Kenya
August in the Mara greets us with cool mornings of around 14°C and warm days peaking at 28°C, beginning with spectacular sunrises. As the migration sweeps through, the grasslands are grazed short and dry. Herds of wildebeests and zebras follow the rains and green pastures, often forming vast carpets stretching from Governors’ Camp as far as the eye can see. Rivers bustle with drama, especially at midday, as large crossings see crocodiles preying on wildebeest.
Elephant herds, including young calves, are frequently seen crossing the Mara River or visiting camp to feed on Teclea nobilis trees, sometimes toppling them. When the wildebeest arrive en masse, elephants feel the pressure and retreat to woodlands. A herd of 500 buffalo returns to the Marsh, where water and coarse grasses are plentiful; males vigilantly protect calves, sometimes chasing lions up trees if they approach too closely.
Large groups of giraffe migrate between feeding areas. Topi and Coke’s hartebeest are widely dispersed across the short grass plains, both heavily pregnant. Eland browse on croton bush fruit, while impala with new fawns gather at the woodland edge. Olive baboons, many with new infants, are plentiful.
Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles birth their young on short grass plains. In August, warthog sows leave their families to farrow alone in separate burrows, nursing piglets for several weeks – sometimes even fostering others’ young. Spotted hyenas are seen everywhere, and as the grasses are grazed down, sightings of serval cats rise. With lower Mara River levels, hippos crowd closer together, heightening stress and aggression among males; they’re also often observed grazing during the day.
The abundant food keeps the Marsh Pride of lions centered around Governors’ Camp, hunting wildebeest every day. Leopards linger in the surrounding woodlands, and cheetah hunt Thomson’s gazelles on the open plains.
In the forests, quinine trees lose leaves then rapidly bloom with fruit and flowers, attracting species like black-and-white hornbills, turacos, double-toothed barbets, and olive pigeons. Water-dependent species include saddle-billed and yellow-billed storks, sacred ibises, and the season’s first spoon-billed storks. Ostriches out on the plains are tending to nests of eggs.
