Visiting the Maasai Mara in the month of January

January is a dry and dusty month with cool mornings and warm days (temperatures ranging from 16 to 31 degrees centigrade). Towards the end of the month some consistent late afternoon and evening rain showers can be experienced, clearing the air, settling the dust and bringing on a new green flush of growth to the plains.

The new growth in the grasslands sustains many zebras, wildebeests and small breeding herds of eland who graze throughout the Musiara and Paradise Plains areas. In the woodlands around the Talek River, family units of elephant can be seen with their young ones. There are also a few males wandering about from herd to herd. The Warburgia trees fruit at this time of the year and help keep the elephant families well fed.

In Little Governors' Camp there are some very fruitful Warburgia trees and some elephant visit the camp daily, sometimes three times a day to feast on the fallen fruits, much to the delight of guests and camp staff alike.

 If you are lucky you may have other wonderful sightings in camp during this month including watching hippos on the banks of the Mara River near the Il Moran camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giraffes with young in crèches are well spread out in the woodlands surrounding the camps. Groups of males of varying ages can be seen sparring, pushing against one another and swinging their necks at each other to swipe their opponent with the protrusions on their heads. Giraffes have seven vertebrae in their long necks and can deliver a solid thump to a rival male.

Other residents of the woodland verges are impala, bushbuck and Olive Baboons and the marsh grasslands are home to Bohors Reedbucks. Large numbers of topi and Cokes Hartebeest and their three month old calves graze throughout the plains.

The short grass plains are home to Thomson Gazelles in loose associated breeding herds, with bachelor males living on the periphery of the herds. The males constantly need to work to hold their territory and they do this by marking grass stems with a secretion from their pre-orbital glands. Once a territory is marked the males will often try to herd females into the centre of it. Gestation for the female Thomson Gazelle is 5½-6 months and they will typically come into oestrus within two weeks of calving. This means that females are able to have two offspring in just over a year. Females that are isolated from a herd are often not far from their fawns hidden in the grass. Grants gazelles in smaller herds are also found on the short grass plains. It is not uncommon to see the two species intermixed although the Grants is not such a selective feeder or as water dependant as its Thomson cousin, so will tolerate a harsher environment and will browse more readily.

Serval Cats can be seen in the long grasses of the plains and sometimes wonderful sightings of a Caracal cat in the rocky habitats. Bat Eared Foxes also come out on the ridges looking for harvester termites and dung beetles to feed on.

Near the former airstrip (Bila Shaka), there are sightings of the Bila Shaka / Marsh Pride (of four females and nine cubs). They feed well off eland and zebra.

The Paradise/Ridge pride of 4 males, sometimes 5, and seven females can be seen daily. They have also been feeding off zebra and eland.

The resident cheetahs are also a constant attraction this month. In January 2009, one of the females Shakira with her three healthy cubs (six months old) was seen frequently hunting Thomson gazelles and their fawns and the reedbuck.

The three nomadic males hunt up on the ridges and plains. The other female cheetah includes, Alama and Serena, who have been busy in 2009 raising their cubs some who were tragically lost.

The resident leopards of the Musiara area on the Mara are also thriving. Kijana, the young male, has been hunting on the fringes of the marsh and riverine woodland. A young female has been patrolling the croton thickets adjacent to the river and a female with two cubs is resident on the banks of the Talek River. Another female has been hunting around the luggas.

This is the magic of the Musiara Mash corner of the Maasai Mara.

 Source: Governors Camp game report