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Day 5 |
Day 5 (Thursday, 9th November)
After a slightly longer lie in due to no morning safari and a welcome breakfast, we wandered through the grounds of the hotel. We were greeted by the sight of a Sacred Ibis on a large bird bath while strolling towards the jetty. Even more majestic was the welcoming duo of African Fish-eagles perched on a bare tree just down from the jetty, where they lingered for some time. Many of the birds present the previous even were still foraging along the shoreline, with the dominant species by number being White Pelican and Great Cormorant. Single Southern Pochard added to the wildfowl fare, along with the familiar Hottentot Teals and Yellow-billed Duck. Additional waders were Avocets, Ruff and Little Stints. The Hippos were now a little further into the distance, this time forming a platform for some perched Great Cormorants. Along the edge of the lake were also occasional Long-tailed Cormorants.
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Sacred Ibis |
African Fish-eagle |
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White-fronted Bee-eater |
Crowned Lapwing |
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Grey-backed Fiscal |
Waterbuck |
The drive to the Masai Mara was long, with initially smooth roads giving way to possibly the worst we had encountered. However, after a couple of hours, the habitat which we traversed changed to more open bush country, with not only Plains Zebra and Thomson’s Gazelle being picked out, but also Secretary Bird and Kori Bustard. The Masai Mara was reached well before Keekorok Lodge, and as soon as we entered the boundaries of the reserve itself, the animal activity escalated. Thousands of Wildebeest were joined by Kenyan Giraffe, Elephant, and Plains Zebra, with the usual multitudes of gazelles & antelope. The intention was to proceed to Keekorok Lodge, but a collection of safari vehicles drew us to a pair of Lionesses, and a male Lion a little further on. In the vicinity were also a couple of White-browed Coucals and a Sooty Chat perched quite close to us. As we approached Keekorok Lodge with the light fading, we noticed large numbers of Wildebeest and Antelope just outside of the hotel boundary. |
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Day 5 |
When walking back from the
jetty, we realised that we were able to walk freely on the open grazing land
adjacent to the hotel grounds. This was quite an exciting prospect, since we
had spotted the first Wildebeest of the trip in the distance. After wading
through plenty of wild animal poo, the bushes became sparser, and a few
White-fronted Bee-eaters were found, along with small collections of
Spur-winged & Blacksmith Lapwings. Wildebeest and Waterbuck allowed us to
approach quite closely, with larger herds of both in the distance, along with
Impala and 3-4 Giraffes. White-fronted Bee-eaters continued to appear, until we
re-entered the trees, and found a trio of Grey-backed Fiscals. A juvenile
African Fish-eagle flew into the trees and was found perched. The return walk
to the hotel for lunch continued to unearth more birds, with 3 African
Paradise-flycatchers, Black-headed Oriole, and Long-crested Eagle.
