Grand Kenyan Roadtrip - Part 2 The Maasai Mara
- Dominic Cormier
- Mar 19
- 16 min read
Updated: Jul 9
Day 7 - April 6
Finally a sleep in, and yet, no real rest for the wicked. By mid-afternoon, Tim's Nissan X-trail was loaded for two weeks of camping and rough roads ahead. We planned to make the trip southwest to the ever calling Massai Mara, and then northward to do a big loop from the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya to Samburu and Shaba, onward to Mt. Ololokwe, and then back south through Meru NP and home to Nairobi.
After our coastal foray, it was too much to try for the Mara in a day, so we set our sights on the closer Hell's Gate. Not on the typical birding tour circuit, Hell's Gate NP, nestled between Mt. Longonot and Lake Naivasha, offers a great mix of birds, rock climbing, wildlife, and some great camping. Naiburta campsite, in a grove of trees perched along a ridge overlooking the valley, has a very Canadian campground feel, and Tim's go to when he needs to escape the bustle of the city.
As we slowly wound out of Nairobi, traffic was heavy but flowing. After a quick stop alongside the busy highway at Manguo Swamp for my lifer White-backed Ducks, we had a more important stop to make. Among the fertile lower slopes of the flanking Aberdare Mountains, there are remnant patches of native grassland. In those patches is found the endemic Sharpe's Longclaw. This diminutive longclaw, like a mix between a pipit and a meadowlark, hangs on in these uncertain times. As we pulled off the main highway and past farms and shelterbelts, we came upon a small patch of grassland known to host the longclaw. Gazing at this habitat fragment, I was visited by the familiar twin spectres: hope and dread. Dread that such an amazing creature is reduced to so little, and hope that they are still alive with song amid the thinnest of margins. With complete disregard for getting our feet wet, we sloshed through the wet grassland, gazing in wonder at many Sharp's Longclaws. My emotions were running high as a Wing-snapping Cisticola gave its wing snapping flight display, and a Levaillant's Cisticola made an appearance. It will be a sad day if these habitats are lost forever.
With the day waning, we left the longclaw field. Navigating around the town of Naivasha, we made it to Hell's Gate after dark. Driving through the valley, it was fun to spot zebras and antelopes in the glow of the headlights. We even tried to spot the striking Bat-eared Fox which Tim and Angela had seen on their last visit. No luck with the fox, but with the tent set up, and a delicious meal sizzling on the camp stove, we were ready for another days' adventure.
Day 8 - April 7
Before I even opened my eyes, I could hear that our tent was surrounded by a flurry of bird activity. Slipping out into the light of day, I was quickly enjoying a new suite of birds. Nyanza Swifts were out in droves, sometimes flying at eye level as they cruised along the cliff's edge. A Hildebrandt's Spurfowl pecked away in our campsite, and Abyssinian Wheatears and Long-billed Pipits popped up everywhere. I spied the newly minted Lyne's Cisticola and a soaring Booted Eagle, while Red-winged Starlings explored the remnants of our night's meal. We setoff down the scraggly slopes in hopes of finding the Spotted Eagle-Owls which we had heard in the night, but much like the fox, they were elsewhere this day.
With our camp packed up, we continued to explore the slopes. Not long after leaving camp, we heard some raucous cries. Cutting the car engine, and quickly popping up through the sunroof, we were surprised to see a family group of Grey-crested Helmetshrikes practically at arm's length in the trackside acacias. A scarce but gregarious and striking species, this was one of my top targets of the whole trip. It was an absolute joy to watch these birds at such close range; a birding experience not soon forgotten!
Further down the road was the Endachata campsite. Situated along the escarpement overlooking scrubby rock-strewn vales, this is a good spot to find the beautiful Little Rock-Thrush. Intently listening for the song amongst the Golden-breasted Buntings, Reichenow's Seedeaters and the omnipresent Tropical Boubous, we caught snippets of its song. Scrambling around, we eventually got within eyesight of the little songster. Another target down, and the day was still young!
Back down in the valley, we took a pause in the birding to do a bit of rock climbing. Dusting off my climbing shoes for the first time in 6 years, Tim lead us up the Devil's Spire, a rock tower rising up from the valley floor. While not that technically difficult, it was nonetheless a mental challenge for me after such a long hiatus. Despite my fear, I hadn't forgotten any of the knots or safety techniques, though my climbing technique was a bit laborious. With Tim's climbing urge partially sated, the Mara was calling. As we ate a hasty lunch at the foot of the spire, some tame Rock Hyraxes came by for a bit of bread, which Tim offered up without hesitation. With backs turned, the sound of movement made us swivel just in time to watch a fearless baboon leap from our open trunk, a loaf of bread in one hand, a pack of hot dog buns in the other. What a cheeky little bugger. A few grams lighter from the missing bread, we made a quick but successful look for Mocking Cliff-Chat, and hit the road once again.
As we passed through the dusty Loita Plains of Narok county, we planned to make it to a camp at the north gate of the Mara and enter the park the following day. Like most of this trip, no drive is replete without a birding stop or two. The first happened unexpectedly as we spotted a huge flock of the nomadic Abdim's Stork descending upon a field; we could only assume it was being depleted of any and all arthropods. Next was a scheduled stop in the plateau region north of the Mara. Most normal safari goers would blaze by this habitat without a second thought, but not birders. Here in the sparce grassland, whistling acacias cover the landscape, and the local Maasai Apalis makes its home. Weaving between the acacia trees of this rare habitat, we couldn't find the Apalis. We decided that it required the liveliness of the morning, and made plans to return before entering the park in the morning. As we made our way back to the car, we spotted a Banded Parisoma, an excellent consolation.
Day 9 - April 8
Waking hours before sunrise and discarding all normal morning comforts, we packed up camp and cruised to the apalis spot with unfinished business. On the way, I spied the unmistakeable shape of a courser in a barren soccer pitch. Coursers are some of my absolute favs, and this Double-banded Courser was only the second species of courser I'd seen. After spotting two more of these amazing birds, and being too near a school to linger long with scope, camera and binoculars, we continued along. The whistling acacias were alive on this glorious morning, reminding me why I love birding so much. Confidence high, it wasn't long before we were viewing a Maasai Apalis at close range belting its simple song to the surrounding plains. The cool looking Grey-headed Silverbills, and a Southern Canary-Grosbeak rounded out the outings highlights.
Mission accomplished, it was straight back on the road to the Sekanani gate of the Maasai Mara. Growing up watching National Geographic videos of the great plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania, the Maasai Mara is Kenya's northern slice of this amazing ecosystem. The Mara is living poetry. It is a place where the landscape is alive with the last of the world's large animals, where the grass is punctuated by solitary trees, and cut by rivers and streams with their own little forests guarding their banks. It is a place where one feels alive in the purest sense.
We were through the gate with little hassle, and soon my head was up through the sunroof while Tim drove. Our spirits roared with every new breath as we traversed the northern section of the park, making our way to the Mara Triangle. The triangle is a wetland dominated area in the western side of the park that is bordered by the unique Olololoo escarpment. When Melissa and I visited Tim in 2021, we got a taste of the park, staying at the east gate and exploring the drier savannah of that area. Visiting the triangle would only add to the ensemble of large cats, ungulates, and top notch birds of my first go-around. This amazing ecosystem would take a veritable lifetime to fully explore, but we were ready to do our best.
To enter the triangle from the main section of the park, you cross an additional gate beside the Mara River. The river has been made famous by images of Wildebeests warily trying to cross while Nile crocodiles await their next meal. Being April, the Wildebeest remained well south in Tanzania, but recent rains had turned the river into a mighty torrent, and a far cry from the meandering stream that we saw in 2021! Just before the gate, we made a quick stop along the border with Tanzania so I could stand in that country, make an eBird checklist, and then when asked where I have been in the world, reply with "well technically I have been to Tanzania."
Country hopping over with, we pulled up to the gate, Tim sorted the paperwork, I enjoyed closeups of Cape Robin Chat, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, and we were off. The tall moist grasses of the triangle were teeming with cisticolas as we flew by, eventually arriving at the Eseiya Campsite. All of Kenya's NPs seem to have true campsites; little used, cheap, and only a firepit for amenities. A far cry from the neighbouring and luxurious Serena Lodge, but perfect for us. The idea of tenting it alone surrounded by lions, elephants, and hippos hasn't really caught on with most Kenyans or travelling wildlife enthusiasts. For us canucks, it was perfect. Tucked only a couple hundred meters off a main park road in a small forested dip in the land, we pitched our tent, moved a few large logs for additional protection, enjoyed a smattering of common forest birds, and soaked up the freedom of being able to move about freely, untethered from one's vehicle like the overwhelming majority of visitors to the park. Satisfied with our camping setup and bellies full from a camp meal and a beer or two, we were ready to get back into the Nissan X-trail and see what cool birds and mammals we could find in the waning day.
Shortly after getting back on the main road, we spotted a small gathering of safari vehicles on a side track. Easing our way over, we were delighted to see that they were watching two Cheetahs coolly lazing in the grass. Without a guide and radio, our opportunities to see mammals would have to be more organic. Either we spot the mammals ourselves, or the telltale gathering of safari vehicles. We spent nearly and hour with the cheetahs, content to simple sit and watch. April in the Mara can be wet, with the tall grass not yet mowed down by Wildebeests, making wildlife viewing more difficult. However, the birds are in full song, and it is the touristic off-season. As we watched the cheetahs, a few vehicles came and went, but not the mass convoys that descend upon the park in late summer when the tourists and the Wildebeest return.
With light fading, we decided to take a make a short drive along the Olpunyata Road that hugs part of the gallery forest of the river. With hopes of a leopard or black rhino, neither of which we saw, we nonetheless enjoyed another Dwarf Bittern, and the stunning scene of hundreds of African Openbill storks going to roost, their large flying forms backlit by the setting sun and a double rainbow over one of the world's most breathtaking and precious landscapes!
Day 10 - April 9
With the early morning light already sweeping over the plains, we awoke from our tent no worse for the wear. Our large fire had eventually died sometime in the night, but we had slept undisturbed by any unwanted four-legged visitors. Taking the same road from the previous evening, we wound our way northwest, here and there coming closer to the gallery forest of the river. We enjoyed great looks of my lifer Rufous-bellied Herons, and the fancy looking Long-crested Eagles. Rattling, Winding, Stout, Croaking, Zitting, and Pectoral-patch Cisticolas all clambered for attention while Bateleurs and Marshall Eagles soared overhead. Longclaws and Plain-backed Pipits fled from the dirt road, and various swallows and martins swept overtop of the waving grass. With a quick tip off from some rangers of a lone female lion lounging near the roadside, we spotted the lioness, and after she wandered off, we ourselves left the plains and wound up the rocky road to the top of the escarpment and the Olololoo gate of the park.
After a friendly conversation with the gate warden, we left the vehicle there and set out on foot back down the road to look for the Rock-loving Cisticola, a top target for Tim. Not long in looking, we soon heard what sounded like the jumbled song of our rock loving friend. Sure enough, out popped the cisticola and life was good. A consolatory Green-capped Eremomela added to the joy as did the fact that these birds were backdropped by the sweeping plains of the Maasai Mara stretched out far below. Turning around, we walked back to the gate and beyond the park into the open forest of the escarpment top. Try as we may, we could not find any Schalow's Turacos, though the equally striking Ross' Turacos made an appearance. Trilling Cisticolas were also trilling away, adding to my ever growing cisticola list. Scrambling up and down a steep ravine, we enjoy a nice waterfall, occasionally looking up and spotting Black-chested and Brown Snake-Eagles soaring along the escarpment edge.
Leaving the Schalow's quest for the following day, we weaved back down the escarpment and took a long looping drive around the entire triangle! Hoping for some good mammals, we were nonetheless content with whatever we could find. As we swept south all the way back to the river gate we attempted some side tracks. Tim was convinced one very overgrown sidetrack was actually more a of a main detour to cut over to the other side of the loop. As we drove along through the waist high grass, it appeared we were mistaken. We eventually managed to turn the Nissan around, but not before flushing an African Crake (good!), and hitting an unknown object/rut (bad!). Not to be melodramatic, but that has to be the biggest smack a vehicle has taken without caving in the front axle; We were lucky... no more side roads where we can't see the tracks. As we looped back north, we spotted a group of Black-rumped Waxbills on a more gentle sidetrack, but no leopards in the gallery forest. Finally back at camp after another long and incredible day, we tucked into some hearty camp scoff, lit the fire, and hit the hay!
Day 11 - April 10
Camping out in the mara was bound to give us an interesting fireside wildlife encounter or two. In the dark wee hours, Tim and I both stirred awake to the rhythmic sound of a large beast grazing away in the open pockets of the copse not far from our tent. Sticking his head out through the tent flap, Tim calmly told the now revealed Hippo to move along. It slipped away in the night, and we both went back to sleep after restoking the fire. Hippos can be super dangerous during the day and in the water, but shy and retiring at night when grazing on land.
Today was another big day in the Triangle. Our first plan of action was to pack up and move a short distance to the Eluai campsite just to switch things up. Situated atop a small forested hill, the top is all open, and provides a more 'out on the plains' feel. Next up was to return to the escarpment to look for the turaco, and then go from there. On our way we stopped to glimpse some almost completely hidden lions, and then were tipped off that a Black Rhino had just crossed the road not far up ahead. Spotting the telltale droppings on the road, it appeared that the rhino had wandered off into the shrubby landscape. Scanning fervently, we spotted the elusive animal now a few hundred meters away in and amongst the shrubs. A few vehicles rolled up, and we did our best to get them on the rhino as it weaved in and out of view. Quite the start to our day!
At the Olololoo Gate, we were greeted by our friend from yesterday, and knowing the drill, we parked the car and started wandering to the large fruiting trees that are favoured by the Turacos. This time, we were in luck. After some ducking and weaving through the surrounding shrubs, I enjoyed some crippling views of one gorging on fruits above in the canopy. We continued to dip and weave about the copse, following the birds as they treehopped around the area. Along with the Turacos, we spotted the uncommon Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Miombo Wren-Warblers, and like always, a host of other interesting birds that would turn all parts of this narrative into one long, and for the non hardcore birders, tedious list.
As we descended the escarpment, some spurfowl immerged from the grass. Coqui Francolin and Red-necked Spurfowls are both common birds of the Mara, and we had seen plenty, but these two had a different vibe. Tim sprung from driver's seat and up through the roof in a flash as we set eyes on the elusive Red-winged Francolin, a nemesis of Tim's. My excitement paled in comparison to his. Joy coursed through all his fibers. He even managed some half decent photos which he promptly broadcast on whatsapp to his birding buddies! With his day made, we took yesterday's sweeping road south to the Mara River gate. We had one particular target in mind that could be reliably found just past the gate, the Rufous-tailed Weaver. Unknown in Kenya for quite sometime, this once endemic to Tanzania can now be found in low numbers in the Mara. As we drove to the gate, my eyes caught a form that always gives an instant dopamine rush, coursers! Screeching to a halt, we laid eyes on a pair of Temminck's Coursers scurrying around some sparsely vegetated terrain. Coursers are such fantastic birds, especially lifer ones!
With GPS point in hand, we found the weaver tree without difficulty. As we sat atop the vehicle, two of these large, scaly plumaged weavers came to investigate. Not being one to miss an opportunity for a but of shenanigans, Tim tossed the weavers and Superb Starlings some bread. They quickly devoured the offerings on hand, as we enjoy the closest of views. With a sense of impending weather, we decided to head back to camp.
As we drove north the sky darkened on the horizon. As far as the eye could see, dense dark clouds shrouded the landscape. As the system approached, I knew that the rain would be positively biblical. I have been caught out in some serious rainstorms that sweep across the Canadian prairies, or dense thunderstorms in the east, but as the sky turned black, and the rain lashed the car, I knew this one topped it all. A veritable torrent from the heavens was unleashed that day upon the Mara! As we drove to camp, the banks of the road, barely visible were all that we could see to guide us. We made it to our hilltop campsite and waited out the storm. Thoughts of the tent remaining standing and dry were quickly dashed. Eventually the sky cleared, and we set about drying things as best we could. In the end we made a half decent job of it, and while that evening's rest was damp, it was passable. As we cooked our supper on another fantastic day on the Mara, a hyena gave us a few passing glances, but once our heads hit the pillow, we slept undisturbed until morning.
Day 12 - April 12
It was finally time to leave the Mara and head back to Nairobi. With so much rain (a record rainfall), we reckoned there would be some washouts to contend with, but also perhaps a good opportunity for some elusive waterbirds that when it rains, take advantage of the seasonally flooded wetlands to breed. As we drove towards our rhino spot from the previous day, it wasn't long before the newly flooded road prevented us from going any further. Nonetheless, it looked like as good a spot as any to have a look around. We spotted some Cardinal Queleas, a sure sign of birds being drawn to the rains. Then Tim cried out 'crake'! Indeed here was ANOTHER African Crake. This one was visible amongst the grass, whereas the previous day's bird had been an elusive form that flushed in front of the vehicle. Things were already cooking. As we drove towards the two main roads back to the mara gate, we spotted the dark form of a small falcon. As it flew, we noted the all dark body, small size, and reddish undertail coverts. It was a scarce and migrating Red-footed Falcon, a lifer for both. Not long after, some francolins emerged from the grass, and we delighted to see they were once again Red-winged Francolins. The wet grass must have pushed these normally elusive birds to the road edges. Taking the shorter way back to the gate, we quickly realized that would not be possible. Once a small stream that we had crossed many times in the previous days, it was now a veritable river. To top it off, a Hippo floated completely submerged where, the day before, the water had been ankle high! Reversing course, we took what turned out to be the only road left open in all the triangle. As we left the Triangle for the last time, I knew that those 3 days would leave an indelible mark on my soul.
Crossing the Mara river, it was even more violent than the first day when we entered. There is good engineering work in that bridge to withstand such an onslaught. The main road north was slow going. Despite the drier landscape, the road had nonetheless taken a beating from the rain, and we slipped around in various parts. Toward the end of our drive, and on more solid ground, we were still on the lookout for one last target, the Magpie Shrike. Liking the more hilly shrubby areas of the park, we had yet to lay eyes on these social and rather unique birds. Striking in their black and white plumage, they look like a cross between a shrike and a magpie. Not long after wondering aloud if we would miss them, a raucous group appeared, sallying from shrub top to shrub top, their funky long tails swinging about. A perfect bird to end our Maasai Mara adventure.
The road back to Nairobi was long and tiring, but we did our best to stay alert. As we belted out our newly learnt rendition of 'I'm just Ken' from the Barbie movie, comic relief for even the most weary, we made it back to Tim's place in one piece. Collecting our wits, it was time for one last side adventure. In a hotel in Nairobi is Kenya's one and only ice rink, and tonight was pickup night. Despite being zonked, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play hockey in Kenya! Donning a mishmash of used gear, I stepped on to the ice with the Ice Lions of Kenya. While there are a few Canadians, including Tim, that are regulars at pickup, most are Kenyans enjoying our national sport. A great experience that was only hampered slightly by the most ankle busting skates I have ever worn. If anyone is feeling charitable, buy the Ice Lions some proper skates! While the most dedicated players have decent skates, the offerings for the new skaters is rough. Bauer should be ashamed to sell such crap. If I return to Kenya, I am packing my skates if only to play even once!
Comments