Travel blogs Pt6: Maasai Mara National Reserve 2

Last time I talked about our amazing encounter with a beautiful cheetah lady. I have to say that I was pretty fulfilled for the first day, as we saw so many animals up close. But one regret about our first day was, we did not see lions. This regret was especially “painful” when hearing that the people in our travel group who participated in the hot balloon trip in the morning saw a lot of lions, even with one lion walking beside their vehicle. I felt stupid because I woke up late and did not attend the balloon trip.

I was determined to see lions on the second day. But encountering such a rare and concealed animal is all about luck.

Lions normally appear in the morning and in the afternoon. The reason why they seldom appear during the noon is because of the high temperature, which is considerably energy-consuming. We departed from our accommodation at 7 am in the morning, hoping to encounter one or two lions doing morning exercises.

Our guide seemed to be driving randomly. No radio information sent or received, no telephone calls, nothing. He was on his own. I was pretty nervous and worried at that time. Without the information and notification of other drivers and the rangers in the park, finding lions is like searching for a needle in the Pacific Ocean. We found some giraffes, some zebras, and some warthogs, which we were all familiar with.

The radio suddenly rang, and our guide then picked up a telephone call. His facial expression was so much different from the expression he had when hearing the news about the cheetah. Instead, he looked calm and peaceful, but rather determined. I was still wondering what on earth just happened, our vehicle accelerated toward one specific direction with determination. I was like, Oh, there must be something to see, but it might not be lions, though, as our guide’s facial expression was so calm.

Suddenly, 10 cars appeared in our vision, surrounding something. I immediately realized what was going on there. When you saw cars surrounding something on the savannah, there must be carnivores being sighted. I was still not sure if that was a cheetah or a leopard, or a lion.

Then I found out what they were looking at. Three subadult lions were lying on a hill, resting. Finding subadult lions probably means that a lion pride is not far.

This is the survey pride. Their dominant male Orkirikoi was out patrolling and probably lost his way back. The Kaskaz males, Omokale and Bron, took the chance to invade the pride, stealing the wildebeest caught by the lionesses of the survey pride.

Kaskaz males, originally consisted of three males: Omokale, Bron, and Rami. Rami was separated last year due to the isolation of Omokale and Bron. They are currently roaming with no stable pride.

This is Omokale. His iconic jaw helps us recognize him.

This is Bron. He has brown manes and always appears together with Omokale.

Bron and Omokale stole the prey of the Survey pride. The lionesses of the Survey pride did not try to fight back due to the considerable disparity in strength and power in comparison to the two males. They allowed the Kaskaz males to enjoy the wildebeest first. However, the Kaskaz males did not show the intention to leave after they were full. They monopolized the food, avoiding any other lions from approaching.

This led to conflict. A lioness tried to eat to wildebeest when the Kaskaz males were distracted. Unfortunately, she was discovered by Bron, who is very acute. With Omokale, Bron chased the lioness away, roaring to showcase his authority.

Interestingly, Omokale allowed the lioness to eat the wildebeest in the first place, for sympathy, maybe. But Bron was very sensitive to this, so he decided to have an all-out war with the lioness. Omokale then joined his brother’s attack immediately.

This sudden conflict really freaked us out. Listening to lions roaring in person is so different from listening to them in the documentaries. Their roaring is a natural intimidation to human beings, making our hair stand on end.

We moved on. It was nearly noon. Animals hid themselves in the shade to avoid heat shock. So did the lions. Vehicles were arranged in order in a line by the rangers to pass by a bush, where the lions were resting. This was somewhat hilarious as lions were like a tourist spot for everyone to take perfect photos.

The lionesses just caught a topi. They finished their meal and were resting peacefully in the bushes.

They rolled over and over to find the perfect posture to sleep. Looking at them, I found a great resemblance between lions to cats. After all, lions are big cats.

Then we drove to the border of Tanzania and Kenya. Kijiana and Olchore, the dominant males of the Rekero pride, were reported to be patrolling in that area. We found them sleeping under a tree right on the border line.

Interestingly, like 200 meters away from the position they were sleeping, a herd of wildebeest was eating grass like there were no lions aside. Wildebeests truly have a powerful and stable mindset. They are so concentrated on the mission they are implementing: eating grass, and neglecting any other factor, which can be fatal sometimes.

Our journey pretty much reached an end at this point. Actually, I still have a lot of photos and stories not been shared. But due to the restriction on the length of a travel blog, this is all what I want to share with you guys. The African savannah is full of vitality and energy. Thousands and thousands of animals live here, trying their best to fight for survival and to pass on their genes. The opportunity of witnessing their wildness and the competition between species is the largest difference between observing these animals in the wild and in zoos. I was so amazed by the delicate balance that nature has maintained. The food chain and the interactions between different species lead to the circle of life, providing the ecosystem with infinite energy and potential. Us, human beings, really should respect the natural rules of the ecosystem, minimizing our impact on the wildlife inhabiting in the reserves. As I have always believed in, we should be quiet observers to blend into the nature, instead of just being tourists and regard everything as spots to be viewed, and taking everything for granted. I will visit Kenya or Tanzania in the future for sure, hopefully as an official researcher at that time, maybe.