In March, We travelled to the Masai Mara in Kenya. I used to go the Mara in the past as often as possible, but the last couple of trips were ruined by the ‘crowds’ near the Mara river in migration season. It was awful, with people behaving like idiots, upsetting the animals. I decided not to return. This year however, I repented and decided to try, but this time in low season. We spent five days in Mara north, then 5 days in the Mara triangle, and it was fabulous!

Mara north was a real big cat feast. There was a pride of lions near our camp, and they had cubs. Manor from heaven! There were 2 litters, once 2-3months old, the other a month or so older.

They are so cute, and like most young animals, more active than the adults. The difficulty was that they spend most of the day in deep cover, so I only had short windows in the morning and evening to find and photograph them.

I took hundreds of pictures of them as they are so photogenic!

The best thing about Mara north compared to the national park is the ability to extend the day at both ends. Dawn can be stunning.

There were many great birds around as well, including some lovely kingfishers, one of my absolute favourite families.This is the African pygmy kingfisher. I had never seen one before!

Raptors are always present in good numbers too. This is an Augur buzzard.

And this one, a long crested eagle .

Although I love lions, there is something particularly special about leopards. One afternoon, the game drive was interrupted by a storm. This was great as the rain gives a special atmosphere, and I know that predators will often hunt in rain. I looked hard and soon found a small herd of impala that looked very anxious. Careful scrutinising of the surrounding bush revealed this young male lurking in cover.

He did hunt and tried his luck with a young zebra foal.

I was relieved when he failed, zebra foal… just too cute!

After his failure he wandered off . We followed and were then delighted when his mother appeared. They had some great interaction with many more hundred of photos taken.

She is clearly losing patience with him hanging around in her territory, but didnt actually push him away.

Amazing sighting and it just went on until night fell when they disappeared into the bush again.

Next morning , we found the lions again at a kill. Even the little ones were getting stuck in!

Another predator that I was looking for is the bat eared fox, and they also obliged .

All the predators need prey, and there were plenty of herbivores around. The Thomsons gazelle were numerous and many of the males getting stuck in!

After five amazing days, we moved a little south to the triangle. It was quite diferent in landscape, and rules! Still wonderful though. Classic Mara scenery.

More elephants and some big herds of herbivores out on the plains.

More predators however kept me very busy. The Marsh pride of lions are recovering from the terrible poisoning by the Masai a couple of years ago, but the leopards were again the stars. I saw two big males. The first in a classic leopard pose in a tree.

The other big male was in the next territory just a few kilometres away. The two have apparently had some good fights in the past!

There were also more amazing birds, many of which I had not seen in the past. These are Meyers parrots, adult and youngster.

Yellow throated longclaws are common.

Here is a black chested snake eagle with snake!

And a lovely white stork (no baby!!!)

A large group of hyaenas were tucking into a hippo kill.

Two lions had made the kill and eaten an enormous meal. They waddled to the nearest water hole to drink. Their belly looked more like a hippo then a lion.

Another target was a small cat called a serval. Photographers tend to not bother with midday photography as the light is very harsh. However, that is when I found my serval hunting.

Not great light, but was wonderful to see him hunting in the long grass.

It was a truly fantastic trip. Cant wait to go back!