On safari on the 5th and 6th of December 2012,time well spent with Cranes,Male lions patrolling,Playing lion cubs,Mating ostriches to Feeding spotted hyenas.

It was on the first week of December year 2012 when we set out on safari and as usual looking for interesting stuff for the guests who they have come to mara to enjoy what it offers.The two days did not let us down.The two Grey crowned cranes were perched up on a tree enjoying the very beautiful sceneries of the mara,in most cases these birds are found on ground foraging on insects,grasses,small seeds and also other small inverterbrates.Their population has declined and they are now endangered,although we still have quit good number in the mara, and not far from cranes was a lone male lion,patrolling its territory and perhaps looking for his brother who was mating few kilometers from where he was.This was at paradise,near the main migrations' crossing point.
One of the cubs from Marshpride was playing and not with the rest but on its own up on a small tree,learning to climb up(on a small branch)and when it went to rest,it was on the same branch!,lions do not have very good climbing abilities but some do climb,not very slopy tree to escape the heat of the day and the disturbing flies.
One very good day was spotting Mating ostriches,Male lion on his own,cubs and feeding hyenas all very close to each other.For me the special one was the mating dance of the Ostriches,we all enjoyed witnessing it.It all started with the female dropping her wings while the male was running after her,and soon they were into it.They both seemed to enjoy the affair which lasted for few minutes,and very awesome watching the mating dance whereby the males swings his pink neck from side to side while the throat is slightly ballooned.And afterwards,it was allover and they continued feeding to get some more energy for the job,which it looks to be very tiresome for the male!
One of the dominant males of the Marsh pride was on his own at around 0730Hrs and previous days he was with his three other brothers,he looked well fed and he might have killed one of the wildbeests who were roaming the Bilashaka area(part of their territory) all the way to double crossing area but all scattered ,the kill was at that time under the hungry,vey vocal and vicious spotted hyenas.The king of the jungle has had enough and it was the turn of the Maasai mara's scavengers(Hyenas and Vultures),and on the feeding hierachy at the carcass,hyenas were on top and later on to be followed by the vultures,Jackals were missing.