Masai Mara: Day 7 (Part 2)

After spending the entire morning with Shakira, we decided to venture a little further afield. More and more jeeps were making photography a little difficult. A radio call came through about a possible leopard sighting, so we investigated. We drove down off the plains, past the Olkiombo airstrip and Mara Intrepids camp, through dense bush and finally reached the Talek River.

Once through the river to the other side, we drove through more bush and came out into a clearing. To the right, ran a lugga and at the end of the lugga we could see three jeeps. Two Kicheche jeeps and one other jeep... with Jackson Looseyi, cameraman and soundman. The BBC's Big Cat crews were everywhere! We pulled alongside as quietly as we could. I could detect a little frustration from Jackson's jeep as this was probably not the first time they had to stop filming and wait for a jeep to pass.


In front of the jeeps and just across a small stream of water, a leopard was relaxing in the shade of a croton bush. It was Olive, one of the Big Cat characters. She was alone. We sat watching for a few minutes. I didn't bother with the camera immediately, as the light was harsh and she was sat under the bush. We watched Jackson and the crew rehearse and shoot some new 'updates'. Olive was soon sitting and then standing. I reached for the camera and set it up on a beanbag.

Olive started walking, crossing the bare and muddy jeep track, and passed right in front of us. I shot a few frames, but the background was so messy with the lines of jeeps tracks - it didn't seem worth it. But she was a new leopard to me, so I took some shots for 'record' sake. As she passed, she looked over her shoulder at the other jeeps, then carried on, fading into the bushes that fringed the lugga.

We drove back across the lugga, to see where she was heading. Julius spotted an impala about 150m. The male impala was grazing and had absolutely no idea that a leopard was approaching. We drove around to the impala to watch the scene from the prey's point of view. I thought "It would be bloody amazing if she hunted right here, right now." Julius spotted Olive re-emerging from the bushes. She was heading straight for the impala. I managed to get her in the viewfinder and watched as she stealthily hugged the ground, the way that only leopards can. Her shoulders working like scissor blades, keeping her flat and fluid.


The leopard had now approached within about 25m of the impala, which was still none the wiser. Then, most annoyingly, another jeep turned up and drove straight behind the leopard. They had not seen her in the grass. The proximity of the jeep startled the leopard enough for her to flick her tail and that was enough. The impala blasted air through its nostrils and sounded the alarm. Olive stood up almost immediately. It was all over. She walked off, her tail held high in the air, as if to say 'Yep, its me... you got me".


As you can see from the images - it was bloody hot! The heat shimmer was pretty bad, but it didn't stop us following Olive into the bush where we might find a bit of shade and, hopefully, more leopards. In a clearing we found the other Kicheche jeeps. It seemed like a drama was unfolding around us. A large male leopard had been spotted following Olive's cubs, then the crashing sound of bushes. As we waited, the young male cub, ran out behind the jeep and dove into a bush, just as the male crossed the other way, but in front of the jeep. The vegetation was so dense it was extremely difficult to see anything and soon all was quiet.

The heat was building and everyone was starting to feel it. We decided to drive on and find some shade, higher up on the open plains where there would be a cooling breeze. As we drove along, we passed a huge amount of grazing animals, mostly zebra, gazelles, and topi. We pulled up under a large Balanite tree and revelled in the cool shade. We broke out the picnic lunch and chilled out. It is really the only thing to do in the middle of the day. It is just so hot, most animals seek the shade and those that stay out, just stand and pant.

Another jeep approached us with some gleeful occupant. "Oh you just have to go over there. We've just seen lions mating... just over there, you must go... they are just over there...!" I tried to explain that we were just relaxing and we would have a look later. "But they're just over there. We've just seen lions mating... just over there, you must go... they are just over there...!"

The jeep departed and we finished our lunch and snoozed. Eventually we packed everything away and drove over to see the 'mating lions'. Ooooh, what a shock. I've never seen an uglier, more haggard pair of lions. A saggy lioness, and a toothless male that was so old, he had a receding hairline!


They were laid flat out, sleeping next to each other under the blazing sun. I tried to photograph them, but it just wasn't happening. There was nothing I could do to make the scene work. As a preference to photographing the lions, I asked Julius to drive us away and back down the track to shoot some images of a decaying topi skeleton! After I had crawled around on the ground, getting face-to-face with 'Boney', I clambered back in the jeep and we set off once again. Julius had spotted another jeep beside a tree and thought it best we check whether they had seen a leopard, or not.


As it turned out, they had seen a leopard being chased by baboons in the nearby lugga. We drove down and had a look around. It can be so difficult to spot a leopard in this bushy terrain. There were plenty of big trees, bushes, and shadowy places in which a leopard could easily be lurking... but remain invisible.

As we crawled along, the lugga became more and more narrow until it was less than a half a metre wide, then it stopped altogether. Julius drove the jeep across and them slammed on the brakes. He turned around with a big grin. "I don't believe it. It is right here". Julius beckoned us to look out of the jeep. We did, but couldn't see anything (nothing new there). "No... down there!" We looked straight down and there she was. Hiding in the narrowest end of the lugga, barely visible under the shade of a grassy clump that hung over the dried up stream.


There was no chance of a photo, but it was incredible to see the positions and locations these cats can get into, to avoid being seen. I've always said this of leopards and tigers "If they don't want to be seen, you will not find them!" We backed the car away and retreated to the shade of a nearby fig tree. I busied myself taking random shots of Jacq and Julius. I don't know how long we had waited, but when we checked back on the leopard, she had come out of the lugga and was now basking on the grass. But in typical leopard style - there was not a single clear angle!


We waited and waited. Nearly four hours had passed and she had not moved, apart from to switch sides and show us her butt. After all that time, this is the best and clearest shot that I managed to get. She played a damn good game!