Kenya 2019: The Mara Triangle

Wednesday, June 12th

Another day, another early rise. We finished downloading and transferring from the previous day while hippos lurked in the dark outside our hut. At 6:30 am, we left Keekorok Lodge and headed for the Sand River and the Mara Triangle. It was very cold that morning. David had his down coat zipped all the way up to his nose. Greg and I were in sweatshirts. It was almost 60 degrees. Since Kenya is just south of the equator, average lows for the entire year sit at around 50 degrees, while daytime highs only get up 85 in the hottest month, but averages in the 70's. Sounds like a terrible place to live. We didn’t get far down the road when Lenny got notice that a cheetah had been spotted with cubs nearby. We made a rapid retreat back towards the lodge at 7:15. In our wild chase to get there, my hat blew off.

"Damn. I rather like that hat."

Lucky for me, some rangers were following closely behind us and they picked it up and returned it as we pulled up on the cheetahs.

“Asante sana rafiki!” I exclaimed. Translation: Thank you my friend!

“Ah karibu sana bwana” he replied. Translation: You’re very welcome mister.

There was one female cheetah and three cubs. We noticed that one of them had a limp, possibly a broken leg or ankle. It’s tough to know that this little guy would likely not survive long. He couldn’t keep up with the rest of the family. We stayed with the cheetahs for a time watching them play and romp in the field. The mother was always on the lookout, scanning the horizon for danger or breakfast.

The cheetahs wandered down the hill, so we made one stop by some lions near a water hole on our way to catch back up with the cheetahs. One of the lionesses seemed to be stalking something in the long grass until one of the trucks nearby started up and took off. The lioness was spooked and we lost an opportunity to potentially watch her hunt. Lenny had some choice words in Swahili for the driver.

When we caught up to the cheetahs again, they proceeded to do more cat things, but it was fascinating watching the cubs interact with the mother. We spent breakfast there (more of those delicious chicken sausages) and left just after 8:30 am.

After an hour of driving, we reached the Sand River. Along the way we spotted a Nile Croc in a creek, and some oribi along the banks of the Sand River, but not much else. The grass was taller out here and it’s possible we drove by many animals hidden away. We didn’t see any other vehicles the whole time. We took a quick break at the river and carried on, reaching a main road.

As we cruised along the road, we came upon a ranger who suddenly appeared out of the tall grass and flagged us down. He was carrying only a stick and asked us for a ride back to his ranger camp just up the road. Greg and I were in hysterics that this random person is just wandering the Mara armed with nothing more than a stick looking for rides. I bid him farewell in Swahili when we dropped him off, much to his surprise.

"Kwaheri rafiki!" Translation: Goodbye friend!

We were advised by our guides to ask permission to take pictures of any rangers we came across, as poachers can use pictures to identify rangers and use that information to extort, threaten, or even kill them. Most of the rangers that we asked politely declined our request. Being a ranger in Kenya is not an easy task as they are trained in a similar manner to those who enter the military. The hitchhiking ranger brought about the conversation of park rangers' role in the reduction of poaching within the national parks. For centuries, Africa has been the center of the illegal wildlife trade, tracing back all the way to ancient Roman times and the use of lions in gladiator games. Countries like Kenya, where corruption is common and living wages are hard to come by, struggle to combat poaching and the wildlife trade. Ivory can sell for up to $1,500 per pound on the black market mostly to China and Southeast Asia. Kenya has recognized that the animals that live within its borders are worth far more alive than dead. In 2013 Kenya passed The Wildlife Conservation Act, which fostered a stronger conservation program within the country and established some of the toughest penalties for those caught in trafficking of wildlife or wildlife products. In 2013, a perpetrator could face up to life in prison or a 20 million shilling ($200,000) fine. Over the next few years they found that the laws were not much of a deterrent for poachers and Kenya continued to lose elephants, rhinos, and hundreds of other species. According to our guides, Kenya’s National Park Rangers have received shoot on site authority for any poachers caught in the field. They are encouraged to use all other methods to make a formal arrest but if all else fails, they are authorized to use deadly force. Our guides stated that they saw a drastic reduction in poaching. Having lost double-digit rhinos in 2017, Kenya had only lost a few the next year. There has been some discussion within the country that even that is not enough and that the death penalty should be the standard sentence for anyone convicted of trafficking. The UN and several human rights organizations have condemned the idea and that has stalled any legislation. While we agree that human rights should be protected, we believe that highly vulnerable wildlife with dangerously low populations should be protected more. The thought of certain death is a valuable resource in the fight against poaching. Walk soft and carry the death penalty.

At 10:15, we reached the Purungat Bridge at the eastern edge of the Mara Triangle, which is the northern extension of the larger Serengeti ecosystem that sweeps south into Tanzania. This area of the Mara was made famous by the show Big Cat Diaries (hosted by Jonathan Scott), which first aired in 1996 and ended in 2008. We spent many hours watching the world-famous Marsh pride of lions playing with their cubs, cheetahs running at top speed in pursuit of impala, and leopards dragging prey twice their size high into the branches of acacia trees. We were pumped to be headed to a part of our childhood. We stopped the truck and got out to walk along the bridge and see the Mara River.

*Ominous Crossing into the Mara Triangle*

The river was flowing pretty well, carrying with it a heavy sediment load. The river appeared to be punctuated with many large rocks, but to our horror, we found that these were dead wildebeest. In a frantic attempt to cross the river the night before, many animals were trampled to death or drowned and floated downstream. Marabou storks and other large birds were feasting on the bloated carcasses in the river while hippos and crocs lay in wait.

We spent some time on the bridge with Lenny and David. It was nice to be able to get out of the truck and stretch our legs a bit. Rangers, armed with Iranian G-3's, from a nearby camp were touring a family along the banks of the river.

We crossed the bridge and into the Mara Triangle after our paperwork had been cleared and headed into the lush green plains. We typically rode around standing up to get the best view. The slow speed of the vehicle on rough roads didn’t provide any specific hazard to us, and when we were on the main roads, the drive was fairly smooth. After the first afternoon in Nakuru, our legs and feet were hurting pretty good, but after that we were pros. There were a few bumped heads and sore ribs on a few bounces here and there, but otherwise it was fantastic. Being up at the front of the truck also allowed us to be closer to Lenny and David, ask questions and point things out.

During our time on the Mara, Greg continued to ask complex questions about the different animals we were seeing. He would ask about social structures, behavior and life spans. His knowledge of the complex ecosystem and its inhabitants surprised and impressed both David and Leonard. They quickly realized that between our gear and knowledge we were not their average client and this excited them. They were more eager to get us the best possible experiences, the best views, and were more open to sharing their wealth of knowledge with us. There became this sort of flow to how we approached the animals we were seeing. David would spot wildlife, we’d gear up and start shooting, and Leonard would put us in position. He and David would talk about the movement of the animals and would look for alternative positions. Towards the end of the safari we didn’t even have to ask to move, he would just do it. Our guides were vital to our overall success.

We spent a while driving around, trying to find some lions with some cubs. Seeing lion cubs (watoto simba) was now high on our list. Although we searched a number of known locales, the morning was generally unexciting. It was another one of those lull times of driving and searching and not seeing a whole lot.

The sky became overcast as we got closer to lunch. At around 11:30, we reached the border of Tanzania. According to our guides, and the many people I met in the Congo, Tanzania is pronounced Tan-Zan-Ya as opposed to the American pronunciation of Tan-Zuh-Knee-Ya. Things I learned. Lenny pulled into a turnaround at the border and we got out to spend a few minutes.

In this part of the Mara, the grass was much taller than other places we had seen, a palette of greens, tans, and burnt yellow, but there were also more trees to the south dotting the landscape. Lenny noted that the trees usually sprout from places where elephants deposit their droppings with seeds in them. To the west was a large, verdant escarpment. This is the western edge of the Great Kenyan Rift. Farmlands to the west on the ridgetop benefit from the rich volcanic soils.

We took the opportunity at the border to catch a group photo. It was the one time we used the tripod. Leonard and David got the opportunity to play with the big lenses for a little bit.

After we left the border from Tanzania, the afternoon picked up a bit. We first saw a number of zebras at a watering hole and then a small group of elephants along the road. The baby of the group was dopey and a bit clumsy.

Around another corner we came upon two lion brothers sleeping beneath a tree. They paid us no attention and we moved on. As we cruised north just west of the Mara River, we encountered an even bigger herd of elephants, about 20 strong. They closed ranks as they crossed the road, protecting their young. A small group of impala was behind us, a male chasing females. To our right, there were two Topi gazelle battling it out. For about 20 minutes we watched the Topi crack heads to establish dominance. There was a rhythm to their battle: square up, butt and attempt to bring the other one down. Giraffes were against the tree-line. The abundance of wildlife within a a quarter-mile of the truck was amazing.

This was the farthest north we would venture into the Mara. We turned around and made a stop at a point on the river that had a restroom and an overlook on a group of hippos. The overlook was a short walk through the woods along the bank of the river. After being cooped up in the truck for a few days, it was really nice to take a little hike through some woods. Again, there was very little separating us from the wildlife and David warned us not to walk down the embankment. There were enough hippo tracks close to the trail to keep us away.

It was getting towards mid-afternoon and we had not had lunch, so we suggested heading back to the lion brothers to eat. A lone bull elephant from another herd trumpeted loudly at our presence while we sat and ate.

After lunch we hit a number of places along the Mara River, where another group of elephants was exiting the river. We were now up to about eighty elephants for the day. We also spotted a handful of buffalo, a croc, some egyptian geese, a gray kestrel, a southern ground hornbill, and red-collared widowbird.

Around 2:30 we started to make our way back towards the entrance of the Mara Triangle. There were many herds of wildebeest and impala on the short-grassed plains. I asked Lenny if wildfires are common. He indicated that they play a critical role in the ecosystem, as the ash provides nutrients to new parts of the plains.

One of the things we wanted to do was spend some time with the Maasai people, as we had seen in Tales by Light. We crossed the bridge at Purungat again and made our way back towards the town of Talek. A lone female cheetah caught our attention and we followed her for a bit. She was undaunted by our presence, which allowed us to get some close pictures.

We'll cover our experience with the Maasai people in the next installment.

-Ed & Greg

Kenya 2019: Maasai Mara Part 4 – The Maasai People and Last Looks

Kenya 2019: Maasai Mara Part 2 - The Wild Safari

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