November 2015 - The Jacobs Family Website

November 25, 2015

Mara Safari 2

Here is the second gallery from the all-day game drive in the Masia Mara. We got to see a wildebeast crossing and a lion chase (but not catch) some cape buffalo. Enjoy the pics!

Kai and Nora in the Land Cruiser.

An interesting bug where we stopped for snacks;

Kai with wildebeast.

Wildebeast herd.

Kai with a herd of wildebeast.

Cape buffalo along the sand river. A pride of lions was nearby.

The lions were hanging out by some rocks. See the alert one on the right? A few minutes later she would make a go for the buffalo.

The lion bounds after the buffalo. Not sure if she was hunting or just having some sport. Either way the buffalo got out of the way fast.

Another pic of the lion chase

I did not know that a buffalo had the muscle control to keep its tail straight up in the air.

The lion switches targets.

The buffalo cleared out quick

The tired lions walks slowly back to the rest of the pride.

Jumping the river.

A rare antelope. I forget the name.

Nora climbs on the land rover.

Kai with his scratch he earned while dodging a rhino.

Lunch on the Mara

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A lion in the grass.

Nora really wanted to see a leopard on her birthday. The day was almost over when we came across two in the same tree.

Apparently two leopards together is very rare. Our guide told us it must be the honeymoon.

The two leopard tree.

Another shot of the sleeping leopard.

A lion cub.

November 19, 2015

Mara Safari

After the balloon ride we spent the rest of the day on a game drive in the Masai Mara. Here are pictures from the first part of the day. Enjoy!

I believe this was a butler hawk. We distrubed his meal of a baby warthog and he flew into a tree.

The same hawk circles the vehicle.

Another bird stops by.

What to you call a gathering of vultures? A "wake" of vultures.

Zebras brave the crocs to get some water.

There were plenty of crocs about.

Hippos in the Mara river.

More hippos relaxing in the river.

Hippos go wading in - never mind the crocs.

Watching a hippo on the Mara river.

An iridescent wasp on a flower.

A lion walking down by the river.

Another shot of the lion.

Part of the massive wildebeast migration. This time over the sand river.

Part of the wildebeast migration.

Watching the wildbeast cross the sand river.

A panorama of the herd of wildebeast on the other side of the river.

November 18, 2015

The first full day at Mara Bushtops we had booked a balloon ride in the Masai Mara. We were woken up with coffee and cookies well before dawn and then whisked in a land cruiser into the park. We arrived at the launch site just as dawn was beginning to break. There was not much for us to do as we stood out of the way as the crews scrambled to get the balloon laid out and filled with hot air. Once it started to become bouyant, however, then things moved fast and the had to scramble into the basket while the balloon struggled to fly away and a dozen ground crew members struggled to keep us on the ground.

Once we were airborne the most striking thing is the total silence (if you don’t count the occasional roar of the gas jets as the pilot put more hot air in the balloon). We drifted over the Mara for about an hour and then, after a controlled crash landing, the chase vehicle whisked us away to another omlete station that had sprung up out of the bush.

Getting ready for the dawn balloon ride.

Balloon ride prep. We stood around with not much to do for a long time while they warmed up the balloon.

Once the balloon had lift we had to move fast to get into the basket.

Another balloon fires up in the distance.

Crystal on the balloon ride.

Dawn balloon launches are popular.

Mara sunrise.

A balloon up above us.

Another Mara sunrise shot.

Mara sunrise.

Another balloon fires up in the distance.

This was Nora's birthday.

A group of researchers stake our a hyena den.

We didn't see many hyena except on the balloon ride. We saw over a dozen on that trip.

This is one of the chase tractors for the balloons. Here he was doing about 35 mph.

Crystal and Kai floating over the Mara.

More hyenas on the Mara.

Hyenas frolicking at dawn.

Another hyena shot.

A balloon far off in the distance.

Crystal and Kai on the balloon ride.

Nora peeking out of the balloon basket

At first the balloon pilot thought this was a rhino but it turned out to be a massive forest warthog.

Bush breakfast after the balloon ride.

Omlette stations in the middle of the African savanah were more common than one might expect.

November 15, 2015

Mara Bushtops Day 1 – Game Drive and Sundown

Here is a continuation of the last gallery. We drove around the conservancy for the afternoon and then stopped for sundowners where the Mara Bushtops crew had set up a fire (and bar) to enjoy the sunset. Once again I was amazed at the ability for the lodges to make guest facilities pop up out of nowhere in the bush whether it be omelet stations in the morning or a bar for sundowners at night.

Most of the time the wildlife ignored us. This was a rate moment when we had this lion's attention.

Another shot of the lion. The building in the upper left is our tent.

Nora checks her wildlife guide for anything she hasn't checked off yet.

A small rainstorm passed through and then we were treated to a rainbow.

What is the name for a gathering of giraffes? A tower of giraffes.

An african elephant.

A game of twister goes horribly wrong.

I bet you didn't think elephants could go up on their tip toes.

Sunset on the Mara.

Nora in the Masai Mara

Sundown campfire at Mara Bushtops.

Sundowners on the Mara.

Ben at sunset on the Mara.

The setting sun over the Masai Mara.

The sun gets ready to set.

Setting african sun.

November 13, 2015

Arriving at Mara Bushtops

Our last “safari” lodge was Mara Bushtops which is situated on a private conservancy right off of the Masai Mara park. We arrived after an hour-long flight over the verdant Mt. Kenya highlights to a tiny airstrip without a single building but our safari crew was there to meet us.
We had booked the Leopard Family tent which was absolutely fabulous and really was a case study in how opulent you could make a facility and still call it a “tent”. It was certainly the first (and will probably be the last) tent I’ve stayed in that had its own hot tub and wine wall.
That afternoon we took a game drive staying within a kilometer or so of the lodge but still managed to see plenty of wildlife including a lion checking out game at the water hole – we even got a picture of the lion and our tent in the same frame. This seemed very cool to be situated right in the middle of a heavy wildlife zone but the next night when we heard a pride of lions take down and then noisily eat a zebra only a few meters from our tent it took on a different feel.