To be here, completely immersed in the beauty of nature, has been a life-long dream. I’ve always been fascinated by nature — the landscapes, the wildlife, and how they all interconnect. I remember hiking up the hills near where I grew up just to get a vantage point, to see Lake Elementaita get smaller as I climb higher, and eagles flying at eye-level.
Today, when I stand on the deck of Angama Mara looking down on the Triangle with its fairytale-like sunrises and vast landscapes, it brings back old memories, only better. Better because, along with marvelling at its beauty, I can share the story of this magical place. Hands down, this week has been one of the most exciting for me.
We set out early on a rather chilly morning and, as usual, the views as we descended into the Triangle from camp were a sight to behold. The sun peeks through the horizon with giraffes grazing, elephants trumpeting and birds chirping — some even tried to fly along with us as we drove.
The Triangle is ablaze with life, as always.
We bumped into Ruka and Rafiki, the two young cheetah brothers who have travelled from the Greater Mara into the Triangle. Dr Elena Chelysheva of the Mara-Meru Cheetah Project has been following them. They had taken down a Thomson’s gazelle earlier in the morning, but the kill got snatched away by some lions — likely the Egyptian Pride, as this is their territory.
After waiting for some time, we decided to venture into a different area with a plan to come back and check on what Ruka and Rafiki were up to.
Not far from the cheetah sighting, something perched in a tree caught our eye. Very curious, as we got closer the vibrant colours became clearer.
Behold, the African fish eagle whose beautiful milk-white head and tail, yellow cere (base of the upper beak) and dark chocolate back gave it away. This bird of prey is very territorial which means it aggressively defends its home field from other fish eagles and anything else perceived as a threat.
As much as we wanted to spend more time with this beauty, we didn’t want to miss what Ruka and Rafiki were up to so we quickly headed back to the site.
As soon as we arrived, we could see the boys were up and getting ready for a chase. What lucky timing! The two cheetahs were stalking a herd of wildebeest nearby and when I saw the commotion, I realised I was about to experience my first kill.
These cats are extremely smart; you could tell they were communicating before the chase by the glances they gave each other. Ruka seemed to be taking the lead while Rafiki followed his cue. They gave each other one last glance and the chase was on. It was just a matter of seconds before the unlucky wildebeest was down. A second successful hunt in one day — very impressive for these young boys.
