Living the dream of Lion King
An account of my long-awaited bucket list trip to Masai Mara, Africa
Ever since I first dreamt of it in 2019, African dreams refused to leave me in my sleep. I always pictured that perfect sunrise, that beautiful sunset, and the silhouettes of animals forming the character of Savannah grasslands.
Finally, at the end of 2023, this dream came true. I mustered courage and a lot of money, to embark on this surreal trip, with a photography group from Bangalore (the city where I currently stay). The expectations were high and this was my first wildlife trip in a long time after 2018.
We took off from Mumbai and landed in Nairobi after 6 hours. The simple infrastructure of the airport kind of bothered me a bit — but when I stepped out, the crisp blue skies, the heady lovely winds, and the amazing roads lined with greens as far as eyes can see changed my mood to super excited again.
We were traveling to Mara in our huge, widely open Land Cruisers. This made our travel even more enjoyable. We took the main highway that passed through the Great Rift Valley. Masai Mara was at the lower side of that valley. We saw the spot where the equator passed through Africa. It was all the stuff I had only read in textbooks. I never thought I’d see it.
And then after 5 hours of a buttery smooth ride, we reached our resort, Little Zebra Plains. It was a warm cosy resort nestled by the river right next to the forest. With beautifully luxurious tents and polite well-spoken staff, we felt welcome in an instant.
Once we settled down, we were treated to the most delicious and healthy Indian lunch (I guess the hotel customized the food for us, since we were an all Indian crowd). Once we were full with delish food and dreamy views, we boarded the Land Cruisers with our African guides — Joseph, Antoni and others, to head to the great Masai Mara Reserve. My dream was about to come true.
As we entered the park, vast plains littered with short grass and Acacia trees came into view. The Savannahs were just as we had pictured in our minds. Endless, magical and littered with beautiful beasts. As the early evening Sun was starting to get softer, the infinite spread of skies above the grasslands got dotted with many colors. Truly, we had never experienced skies with such a fusion of colors and patterns.
Since it was our first day in Africa, we were excited to see a wide variety of animals, many of which we had only seen in books but never in real life. Our chirpy African guide Joseph obliged, granting us mesmerizing views of the giant and gentle African elephants (Do you know their ears resemble the shape of Africa?), our first ever encounter with pride of African Lions, some beautiful monochromatic Zebras (oh! aren’t they just so magnetic) and the tall and enigmatic Giraffes. (Wow! Are they actually that tall!). I felt like my eyes were unable to soak such wonders of nature in such little time. The heart craved for more.. much more. Sharing a couple of images below.
We spent a good 3 hours feeling the cold crisp wind blowing through our hair and soaking in the unlimited beauty the forest had to offer. We headed back to hotel at 6 PM — as it got dark. Back in the hotel, we were served hot Indian meals with some tasty desserts. We bonded with each other in the group and retired to our comforting rooms (we got escorted by the Masais as a precaution since we were so close to the jungle).
Next morning 5.30 AM, we took off again. This time to take in the magic created by forest in the backdrop of the sunrise. And behold! We weren’t disappointed. As soon as we entered the park, the first rays of the Golden Sun began to disperse through a plethora of blackish clouds. It was stunning. And what was even more stunning was when this Giraffe introspecting-ly decided to walk across the landscape, creating a magical moment for us.
After experiencing these moments of magic, our guide rushed us towards a different spot. Apparently there were majestic Lions there. As we were rushing to that spot, I took in the glorious scenes of the skies dotted with hot air balloons (yes, you can take that 1-hour ride to enjoy landscapes at USD 400). And then, we reached a spot where we saw a heart-warming scene. The male Lion was lovingly taking care of his Lioness as she was limping. He subtly roared and encouraged her to walk. She limped for a couple of steps and then sat down, defeated. He roared again in pain and sat down next to her, licking her gently. It was very humane, very profound.
We slithered away, leaving the Lions alone, and tracked a beautiful female Leopard called Foulu. She was in her teens and not camera shy at all. She kept walking with attitude as we followed her desperate to get some good clicks. She even climbed a rock and gave us a supreme pose. Like that of a queen, looking at her minions. While we have seen ample Leopards in India, seeing them in this backdrop was a different story altogether.
I will not write detailed descriptions of each day as I realized that might become a longer read. Will try to summarize the next few safaris with a short para each. The schedule of mornings and evenings was pretty much the same otherwise. The difference was always in what we spotted and how we spotted it.
In our next Safari, we now wished to see the elusive Cheetah. The fascination was to witness the Fastest Animal on Land. The muscular and light animal was solitary and shy. And we were lucky to witness not just the Cheetahs but also a teeny tiny cub, that relentlessly played with its mother and followed it trotting confidently, to find prey. I have never seen wild cubs ever before. And this phenomenon was every bit worth it to witness. In such peace and tranquility.
We also happened to witness a few rare species such as Ostrich (this was delightfully surprising) and Heart Beast (horns shaped like hearts), along with the scavenger Hyena. We also saw a loner Wildebeest roaming around in Masai Mara whereas all it’s counterparts had migrated to Tanzania. We also saw a Hippo with violet skin, grazing in the grass. Some of the images are not top notch, hence may not be included here.
Post day 2, we spend two days tracking a pride of Lions called Rongai. The pride had two males, Oloshipa and Olobar, who were always on patrol. And then another male, Lorkullup, who is the protector of the pride. The males together are known as Black Rock Boys and they control the pride. It had 11 Lions. The Rongai pride had last eaten a couple of days ago and hence were expected to make a hunt.
We saw the Lions stealthily tracking a herd of close to 100 Buffaloes from afar. The sequence was like this. The herd of Wild Buffaloes walked and grazed at their own pace. The Rongai pride quietly followed them from a distance of about a couple of kilometers and rested and slept whenever the herd was stationary. And we patiently tracked the pride, again resting and waiting in our vehicles, whenever the pride went off to sleep.
We kept wondering for two days, as to why didn’t the Lions go for the kill. However apparently, if the herd of Buffaloes is together, it is tough to attack. A single jolt from the Buffaloes’ horn can damage the Lion for life. And none of the Buffaloes were breaking apart, privy to the fact that the predators were nearby. We got frustrated as well. When will the Lions eat?
But day 4 morning was our lucky day. The moment we arrived at the pride’s resting spot, within minutes, we saw commotion happening. The Lionesses and teenage cubs had gotten up to chase a lone Buffalo that had sauntered away from the herd, right into the pride’s resting place. The Lions formed a strategy. Three of them surrounded her from all sides while the rest 3 tried to get closer to grab a vulnerable part of the animal.
The Buffalo was strong and focused. She kept threatening all the Lions with her horns. She kept charging forward and the meek Lions kept circling desperately to get a breakthrough. The Buffalo used this nervousness to her advantage as she strategically moved closer to her herd, whilst fighting. Soon, she managed to run away into the herd, with the Lions left hungry and desperate for a good meal.
We saw all this with bated breath and gaped. The world of survival was tough. For the Lion, it was survival food. For Buffalo, it was escaping the scathing enemy. Soon after, the herd of 100 Buffaloes looked angrily at the Lions, who did not dare go near.
We came back to the hotel, a bit shaken and wiser. In awe of the Buffalo and wondering what the Lions will do next. It was a rare sight to witness and it was just amazing.
Our last day in Mara was full of nostalgia. It was as if we had moved to another planet. The gorgeous skies, the charismatic animals, and the dreamy landscapes were all that we could ever dream of. One last safari showed us those enigmatic skies again with Zebras and some other animals.
As we left for the airport, our hearts were left behind at Masai Mara. But our body and soul had to move back to India.
A vote of thanks before I end this article:
- Zebra Plains and staff for excellent hospitality
- The Masai Tribe for their excellent English communication skills and beautiful hospitality. We visited a Masai Village and were treated to their local way of life and some amazing African handicrafts
- Our guides relentlessly drove for 10 hours a day, giving us the perfect views of every animal we wished to see.
- Our group — Toehold Photography had made such excellent arrangements for us during the trip
- The beautiful people and animals of Africa. It’s a continent of magic.
My recommendation is that December is a good time to experience Africa for the first time. It’s New Years hence it’s relatively cheaper and empty unlike Migration time in August. If wildlife is your passion or your love, you should save up and go for it- without a doubt.
This entire trip cost us USD 2600 approximately including all charges, meals and airfare from India.
In case you have any queries, or wish to ask something in specific, feel free to write to me in comments. I will be happy to answer and inspire you to travel to this heaven.
LOVE!
