A VISIT TO MAASAI MARA

IN THEGAMERESERVE

Repeatedly, the lion roared as she drew closer. She engaged in a fierce battle. We tensed and stood still. Too shocked to move, our mouths were gapping as the driver, with a sign of a finger on his mouth, signified us to remain silent. He shook in fear as his heart thumped vigorously. The chilly silence was damn frightening . I was scared out of my wounds as I crossed my fingers and said a word of prayer to my creator. Pure horror-struck my heart as my knees trembled with fright like that of someone under electric shock. I felt some drops of sweat cascading down my backbone.

In a moment, a wave of some fresh confidence came over him. Clearing his voice, he swallowed the phlegm and slowly moved the truck.

“Africa’s King of the jungle, the lion,” said the tour guide, “is both awe-inspiring and terrifying due to its strength, reputation and speed." An approximate estimation of eight hundred and fifty to nine hundred lions live within the Maasai mara national reserve and the surrounding conservancies. The Mara ecosystem is one of the world's premier locations to spot this mighty cat in the wildlife.

Lions are one of the most sociable big cat predators, and they generally live in prides of fifteen to twenty lions. A pride can consist of up to three males, several adult female lions, of which one is the dominant female, and several subadults and cubs. Male lions are known to lay territorial claims and defend large pieces of land ranging from thirty to four hundred square kilometers.

The females of this species are known to be lion pride hunters; male lions only occasionally assist during a hunt. They would generally be needed to take down larger animals. Their favorite meals consist of zebra and wild beast, but when they are out of season, beyond the great migration season, they enjoy preying on warthogs and buffalo.

Lions are known to sleep approximately twenty hours a day. "Maasai Mara is also home to the world-famous 'Marsh Pride', a group of lions made famous by the BBC's dig Cat diary and dynasties,” he said confidently.

Suddenly, an elephant appeared grazing beside its calf and caught our attention. The black elephant was a whole heap, a one looking like a moving rock with its tusks shredding down big branches of an acacia tree. It repeatedly flapped its wide-spread ears letting the light leaves swept away by the air.

It seemed to be hurt and furious. My heart throbbed wildly in fear. My legs wobbled like a jelly fish, shivering like a blade of grass amidst the whirlwind. I had never seen such a huge animal before.

As the truck moved a few metres, the shrubs ceased, leaving the land wide open for a better view over the lower plain. A herd of elephants coming to the water as usual appeared out of the far shrubs without warning. They aroused dust, leaving the sky unclear with a poor view.

The view of such a big herd running towards the stream left everyone dumb. On approaching our truck, they sensed our presence. They paused and looked around-then hell broke loose. They paid attention with their ears wide open.

“One of the most common views of a 'Big Five' animal in the Maasai Mara is of the African elephant,” he started explaining. The elephant is the largest land animal on the planet. At its best, the elephant can grow up to seven and a half metres long, almost three and a half metres high and can weigh up to six tons.

Despite being threatened by poachers for their ivory tusks, the African elephant population in the Mara has grown in recent years. This incredibly intelligent and sociable animal is known for having strong family ties. They are matriarchal, which means they live in female-led groups.

Generally, the matriarch is the largest and the eldest elephant of the group. She leads a multi-generational herd of females, known as cows, and their offspring.

The adult male elephants usually live on their own, but occasionally form small groups of their own. Family units are usually made up of approximately ten elephants. Though at times several family units get together, forming a 'clan' of up to seventy elephants led by a single female elephant.

"Elephants live on a diet of grasses, fruit, roots and bark and can eat up to three hundred pounds of food in a day,” he told us.

The tour guide asked the driver to move towards the rocky area around tall acacia trees where the leopards normally hid. As we drove slowly, he began briefing us about leopards.

“Lions are known for their strength and majestic appeal,” he began, but leopards, on the other hand, are heralded for their grace and stealth. There's quite a large population of leopards living in the Mara. However, they are rather elusive, and not always easy to spot. They are listed as vulnerable due to the loss of their habitation and human encroachment.

These big cats are shy nighttime hunters and tend to hunt on their own. Adult leopards live a solitary life and only get together with the other leopards during mating. They prefer living in wooded savannahs and rocky outcrops; however, there's also a very good chance you'll spot one perched up in a tree.

While hidden up in a tree, they spot their prey with their incredible vision, hearing and a highly developed sense of smell and attack unsuspecting prey from above. Their favorite prey are antelopes and baboons. "Once they've killed their prey, they're known to carry it high into a tree to hide it from other predators,” he said.

In the rocky area, we only saw five cubs, which were healthy and charming. They pleased on their fading sports and shouted in hunger. Without much interest, we moved towards a stream that looked a bit bushy with fading leaves. As we approached the stream, we were lucky to see two leopards.

They were hiding high in acacia branches at different angles, sternly gazing at a rhinoceros calf which was freely jumping up and down a distance far from her mother. The truck stopped, and total silence was witnessed by us. With a twinkling of an eye, the two leopards swiftly jumped over, attacking the calf. Within a blow, they brought the calf down as one of them gasped her firmly on her neck. When they were two, the rhino bitterly moved around them without a remedy.

She painfully watched the predictors devouring her young one, tearing her into two. They roared together with joy about their catch.

My feet felt weak and if I had not moved closer to the frame of the truck to lean on, I’d have collapsed. My hands felt as dumb as a frog as beads of sweat dotted my forehead and my eyes welled with unshed tears. We pitied the calf, but what could we do?

“Kenya is home to both the white and black rhino,” said the tour guide. Although the white rhino is most commonly seen, especially near Lake Nakuru, the black rhino is slightly smaller and more aggressive than the white rhino. In reality, there is only a slight difference in color between the two.

Although the Mara is home to a fairly impressive black rhino population, especially in the Mara Triangle, it isn’t likely that you will encounter rhinos during your Maasai Mara safari. There are between thirty-five to fifty black rhinos living in the

Mara at any given time - although they cross over to the Serengeti park from time to time as well. Most black rhinos live in silently.

The only strong family tie between rhinos is between a mother and her calf. They have poor eyesight, which might explain why they are ready and wired to charge at anything moving for no good reason. They do, however, have a very good sense of hearing and smell.

Black rhinos can live up to thirty-five to forty years in the wild. Adult black rhinos can grow to a height of one and a half metres tall and three and a half metres long. "On average, they weigh up to eight hundred and fifty to one thousand and six hundred kilograms,” he explained in depth.

As he was explaining, all our eyes were fixed on the leopards as they tore meat like robots. When they ate to their capacity, they carried the remaining part to their cubs. Towards the rocky shrubby area, they pulled the meat, leaving some blood spots on the ground.