Roars, Rain and Rare Sightings at Angama Safari Camp

We caught the 06h15 flight from Wilson Airport. Guide Johnny met us at Serena Airstrip and drove us to Angama Safari Camp for a three-night stay. This time, the mobile camp was tucked in the southern Mara, near the escarpment. 

The big river crossing of the Great Migration had eased, but the wildebeest and zebra had not yet moved south into the Serengeti. Although the Migration was winding down, we were treated to wonderful sightings — 158 birds and 28 types of animals.  

As a birder, I was thrilled to spot black-shouldered kites along the way from the airstrip. We arrived at a warm welcome and lunch, setting the tone for a much-needed nap before we headed south, spotting two cheetahs resting in the shade and long-crested eagles in the nearby trees. 

The following day rose with stillness and a hearty breakfast, followed by a loop around the camp where the birds didn’t disappoint: Nubian woodpecker and woodland and grey-headed kingfishers, common and Abyssinian scimitarbills and an African golden oriole. We then ventured to the border, crossing recently burned grasslands. We logged an oribi, juvenile bateleur, yellow-throated sandgrouse and an African wattled lapwing sitting on its nest amongst the rocks.

Rain fell over lunch, so the afternoon meant wet roads and flat light — yet sightings were excellent: a bohor reedbuck and two African wood owls, both firsts for me. Being in the middle of the Mara Triangle meant we could return to camp at 19h30, giving us a better chance to spot nocturnals. Near a pride of lions, three bat-eared foxes slipped through the near darkness, and freckled nightjars circled a bush, feasting on insects.

Day three began with reg-winged spurfowl, western banded snake eagles and some very well-fed lions. At lunch, wildebeest and zebra grazing near the camp decided to join us and surrounded one of the tents — to the delight of the honeymooners inside.

On the afternoon drive, Guide Johnny heard the sharp cry of an elephant. We looked just in time to see a calf being born! We watched the amniotic sac reach the ground, and minutes later, the membrane slipped away as the mother gradually removed it.

With gentle nudges, she helped her baby stand. It was special to witness such gentleness from an animal so large.

We returned to a BBQ dinner with a story we’ll never forget. 

We said goodbye to Boniface and the team, then headed southeast towards the Mara Bridge. En route, we passed well-fed big cats and paused at the salt marsh, where northbound wildebeest stopped to drink. 

The birding there was busy: greater painted-snipe, rufous bellied heron, spurwinged lapwing, dwarf bittern, marsh sandpiper and malachite kingfisher. As we watched, we became surrounded by a thousand wildebeest and zebra, threaded with Topi and Thompson’s gazelle. A scene to which no photograph could do justice.

We ended our trip with two nights at Angama Mara, wrapping up with rhinos, a very young giraffe wobbling on unsteady legs, a hamerkop that wrestled a fish far too big to swallow and two Ross’s Turacos. The Maasai Mara never ceases to enthral us.