October 27th, 2006 Masai Mara National Park – Lake Naivasha, Kenya

October 27, 2006
Masai Mara National Park – Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Today we woke up at 6:00 and then headed out on an early morning game drive (6:30). It was another phenomenal day in the park. First, we saw a group of elephants, including a baby. Next, we came upon a group of feeding jackal. Since they are scavengers, this meant we came upon a wildebeest carcass.


After passing by lots of wildlife, including our first ostrich, we reached another carcass. This one was being consumed by a group of vultures. It was an amazing scene. They were rapidly eating the rotting flesh…

Next, we found an active cheetah. Although it seemed as though he was hunting, our guide insisted that we this was probably not the case. Instead we found another mating lion couple. The male lion seems to have a very comfortable life. He has sex 40-50 times a day with a female (doing this for a week straight) and then sleeps and eats the rest of the time (eating food that the female has hunted).

When we were done with the lions we headed toward the tree where we have been seeing the leopard. On the way we passed the same cheetah that we had seen earlier! Even more amazing, he had just made a kill and was eating. We spent a long time watching him eat.

Eventually, we made it to the leopard area. In an incredible stroke of luck, the leopard was on the ground and he was also eating! We spent even longer watching this cat consume his meal. As we sat there watching, the leopard jumped up and chased a bird that was right next to our vehicle. Monique, who was leaning out the window at the time, freaked out. It was quite amusing. When this happened, we also noticed that leopard was very young, just older than a cub.

By the time we finished with the leopard it was time to head back to camp for some breakfast (11:00). We had a large meal and then packed our bags and put them in the vans. We got out of camp at about 11:45.

It was another long car ride. In total we spent about 7-hours traversing dirt roads. As always, we made a number of stops at little shops. Instead of shopping I talked with one of the sellers about the NBA. He informed me that he loved basketball and that his favorite player was Kobe Bryant!

We reached a lodge at Lake Naivasha at around 18:30. After sorting through a few photos and ensuring that all of my positions were in order, I joined the Austrians for a beer. At 21:00 we had dinner and talked about our plan for tomorrow. Afterwards everyone was ready to get some sleep.