This Week at Angama #231

This week started on a high note, quite literally. There is never a dull moment when seeing the Mara from above but this particular morning's clear skies allowed for a spectacular sunrise while floating above the Mara River.

The beautiful morning light paints the entire Triangle with golden hues. You can't help but want to press pause on the balloon to marvel at the beauty of it all, but the wind carries you gently on your way — only to see more of the Mara and its inhabitants.

Back on the ground, love is in the air. Different lion prides are mating which comes with plenty of drama and we’re fortunate to witness it. One of the Bila Shaka boys, known as Kiok, is spreading his genes in the Owino pride thanks to a successful courtship with one of the pride's females.

He seems to prefer morning action which is perfect lighting for those of us behind the lens.

Manywele, the dominant male of the Inselberg pride, has been mating on the southeast side of the Triangle for over a month now. We first saw him mating with one of the Purungat pride females towards the end of May and now he has a new catch — we saw him mating with a different female two days in a row. We suspect she could be from the Border pride. Hopefully, in the coming months, we’ll see a photogenic mini Manywele roaming the triangle.

Of course, lion dynamics have their fair share of pain as well. Ruka, one of the Inselberg pride and a brother to Manywele and Ginger, has been on the receiving end of it. He seems to be the weaker male in the coalition. The last time I wrote about him he almost lost his eye which we suspect was from a fight over mating rights with his dominant brother Manywele. This week, we saw him looking fairlty well but with a bleeding mouth, possibly from another fight with one of his brothers. He clearly has been having a rough go lately.

Our Bush Princess continues to make noteworthy appearances, delighting our guests and guides on drives. She was recently spotted by one of our guests, who stopped by our Photographic Studio for an editing lesson and ended up with stunning images of this leopard.

There has been a baby boom of late and Risasi has been taking advantage of it. We saw her kill two baby Thomson's gazelle in the same day. If that is what it takes to feed her cubs, then we wish her all the best. We still believe the cubs are well hidden somewhere around the area known as 3km towards the south of the Triangle and are hoping to catch sight of them soon.

Of course, we can’t end this week's instalment without mentioning the most anticipated event of the year: the herds are very near. Tito, one of Angama's guides, spotted the first zebra crossing at the Sand River crossing point. This means the migration will soon follow. As we await the mega herds flooding into the Triangle, we will keep you updated on all the action that comes with it.

This time last year, Charlotte was worrying about Kibogoyo from the Bila Shaka coalition. These images, taken just one year apart, show Kiboyogo's deteriorating condition. Luckily, he seems to be on the mend as seen by Robert a few weeks ago.