This Week at Angama #206

After a very long drive one day this week, on our way back to the lodge, the remaining daylight created a stunning golden glow. What photographers refer to as the ‘Golden Hour’ is always too short, but perfect for capturing everything from landscapes to portraits. Backlit photographs from this time of day are truly dramatic as the outer glow separates the subject from the background, creating a dreamy and mysterious effect.

With plenty of zebras to the south of the Triangle, the Border Pride is well fed, making kill after kill. We found them devouring the remains of their latest feast, with the dominant female keeping the older cubs at bay while she fed with the little ones. Luckily, there was no male lion around to hog the kill all to himself.

Some good news from the Inselberg Pride: they have a new addition. It’s such an exciting feeling to discover these tiny little creatures for the first time. With the sun just hot enough to force most animals to seek shelter, we saw a lioness climbing an inselberg to seek refuge in the forest at the top. On closer inspection with a pair of binoculars, we were thrilled to discover a single little cub.  

Hyenas have a reputation for eating their own and we have pictures to prove it. Whether the victim was already dead due to natural causes or killed by a lion, we found this hyena eating its brethren.

Guides have reported that this impressive leopard known as Shujaa had been feeding on a hippo calf for the last few days in the company of a female leopard. After a brief mating encounter (which I missed, twice), and with a full stomach, he spent the whole day sleeping in the shade avoiding the heat of the day. I spent the next few hours waiting for the female to reappear, but it wasn’t to be. It’s a game of chance sometimes. I was lucky the following day though and found the pair mating — a first for me.

Our guests continue to astonish us with the fantastic photographs they capture with our rental cameras. I thought these rhino images were particularly outstanding as we rarely get close enough to take a decent picture. These solitary animals, except for females and their offspring like in this case, are very skittish and almost always retreat into deep bushes when discovered. Suffice to say Jackie Muthoni Muriithi, you did well!

Impressive is an understatement when it comes to describing the tough lioness named Mama Kali of the Angama Pride. Mama Kali translates to ‘tough mother’ and she single-handedly took down an adult male eland right below Angama Mara. Keep in mind that elands are the world’s largest antelopes, weighing in at around 500-600kg and standing at 1.7m tall at the shoulder. One tough mother, indeed.

This must be a romantic time of year in the Mara, as this time last year Adam had an unusual sighting of elephants mating.