Tag: serengeti national park

Cheetah

Cheetah Cub, Kenya

This is a photo of a cheetah cub standing on a tree's limbs.

I photographed this cheetah cub in Kenya’s Olare Motorogi Conservancy just north of the Maasai Mara Reserve.

I’ve become a big fan of these Kenyan conservancies which I knew nothing about until last spring.  The conservancies are lands owned by Masai, which were used exclusively for ranching/farming and are now being allowed to revert back to natural conditions.  Safari companies lease these lands from the Masai people at rents equal to or more than what the Masai would make ranching and farming them.  Plus, the Masai people are hired to staff virtually 100% of the safari camps and the safari companies provide other benefits, such as assistance in education and health care.  The whole objective is to slow the increasing conversion of Africa’s wild lands to agriculture due to expanding populations.

To a wildlife photographer like me, the conservancies offer some important advantages compared to places like the Maasai Mara Reserve and Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania.  First, there are strict limits on how many visitors can be in each conservancy at any time.  Second, there is no rule against driving off-road to photograph like there is in the Reserve and in Serengeti.  Third, I came to photograph the big cats and I saw and photographed many, many more big cats in the Ol Kinyei and Olare Motorogi Conservancies in 2022 than I did in the Serengeti in 2018.

The conservancies are the only bright spot in the relentless push to ranch/farm more wild lands.  If you are thinking of going on a safari in Kenya, please use a safari company that is involved in the movement to create more conservancies.  Wild lands are being lost every day.  There is a lot of information on the internet about the conservancies, including who the safari companies are that operate camps in them.  I used Gamewatchers Safaris.

Leopard

The Leopard; Big Cat of the Forests

This is a photo of a leopard standing on a fallen tree in Kenya.

I’ve just returned from a fantastic 8-day photo safari on lands just outside the famed Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya.  I photographed this leopard along a tree-lined stream in the Ol Kinyea Conservancy.  Ol Kinyea is one of 16 conservancies adjacent to the north border of the Reserve.  The conservancies are the result of agreements between Masai landowners and safari companies and others interested in increasing wildlife habitat by removing agricultural use of the lands and managing them to benefit wildlife, instead of livestock and crops.  The landowners are paid for this conversion of their lands back to nature, plus the Masai make up almost 100% of the people who run the camps from the camp manager down through the guides and all the other staff.

I booked my safari with Gamewatchers Safaris which is one of the pioneers of the conservancy idea.  I stayed in what they call their Porini Mara Camp in the Ol Kinyea Conservancy for the first four days.  My guide was George Letoluo.  George was an excellent guide.  He got me to the spot where I took this photo like he knew the leopard would stop and pose at this fallen tree.

I went to Kenya primarily to photograph the three big cats and there wasn’t a day George didn’t get me at least two of the three big cats.  One of the plusses about the conservancy lands is that camp guests are few compared to the crowded national parks and staying on roads is not required like it is in Serengeti National Park and the Maasai Mara Reserve.   I was in Serengeti in 2018 and saw only about 10% of the cats that I saw on this trip.

After my four days at the Porini Mara Camp, I went to Gamewatchers Lion Camp in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy for four more incredible days.  They don’t call it Lion Camp without reason.  But that’s a story for another day.  All told, I shot 20,000 photos.  At 50MB per shot, that’s 1TB in total.

Leopard

Leopard with Cubs; Serengeti National Park

A mother leopard with kittens lays under a palm tree and next to a creek.

Just One More Step . . .

No, I wasn’t on foot in front of this mother leopard with cubs.  I was safely shooting from a safari vehicle.  This mother leopard was at the edge of a stream that was shaded and protected by trees and other vegetation.  We came back a day or two later to find her gone and that palm tree lying where she had been.  I don’t know what happened, but hope she and her young got away safely.

African Lion

African Lion, Serengeti National Park

This is a photo showing the battle scars of being the leader of a pride.

“Let’s Be Careful Out There.”

For those of you old enough to remember the TV show “Hill Street Blues,” Sgt. Esterhaus used to end his briefings with the caution “let’s be careful out there.”  The streets can be dangerous.  So can the plains of the Serengeti as this male African lion can attest.  In addition to that nasty wound under his eye and split upper lip, he’s missing his upper left fang and his lower one is broken.  Nevertheless, he is still the leader of a pride.