Maasai Mara Kenya | The killing fields
Inside Africa's big cat central, watching games of life and death
She crouches—and goes down flat on her belly. She slides a few paces ahead and pauses. Five feet behind her, on cue, another lioness, all stunning rust in the African savannah, performs the exact same manoeuvre. Five feet behind her, a third lioness takes position, ready to follow suit. Five more wait behind. It’s almost like they have all queued up to go on stage for a group dance.
“It’s a ‘fan’ hunt,” John, our driver, whispers. He points to the herd of Thomson’s gazelles on the next hillock. “That’s where they’re headed. They will stealthily make their way close to the herd. Then the first five will fan out, and surround the unsuspecting gazelles. All but three of them will attack from all sides, and drive the herd straight into the jaws of the others who will be waiting in the bush.”
“It is the way of the jungle,” John says. It is clearly a line he has used often. Yet, as I watch the entire operation proceed like clockwork, his words ring true. When I reach Maasai Mara (or the Mara as it is known by locals), and spend my days on the trail of the big cats, I realize that everything I’ve ever heard, read, seen about the Mara is true.
Here, animals truly own the region. As a travel writer, I’ve often had to drive around for hours for that one breathtaking sighting, if at all. But here, all I have to do is head outdoors, and the big guns are right there, hunting, sunbathing, going about their business, often less than 5ft away.
******
Unlike the towering canopies of most Indian forests, the distinctive acacia squats across the flat plains as if it had started to grow, but changed its mind and decided mid-way that it’d rather not grow any more. White clouds drift across the blue sky—I can see some of the largest raptors in the world fly across it.
On my first drive to Narok, on the eastern side of the park, I see a scene that could have been from any movie on Africa. Hundreds of antelopes and zebras graze across the plains. Giraffes saunter past, heads bobbing slowly with each step. In the distance, elephants throw mud up near a large waterhole, their bodies forming a continuum of grey against a backdrop of rising mountains. I watch silently, a foreigner in their world, yet feeling there’s nowhere else I’d rather belong.
******
Our morning safari starts at 5.30 in Narok. Soon, a lone lion walks out from under a cluster of trees and strolls alongside our car. His dark mane blows in the breeze. His keen eyes watch us. He is 4ft long and nearly 200kg in weight.
He stops and roars every few seconds. The sound rings in my ears. I can see why the jungle freezes when a big cat belts one out. I can look at nothing else; the king has filled the landscape with his presence.
“He’s calling to the pride,” John says. “It is not common for a lion to be on his own.” This male, he adds, is an outsider, and has defeated the ruling alpha in the resident pride. The lionesses are hiding in fear that this victor will kill their cubs as well, while the new king roars in vain for a pride to rule.
A few hours later, I see a cheetah fail at a hunt, as a tiny gazelle zigzags her escape from the fastest cat in the world. The cheetah can run at 100-120 kmph, but if she runs more than 500m at a stretch, it could be fatal for her heart. This cheetah, a mother with cubs to feed, gives up and sinks to the ground. I say, “Oh no,” while someone else in a neighbouring vehicle says, “Oh, thank God.” We look at each other and smile.
The Mara river forms the site for one of the most epic migrations in the world, a spectacle I’m fated to miss by a couple of months on this trip. Every year, from July to September, the wildebeest migrate to and from the Serengeti, Tanzania, in millions, literally in search of greener pastures.
The jungle is generous to me. In just two days, I see almost all the wildlife there is. On the last afternoon drive, this time through the Mara Triangle (in the north-western part of the Maasai Mara), I see a pride of lionesses taking an afternoon siesta while the cubs, tiny orange balls of fur, play nearby, biting each others’ ears and attempting, in the most ungainly fashion, to climb trees.
The rare dik-dik, the tiniest antelope I’ve ever seen (it’s the size of a small dog), darts past our car. Hippos grunt warnings from the rivers. The endangered black and white rhinoceros stomp through the plains with horns held high. Spotted hyenas laugh as I drive past, as if ridiculing my desperation for a mere glimpse into their world.
There’s no doubt about whose land this is. In our hurry to drive to the gate that evening, we have a run-in with a tusker. He is clearly angry at the disturbance caused to the young in his herd by our car. He flaps his massive ears and trumpets his displeasure.
We back our car away and wait. In Maasai Mara, you don’t mess with the wild.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Kenya Airways flies directly from Mumbai to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. Major airlines like Jet Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways fly out of Mumbai and Delhi (fare starts from 20,000-25,000, one way). All parks are a 45-minute flight from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. For tour services in Kenya, see a graded listing by KATO (Kenya Association of Tour Operators)
Places to stay:
Mara Serena Safari Lodge is an eco-property styled like a local Maasai village (around 20,000-25,000 for double occupancy, per night; www.serenahotels.com/serenamara). Keekorok Lodge—Sun Africa Hotels has great views of the Mara forests (23,000 for double occupancy, per night).
Places to eat:
In the Mara, you will be restricted to eating at your lodge. Spreads include local Kenyan food, seafood and exotic meat (ostrich, crocodile and ox).
Things to do:
Try the hot-air balloon ride for $500 per person. Visit a local Maasai village. Take a night game drive for $90-100—slightly expensive but an experience to remember.
You will need to take yellow fever shots 10 days before the day of travel. It costs 300 and is valid for 10 years. Register at the venue between 10am-11am and go later for the shot at Vaccination Centre, Arrivals Terminal 2C, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (91-22-26828991); and Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre, Airport Authority of India Quarters, T1, Delhi (91-11-25652129).
Sejal Mehta is a freelance writer/editor based in Mumbai, and though she writes about pretty much everything, she admits to a self-confessed bias for big cats.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:21 Sep 2013, 12:33 AM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High