Safaris On the 15th to 20th of December 2012,Lions Baby boom,Birdwatching in the Swamp,Waterbucks Bachelors Group,Leopard Tortoise Vs Lions cub,Feeding Cheetahs and Masai Giraffes amongst Tall Trees.

                                  

Few days to Christmas and once again the swamp is very much alive with many bird species and booming lion cubs in the Mara and cheetahs feeding on impala were some of my significant sightings.At paradise plains here in the Mara was a lioness with two cubs of about 4 months old,she is a very experienced mother but most of their prey species were not plenty on the plains where she was raising her cubs and  members of her pride were on the other side of the Mara river,hunting for her cubs were very much,nobody was there to offer even  little help and her cubs were very much hungry  as she was,they might have not have eaten for couple of days but few days later they made a kill and they were back on their beautiful look.Again i thought she couldn't cross the crocodile infested Mara river with the cubs to get to her pride members.If a suckling mother lioness is hungry and she goes for several  days without food especially at the times of scarcity,and her cubs are too small to accompany her to find meal,she will abandon the cubs behind and chances of the cubs' mortality are very high from starvation,but for the el paraiso lioness hers were past that stage and they could follow their ever struggling mother.
When male lions born to any of the family get to in between the age of 2 to 2.5 years,and to some at 3 years,they are kicked out by their dad/s to go and start their own lives.They can leave the pride as a group commonly referred to as a coalition or if born as a solo boy still he would have to leave on his own to hook up with other male/s of his age.We came a cross two boys who they had just ventured into their new stage of their lives and to them everything was new,with very little experience of hunting and fighting to protect themselves they had to move on.They were very healthy and wel fed at the time we saw them.We wished them good luck with their nomadism as we depart their new place.
On one of the mid-mornings a cheetah with her three cubs had made a kill and they were enjoying it when we found them,it was a beef(Impala). The cubs were no longer suckling but still dependent on their mum to feed them,and on that day they had a yummy meal that was to push them for another two or three days.This cheetah had tried 3 times to make a kill the previous day and twice on the day of their kill(as per my fellow guide),that is 4 times unsuccessful and 1 time successful!!,the reason was the cubs were inexperienced and they always spoiled the mum's chances of getting hold of the prey for they would walk straight to their prey thus being seen prior to starting sprinting!,she has to go extra mile to feed 3 cubs and herself until when the cubs would leave her at the age of about 2 years!,Good luck mama and we  bravo your efforts of bringing your cubs to their age,you are such a adorable cat.
I have followed the famous Marsh pride of lions for several years since when i started guiding and they have always been my favorite pride in the Mara,although we have other smart prides.On December their were hundreds of Zebras at Bilashaka and towards topi plains,and it was here that the Marsh pride with their close relatives(Breakaways) were bringing up their cubs.What a great time they were having compared to the struggling paradise pride of lions,they were feeding almost on daily basis which it was very positive for the little cubs,and for the 4 males (nicknamed the 4 musketeers by the very experienced guides from Governors guide),they were also getting well fed by their lovely wives from both prides.
The same pride (Look at the two last pictures above) has caught leopard tortoise and because of their very hard shelled body(--carapace--),it was very impossible for both adults and cubs to break it to access the fleshy part.It was a experience to share with other people watching both one of the big five and one of the little five all together,if you were a tortoise what would have been your heart beat rate,for me i would have been sweating and shivering a lot,good enough that it was very much protected by their outside body shell.But again my worry was the tortoise might have got dehydrated,this is simply because they excrete a fluid from their organ called bursa which are very corrosive and by doing so they lose a lot of water and they will later on die,and for this reason people are advised not to pick tortoises especially when it is too dry and their is no nearby water.
Yes,i love musiara marsh from deep inside my heart when it comes to birdwatching and from the experience that i've got after doing safaris on all corners of maasai mara,there is no place that over rides Musiara marsh when it comes to watching birds especially when it is full of water,and on top of it are other 10s of mammals species here that will always ice cake game viewing on the marsh.On the pictures are some of the common marsh birds from the Black headed Heron,hammerhead like birds called hamerkop,Immature Saddle Billed storks and African spoon bills respectively.If you are a birdwatcher to the Mara,do not miss your visit to Musiara Marsh.Also some of the regular visitors  here are the Defassa waterbucks.On the picture are four males all from Bachelor's herd who they have no patch to defend and wait for the girls to pay a visit,and for them when they get to defended patch they have to be subordinate to the defending male.Long live Musiara marsh.