We were based at Wild Eye’s Enkishui camp in the southern end of the Mara Triangle. The camp is located on the western bank of the Mara river about two kilometres up river from the Purungat gate.

I really enjoy late September-October in the Mara because the crowds have disappeared and the skies are full of cumulus and cumulonimbus cloud formations in the afternoons creating wonderful backgrounds for our wildlife photography.

“Nature, especially wilderness, has a calming effect on the mind” ~ Percy Fernandez

What was unusual about this trip was the migration had left three weeks before we arrived. I had never seen the plains of the Mara Triangle with so few herbivores. But nature is endlessly fascinating. With so few herbivores, the predators had to work much harder to find food.

I had more leopard sightings this trip to the Mara Triangle than all my previous trips combined. On the first afternoon we were out in the Triangle and found this leopardess, called Nshipai, walking down to the bank of the Mara river. There was plenty of water around so she must have been hunting.

While walking through the grass and among croton bushes this leopardess was on high alert. There could have been anything sleeping in the grass from predator to prey.

Although there are plenty of large trees to escape up into, leopards need to be aware of lions and hyaenas in this area. This leopardess was alert and often looked back when she heard something.

“I look closely for moments like a fleeting tender touch or expression that is character-revealing” ~ Alison Langevad

The next day we were privileged to see four lionesses take down a large buffalo bull in the morning. This experience will be the subject of my next post. That afternoon we returned to the buffalo kill and spent most of the afternoon watching the interactions between the lionesses. Once the sun started to set we began to drive back to camp. It was late, the skies were darkening and it looked as though it was about to rain. Our guide, Jimmy, saw movement in the grass on the other side of a lugga (drainage line). It was the leopardess, Nshipai, feeding on a Yellow-billed stork she caught in the lugga. Leopards are superb hunters and will adapt when their normal prey is not available.

This leopardess was well hidden in the grass alongside the lugga and she was dead quiet while feeding on the stork.

Once she had eaten all she could of the stork’s carcass, she got up, had a careful look around her before walking away from the area.

Nshipai began to walk up towards the ridge when it started to rain. She promptly turned around and began casually walking back down toward the lugga. For a short while as she walking down to the lugga in light rain, there was sun on the area she was walking in and the backdrop was a dark blue sky, pregnant with rain and a beautiful rainbow. It is not often you get this photographic combination.

“It all ultimately comes down to showing respect to nature and understanding the species you want to photograph” ~ Riddhi Mukherjee

Every now and then she would stop while it was raining to see if the rain had flushed anything out of its hiding place. Leopards make use of their very long tails for a variety of different functions. Its position and shape expresses their mood, it acts as a form of communication and for enhanced movement. Their prehensile-like tails act like an additional limb, allowing leopards to increase their balance when climbing and giving more ability to turn sharply when chasing prey, like a rudder.

This leopardess nonchalantly walked back down the hill towards the lugga as it started to rain. The light was changing constantly as the storm built up.

The leopardess eventually walked down into the lugga to sit under an overhanging shelf to wait out the storm. She walked straight to the overhang so must have known this area intimately. She groomed herself while waiting for the storm to abate.

“I appreciate these moments where I can get away from life and focus on living”~ TJ Thorne

The next afternoon, it was dusk and we were driving back to camp after watching the male lions feeding on the buffalo carcass. Lying in the grass about 20 metres off the road this leopardess lay flat in the grass hoping that we would not see her. Our guide Jimmy saw her first.

After she realised that we had seen her, she relaxed and sat up. She quietly looked around listening attentively to every sound.

Our guide thought this female had two cubs which she had hidden in the lugga close to the road. She stayed in the vicinity for the entire time we were in the Triangle and there was not a lot of prey around so she probably had a cub hidden around there.

“To approach animals in their most natural, native settings. I have to understand the mysteries of their behaviour. With careful preparation, I can show the animal in its best light, demonstrating its beauty, strength, and intelligence “
~ Paul Nicklen

After about fifteen minutes she yawned, got up and stretched. It looked like she was about to start her nocturnal hunting and territory marking.

By now it was almost dark and she walked out of the grass onto the road. She sat on the road and looked around for a while before deciding which direction to go off hunting.

On our second last day we met Shujaa, the Swahili word that means brave or courageous. It also refers to someone who is a warrior and he looked the part. This was the largest male leopard I have ever seen and looked to be the size of a decent sized lioness.

Shujaa’s muzzle showed some recent wounds from deep raking claws. This was probably a territorial battle which judging from the way he was walking around, he must have won. This male was huge, muscular and had a dewlap to match.

“I think a photograph, of whatever it might be – a landscape, a person – requires personal involvement. That means knowing your subject, not just snapping at what’s in front of you” ~ Frans Lanting

Shujaa had a somewhat demonic look which was due to the healed wounds around his eyes, on the bridge of his nose and upper lip.

We first found Shujaa early in the morning walking through dew soaked grass. He was alert but exuded confidence which appeared to come from his size and experience.

For me it was very unusual to see any leopard, and particularly a male leopard, way out in the open with no trees within a couple of hundred metres. Shujaa walked through the Mara grass with absolute confidence.

“Nature is my muse, and it’s been my passion” ~ Frans Lanting

Although Shujaa appeared quite comfortable walking across a large open plain, he positioned himself to see down into luggas from a vantage point. We presumed there were two reasons for this. Firstly, any leopard would likely stick to the cover provided by the luggas and secondly this is where he could catch birds and where Reedbuck preferred to forage.

It was not only the size but the look of this male leopard which caught my imagination. He was probably the father of Nshipai’s cubs.

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed “ ~ Ansel Adams

This trip was different and memorable. The main reason being that the wildebeest and zebra migration had moved on south into the Serengeti about three weeks earlier. This was probably the reason we were privileged to have more leopard sightings.

Leopards are survivors because they are adaptable and will eat almost anything. A leopard will hunt anything from antelope, baboons and monkeys to hares and hyraxes to warthogs, porcupines and reptiles, rodents and birds. It will even feed on carrion and fish. When and where possible leopards will lift their kill into a high tree to prevent it from being stolen by lions, hyenas or wild dogs. They are strong enough to be able to carry up to three times their body weight. You have to marvel at their adaptability.

“Where your passion meets your talent, that is where you want to be.” ~ Roie Galitz

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

Have fun, Mike