PacoAhedo

You can take a look at some of the many pictures i took last September in the Massai Mara .We really enjoy our time with the lions,too bad there where rounded by vehicles all the time,sometimes more than 20.

In the next few ....weeks i hope i will get a new gallery from our 4 days at the Mara with the cheetahs,leopards,servals and more.

Paco.

http://www.pbase.com/africawild/mara_lions

napamatt_2

Paco

Nice photos.

East Africa hands - a question.

What's the key to avoiding the 20 vehicle situation. I hear that so often, then I hear others say they hardly saw a vehicle. It's hard to figure out.

Chris_GA_Atl

Paco, I always look forward to seeing your images, and these are really great. "Games" is my favorite one, it captures so well the interaction between the cubs. Thanks for sharing these.

Chris

Temba

Paco, Great stuff, all of it.

Matt, the answer to your question is "Botswana". Unless this downturn in tourisim reduces the tourism figures I think that the crowds will continue to increase. Lots of people are still afraid of Kenya and that drives the remaining safari goers to Tanzania. According to several reports (some here on Fodors) Tanz numbers are way way down. Kenyan officails will not or cannot provide actual year over year numbers so there is no objective way to determine if their numbers are down (as much as 70% by some reports). Too bad that Zambia has become so expensive, it was once a reasonable alternative to Botswana.
Ted

Kavey

Thanks for sharing!

twaffle

Loved the photos, thanks so much for sharing with us.

atravelynn

I especially love the playful shots. How long were you there and where did you stay?

aknards

beautiful! thank you

PacoAhedo

Thanks for your comments.

Matt,avoid the vehicles was possible but if we wanted to be with the lions,the leopards or cheetahs then we had to pay that price.
But we had some good moments with no other vehicles.
We where lucky to see a small crossing of 100 wildebeest.It took them about one our to decided and we where the only vehicle there.It was lunch time and we had prepare a lunch box to spend all day out.

We also found a lion pride ourselves(the picture of the very skinny lioness with cub)and it took about 30 minutes for other 2-3 vehicles to arrive.
Of course we had nice moments by ourselves with elephants,buffalos,giraffes,zebras,hyenas and other plain game ,but when predators where involved,most times there where vehicles also.

We had 3 nice cheetah momments.We saw 3 brothers(Honey´s??) but not many vehicles 3 or 4 (again midday,a good moment to avoid crowds, in my opinion).
Then 2 different cheetah mothers hunting.The first day it was in the afternoon and it was raining very heavy.While we where waiting for the action,maybe 1 hour, my son counted 17 vehicles.
The last day with a sunny morning we spend more than 1 hour with another cheetah and a lot of vehicles coming and going. In one particular moment there where 23 vehicles watching.
The only good thing was that every body was far from the action and nobody interfered the hunt.

We have been twice in Botswana and also in Tanzania and i have mix feelings about what we prefer.

Lynn,we where at the Mara 4 days and stay at Mara Explorer.The location is perfect and they have 2 row seats in their vehicles .We where 4 (my wife ,2 sons and me) so we had private vehicle and guide for the same price.

Paco.

skibumette

We were in the Mara last August; at one attempted crossing (there hadn't been one for 5 days) I counted 50 (yes, fifty) cars, including both sides of the river!! While they did not, in the end, cross that day either...I didn't feel like the vehicles had anything to do with it. But one certainly didn't feel alone with the wildlife!! The silver lining to the economic downtown may be fewer cars now....

napamatt_2

Thanks everyone.

atravelynn

Thanks for the info, Paco. What worldly sons you have with all the places you take them.

That's reassuring, in an odd way, Skibumette, that even 50 vehicles did not interfere with the crossing. I am more concerned about even one vehicle in a group of three interfereing than dozens of vehicles creating a parking lot, but leaving the wildes alone.

Paco, were you on a lion hunt this time? Will there be any other photos?

Patty

<i>What's the key to avoiding the 20 vehicle situation.</i>

East Africa in general or Mara specifically? We went to the Mara in off season and had most sightings to ourselves. Largest group of vehicles was 3 at a lion cub sighting. My husband spent 45 min by himself with a leopard feeding on an impala carcass (I was sick that day ). For East Africa in general, there are many parks where you'd be unlikely to find 20 vehicles within the park at a given time let alone at the same sighting.

Patty

Wonderful photos, Paco!

PacoAhedo

Lynn, it was not just lions,we had many other great sigthst.I will soon built a gallery with the rest of the pictures( i have some nice pictures of an adult jackal regurgitating for the pups).

Patty,you are probably right about off season to avoid crowds at sigthseengs.Our first visit to the Mara was in April.We had wonderful cheetah with cubs for ourselves and also mating rhinos with 2 other vehicles or lions with no other vehicle around.



Paco.

atravelynn

"i have some nice pictures of an adult jackal regurgitating for the pups"
That would be a joke, and a disgusting one at that, in most circles. But here, we're all enthused. I bet you were enthused with the cheetah cubs and mating rhino too!