Tag: Maasai Mara Nationa lReserve

Female elephant in Talek River, Maasai Mara - Copyright Rupi Mangat

Magic in the Mara

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Above: Female elephant in Talek River, Maasai Mara – Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 15 December 2018

It’s sunrise but there’s still a full moon in the sky. The dawn light is magical while the sprawl of the Mara is enchanting. In the soft light, the gazelles gambol and the warthogs graze on knees bent, their necks too short to reach the ground.

Dawn in Maasai Mara - Copyright Rupi Mangat
Dawn in Maasai Mara – Copyright Rupi Mangat

New-born foals suckle at their mothers’ breast while the tiny warthog babies vanish into the grass nervous of people. It’s the season of plenty for the herbivores with so much grass around. Well-fed and healthy, they give birth soon after the rains turning the vast grasslands into a nursery. Continue reading “Magic in the Mara” →

Mara Fast Five and the Talek Hyena Clan

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Above: One of the Fast Five in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 24 November 2018

Within minutes of driving past the fenced lands of the Maasai and Sekanani gate, we’re in the great Mara. It’s phenomenal that the difference can be so stark. One side is people, cattle and fences where until a decade ago there were few.

IYoung giraffe in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Young giraffe with ox-peckers feeding on the ticks in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Continue reading “Mara Fast Five and the Talek Hyena Clan” →

Karanja at the Nairobi Museum

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Above:Karanja the black rhino – his skeleton next to a model of a white rhino – copyright Rupi Mangat

Pubished 17 November 2018

In keeping with his celebrity status, Karanja the black rhino charmed important dignitaries that included the ambassadors to Kenya from Italy, Ethiopia and Algeria, researchers, curious guests and all to his opening day on 31 October 2018 at the Nairobi National Museum.

Karanja the black rhino - his skeleton next to a model of a white rhino - copyright Rupi Mangat
Karanja the black rhino – his skeleton next to a model of a white rhino – copyright Rupi Mangat

Continue reading “Karanja at the Nairobi Museum” →

West Side Story

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Published: The East African (Nation Media)

Friends wanted a holiday with a difference. Not the usual coast and game parks. Since it was August, high on the list was the migration. That is, the annual migration of the wildebeest trekking in from neighbouring Serengeti into the Mara following the grass route that is their diet.

So with 10 days on hand to arrange a safari on a budget – that was the other thing – it had to be affordable and at the same time not cheap hovels. It’s a notion that you can only enjoy a holiday if you have tons of money in high-end hotels and lodges. Kenya and the rest of East Africa are opening up to local budget travellers in style.

This was easy. From the Mara to Mfangano via Mbita Point and return via Menengai – by chance all beginning with M, we set out to our first destination. Continue reading “West Side Story” →

The Jaw-Dropping Migration of the Wildebeest

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Part 1 of 2

Above: The annual Mara Migration of the wildebeest from the Serengeti
Copyright Rupi Mangat

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Sunrise in thel Mara Copyright Rupi Mangat

There is excitement in the air. We’ve been on the plains since sunrise, watching the sun shed its light on the vast grass plains of the Maasai Mara, tinting the long stalks gold and warming the earth. It’s the time of plenty and the wildebeest take full advantage of the good tidings following the grass route from the neighbouring Serengeti and into the Mara, mowing the grass down as they move in a tidal wave. And we’re following them in the hope of watching a river crossing.

Continue reading “The Jaw-Dropping Migration of the Wildebeest” →