Monday 24 October 2011

EAST AFRICAN SAFARI 1985 THE MARA

Next stop and our final destination was the Mara.The Mara game reserve as it was originally known
is an area of 700 square miles was established in 1961, its southern border is contiguous with
Tanzania's Serengeti.The mara country is world famous for it's vast assemblages of plains game.
We stayed at Keekorok Lodge,I set up my tent and once again baboons were a nuisance,a few well
placed rocks sent them on their way.When all the tents were up we went on a late afternoon game
drive. Once in the grassland we saw Topi , Wildebeeste  and Thomson's gazelle.Then we found
some Lion cubs.The following day after breakfast I photographed a Purple Grenadier outside the
lodge.
Our early morning game run produced a Serval loping across the plain,other cats to mention
were a pair of Cheetahs they had not long fed,their bellys full and blood on their jowels they
sprawled in front of us.A cheeky a bat eared fox put its head above ground while skulking hyaenas
watched us from their communal den.
Saturday the 7th of January was our final day in the Mara after breakfast I photographed Ruppell's
Long tailed Starling.We left the camp site for our last game run,a male Lion was in the grass and
just across the river a pride of Lions sat on lava strewn rocks,the female of the pride approached
a dead hyaena but turned her nose up and walked away.
The vultures soon gathered mostly White backed,but a large Lappet faced was top of the pecking order
and soon was pulling entrails across the plain.
We left Africa today, a gruesome reminder to how life in the Mara with nature's dustmen disposing
of another corpse.

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