Kenya 2023: Chapter 22 – The Marsh Pride

We soon joined a convoy with another guide who took us to where the Marsh Pride had been seen earlier in the morning. The location was along a small brook, with dirt banks about five feet high. A pied kingfisher watched us from the side of the bridge abutment. Lush green and tan grass surrounded the banks. A small forest of trees formed the north edge of the setting. In the distance a herd of a dozen elephants grazed slowly, a sure indication that the lions were not there. Perhaps, though, they had gone into the forest, and so we headed around to see if we could spot them.

We could see no lions in the trees and north of the forest was more grassland. We paused to survey the scene, looking for a swish of a tail or a flick of an ear. When you’re looking for animals in the tall grass, you start to scrutinize every single blade, every abnormal color and every color that looks the same. Your algorithm brain starts building shapes for you: that wind in the grass was clearly an animal, a bush in the distance takes the shape of an elephant or a rhino, a pass cloud casts a shadow that makes you certain a lion is hiding in front of you. Alas, we saw nothing but bushes and a handful of baboons.

We headed north past Little Governor’s Camp and then turned west towards Kichwa Tembo at the north end of the Mara Triangle.

Once again we were alone.