour.

We were able to get across to the east side of the Mara river via the Purungat bridge. We ventured onto the east side to find a pair of black rhinos, an adolescent and it its mother. The background shows the vastness of just a part of the Masai Mara.

Just after sunrise we found a large male lion close to the Main road about four kilometres up from the Purungat bridge. The light was soft and behind him were the vast plains stretching down into the Serengeti.

A small herd of Plains zebra were drinking at an old borrow pit created during the road making and which had since become a waterhole.

Looking west toward the Oloololo escarpment down in the southern section of the Mara Triangle. A inselberg is partly visible on the right hand side of the image. Two young nomad male lions were making their way through the grass to an inselberg behind us. The inselberg would provide them with a hiding place and a high look out point.

Down in the south of the Mara Triangle close to the Tanzanian border. The plains were dotted with Balanites and numerous grazing wildebeest. In the background was the Oloololo escarpment with storm clouds building in the late morning. We were on our way down to find a female leopard seen in a lugga (a seasonal water course). We never got a good sighting of the leopardess but the trip to find her was worthwhile.

“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.” ~ Bob Bitchin

About five hundred metres up the Main road from the water hole where zebra were drinking, we found three male lions. The two older males were lying in the road and the younger male was lying next to a rock which he seemed to be hugging. When you are king of the plains you can lie anywhere!

A lugga with water flowing along it collecting into small ponds. These features provide ample water for the wildlife. The luggas also provide effective ambush areas for predators.

A red flame lily growing out of the rocks near where we stopped for coffee while we were waiting for a wildebeest herd building prior to crossing. It is my Zimbabwean heritage that makes me so fond of this beautiful but poisonous lily. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous due to the presence of toxic alkaloids including colchicine and can be fatal if eaten. In Zimbabwe the flame lilies usually have orange/red petals where the bottom of the petal is yellow not red.

Looking through Leopard Gorge toward Out Look Hill in the distance. On the left hand side is Sierra Lima, one of the higher hills in the area. This is a verdant valley with a lugga coursing between the hills. This area was so-called because it was the territory of a large male leopard at that time. Unfortunately we never saw him.

A blue haze across the foothills in front of the Oloololo escarpment.

The sunsets in the Masai Mara can be spectacular. When a storm is not brewing in October, the late afternoon colours are soft and the temperature balmy.

“Wilderness is a necessity… there must be places for human beings to satisfy their souls.” ~John Muir

Driving out of camp just after 6h00 we found a male Masai giraffe sitting down in a large open area. It was a very peaceful scene. Sitting in the centre of a large section of grassland the giraffe would have been able to see any potential threats.

An iconic African sunset with the sun illuminating the underside of the clouds and a single Balanites Aegyptiaca or “Desert Date” in the foreground. This is an in-between time in the bush. The diurnal wildlife is making its way home and the nocturnal wildlife is stirring and beginning its nightly activities.

The eternal battle between predator and prey played out every day in the Masai Mara.

This large dominant male lion had been sleeping on the main road with his coalition partner. After some delay he got up to follow his coalition partner down the road toward a waterhole where many zebra were drinking.

Off the main road at the “picnic trees”, our photographic group stopped to stretch our legs and have a leisurely breakfast. This picnic site looked down onto the Kenyan/Tanzania border in the southern side of the the Mara Triangle.

On our last morning, down near Peninsula crossing point we found three large male lions. One of the males must have separated from the group during the night and returned in the morning. One of his coalition partners greeted him warmly.

“All good things are wild and free.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

A game vehicle silhouetted near a Balanite just before the sun set over the horizon.

I was fortunate enough to spend six wonderful days with Wild Eye travelling around the Mara Triangle during the day and sleeping in their bush camp near the Purungat bridge at night. The bush camp is set among the croton bushes on the banks of the Mara river. The bird life in the camp is prolific. There were constant sounds of hippos’ honks and grunts. The grunting sounds like the air-brake of a large Oshkosh truck going downhill. The grunts will keep you awake the first night but by the second night it is a familiar and reassuring sound.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”~ Mark Twain

The Mara Triangle, like the Serengeti, offers a wonderfully rich diversity of wildlife. This makes a photographic safari highly productive. I will continue to make my pilgrimage back the Masai Mara for as long as I can. It is one of the most special wildlife sanctuaries I have ever been privileged enough to experience.

“Adventures don’t come calling like unexpected cousins calling from out of town. You have to go looking for them.” ~ Unknown

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

This is the second last post from my Masai Mara trip in Kenya in October 2021 with photgraphic safari company, Wild Eye. It was a productive photographic trip with some wonderful sightings of wildebeest crossings, many predators, incredible scenery and a diverse variety of birds.

“Photographing birds will improve your knowledge of them. You see them in finer detail and be better able to discern differences. Understanding their behaviour will provide greater photographic variety.” ~ Mike Haworth

This post shows just a small selection of the birds I saw and photographed during my trip. This was not specifically a birding safari but there is a huge diversity of birds in the Mara Triangle. Of course, we saw our fair selection of raptors due to all the predation in the Mara area.

“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”
~ John Lubbock

We saw many Tawny eagles and all the morphs from dark to blonde and all the variations in between. The Tawny’s were often at the remains of a carcass before the vultures.

A light coloured young Black-headed heron was fishing successfully at one of the small ponds next to the gravel road. The heron was fishing amongst all the wildebeest and zebra milling around the waterhole.

Early in the morning, a pair of Lappet-faced vultures were warming up in the early more sun and waiting for the thermals to start developing after 9h00 so they could get airborne without too much effort.

“In the bush there is a reason for everything. If the vultures are on the ground and they are not feeding, it is too early for them to catch thermals” ~ Mike Haworth

This looked to be a wet and cold Zitting cisticola. It had been raining the night before and this small character was perched on top of a thorny branch trying to dry out and warm up.

Lappet-faced vultures are large when perched but when flying they are huge. This vulture was flying in to join its mate on top of a Balanite. The pair looked to be building a nest.

“I am totally absorbed when trying to photograph birds flying. Capturing images of large birds is easier and small birds much harder. To capture the skill and amazing changes to their wing and tail shapes is a thrill.” ~ Mike Haworth

While we were looking for a female leopard along a drainage line close to the border with the Serengeti, we were entertained by this Yellow-throated Longclaw very busily string through the grass looking for insects.

We found a pair of Black crakes at a lush waterhole which was festooned with many waterlilies. The crakes shared the waterhole with a large hippo and a lone Spurwing Goose.

Early one morning just as the sun was rising and the grass was still very wet from the night before, we saw a pair of White-bellied bustards. This pair were busy preening each other on the opposite side of the game vehicle to where a large male lion was roaring to his coalition partner across the valley.

“Get out there early. The birds are already active. Look around you might be surprised at what you see behind you.”~ Mike Haworth

We saw many Sooty chats around the Mara Triangle. They were usually perched on a prominent rock for anthill declaring their territory. They prefer lightly wooded grasslands.

An adult Black-shouldered kite perched on top of a high lookout point. Those ruby red eyes were gazing across the grasslands for potential prey.

A backlit portrait of a male ostrich. His red face was an indication that he was ready to mate. We did not get to see him go through his elaborate mating dance which can be quite a performance.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ~ Confucious

A wet and cold Spur-winged lapwing. These lapwings are usually found next to water. The spur on its wing was evident and particularly sharp.

A portrait of a Grey Crowned crane preening itself. The texture of its grey feathers and that golden crown were eye catching. We saw many Grey Crowned cranes in the Mara Triangle foraging in the grass near water for insects and grass seeds.

A Common sandpiper with its distinctive white eye stripe and white underparts which form a wedge at the shoulder. These small sandpipers are usually seen along the banks of a waterhole or small dam. They forage for crustaceans, insects, worms along the water’s edge.

We saw several Grey kestrels. This one was perched on a prominent lookout branch. It was scanning for its next meal. It will eat everything from insects like grasshoppers to small reptiles like chameleons, lizards, and snakes to frogs and rodents. This kestrel is capable of hovering like a Black-shouldered kite.

“The eye sees all but the mind shows us what we want to see.” ~ William Shakespeare

A Hooded vulture seen on the periphery of a kill zone where all the Lappet-faced, Rüppell’s Griffon and White-backed vultures were squabbling over the remains of a carcass. The size of the beak indicates that it feeds on scraps dropped by the larger vultures. Hooded vultures have excellent eyesight and are often the first vultures up in the sky partly because of their smaller size.

A Red-necked spurfowl was foraging around our game vehicle while we were waiting for a wildebeest crossing. It looked to be a young male judging from the good condition of the spurs on the back of his legs. His spurs had not been worked down in numerous fights over females.

A Rüppell’s Griffon vulture in flight. This is a large vulture bigger than a White-backed vulture but smaller than a Lappet-faced vulture. It is an aggressive feeder at a carcass. The endangered Rüppell’s Griffon vulture of central Africa is the highest flying bird in the world and has been confirmed at least once at an altitude of 37,000 feet. The adaptation that allows this species to fly so high is an alteration of one of its proteins in its haemoglobin which allows the bird to fly efficiently despite lower pressure and available oxygen.

“When you look at a bird what do you see? Looking will give its “giss” (general impression of shape and size), and colour but watching its behaviour will yield its unique adaptions, socialisation and position in the natural hierarchy. Then you will begin to see and understand the bird so much better. Just looking is not the same as seeing.” ~ Mike Haworth

Judging from the colouration of this Martial eagle it was a juvenile. Adult Martial eagles have a dark brown back, head, and chest. The underparts are white with black spots and the females typically have heavier markings than males. This juvenile must have recently had a good meal judging from the size of its crop.

On another occasion while waiting on the western bank of the Mara river for a wildebeest crossing we saw two Tawny eagles flying in and landing in a tree near us.

Ever the opportunist, this Tawny eagle was waiting in a tree above the west bank of the Mara river for any casualties after the crossing took place. Tawny eagles are predators, but also opportunistic scavengers so they will feed on anything from insects to smaller birds, hares and small reptiles, or fresh carrion.

This was a small selection of the birds you can see in the Mara Triangle and we did not go out to specifically photograph birds. I am sure a dedicated bird photography safari in the Mara Triangle would be highly productive. We saw many birds which we could not photograph from Augur Buzzards to coucals and coursers to varieties of Go-away birds and Plantation-eaters, ducks, teal and geese, widow birds and whydahs.

“To survive and even thrive in a changing world, nature offers another great lesson: the survivors are those who at the least adapt to change, or even better learn to benefit from change and grow intellectually and personally. That means careful listening and constant learning.” ~Frances Arnold

In the forests at the foot of the Oloololo Escarpment you are likely to find many varieties of barbets and hornbills, woodpeckers, robin-chats and turacos. East Africa boasts a wonderful selection of savannah birds with a wider selection of barbets, bee-eaters, sunbirds, lovebirds and parrots, weavers and starlings than is found in southern Africa.

“If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk.” ~ Robert Baden-Powell

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Warning if you do not like seeing an injured animal or seeing it being killed in nature please do not read this post.

This post shows an injured wildebeest resisting a sustained attack from a lone hyaena.

We had watched a major crossing of wildebeest across the Mara river earlier in the morning. Once the herd had crossed we drove away from the river onto Bottom River road. There were throngs of wildebeest and zebras moving west away from the river.

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ~ Maya Angelou

Hyaenas operate in clans. Each clan member spreads out over the clan’s territory and waits for scavenging or hunting opportunities to arise. During the day each hyaena tends to hide by either lying in a gully or in a large tuft of red oat grass. It is only when an individual needs help will it call for back up. We saw a few hyaena wandering parallel to the moving wildebeest herd but did not think much of it.

That was until we saw a lone adult hyaena scouting close to a lone wildebeest which had been lying in the grass about 50 metres off the road. As soon as the hyaena approached the wildebeest it got up and began to defend itself. Initially the hyaena circled the wildebeest assessing why it was not walking with the rest of the herd.

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” ~ Roger Crawford

The hyaena quickly grasped the opportunity. The wildebeest must have had a broken hind leg during or after the river crossing. It had managed to walk around three quarters of a kilometre from the river before lying down to rest.

The hyaena knows only too well that an attack head on with the wildebeest would cause it injury.

The attacking hyaena was not a large female such as a matriarch. Nevertheless, it quickly worked out that the wildebeest could not spin quickly and managed to get around to its back and began biting at its spine just below its shoulder.

“Pick your battles, big enough to matter and small enough to win.” ~Jonathan Kozal

Time and again the hyaena would attempt to pull the wildebeest over by pulling its mane.

“Patience and tenacity are worth more than twice their weight of cleverness.” ~ Thomas Huxley

When the wildebeest was squarely lying on the ground the hyaena would repeatedly bite at the skin and muscle covering its spine.

While difficult to watch we got an insight into how tough both animals were. The hyaena was tenacious and repeatedly bit at its prey’s spine area. The wildebeest despite a broken back leg continued to get up and swirl around trying to hook the hyaena with its horn.

Initially, the hyaena was just biting at the wildebeest’s hide. It must have been tough because the hyaena struggled to get through the hide into the underlying muscle and bone. It repeated attacked from the back continuously biting in the same place.

Hyaena have an extremely strong bite force. Once this hyaena latched onto the wildebeest the latter found it almost impossible to dislodge it by turning and goring it in the side with its horns.

“When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up.” ~ Roy T. Bennett

I learnt that morning how relentless a hyaena can be if it senses weakness in its victim.

After what must have been three quarters of an hour the wildebeest started to slow down probably due to exhaustion and loss of blood.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down. All that matters is you get up one more time than you were knocked down.” ~ Roy T. Bennett

Despite its severe injuries, the wildebeest continued to get up and face its attacker.

All the activity soon caught the attention of a nearby hyaena scout who joined in the attack.

Once down the hyaenas took advantage of the fallen wildebeest by repeatedly biting it.

“Choose your battles wisely. After all, life isn’t measured by how many times you stood up to fight. Life is too short to spend it on warring. Fight only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go.” ~ C. JoyBell C.

The hyaenas then started feeding on the wildebeest while it was still alive.

On the surface it seems that hyaena are particularly cruel by eating their prey alive. But a hyaena does not have claws like a lion to hold onto its prey while it throttles it. All hyaena have are their numbers and their exceptionally strong jaws. The hyaena also so not have the luxury of time as there are many lions in the Masai Mara who will quickly steal the prize – if they can.

It is harrowing to watch a hyaena systematically wear down a wildebeest to the point of exhaustion by continuously biting at tearing at its hide. There is no question that hyaena are skilled hunters, especially when working in a clan. Under normal circumstances a lone hyaena would not pull down a fit strong adult wildebeest but in this case when the weakness was discovered the opportunity was taken.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On!’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”~ Calvin Coolidge

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

We were privileged to see four major crossings in our six days in the Masai Mara in October 2021. All the crossings were along the Bottom River road section of the Mara river between Peninsula and Miti Moja. The Bottom River road gives a good view from the west side of the river looking east towards Look Out Hill. From here you can see the wildebeest moving over Look Out Hill and on down towards the river and get a good idea of how big the crossing could be.

“Wilderness without wildlife is just scenery.” ~ Lois Crisler.

This particular morning the crossing started at around 6h30. The herd massed on a large flat section on the east bank of the Mara river. The wildebeest lingered on top of the bank for sometime and eventually the first animals began to descend the deep ruts in the steep bank. These ruts were created by hundreds of animals in previous crossings.

Invariably the rut turns out to be a one way route because of the steepness. Once an animal starts down the rut it is committed to cross the river because of all the animals following down the rut behind it.

Wildebeests’ legs are strong but thin and their hooves are not shaped for effective swimming so it is little wonder there is a momentary pause before the leap.

The wildebeest dive off the edge of the bank into the fast flowing muddy water.

“Life is a journey which never lets you know when and where it will end.” ~ Biju Karakkonam

Some of the ruts although deep are very steep and once an animal has entered one of these ruts it is effectively a one way head long controlled fall.

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

At times in their panic the animals dive in on top of each other but seem to survive.

Different routes down the bank create different entry points and some are significantly less steep and dramatic than others.

For some inexplicable reason, some of the wildebeest descend the bank and enter the water only to decide that it is not the best place to swim across the river. They then try to move along the bank at the water’s edge looking for a more suitable launching place.

Incredibly the calves dive in after the adults. A calf is usually following its mother and it is probably its first time crossing the Mara river. The calf is on its own once in the river. There is nothing its mother can do to help it.

“You may not find a path, but you will find a way.” ~ Tom Wolfe

Once in the fast flowing river the wildebeest swim across in a wide arc, frantically swimming with their heads facing upstream.

You can see the fear and panic in their eyes.

Seeing other wildebeest climbing out of the other side the river must encourage those on the eastern bank to move forward. There is still an equally steep climb back up the western bank and if that is not enough there are, at times, lions and leopards waiting to ambush them in the bushes. The hyaenas hang around a few hundred metres from the river to pick off those animals that cannot run away because they were injured during the crossing.

“We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.” ~ T. S. Eliot

Considering the drama and difficulty for the animals crossing the Mara river, their odds of surviving the crossing are good. Around 6 200 wildebeest die in crossing each year, which in the context of over one million crossing, are reasonable odds.

“Wildlife is something which man cannot construct. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.” ~Joy Adamson.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike