Lion In The Thick(et) Of Things

Unlike James and the Lewa Conservancy guides, Robert had an old school radio that the guides used to trade information about sightings.  

Now the trick is that the guides all talk to each other in Swahili, so their clients can’t follow what’s happening.  That’s fine by me – it heightens the anticipation when the radio crackles or we get flagged down by a ranger.

And the latter is what happened after we had turned back into Kenya.  The ranger told Robert that a male lion had been spotted at a nearby stream crossing (it wasn’t big enough to be a river, but not small to be a creek).

(Editor: Can you define the difference between a stream and a creek?  Writer: One starts with “s” while the other starts with “c”?)

We followed the ranger, and a few other safari vehicles, crashing through the stream, bouncing along the rocks to the other side.  Up the dirt road (they are ALL dirt roads), and then left into the field next to the thicket at the stream. 

Getting there just in time to see the lion before he disappeared into the thicket, we then doubled back to the other side of the thicket.  He popped through the thicket still on the same side of the stream that we were on.  Then he went down, forded the stream and popped up the other side.

Figuring the lion was going to do this, Robert doubled back across the stream crossing and popped up in time to watch the lion show, and then disappear.  There were multiple crevices, so Robert couldn’t follow the lion any further.  Still, it was beginning to seem like lions are everywhere in Masai Mara.  They are more plentiful in Masai Mara than in Lewa, for two reasons – more rain means more green grasses for their prey to eat, and the great migration goes through Masai Mara, so lots of targets of opportunity.

After tracking the lion through the thickets, we did a pretty good drive around, as we didn’t need to be back for breakfast.  We had already had breakfast on the grasslands, expertly cooked by Robert.

The King.