Mara North - Day 1 PM

Mara North camp is very different to other Kicheche camps we've stayed at and with 9 tents it is the largest.  We're very glad we asked for a tent nearest the common areas, we have the closest one, as some of them are probably almost 1/4 mile away - a long trek back in the mid day heat.  Otherwise the tents were as we've come to expect, with flushing toilets and hot running showers and a huge, comfortable bed.  

Lunch was a bit of a change from what we'd had before as dining is on individual tables like at Tortilis.  Wellington, the chef, presided over a buffet table with several options but unfortunately none which suited my fussy pallet and so he went off to cook me some fish.  We had a couple of hours downtime so I took the opportunity to do another back up as I have a feeling I'll fill up the SD cards a bit quicker here.

Out again at 16:00 and we saw some very newborn wildebeest and it's so interesting to see that their colouring at birth is nothing like the adults

We then came across a giraffe enjoying a drink, they prefer to drink in the open if they can so they can keep a watchful eye on predators as bending so low to drink makes them extremely vulnerable.

George then primed me to be ready and to start shooting just as soon as the giraffe started to move its head.  Just look how the water get's thrown around - a great little panel (yes I know I could have taken a video but shooting stills comes more naturally to me).

The first Topi we've seen (there are none at Amboseli) but interestingly they're not standing on mounds as we've seen before - maybe that's breeding season behaviour and this time we're a fraction early.

George then took us to a small lake which was full of birds.

Grey Heron

Yellow-billed Stork

Having a wash and brush up.

There was also a bloat of hippo in the middle, at first I thought the thing by its ear was a plastic bag but I’d probably just caught the water movement as it slumped down under.

Nothing special about this elephant, except the light.

Pretending to be shy.

It seems like here also the afternoon drives are quieter but today I don't mind as we've been on the go more or less since dawn.