#masai_mara

[adyeri]

Epic Gorilla Trekking experience and Fascinating Masai Mara Game Drives

After an epic gorilla trekking trip to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, we set off for a 6 day fascinating Masai Mara experience.

https://www.adyeri.co/7-days-gorilla-tour-and-masai-mara-experience

[nssar]

#masai #masai_mara #elephant #national #canon300mm28 (at Masai Mara National Reserve)

[adyeri]

How to survive freak accidents on holiday

They're highly unlikely eventualities, but freak accidents do happen. Your strategy in dealing with a dangerous encounter will depend entirely on the species of beast - a lion, for example, you should back away slowly from but never turn and run  

While the vast majority of safari expeditions are safe, no drive is ever risk-free when it comes to wild animals. 

Your strategy in dealing with a dangerous encounter will depend entirely on the species of beast.

Find yourself face-to-face with a lion, for example, and you'll need to make direct eye contact and back away very slowly. Never turn your back, never run.

If you endure a stand-off with a leopard, the reverse is true. Here, you'll need to avoid eye-contact at all costs and hope they lose interest.

Elephants may look slow and peaceful, but they can be highly aggressive and very capable of harm. The trick here is to stand your ground and pretend to be brave. You're be hoping they'll make one or two mock charges, then saunter off when unchallenged.

As for a buffalo, there'll be no such warning. You'll never outrun one, nor survive them in combat, so your only option is to get a head start and climb a tree. 

[adyeri]

Wildlife encounters you will never forget

LION FEEDING FRENZY, KENYA          

 THE ENCOUNTER

In Africa, everyone is a cat person. Giraffe are endearing, elephants are imposing, hippos can bellow like no one's business, but it is the big cats that are really mesmerizing, both for their beauty and for their ability to eviscerate you should the mood take them.

Of all the cats, the lions put on the best show. Leopards and cheetahs are shy, solitary creatures; lions, by contrast, let it all hang out. They seem remarkably unperturbed by spectators, whether they are engaged in marathon mating sessions or just lounging around on a tree branch.

The most spectacular moment for a lion encounter is, of course, feeding time, and since lions spend several days feasting off a kill, plenty of safari-goers get the chance to gatecrash a meal.

It is not a sight for the squeamish; if its good manners you want, stay at home. Safari is life unedited and when animals feed, there is plenty of blood and guts involved – literally. However, it is fascinating to see a wild animal eat. Turns out that lions' tongues are as rough as sandpaper, more than a match for the tender underbellies of their prey.

One of the most impressive things about life on the African plains is how many animals a single kill can sustain. Once the lions have taken their share of the carcass, other animals get a go. None will make a move while the lions surround the carcass, alternately dining and dozing, but a few metres away, a hungry horde eagerly positions itself, its members squabbling among themselves over who gets priority. The burly hyenas are top of the pecking order, followed by the slender jackals and finally the vultures. There will be enough for everyone, even if the poor old vultures have to make do with the least tempting morsels. 

NEED TO KNOW

Kenyan safari camps offer twice-daily game drives under the supervision of expert guides. The best wildlife viewing happens between the months of July and October. Leave the littlies at home; safari requires the ability to sit quietly for long periods of time

ESSENTIALS

Mara Ngenche Safari Camp, an intimate tented camp overlooking a hippo pool, offers spectacular wildlife encounters. Room and board rates start from $US807 ($1075).  

SPOTTING GORILLAS, UGANDA

  THE ENCOUNTER

Gorillas have always driven humans a bit nutty. How else to explain their roles in Tarzan, and King Kong, and Planet of the Apes – how else to explain the likes of Dian Fossey going almost insane when gorillas emerged from the mist.

And yet, for an animal that has dominated our thoughts for so long, mountain gorillas are now so rare as to be just a human war or serious disease away from permanent annihilation. They are five times rarer than tigers, three times rarer than giant pandas, and you absolutely don't come across them by accident.

Instead, in a very few places, including Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, tourists can go on expensive, organized treks to reach the dwindling world of the mountain gorilla.

The rules and regulations are extensive – a maximum of 24 people a day are permitted to see the apes, with interactions limited to an hour, so as not to over-familiarize the gorillas with people, and to cut down on the chances of tourists doing something stupid.

Although they're completely wild, gorilla trekking in Bwindi comes with a virtual guarantee of success and a little hardship too.

"It seems really very unfair that man should have chosen them to symbolize everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not, and that we are."

NEED TO KNOW

You're not allowed to get closer than seven meters from mountain gorillas, but that doesn't mean they won't get closer to you. When they approach, don't stare into their eyes too long and try not to bare your teeth – even if all you want to do is smile. 

THE ESSENTIALS                                                               

You can track gorillas year-round, although the height of the rainy seasons can make the conditions heavy going. The best times are in the drier months from about June to mid-September or December to February.

[nikalad]

Lion cub in Masai Mara by regina_austria Via Flickr: My Kenya pics on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp7xDazVZrE www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-xM8ns8Xg&feature=related www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKmg5VjsWFM&feature=related