Governors' Camp Collection News October / November 2013

This month has seen the great herds of the wildebeest migration moving all round the Mara with some impressive river crossings, the Marsh Pride of lions has been feeding on this bounty of prey with the males moving about and new cubs added to the fold. In Rwanda, Nelis took a trek to see the Agashya Gorilla family and updates us on their news and at Loldia clients have been enjoying some great wildlife viewing from Lake Nakuru National Park. We have some fabulous special offers in place for the remainder of 2013 and 2014 for you to take advantage of. Jonathan and Angie Scott who are based at Governors Camp in Masai Mara will be doing regular updates for us with their new blog Scotts on Safari and at the start of the month we were very proud to have opened a new clinic for our Masai community neighbours at Mara Rianda. We hope to welcome you to this magical corner of Africa sometime soon.

Governors Game Report 5th January 2012

Weather and grasslands

We have had lots of rain over the last month which has left a stunning landscape with varying shades of green. The grass has grown all over the Mara. The common grass here is Red Oat Grass (Themeda Triandra) and in some low lying areas it is almost four feet in height, there are also small pockets of Elephant grass which is a good thatching grass and can reach heights of over 7 feet. On the 20th we received 57 mm of rain. Total rainfall for December was 151.5 mm. It has generally been quite wet with afternoon and evening showers. Mid day temperatures were 28°C and early mornings around 23°C. Early on in December the Mara River rose to quite a high level, receding again by late month.

General game

Game viewing has been excellent despite the long grass and wet and slippery conditions. There has been good lion activity with some different males arriving on the scene in Bila Shaka and Musiara.

'Christmas day' was a bonus day of game sightings, in the afternoon of this day the 'Big five' were seen before 6.00pm.

Good numbers of elephant remain on the Musiara and Bila Shaka grassland plains. As grass levels have improved this has brought many elephant back, within these family units there quite a few young calves. An average of over 100 Elephant can be seen at any one time. Large bulls that are in Musth have been moving back and forth sourcing females in oestrus and some of the bulls have been seen sparing, it is awesome to see two large bulls squaring off, their tremendous strength and weight mean that sometimes they inflict bad injuries on the other. Musth is a periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized occasionally by highly aggressive behavior, accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones, noticeably on these large bulls there is a discharge called temporin which oozes out from their temporal glands, during Musth this temporin contains high levels of testosterone plasma and this can literally run down the cheeks. African Elephant can stay in Musth for up to nearly three weeks to a month or so.

The large herd of buffalo has been seen on Rhino Ridge and also Bila Shaka. Buffalo like to move about and reside in areas where there are course grasses. There are many calves in this herd, some of which have fallen prey to Spotted Hyena and lion.

Topi with a few one month old calves can be found on Topi plains, Paradise and Rhino ridge. Topi have a narrow muzzle so are bite selectors and when they have access to enough green fodder, topi usually don't have to drink. They drink every day or two when subsisting on dry grass. With the good grass levels at present Topi can be seen in large numbers in certain areas. Cokes Hartebeest with young that are six weeks old can be seen on Rhino Ridge and Topi plains and good numbers of them at Bila Shaka.

The Warburgia trees are fruiting now and this has brought the Olive Baboons and some Blue Monkeys, Schalow's Turacos and many green pigeons. Elephant also love these fruit and while good grazing is available this will hold them back out, although a few individual elephant have been foraging through the camps at night.

We have enjoyed good viewing of giraffe all over the riverine woodlands and close to the camps. There are many calves amongst these loose associated herds and these calves remain in crèches. There are also male herds and these number up to 16 of varying ages. The larger breeding males will travel great distances looking for oestrus females.

On Rhino ridge and topi plains many Bat Eared Foxes are seen close to their dens or out foraging, these little foxes also have young pups. In these wet conditions many species of termites are continually expanding their colonies and so this is a good time for these insectivorous foxes to feed well. Termites with wings (also called swarmers or alates) are reproductive's that leave the nest to start new colonies. Alates lose or shed their wings soon after they swarm. Termites form a major role in the diet of Bat Eared Foxes.

Crested cranes have been seen courting near the Marsh, this is quite an elaborate affair. One female near the causeway is sitting on eggs.

There are a few common zebra in pockets near topi plains and also Rhino Ridge; with more of them in the conservation areas. Warthog and piglets that are 3 months old now will still be seen in all areas where there are open grassland plains, many of these piglets were heavily preyed on in October and November when grass levels were low and lion, leopard and hyena could see them from afar. Many sows that have piglets only have two or three left. Lion will also readily dig out warthog from their bolt holes. Impala and Olive Baboons can be seen within the camp woodlands and also Bush Buck. Male Bushbucks are quite habitual and will secretly emerge out into the open glades with the soft morning and evening light. Many Lilac Breasted rollers can be seen on the roadsides and also in the grassland verges, they seem to be feeing off the brown grasshoppers, these are a truly striking bird and in good light make great photographic subjects.

Reedbuck are also seen within the Musiara Marsh, reedbuck like coarse grasses and will be found in low lying flood plains; during the dry months from August through to October the reedbuck had to compromise their habitat, many succumbed to predation from cheetah and leopard.

There have been many crocodiles on the banks of the Mara River basking and regulating their body temperature. They are ectothermic, (or "cold-blooded") this refers to creatures that control body temperature through external means. As a result, they are dependent on environmental heat sources and have relatively low metabolic rates, all reptiles have to regulate their body temperature from an outside source, some of these crocodile on the Mara river will reach 16 feet and weigh in excess of a 1,000 kgs, which is huge!

Lion

Bila Shaka/ marsh pride

The Marsh pride can be seen anywhere from the Musiara Marsh, Bila Shaka and as far as Rhino ridge. On Christmas eve the four new Marsh males killed a large male Buffalo at Bila Shaka and were still feasting on the remains on Christmas day.

One of the males was seen mating with Bibi and the one with the damaged eye is slowly recovering and it is perhaps his luck that he did not lose the sight of that eye.

The 5 cubs of the Marsh pride of which one of the cubs is much younger (seven months old and the other four cubs are 10 months old) are doing well and are being seen mostly on Rhino ridge.

The 4 large males related to 'Notch' are being seen near the Talek river and the double crossing area, 'Notch' himself has been seen, he is looking his age though, they have been seen feeding off warthog and topi. One of these males was seen on the 26th at Bila Shaka.

On the 20th December on the plains to the east of Rhino Ridge in area called Naibor soit meaning white stones in Maa there was another male lion, who in 2009 met up with 3 Marsh Females that took flight in the takeover when Notch and his brother moved in 2004 and they since have resided in the Naibor soit area. This male lion looked very worse for wear and seemed to be suffering from many injuries perhaps as a result of a scuffle with other lions.

On Christmas day at 7.30am near the Toyota site close to paradise plains two young male lion from the Marsh Pride that were looking for warthog jumped a hippo that was returning back to water and did not bring it down but made a determined effort.

On the west side of Rhino Ridge the 9 females of the Paradise Pride had killed a topi early that morning and were being badgered by 30 + spotted hyena. The Hyena then dispersed quickly when an old male lion suddenly arrived on the scene and chased the hyena off. This was Clawed the old Marsh pride male but as he is still limping heavily and not very agile the Hyena then re-grouped, turned the tables again, and chased him off, he and the females dispersed and the hyenas finished off what was left of the topi.
On boxing day four females of the Marsh pride had killed a female defassa waterbuck near Lake Nakuru within the Musiara Marsh. The Marsh pride also has been feeding off the many warthog that are in the Bila Shaka and Rhino Ridge grassland plains. On the 28th two lionesses from the Marsh pride caught and killed a warthog and piglet near Bila Shaka. There is also some new exciting news to report that one of the females from the Marsh pride has 4 new cubs that are around 5 weeks old.

Cheetah

A female Cheetah that is assumed pregnant has been seen near the Double Crossing and also near Olkiombo and she has been sitting on cars recently so she has been well photographed, she was last seen on the 26th near Rhino Ridge.

The two males have been seen once only on the other side of the Talek River and that was early on in the month. Another female with an eight month old cub has been seen near Olkiombo and she has been feeding of Thompson Gazelles.

Leopard

Olive and her 12 month old cub have been seen quite recently but her older male cub has not been seen often.

The large male Leopard has been seen in the river bed south of Bila Shaka looking towards Rhino ridge and also at the Bila Shaka riverbed crossing.

A female that is often seen near the croton thickets on the rocky hill south of Paradise Plains near the Serena pump house has been seen more frequently with some good scenes of her crossing the salt lick flats near the Mara River. She has two young cubs and they are difficult to see, although a glimpse of them was seen in the early evening of the 19th.

Back in camp Christmas eve celebrations kicked off at Little Governors' Camp with the visit of a rhino to the marsh right infront of camp.

Governor's Game Report August 2011

Weather conditions were quite varied this month with some high winds and overcast days, early morning temperatures averaged around 16°C and late afternoons were warm with temperatures of 32°C. The total rainfall for the month was 48.5mm, much of this rain fell in the late afternoons or early evenings. Grassland levels remain short particularly within Musiara, Bilashaka and some areas of Rhino Ridge. Towards the riverine forests of Paradise Plains there is still long grass. Grass levels on the Burrangat plains are still quite long although moisture levels are starting to dry out.

Wildebeest Migration

Many Wildebeest are still in the reserve with better concentrations on the shorter grass plains in the Masai conservation areas; rain in these regions move the wildebeest back and forth. A large crossing was seen on the 15th, 16th and 17th July going from east to west at the main crossing points where an estimated 5,000 animals perished. Large herds of wildebeest can be seen on the Burrangat plains on the west side of the Talek River. On the 27th many wildebeest crossed the Talek River from west to east again. Armed with a picnic breakfast guests have been out all morning with the herds so as not to miss the action. There are zebra everywhere with young foals of varying ages.

With more good Black Rhino sightings, we are often seeing the 'big five' in a mornings drive. On the morning of the 29th guests staying at Il Moran camp saw the big five before 11.00am; they said this is their 4th trip to Africa and they have never seen such quality of wildlife in a such short space of time.

Elephant have spread out a little, small maternity herds are in the Musiara Marsh, Bila Shaka and the riverine woodlands of the Mara River, some of them pass through the camps particularly at night. Good numbers can still be seen in the Trans Mara conservancy. Giraffe remain on Paradise Plains near the riverine woodlands and also at Bila Shaka. Cokes Hartebeest in small herds are on the southern plains of Bilashaka and on the way to the Paradise Plains and there are plenty of Topi on Topi Plains and in the Conservancy areas.

Defassa Waterbuck and a large troop of Olive baboons are ever present residents within the woodland verges of the camps. Baboon troops are held together by matrilineal females who are all related through the mother instead of the father and it is these female kinships that hold the troop together, it is only the males who come and go. The savannah dwelling species of baboons (old world monkeys) live in large groups of dozens to hundreds, called troops. Within a troop of baboons there is a very complex hierarchy based on mother-daughter lines of decent and male strength. This means that a female baboon is born into whatever rank her mother was (much like a princess becomes a queen) and males establish their place within the troop by fighting one another for dominance. Female baboons remain in the same troop their whole lives and male baboons leave the troop when they are mature enough to search for a mate. Baboons are omnivores and have a diverse diet consisting of grass, berries, seeds, leaves, root, bark and other vegetarian items along with insects, fish, birds, and small baby antelopes.

Warthog and their nine month old piglets are abundant all over the short grass plains; lion, leopard and cheetah feed off them readily and there are daily sightings of lion and cheetah with warthog. There are good numbers of eland on Paradise Plains, Musiara Marsh and in the conservation areas of Koiyaki, many females have calves averaging two months old and often these calves are seen in varying age groups huddled together in crèches.

The large breeding herd of Cape buffalo (an estimated 500 animals) are on the Eastern grassland plains of Rhino Ridge and Bila Shaka; the grasses here are still a little longer and well suited for buffalo. We have enjoyed good sightings of Black Rhino; a large male and a younger male have been seen in the Paradise and Talek areas.

Spotted Hyena with many cubs of varying ages are present all over the open plains; wherever lion inhabit hyena will not be far away; they are eternal enemies but hyena with the ability to vary their dietary habits have the upper hand.

Lion

Bila Shaka/ Marsh Pride has 15 members including five breeding females, six sub adults, two older cubs and two males; Romeo who is younger and Claude who is quite old now. One of the older females called Joy has four cubs that are five months old and another of the older females has two 6 week old cubs, originally there were three cubs, however sadly one of them was killed by the resident buffalo.This pride remain in the centre of their territory close to Governors Camp. They are feeding off wildebeest, zebra and topi.

The Paradise Pride with the 5 male coalition are seen frequently in the Paradise and Talek areas; they have been well fed on the many wildebeest that are abundant.

The Double Crossing Pride of four adult females and their four sub adult cubs; those are over 2 years old have been feeding off warthog. One of these females was quite old has not been seen recently; she was struggling to feed herself and we fear that she may have passed on.

Cheetah

We have enjoyed good sighting of cheetah this month particularly of females with cubs of varying ages.

A single female has been near the double crossing area and she has one cub of about six weeks old. There are two single females resident close to Governors Camp and there is another single male seen often near paradise towards the Talek River he has been feeding on warthog.

The three male coalition have been near the Talek River and Emarti south side of Rhino Ridge. They have been feeding off impala, zebra foals and warthog. They were all seen with a single female on the 23rd and there was quite a lot of activity but none were seen to mate. Perhaps it will happen soon.

People coming back off the Governors balloon safari have had some good sightings of cheetah in the conservancy. A female cheetah has been near the makaburini site and also a male called 'Cheetah ya Balloon' which is near the airstrip side of Little Governors.

Leopard

There have been some good sightings of the female leopard known as Olive and her 6 month old cub and she is sometimes seen with an older male cub; this year's young wildebeest fit the menu bill perfectly for these two.

The large male near Bila Shaka has also been seen in the Paradise Plains. The young male on the Talek River near the crossing was seen recently feeding off a young gnu.

A young female with a 6 month old cub has been seen in the woodlands near the Bila Shaka/ paradise crossing. On the 28th in the evening she was seen feeding off an impala.

Governor's Camp March Game Report

March started in much the same way as February ended, with dry conditions, hot days and a great deal of animal movement. Vultures and other birds that use thermals seemed to be up and away much earlier, while there was a longer rest period in the middle of the day for the general game. None the less, there was still much to see in our corner of the Mara. The Paradise Pride of lions split up (although it is unlikely to be permanent) with members moving to either side of the Mara River. This split is probably because of the same animal movement as was seen the previous month and is typical of a pride needing to "broaden their horizons" in order to feed. With six big males to make their collective presence known, it is also no surprise that younger males and some females feel the pressure! This pride is still hunting hippo. The Marsh Pride seemed settled in the Bila Shaka area and made good use of the Loita zebra and the resident warthogs as their prey. An interesting occurrence in March was the first sighting of four very young cubs. They belong to a female who is associated with the Marsh pride, but who hasn't yet been accepted by the other females. The cubs are believed to be her third litter. In the walking area the Acacia Pride male lions were still to be seen earlier in the month enforcing their dominance. Towards the end of the month four lucky walkers were treated to a spectacle of no less than fourteen lions moving past them, the young ones gambling and tugging at each other tails while the adults stoically endured the rabble! Leopard sightings were almost on a par with last month. Seen regularly was a young male near Private Camp. Of great interest was the sighting of a female with a three month old cub near Chemorta. What a privilege to be allowed a glimpse of a very secret and fiercely protected world! Rhino lived up to their reputation and were ever elusive. Our drivers were patient and persistent however, and amazed many guests with their uncanny ability to almost sense where these prehistoric beasts were. Various individuals were seen but memorably, towards the middle of the month, three were found together - mother, calf and adult male. The adults were mating! Watch this space in fifteen month's time! Towards the middle of the month we were treated with a dowse of extremely welcome rain! The whole Mara seemed to take a deep breath and change into a new gear. The Mara River rose almost immediately and very soon a different pattern of animal movement became visible. Cheetahs, for which fairly large distance had to be travelled previously, were seen much closer to our camps. This is most likely because of there suddenly being a greater availability of food for herbivores and their subsequent decrease of movement. Less prey movement meant less large predator movement and thus a relatively safer environment for less robust predators such as cheetahs. More water meant a better deal for elephants and indeed, a large number (in big groups as opposed to the smaller family groups of February) is still to be seen around the marshes. The African Green Heart tree is still bearing fruit and there is still a group of elephants that visit the camps regularly to take advantage of the shorter grass and Green Heart fruit. A little more work for our watchmen to keep us fore-warned and a marvelous sight for all! An interesting phenomenon brought about by the rain is the slow return of the Loita zebra to their residential area. As conditions improve the attraction of home draws them south and east of us. Many of them had been caught on the "wrong" side of the Mara River and, amazingly, a crossing of some seven hundred zebra and - fourteen giraffe - was seen on the 29th of March! Only one poor little zebra was caught by crocs. The migrants (birds) were largely still visible this March. Of note were vast numbers of Wooly-necked Storks and Abdim's Storks. The latter, slightly smaller storks were in big congregations in our walking area for quite some time. Africa's and indeed any continent's ecosystems are living jigsaw puzzles that are literally dangerously incomplete without seemingly arbitrary pieces. As the "macro" is a reflection of the "micro", it is often to the smaller members of an ecosystem that one's attention is drawn after extended observation. After the rains many mud-fish moved to the surface of a marsh now vibrant and full of life. One of the highlights of March's viewing was watching two juvenile African Fish Eagles fighting over one such fish. Closer observation showed an adult not twenty meters from the tussling two. Were the juveniles siblings? Surely the adult would have chased one of the juveniles off if they weren't! African Fish Eagles seldom practice cainism and usually have two to three eggs. It is while pondering seemingly minor yet so holistically integral natural phenomena such as these that one can discover, enjoy and marvel! Back in the camps we enjoyed a romantic evening on the 26th of March as we switched off all lights in the bar, restaurant and reception areas and lit a mass of candles for earth hour.

Big Cat Diary Episode Three is Out Now

The Governors' Camp Collection have the latest episode of the Governors' Camp Big Cat Updates (Episode 3) available on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvmYInEm1M8

The Governors' Camp area of the Masai Mara is one of the best places to see the spectacular wildlife of the African savanna in its natural environment. Governors' Camp Collection together with Screaming Reels Productions have joined forces to film and produce Governors' Big Cat Updates a series of documentary films where we bring you regular updates on the big cats of our area of the Masai Mara. The series is filmed by Warren Samuels an accomplished and highly respected wildlife filmmaker with over 11years experience filming for the BBC, Big Cat Diary and Big Cat Live.

Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge Newsletter April / May 2010

Despite it being the rainy season here, very few guests have been troubled by the rain. Most days it has stopped raining well before the gorilla trek starts but, of course, it is still very wet and muddy while trekking through the forest. Total rainfall for the month was 323.5mm, a little higher than March. Gorilla news: The Kwitonda Group, which has 3 males, now has a new leader, Kighoma. This group has been unsettled for some time and the establishment of a new leader should help them to settle down In the Pabios Group one of the males, 15 year old Rukundu left to form his own group and, on the 29th, a new baby was seen for the first time, which is great news.

During the month chameleons were particularly common in the lodge grounds and were almost certainly breeding although, as far as I know, no very small babies were seen. While they are very similar in appearance and their habitat and size all fit the Western form of the Ruenzori Side-striped Chameleon Chamaeleo rudis, the males differ in having very distinctive yellow colouring around the eyes.

What was almost certainly an African Wild Cat Felis sylvestris was seen and photographed in the lodge grounds. These days African Wild cats are rarely seen, except in the southern Serengeti Plains and in Botswana so this is exciting news. Another exciting mammal observed in the lodge grounds was a very large Mongoose, which almost certainly, had to be an Ichneumon (Egyptian) Mongoose Herpestes ichneumon. During the month, we also enjoyed some wonderful birdwatching. During the first two weeks of April flocks of Eurasian Bee-Eaters could be heard passing high overhead usually above the clouds but, occasionally, a few would drop down lower. A nice surprise was to find a pair of White-Starred Forest Robins resident in the bush near the main building. These birds are normally found in highland forests so to find them at the lodge was a special sighting. A pair of Olive Thrushes have two young and, both Mountain Yellow Warblers and Cinnamon Bracken Warblers are singing, which indicates they will be breeding any time soon. And, finally, I must mention a pair of White-Necked Ravens which visit every breakfast time. Ravens, like other members of the family of Crows, are very intelligent birds. This pair regularly digs small holes in the ground and buries extra food they can't eat and stores it for later. We hope to share the magic of the Virunga Volcanoes with you sometime soon.

Large Flood In The Okavango Delta

“We are experiencing a large flood in the Okavango Delta this season due to a variety of factors (‘left over’ water from last year, good rains in the Angola catchment area and good local rains that fell late in April and May). This is a natural and cyclical phenomenon that has affected all areas of the Delta in some way or other. Some areas will be wetter than others but overall this is fantastic for the Delta as it means that large grassland areas and floodplains will be rejuvenated and wide ranging habitats are created for many waterfowl and mammal species. The high levels of water in the Delta can hamper game drives but at the water and land combination camps it means mekoro activities are now far more wide spread and offer a real opportunity for encountering game in the shallow floodplains. The situation is being monitored closely by our managers and camp staff, and solutions being found for any difficulties being experienced, such as bridges over soggy paths, adjusting road networks, adapting activities accordingly etc. A specific impact so far is that we are unable to service the sleep-out hides on the Chitabe concession due to the high water levels so these will be unavailable until the water recedes again. There is no need for concern at this stage and our camps and their guests in general are making the most out of the water levels in the Delta.

This is a very special occurrence in a massive biodiversity covering an area of over 20,000 square kilometers and you will be able to share in this amazing period in the northern Botswana region.

Governors' Camp Game Report April 2010

April has been an interesting month, with heavy down pours, stunning cloud formations and thunderous outbursts all creating fascinating changes in the scenery.

All these rain storms meant that the Mara River became a roaring torrent for three days, rising around 14 feet. This deluge of water was a spectacular sight and hippos were seen scuttling for small pockets of calmer waters under the river banks. As well as enjoying the spectacle of the raging Mara River our guests also enjoyed some wonderful wildlife sightings.

The forests plants are now a deep rich green and we look forward with excited anticipation to the imminent blooming of the Mara wildflowers adding colour to the plains, forests and riverbanks.

In the forests around the camps the African Greenheart trees (Warburgia Ugandensis) are fruiting and these fruits now cover the forest floor. The Warburgia fruit is an elephant's favourite entrée and the fruiting has meant that we received regular visits from large bull elephants wandering into camp to feast on these hot fruit. Excited guests retreated to the safety of their tents, whilst the elephant feasted. Interestingly the leaves from the Green Heart are often used in place of hot chilies in cooking. Perhaps these fruits are eaten for medicinal purposes by the elephant, who knows?

The Musiara Marsh is full of elephant families with counts of at least 100 individuals. This is always a delight to see and an exciting start to our guests game drives. The elephant families include small feisty 3 month old calves to the old matriarchs. On the ground between the elephants legs cattle egrets busily feast off the rich pickings of insects disturbed by the elephants mighty round feet as they trudge along the marsh edges and grassy plains.

The long grass has caused the Bila Shaka / Marsh Pride of lions to split up and roam their vast territory in search prey, they are feeding on a lot of warthog at the moment and the occasional zebra which provides a more substantial meal. Two large black mane lions have been hovering on the edge of the Bila Shaka / Marsh Prides territory in anticipation of finding a weakness to exploit in the resident male kingdom, so perhaps this will be an exciting few months ahead as they build up their nerve to tackle the prestigious dominant Bila Shaka males and win control of the pride and their important territory.

The Paradise Pride comprises of Notch the old Bila Shaka pride male. He was forced out of the Bila Shaka pride by the current two black maned lions and he started a coalition with 5 of his male cubs, which is now the Paradise Pride. Normally a male lion does not tolerate his male offspring and at around two years of age they are usually banished by the male from the pride, the scientific reason for this is to prevent inbreeding by the sons mating with their mothers, aunts and sisters. However in this case Notch, and his male cubs moved prides so there is no close relationship with the females in the pride and also perhaps if Notch was to assert his dominance over his 5 male offspring he would be ousted himself. What this has created is possibly the most impressive lion family we have ever seen in the Mara - and at the moment there are 6 Blacked maned lions in this pride. Many of our clients in Feburary were lucky enough to see the entire pride of 22 individuals feeding on a hippo over several days. On one occasion a young male and female from the Ridge Pride ventured too close into the Paradise Pride's territory. The 6 black maned lions were feeding on the hippo and must have caught a whiff on the wind of the intruders and sprang up, and despite their distended full bellies, raced across the plains towards the young male and female. All 6 were roaring and running across the plains - one of the most incredible sights and sounds in Africa. Needless to say the two Ridge Pride lions ran for their lives. Each of the 6 Paradise Pride males took up a position on the plains and roared. Notch epitomises what we think a black maned lion should look like and his sons carry the genes. In April the paradise pride, 'Notch' and his boys have surprised us all, by swimming across the river, repeatedly! Two of the paradise females have been spotted with 6-8month old cubs and recently with a topi kill.

The three cheetah brothers have been regularly seen roaming the plains, including some fast action as they brought down their prey and eating quickly before any other large predator slipped in for the feast. Hyenas' too have been surprising us here and have figured out how to capture sleeping topi and feasting.There is also a den of little playful black balls of uncoordinated hyena cubs below 'Bila shaka'.

There have been numerous sightings of various leopards and in particular a beautiful female, recognizable by a split on the top of her left ear, which has been seen at regular intervals. Recently we have had wonderful sighting of her and her kills in the tree close to Little Governors, also elegantly traipsed over a dead log near the marsh, delighting many a visitor.

Due to the long grass the normal plains game have been scarce, preferring the short grass plains they have mostly moved into these areas and have been seen regularly on our bush walks with close encounters with snorting wildebeest, zebra, eland, giraffe, Thompson gazelle and impala. We have also been enjoying all the smaller insects and animals of the Mara ecosystem on our walks, including the industrious Dung beetles who have been busy burying copious amounts of elephant dung! The colours of the dung beetles never cease to amaze us from bright green to shiny black, some with large horns to wide scoops. They are amazing creatures and 1 dung beetle is capable of burying one metric ton of dung in a hectare in a year!

Butterflies have been abundant with glorious colours busily pollinating all the flowers around camp.

News From The Makgadikgadi

It seems The Makgadikgadi is hell bent on reclaiming its ancient super-lake status!

We are experiencing an unusually long rainy season, and this will obviously impact on our traditional dry season activities. Guests on safari at Jack's Camp, Camp Kalahari and Planet Baobab will therefore unfortunately not be able to do the quad biking activity until the pans are dry enough. We will keep you posted as to when quad biking activities will be resumed.

The upside of all this water is an increasing abundance of wildlife: The annual zebra and wildebeest migration is out in full force, along with large numbers of gemsbuck, springbuck and the traditional predators that follow them!

We've had great cheetah and lion sightings and our meerkats continue to charm all our Guests!

Africa Select can arrange safaris to the Makgadikagi as part of a trip to Botswana and teh Victoria Falls

South Africa Walks

The History of Safari with Richard E Grant BBC4 Sunday the 2nd May 2010

Thought you might be interested in watching this programme Sunday teh 2nd of May, 22:00 on BBC Four

For almost 100 years, big game hunters - from Theodore Roosevelt to the British Royal Family - came to British East Africa to bag the 'big five'. Now, luxury 'eco safaris' continue to drive its economy. It has been both East Africa's damnation and its salvation, that wildlife is the greatest natural resource it possesses.

Richard E Grant - who grew up in Swaziland - examines the controversial history of the safari. Exploring the world of the big game hunters and the luxury of today's safaris, he goes on a personal journey to experience how the beauty of the bush made Africa the white man's playground.

Plotting the major landmarks in the development of the safari, Grant uncovers a world of danger, glamour and gung-ho. He reveals how the safari was continually reinvented as explorers and ivory hunters were replaced by white settlers, guns gave way to cameras and direct British rule to independence.

He discovers how safari became one of the central constructs through which British rule over East Africa was imposed, provided the social touchstone for the white settlers and was eventually transformed by the glamour of Hollywood, the power of the dollar and the traveller's desire for an 'authentic African experience'.

As someone born and raised in the privileged world of the ex-pats, Grant takes an insider's perspective on the scandals and adventures of the elite class of Brits who ran the show. He meets their descendents and delves into the rich material archives of their family homes, discovering that for the remaining whites in the region this history is still very much alive.
As the trophy hunt became an icon of high society, everyone from Ernest Hemingway to British nobility and Hollywood stars were soon clamouring for a piece of the action. And as hunters decimated Africa's wildlife, they also surprisingly introduced the first conservation laws, if only to protect the supply of animals to shoot.

Embarking on safari himself, Grant experiences the beauty and the danger of being up close to the big game animals and accompanies modern hunters on safaris, where animals are still killed and the patrons still argue that hunting equals conservation.

The film is full of frontier colonial characters whose lives, exploits and attitudes describe a very particular time in Britain's relationship to Africa and its wildlife, when the continent was part Wild West, part idyll and part colonial experiment - where life could be lived between the crack of rifles at dawn and the setting of the sun at cocktail hour, largely oblivious to the indigenous Africans themselves.

Through creative use of film and photographic archive, as well as actuality with those involved in big game hunting and luxury safaris today, the documentary evokes the spirit of decadence, exploration and adventure of the safari. Ultimately, it reveals how safari has been and continues to be a barometer of our attitudes to travel, our colonial inheritance and Africa itself.

Governors' Camp Game Report, Masai Mara February 2010

The first couple of weeks of February were hot, with temperatures reaching 34 degrees celsius and mostly dry. Uncharacteristically for this time of year, it started to rain, and a fair amount too. The mornings have been dry with a combination of sun and cloud with rain arriving in the evenings and at times late at night. The wonderful combination of rain and sun has caused the grass to shoot up to almost a metre in places. All this rain has caused the Marsh to flow and pour out some sizable cat fish which the Fish Eagles are gorging on. The whole of the Mara is looking amazingly lush, healthy and green.

There have been and continue to be huge groups of elephants moving over the plains, into the forest and through the Marsh. The elephant are content to feed on just the grass, sedge and fruit from the Greenheart trees, giving the acacia woodland in the surrounding areas a much needed break and time to re-grow.

The plains game have moved to where there is shorter grass mostly along the river line, leaving the large breeding herds of buffalo on the long grass plains.

The arrival of the rain has been wonderful for the resident birdlife. The abundance of life in the Musiara Marsh has drawn a crowd of water birds namely Herons, Storks and Hammerkops all hunting frogs and smaller catfish. The European Stork has recently made an entrance into the Mara, no doubt following the rain and the bounty of food which materialises with it. With food a-plenty many birds have nested and either have eggs or chicks at the moment. The weavers have built their nests hanging over the lush riverbanks, some are still building and some attending to chicks. Plovers, Longclaws and other ground nesting birds also have eggs and chicks in their nests hidden in the long grass and a Martial Eagle was seen killing a Wattled Plover near the Musiara airstrip.

The invasion of caterpillars we had in the camps and forest at the end of last month has now turned into the most brilliant display of thousands of different kinds of butterflies and moths. The Vernonia and Maerua plants along the riverside are flowering and are a big attraction for the butterlies and moths.

The lion prides are all well settled and thriving. The staple diet at this time of year is the unlucky warthog as there are plenty of piglets after the rain. However, they are just a snack for large prides of hungry lions. They risk not only injury but their lives hunting larger, more dangerous animals in order to feed their cubs.

The Marsh Pride has been seen feeding on a couple of buffalo kills first thing in the morning, although they mostly hunt at night as they have the advantage of better night vision. The lionesses and sub-adults were seen hunting a strong, young male buffalo. Three had jumped on it trying to hold on whilst the buffalo ran with them and into the deeper water of the marsh where he managed to face them off with his menacing horns.

The Paradise Pride males made a hippo kill not far from the river at night. The hippo may have been too far away from the water (where they normally seek safety) or it may have been injured or sick. The five males and cubs were able to feed first, followed by the lionesses. Three days later the hippo was reduced to bones and skin, which the hyena also fed on.

We have had some great sightings of the female leopard near the camps. She has been seen feeding on a monitor lizard and on a separate occasion a White Stork at the marsh.

The large male leopard was spotted with an impala kill near the Mara River.

Our resident leopard Olive and her cubs are found on most days near the river, her cubs still with her but happy to spend their day resting a little distance from her. They will become more and more independent as they learn how to hunt properly and both will go their separate ways.

The three cheetah brothers have been back in the area and are very well. The mother and cub are thriving, having been in an area with many hyena leaving us extremely worried, but so far nothing untoward has happened. They were last seen on a Thompson Gazelle kill and were able to relax and finish it without any interference. Shakira and her three cubs are still on the other side of the river, she presently has no chance of coming back across the river after all the recent rain, unless she knows where the bridge is.

Two Rhino were sighted on Paradise Plain. It is encouraging to see them in pairs, as they may be either a mother and older calf (often adopted at this stage) or a mating pair. This is a wonderful sighting since between the Mara and the northern Serengeti we only have an estimated 20 or so rhino.

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Game Report Governor's Camp January 2010

Elephants have been regular visitors this month. There have been large numbers of families moving through the Musiara Marsh eating the sedge and into the forest where they are browsing on the new growth of Teclea. Elephant bulls have been following up the herds, some in musth in search of oestrus females, but most taking advantage of the abundance of food. It has been great to see a couple of really large tuskers one of them weighing approximately 70-80lbs each.

The three local bulls, namely "Curchill", "Blossom" and "Posom" have been back visiting the forest around Little Governors Camp.

One large breeding herd of about 400 buffalos have been moving slowly between the Musiara Marsh, the park gate and Rhino Ridge. Numerous bachelors follow at a distance as well as the old retired brigadiers who spend most of their time along the forest edge.

The rhinos have been seen fairly regularly from the balloon this month, most likely because there is more peace and quiet now that the wildebeest have left us. We have also had some wonderful in camp rhino sightings with the male spotted from the bar at Little Governors and the female and her now fairly large calf seen on the opposite side of the river bank at Ilmoran Camp.

The Marsh Pride of lions are spending more time apart as the game becomes sparse and they need to cover more ground. Occasionally coming together if there is a kill or they have a need for social bonding. Three of the young four month old cubs have not been seen for a couple of weeks, hopefully they are still well and just haven't been spotted as they have been on the move. One of the pride lions and a lioness were seen hunting and killing two young impala on the edge of the Musiara Marsh. It was incredible to see a large male in action in the middle of the day.

The Paradise Pride are on good form, they too have to look further and longer for prey. They were very brave and fortunate to have killed a hippo towards the end of the month. The five young males and the rest of the pride were feeding from it for days. Notch was not around but all the cubs are doing well.

Our small pride of two males, two females and two cubs are still down by the river in their limited territory in between the Marsh and Paradise prides. This pride stilldoes not have a name, but they have plenty of character. The lions and cubs last seen were incredibly fat, whilst the lionesses were actually fairly thin. Either the ladies were doing all the work or the boys were doing none of it!

The young cheetah and her cub have been in the area, not venturing too far as the cub is still a little young and must be kept in hiding whilst it's mother hunts.

Shakira and her two cubs are still on the Trans-Mara side of the river. Once the river has receded, she may come back over. It will be interesting to see whether her cubs will follow or become independent and go their own way at this stage.

We have had a few sightings of another female cheetah traversing the boundary of the reserve and Maasai land.

The three brother cheetahs were at the start of the month between Bila Shaka and the Talek River, but have moved off we think towards Keekarok on the Burrungat Plains. The longer grass will provide some good cover for the cheetah, but most of their prey will be moving onto the short grass and will be more concentrated, meaning more look-outs.

One of the female leopards along the riverline, who has become a bit more brazen, has allowed us some great sightings this month. Once she was with a kill, hiding in a small bush near the Marsh with lions on one side and hyena on the other. She seems not to be intimidated by baboons either and chooses rather to ignore them.

Olive and her two cubs are still doing very well. She has moved into the Croton bushes along the River.

Otherwise there have been brief sightings of shy leopard along the river line, not sticking around long enough to identify.

Whilst the grass was short and green Serval Cats seemed to jump out at every turn, their camouflage not being as effective as when the grass is longer and yellow.

Altogether it has been a great month, with lots of wonderful wildlife sightings and we hope to share the magic of our corner of the Mara with you sometime soon.

Game Report From The Masai Mara

They have received some wonderful rain in the Mara this month, a total of 158mm. Christmas eve brought us 43mm, raining most of the day and making game drives very interesting. November and December are the “short rains” in Kenya, arriving soon after the migration has returned to the Serengeti, quenching the parched, short grass plains.

The grassland is now a rich emerald green carpet, perfect for all the grazing animals, but a little more difficult for the predators as their tawny colours stand out.

The plains game are fat and happy and all with young. Impalas snorting, pronging and chasing each other, Gazelles sprinting for no reason other than that life is good. Large herds of Topis have moved into the Paradise plains area and onto the freshly renovated termite mounds where they have a view and are able to display. The large breeding herds of buffalo have been moving on mass, but covering less ground now that the grass is at their optimal level. The old bulls still maintain their peaceful retired existence on the edge of the forest line.

Giraffe have spent most of the month browsing around the camps and moving through the forest at leisure in fairly large herds.

Elephant have been fairly sparse with a few smaller families and the odd bull moving through the plains. Most are in search of new growth on the trees in the surrounding areas, but are likely to return as the sedge and grass in the marsh area is shooting up and will be lush and nutritious.


The Marsh pride of lions have become seasoned beef-eaters, as the Maasai have been grazing their cattle in the area with in and near their territory due to the drought in surrounding areas. This the Maasai accept as collateral damage in return for grass. In the new-year the Maasai moved on as their grazing lands have improved and with that the Marsh pride have had to work a little harder to feed their new family.
They now have 8 new cubs about 2 ½ months old, tragically one of the lionesses lost one. The older cubs are now just over 2 years old and very accepting of the next generation. The males with growing manes keeping a little more distance.
They are now 23 in number.

The Paradise pride flourish too. With the 6 older cubs, we now have an additional 5 two month old cubs. They are all doing very well with the exception of the older cubs with a bout of mange.
Notch the patriarch has not been seen much this month, with the younger males spending more time with the females and cubs.

We have the introduction of 2 new lions and 2 lionesses and 2 cubs in the area between the Paradise and Marsh prides. We do not know too much about this small pride yet, but spend their time between Rhino ridge and a stretch of the Mara river.

The 3 Cheetah boys are still in the area and very active, hunting and killing every 2 to 3 days.
We have an unfamiliar female who at the beginning of the month had brought with her two 6 week old cubs. One has unfortunately died, but the other is still strong and healthy.
Shakira is over on the Trans-Mara side of the Mara river and still with her 3 cubs, whilst the river is high she will remain there.

We have had some great sightings of Leopard just along the forest line, a male and a female. Across the way from Ilmoran Camp in a copse of trees we had a lovely female who had stashed her kill up in the leafy cover of a tall tree and stayed up there for 4 days whilst she finished off a young Waterbuck.

Olive and her 2 cubs are still along ‘maji chafu’ near the Talek River, she is still being seen regularly as she is so relaxed.

A very large male and a female leopard have been seen along the Mara River opposite Serena.

Rhinos Run Free

Four rhinos have been flown from the Dvur Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic to Ol Pejeta Conservancy.The transfer is aimed at providing this rare species of rhino with the most favourable breeding conditions, in an attempt to pull the species back from the verge of extinction. It is thought that the climatic, dietary and security conditions at Ol Pejeta will provide them with higher chances of starting a population, in what is seen as the very last lifeline for the species. The transfer marks the beginning of the "Last Chance to Survive", a project by the joint efforts of the Dvur Králové Zoo, Fauna and Flora International, Back to Africa, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya Wildlife Service and Ol Pejeta Conservancy.Home to 81 black rhinos, and some 'southern white rhinos', Ol Pejeta Conservancy is East Africa's largest Black Rhino Sanctuary. The most exclusive place to stay at Ol Pejeta Conservancy is Ol Pejeta Bush Camp, a small owner-run camp which offers guests the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of carrying out interactive conservation safaris - right in the heart of one of Africa's most important wildlife conservancies.

The Governors' Camp Collection is delighted to announce the launch of their latest documentary film project Governors' Big Cat Updates.
For the last 16 years Governors' Camp has played host to the BBC Natural History Unit as the location for their famous Big Cat Diary and Big Cat Live Productions. The BBC chose Governors' Camp and the surrounding area of the Masai Mara National Reserve to film the episodes because of the incredible diversity of wildlife here and in particular, the amazing and consistent Lion, Leopard and Cheetah sightings.

The Governors' Camp area of the Masai Mara is one of the best places to see the spectacular wildlife of the African savanna in its natural environment. Many of our clients have got to know these animals personally, follow the drama of their unfolding lives and learn of their histories and are asking us for updates and news of these magnificent big cats. As a result Governors' Camp Collection together with Screaming Reels Productions have joined forces to film and produce Governors' Big Cat Updates a series of documentary films where we hope to bring you regular updates on the big cats of our area of the Masai Mara. The series is filmed by Warren Samuels an accomplished and highly respected wildlife filmmaker with over 11years experience filming for the BBC, Big Cat Diary and Big Cat Live

They are now launching episode 1 which can be seen on You Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOO0V9-L9Ko

Letter from Unchartered Africa in the Makgadikgadi, Botswana

It has been an above average wet season in the Makgadikgadi. With a cloudburst of late rains, we received 185mm in just 48 hours. This is incredible when one considers that three years ago, Jack’s Camp received a rainfall of just 168mm over a twelve month period.

The high rainfall has attracted many lion, cheetah and thousands of zebra to the area and we’re currently experiencing some great game sightings in and around Jack’s Camp. It’s wonderful to experience the zebra walking between the tents, so relaxed and used to our presence that they hardly lift their heads as we pass.

There’s a resident family of honey badgers getting up to all sorts of nocturnal mischief and on top of all this, we’ve had some other special visitors. Elephant have been roaming casually through the Jack’s Camp area! A group of Guests and Guides had the privilege of spotting aardvark in broad day light, an incredibly rare sighting which had those of us that missed it green with envy!

The plans for the boundary fence, east of us, are in full swing, and while the fencing may appear contrary to our ethos, it will in fact have many positive spin-offs, the most significant of these being the resolution of conflict between community and wildlife. Game numbers will increase dramatically when the area is fenced and protected, cattle posts will be relocated and sensitive and selective implementation of water holes will be actioned. We have been operating in the Makgadikgadi for 18 years now and our presence has had a marked and positive effect. The game is tamer and the poaching has decreased. The area is currently host to between 35-75 000 zebra and wildebeest, Southern Africa’s last surviving and little-known annual migration, and it is encouraging to remember that the Serengeti migration was down to 100 000 animals, before bouncing back to over one million animals over the last twenty years after similar implementation.With the proposed fences, the Makgadikgadi is set to become “The Serengeti of the South”!

Jack’s Camp has been voted one of the Top 20 Leisure Hotels in the 2009 Conde Nast Traveller UK Reader’s Awards.Scenic flights over the Makgadikgadi pans are now available for Guests staying at Jack’s Camp and Camp Kalahari. This is an especially lovely experience during the wet season, as Guests can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the migration and the flamingo that come to breed in the area during this time. 15 or 30 minute flight options are available.

For more information about holidays to Jacks Camp contact us on pg@africaselect,com

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The Meerkat Picture Show

Starring the coolest kats in the Kalahari!
This wonderful interactive experience with the meerkats can be enjoyed at all Jacks and San Camp in the Makgadikgadi, Botswana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_eVEW_Y02o

Enjoy the video and be sure to explore our site. If any of our adventures are of interest contact us at Africa Select on 01670 787646 or pg@africaselect.com