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Naibor Camp – Masai Mara

https://youtu.be/jA4xm_opXwM

Just before the night fall, after a long drive on the dirt roads in an open Land Rover, we arrive at the Naibor campsite. A deep guttural roaring comes from the Masai Mara grasslands. The Naibor campsite is in the heart of Kenya’s National Game Reserve. At my tent, a tall man dressed in a beautiful traditional Masai blanket gives me a torch. This is not a torch for me to use for walking around at night, it is for my own safety, so that I can signal to him in case I have to leave the tent. The reality of where I am hits me when I wake up to a strange sound of something sniffing and pushing up against the table by my tent entrance. I decided not to move and waited until daylight to find out what that was. In the morning we had a look at the wooden furniture and found out that a baby hyena must have wondered passed my tent and had a good scratch.

I have never been a fan of enclosures for animals, animal circuses and zoos give me the chills, so until that day I have seen hyenas, lions and elephants only on wildlife documentaries. Somehow in this open wilderness everything seems to feel, smell taste and sound more clear and stronger, somehow it seems completely natural and peaceful. I have heard some incredible stories from friends that have spent their lives in the bushes researching lions and hyenas but not until I had close encounters in the Masai Mara, could I ever imagine just how magnificent these animals are and how vast the landscapes in Africa. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is about 1,500 km². It is the northern-most section of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, which covers about 25,000 km² in Tanzania and Kenya. Wildebeest are the dominant inhabitants of the Maasai Mara where yearly around 1,3 million wildebeest, thousands of gazelle, elands and zebras migrate between Masai Mara and the Serengeti. They are followed by lions and hyenas. This Great Migration is one of the most powerful experiences of natural events on our earth.

The Masai Mara is a major research centre for the spotted hyena and the Mara-Meru Cheetah Project is monitoring the cheetah population. The team is cooperating with Mara Hyena Project and working with managers and guides from over 30 different Mara camps and lodges. Rangers and guides are trained in cheetah identification techniques and provided with catalogues of the Mara cheetahs. So even though I am not a big fan for the idea of driving around looking for animals to photograph, after this assignment experience, I truly believe that having close encounters with animals in their natural environment, like the Masai Mara Nature Reserve, can bring more awareness and respect towards these graceful creatures. And all the long hours and the hard work put into the research of animal behaviour also opens up their world to people who may not have an opportunity to experience them in the wild. This in turn can help create understanding of what is happening to the animal population and raise awareness to help save the animals from poaching and extinction.

I am always humbled by the remarkable work my friends are spending their lives doing. Take a look at the projects by Paul Funston and his team from Panthera, Lise Hanssen from Kwando Carnivore Project and the Race 4 Rhino campaigns.

Kwando Carnivore Project

Panthera Organisation

Race 4 Rhino

look out for signs, be wise with your good intentions, article by one volunteer in SA

South African National Parks and Game Reserves

Naibor Campsite