Pretty patterns
A riot of colours!!!
Pumpkin shell milk or water carriers.
Silhouetted against the evening sun
Kilimanjaro in the morning, as viewed from Ambroseli Resort
Though the snows have diminished, they are still there.
The cloud rings below and the morning sunlight above.
Another morning view--mysterious, enticing....
Mount Kibo
The male ostrich
Scenting us
Who are these?
The wart hog is quite shy...
We are on the prowl...
Traffic rules!! Gazelles have right of way!!!!
Vantage point for the cheetah...
Surveying... How proud he stands...
Four eyes are better than two!!!
Time to get serious...
In search of a better place to wait..
Baboon thoughts..
These humans are quite similar to us...
Getting to the other side..
Walk in a line while crossing a road. No need to rush...
Better pastures!!!
We started from almost the base of Kilimanjaro
Trickles of migration for the wildebeests
Merciless.. Vultures on a wildebeest..
Waiting for the next one to die...
Finish this off.. Vultures play a great part in keeping these areas clean..
Nothing more graceful!!
There are many like this... The end of the road for this Zebra
The tired Wildebeest
African Elephant ears are so different from the Indian counterpart
Path to nowhere...
Lord of the Beasts
He has seen us...
The male and the female looks at each other..
Our compatriots in the hunt,,
It is the female who makes the move...
Close together!!!
Grazing as the dust storms swirl in the background
Greenery and water with a thirsty elephant
The Lion surrounded by his kills!!
Let's have al ook at these humans...
Closer look..
So many of them???
Not worth paying much attention
Watch them cower in their cars as i advance...
I am aged but still active...
This is my kill!!!!
No one dare touch it!! It's still alive and waiting for me.
Proud and stately
And I am the King...
It's not much fun with these humans... You bet we kept a distance...
Life and Death coexist
The zebras and wildebeest know that this lion is full and not on thehunt. Warily they keep a distance.
At last the greenery
Swamp lands at Ambroseli
Far away from the aridity..
Co existence in plenty..
Grazing grounds
This is what we needed...
The elephants loved the swamps..
A big dust storm--but the animals are unperturbed
Thigh deep in mud..Can't stop grinning..
The wildebeests have found heaven!!!
Egyptian Goose
Looks like a black and white Egret..
The muddier the better..
That was good. The egret looks on..
The extensive swamps...
Ostrich walk
Giraffes in the distance just outside Ambroseli
This big one just bypassed us...
Cubs day out...
Great playing field...
Should we explore further?
A little rest
Lion cub--is mother asleep..
A good scratch is real pleasure
Mother looks at us...
African cubs stay in the front. Indian cubs stay behind...
Sunset near Nairobi--the airport is nearby
Portion of the Great Rift Valley
The magnificent Great Rift Valley where in Piedmont, fossils have been discovered of apes dating back 10 million years, Lucy and several other prehominid skeletons werediscovered here also.
Another view of the valley which splits Kenya into the mountains on one side and the sedimented highly alkaline lakes on the other.
The landscape as we travel to Masai Mara from Nairobi
The road is hot enough to cause mirages..
These vans are the workhorses of Kenya
Lots of ups and downs...
The Nissan vans took everything in its stride...
The terrain started changing as we neared Masai Mara
The greenery of Masai Mara as contrasted with the bleakness of Ambroseli
The Masai giraffe, the tallest land mammal. Note the jagged brown areas on it's body.
Three horns only on the Masai Giraffe. The Rotschild giraffe has 5. The jagged edges of the brown areas are more prominent.
Has to feed carefully or else the thorns may pierce their tongues.
Males are bald and both sexes have a short tassel on their tails. Funnily they have 7 neck vertebrae only--the same as humans!!!
This is how they are often spotted!!!
The Masai giraffe's kick is strong enough to crush a lion's skull or shatter its spine. They are quite playful this evening...
The most graceful sight...
Courtship in the cool breeze of the evening
The wart hog is always running away!!!
Egyptian geese out for a stroll
They were considered sacred by ancient Egyptians and appeared often in their artwork.
Thompson's gazelles. They are often called wagtails because their tails are always moving!!!
Topi Antelope. Look at the massive horns. Found in the floodplains and Savannah.
Plenty of greenery at Masai Mara
Lilac breasted Roller
Lilac breasted Roller perching on high trees to spot insects and rodents moving on the ground.
Topi antelope.Reddish brown coat with black patches. One of the Least endangered species.
Sausage tree because of the sausage like fruits hanging from the trees. The flower blooms at night, is of blood red colour, and so attracts night birds and bats.
Looks like the Montane wagtail, but I am not sure. Could any birdwatcher tell me what it is....
Mountain Wagtail ??
Water buffaloes are dangerous...
Bush land
We spotted thesein the evening enjoying a good meal.
They were closely knit group of five.
He kept a close eye on us.
Decided to move away for now.
He never left eyeing us.
Lioness with a kill.
Looking distinctly annoyed at being disturbed.
Decided to ignore us.
But was never really easy...
Decided that we were non interfering, so decided to restart gnawing away at the Zebra leg.
Amorous capers at the light dimmed.
Lion walks away after mating.
The female rolls in ecstasy and started making high pitched noises.
The male does not feed during the mating period.
The handsome pair.
Oblivious of us, they sat regally.
Really strong and handsome.
Looks sideways at the female.
The lioness is beautiful and aristocratic.
The lion looks adoringly at her.
The setting sun glints from their eyes.
Sunset at Masai Mara
Darkness descends and we must make our way back hurriedly.
Next morning we confront these giraffes.
They decide to cross our path. Of course, we stopped.
They disappeared down the slope, as graceful as they can be.
Far away from our strange vehicles.
These deer are out by 6AM.
Lioness enjoys the warm sun. At night the temperature drops to 10-12 degrees Celsius.
There is so much coiled power here.
But she eyes us suspiciously.
Then she looks full-on.
These cubs are grown up.
Countless zebras and wildebeests.
He is also out. Majestic.
Regal presence.
But even they get itchy.
And like a cat will clean its paws.
Difficult area to scratch!!!
Wild buffaloes have started moving also.
Elephants are hungry..
Savannah...
Rolling fields of long grass.
The small mountains loom in the horizon.
A splendid sight of the savannah.
That is the height of the grass!! Enough for lurking predators.
Our vehicles circled continuously.
Tey were in contact with a lot of other cars.
The Maribou.
The Secretary Bird, so called because of the quilt behind their heads like old fashioned secretaries sticking their pens behind their ears.
This baby decided to take a short cut.
The Secretary Bird. A more recent hypothesis is that "secretary" is borrowed from a French corruption of the Arabic saqr-et-tair or "hunter-bird." basically it has a eagle head on stork legs.
So many textures...
Zebras moving together.
The Wildebeests also decide to move away.
The Mari River almost at the junction between Kenya and Tanzania.
Hippos capering on the river.
A crocodile pushes the carcass of a dead hippo away.
More and more hippos join in.
This is where the triumph and tragedies of the migration are seen.
The hippos are everywhere.
A really big crocodile.
Waiting for its prey.
Hippo survey.
Hippo at the bend.
He thought we deserved a closer look.
Lion Sleeping in the thicket.
The savannah dotted with countless animals.
