Lake Nakuru Mammals

 As well as all the amazing birds, during our time at Lake Nakuru, we continued to enjoy the mammals Kenya has to offer.

Some of the mammals seen had already been record in the Maasai Mara e.g. Cape Buffalo, Plains Zebra, Impala and Vervet Monkey, but we also saw 3 new ones.

Impala

Thompson's Gazelle

The first new species was White Rhinoceros. We saw these on the both drives at Lake Nakuru, and were very lucky indeed to see 6, made up of 5 adults and young one!

White Rhinoceros

Adult and youngster (calf)

The second new species was the Black Rhinoceros. This species is much rarer, and we only had one, quite distant, sighting of an adult. It is told apart from the White Rhino, by  a much more deeply arched back and a more delicate mouth, used for eating leaves.

Black Rhinoceros

The final mammal of note was Rothchild's Giraffe. Although not a species of its own (apparently its a ecotype of the Nubian Giraffe), it was great to see. They are rarer than the Maasai Giraffe we saw in Maasai Mara, with an estimated 1,300 adults in the wild, and can be told apart by much paler legs and coat colour.

Rothchild's Giraffe

Maasai Mara - Part 1

Last year, Jayne and I had a fantastic two week holiday in Kenya and Zanzibar, to celebrate a special birthday. We visited Kenya for a week's safari and then had a week on Zanzibar. Whilst there, we spotted 134 species of bird (118 of which were lifers), 42 species of mammal/reptile and amphibian (all of which were lifers), 15 butterfly species (all lifers) and 3 species of Dragonfly 9 (all lifers).

Our trip started off in Nairobi, where we stopped for a night, before heading off to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. We spent two days here, staying at the Sopa Lodge, and travelling out onto the reserve.

On the first drive (4pm - 6.30pm), we spotted Impala, Topi, Eland, Plains Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Thompson's Gazelle, Wildebeest, Olive Baboon, Maasai Giraffe, Grant's Gazelle, African Elephant, Hippopotamus, Spotted Hyena, a Mongoose species, most likely Banded, Silver-striped Jackal and African Lion!

African Elephants

Cape Buffalo

Maasai Giraffe

Eland