In January 2022 I had the absolute pleasure of spending nearly two weeks in the Masai Mara staying at Kicheche Bush and Mara Camps. I can’t even think how I would write a blog about the whole experience so I thought I would simply start with one morning, actually the last morning game drive of my trip. We left from Mara camp as usual around 6am and I asked my guide Peter to take me to a Hyena den that I had heard about at dinner the evening before. We arrived before the sun had risen above the hill behind the den, so the first image is simply one hyena in front of the bushes that had the den in the middle of.

Canon R5 and 500mm prime lens 1/320s f/5 ISO 3200 -1 1/3 EV

Then the sun rose and the magic happened!

Canon R6 and RF100-500mm lens at 500mm f/7.1, ISO 100, -2 2/3 EV

Hyenas are generally not the most beautiful of creatures but they work really well when backlit.  Simply down to vehicle positioning, the sun rising behind them and under exposing alot.

Canon R5 and 500mm lens and 2x extender 1/200s f/9 ISO 250 -3 EV

As these images were dependant on the sun being in the correct position this part of the sighting lasted just 30 minutes before the sun had risen too high for us to be able to position ourselves for backlit shots.  This plus the hyenas all decided to go for a nap meant that it was time to move on.  To be honest if this is where the morning ended, I would have been a happy camper but there was more to come.  We headed back in the general direction of camp and on the way found a Lilac Breasted Roller.  I had as yet on this safari not managed to take any images of these gorgeous birds so a perched and in flight shot were needed.  Luckily rollers have a similar habit to many other birds in that they like certain perches and tend to return to them.  This means that it is easier to get a flight shot as you simply (it’s not really that simple) get your shot set up when the bird is perched and hope you are fast enough to get it in the frame and track it when it takes off.  Below are the results.

Canon R5 and 500mm lens with 1.4 extender 1/3200s f/8 ISO 640 +1/3 EV

Peter then got the call on the radio that you always want to get saying a leopard had been spotted so off we went to get to the location in the hopes that we would get there before she moved.  When we arrived, there was another vehicle getting their shots, so we waited until it was my turn.  This is Nelangu who was feeding two young cubs (yes there will be a few images of them to come).

Canon R5 and 500mm lens with 1.4 extender 1/600s f/5.6 ISO 1600 -1 EV

I was just expecting to get the shot of her lounging in the tree but then she got up!  I couldn’t get the coming down the tree shot as there were too many bushes but I did manage to get her out in the open and another vehicle arrived and Paul kindly took an image of me taking images of Nelangu so the shot plus the behind the scenes.

Copyright Paul Goldstein

We moved a couple of times to follow her. She was clearly on the hunt as this last shot is of her in the bushes watching a few Impala waiting for her moment to strike.  Unfortuantely I had a plane to catch so this is where my morning ended.  What an amazing morning in the Mara and I do truly appericate how lucky I am to have seen all of these animals and had the opportunity to take images of them.

Canon R5 and 500mm lens 1/2000s f/7.1 ISO 800 -1 EV