Morning Stroll in the Mara

We were heading up the hill on an early morning walk a few days ago, when we saw four lionesses in front of us walking towards Lion Ridge. We stopped and watched them as they slid into the bushes and out of sight. As we were getting to the top of the hill, we heard a lot of commotion coming from the other side of the valley where the Lionesses had disappeared into. 

The Lionesses had walked into the two new males of the Offbeat Pride; they had been lying on the rocks catching the early morning sun. There was a very noisy and brief conflict that lasted for about a minute. We watched and listened from the other side of the valley and could see the lions scrapping and running around the bushes. 

One of the females in the group has been looking after the surviving cubs from the previous Offbeat Males. The females were all quickly chased off; the two males especially targeted the female who has been with the cubs from the previous Offbeat Males. We saw her running down, off lion ridge, quickly through a heard of wildebeests and zebras and down into another valley. The other females moved to the other side of Lion ridge away from the males. It was very interesting to see the different behavior towards the individual who has still not bonded with the new males.  

Being at a height and on foot, we had the advantage of watching them interact, without them being at all influenced by our presence or the presence of a vehicle. It was a very exciting moment to watch the whole scenario take place on foot. This would not have been seen form a car! 

We carried on with our walk heading down into a valley where no roads have yet been made, so it is still very wild and beautiful.  We looked for a safe place to cross the Olare Orok River, as the rain further upstream had brought the water up. We jumped across the rocks that were above the water and headed up to a delicious breakfast that had been set up for us.