Masai Mara Game Reserve Things to Do

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Always keep water and tit bits with you while you are on safari.
There are a few market areas inside the Mara Forest reserve in case you have forgotten to pick up any from Nairobi.

Reason is that you never know when your vehicle is going to get stuck or develop a problem and you need to wait or help.

As shown in Pic, ours got stuck in the treacherous mud and even me had to get down and push.
It took about an hour for us to really get going again.

We got to visit a Maasai tribe before going on game drives on the Maasai Mara. The tribe visit is not so authentic but still interesting and worth going to.

More info at -
http://michaelwtravels.blogspot.com/2011/10/maasai-woman-with-stretched-earlobes.html

The many times I visited Masai Mara, we always used the Maasai as our guides. They know all about the nature and the animals there and are excellent spotters. Maasais are also very friendly (as are most other people in Kenya too) and helpful in all situations. They also make great guards on the campsites if you're camping. Cheers!

www.easygoingkenya.com

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More majestic than a Lion, doesn't exist..... From the way he holds his head, to the way he, I think the word would be, strolls along, never worrying what's around, he is the master of the plains. The Lion is the only large cat to have a social system based on teamwork and a division of labour, although the main part of that division lies heavily with the Lioness. The male can sleep or rest up to 16/20 hours a day, but then will go hunting, protecting the territory of the pride and also courting. Mating will take place over 4 or 5 days and occur about 200 times !!!!! Within a pride there can be more than 1 male, although others will probably be related, and there is quite a lot of social activity such as rubbing, licking and purring. In fact within a pride the only real trouble happens is when there is food around when it's practically every man for himself. Lions will generally hunt in a pack and pick out an animal that is young, very old or injured to give themselves more chance, even going for young Elephant or Rhino. On the other hand mice and lizards are also part of their diet.

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It was really like watching the house cat playing with a mouse in the back garden as the mother stood guard and the cub played with the dead hare. This of course may seem cruel but it is all part of the learning process and a question of survival.

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This was a strange moment of adrenaline-filled wonder when we saw the mother Cheetah tear away from her cub at high speed. It took us a couple of seconds to spot the hare 20 metres in front. The chase didn't last long, perhaps 10 seconds before the Cheetah caught up with the hare. I had a lot of trouble keeping my lens fixed on the animals as they were moving away from us (my excuse for the poor quality of the photos). It was then another extraordinary moment as the mother brought the kill back to the cub that had been patiently waiting.

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Our first view of a Cheetah was this solitary female, out hunting. She had probably left her cub(s) in hiding somewhere. The Cheetah was always my favourite of the cats when I was young, fascinated by the way they are built for speed, the elegant and graceful way of walking. Although the fastest of all animals they, like most other big cats can only hold top speed of just over 100/110 kph for a short period otherwise they have a tendency to overheat. So because of this they stalk their prey, getting as close as possible before unleashing the power.

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Getting quite late in the afternoon when the truck in front came to a sliding halt. After much searching with binoculars and lenses we finally found this leopard hiding in the long grass. According to the guide, he was probably off to hunt, as it is very rare to see leopards down on the ground. They much prefer to be up in the acacia treetops where they hide their kill and knowing that the Lions can't get to it.
Was a real pleasure seeing this animal, the only Leopard we saw that week.