Team-BHP > Travelogues


Reply
  Search this Thread
39,592 views
Old 27th September 2018, 09:05   #61
BHPian
 
Stryker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 493
Thanked: 2,884 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Thanks coolmind, i20ian, Subroto.

Yes, we were definitely lucky to have so many sightings in one trip. Most of it is due to proper planning, knowing animal behaviour and thus predicting what might happen. But after all that, if the animal turns to look at you at the exact right time, it is sheer luck!
Stryker is offline  
Old 27th September 2018, 14:25   #62
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 106
Thanked: 241 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Excellent travelogue. Brilliant captions complementing every pic make it an edge ahead of Nat Geo stuff. Just wondering- why not post a few videos as well?
DrVjy is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th September 2018, 15:37   #63
BHPian
 
Maddy3008's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Pune
Posts: 118
Thanked: 490 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

  • Basic Level: Knowledge of animals, gear
  • Mature Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did
  • Advanced Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did + Be able to capture it
  • God Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did + Be able to capture it + Brilliant narration, editing, captioning and story-telling

Take a bow Stryker
Would like to enroll in the wildlife photography classes if you ever decide to run them !
Maddy3008 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th September 2018, 16:46   #64
BHPian
 
Lone Ranger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: New Delhi
Posts: 135
Thanked: 346 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Stryker , your thread made me relive the trip I made to Kenya (and the Mara) a decade ago. It is one of those experiences that I will never forget. Really enjoyed the narration and pictures. Thank you for taking the time to share!
Lone Ranger is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th September 2018, 18:30   #65
BHPian
 
Hells Bells's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 329
Thanked: 530 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Beautiful, just beautiful. Doing a safari like Masai Mara or Kruger is a dream I harbor and your travelogue just whetted the appetite. I am just glad that there are people on this trip who do justice to the experience than do it for Instagram!
Hells Bells is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th September 2018, 21:33   #66
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 23
Thanked: 39 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stryker View Post
Thanks coolmind, i20ian, Subroto.

Yes, we were definitely lucky to have so many sightings in one trip. Most of it is due to proper planning, knowing animal behaviour and thus predicting what might happen. But after all that, if the animal turns to look at you at the exact right time, it is sheer luck!

Hi did you go in sept or august and see such a large number of big cats ( I know its luck mostly



I did a solo camping trip last month to kenya and tanzania and was an amazing experience overall but didnt see as many .. Just managed to upload a few pics.. :https://www.flickr.com/photos/anuradhac/albums/
anuradhac is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th September 2018, 22:59   #67
BHPian
 
anilkumar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: New York City
Posts: 85
Thanked: 39 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

What an amazing thread Stryker beautiful images
anilkumar is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 28th September 2018, 15:35   #68
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 283
Thanked: 1,442 Times
Infractions: 0/1 (5)
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

amazing photos and write up.Masa Marai is truly the Lords cricket ground for wild life enthusiasts.

Anuradha your Flikr photos are equally awesome.

Have been seeing photos of Masa Marai and Serendipity from a long time as a close friend of mine Satya is a regular visitor and a great photgrapher and wild life enthusiast.

In fact he should be either in Masa Marai of Serndipity right now.

He also facilitates trips in small groups and can be contacted on 9980366662 or kdsnarayanan@gmail.com
vijayols is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th September 2018, 09:10   #69
BHPian
 
Stryker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 493
Thanked: 2,884 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Thanks DrVjy, Maddy3008, Lone Ranger, Hells Bells, anuradhac, anikumar, vijayols.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DrVjy View Post
Just wondering- why not post a few videos as well?
Most of the videos I have of the place are from my iPhone and hence they are kind of too far away to be of any use, if you get what I mean. I did shoot a couple with my camera, which does pretty good videos at 1080p. I will try and upload a couple.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddy3008 View Post
  • Basic Level: Knowledge of animals, gear
  • Mature Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did
  • Advanced Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did + Be able to capture it
  • God Level: Knowledge of animals, gear + Witness animal behaviour like you did + Be able to capture it + Brilliant narration, editing, captioning and story-telling

Take a bow Stryker
Would like to enroll in the wildlife photography classes if you ever decide to run them !
You are making me blush! I love teaching, I always try and teach whenever I can. Not just photography, but also software architecture and design - which is what I do for a living. I do impart some gyaan to people who are willing to learn (and let me tell you, not everyone wants to learn) whenever I'm on safari, but I don't consider myself an expert. Just someone with maybe a little more experience!

Quote:
Originally Posted by anuradhac View Post
Hi did you go in sept or august and see such a large number of big cats ( I know its luck mostly

I did a solo camping trip last month to kenya and tanzania and was an amazing experience overall but didnt see as many .. Just managed to upload a few pics.. :https://www.flickr.com/photos/anuradhac/albums/
As I mentioned in the first post, I was there during the third week of August. 19th to 26th to be exact. Again as I mentioned earlier in another post above, spotting cats is mostly not luck. Behaviour knowledge, tracking skills and prediction plays a great role in this. I don't have these skills, but my tour guide and the drivers do. That's why it is important to go on safari with people who know what they are doing, rather than aimlessly roaming around the park hoping to see something.

Your Flickr photos are pretty good too. Thanks for sharing them. You also seem to have been in Mara around the same time and visited Serengeti and Amoseli too. Were they all in the same trip? What gear were you using?
Stryker is offline  
Old 29th September 2018, 12:55   #70
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 23
Thanked: 39 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Thanks for checking the pics on flickr...I have a bridge camera since last year with good zoom and clarity .. I only carry a Sony RX10M3 . Not much into lugging heavy gear around

I spent two weeks in Kenya Tanzaia .. Kenya (Nairoibi-Masai Mara-Lake Naivasha/Nakura-Amboseli) onwards Tanzania(Arusha-Serengeti-Ngorongoro Crater-Tarengere) .. ngorongoro crater is one of the places on this planet where they say human life started.
anuradhac is offline  
Old 3rd October 2018, 09:47   #71
BHPian
 
Stryker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 493
Thanked: 2,884 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Quote:
Originally Posted by anuradhac View Post
I only carry a Sony RX10M3 . Not much into lugging heavy gear around

I spent two weeks in Kenya Tanzaia .. Kenya (Nairoibi-Masai Mara-Lake Naivasha/Nakura-Amboseli) onwards Tanzania(Arusha-Serengeti-Ngorongoro Crater-Tarengere) .. ngorongoro crater is one of the places on this planet where they say human life started.

I just had a look at the specs of the Sony RX10 Mk III. Looks like a well rounded bridge camera. These days the monster zooms are doing pretty good. Nikon's P900 and P1000 come to mind. But over Rs.1,00,000/- for it? I'd think thrice! What made you buy that over a P900 which is only Rs.31,500/-?

I'm planning on visiting Serengeti some time next year. Would love to know your opinion on how different it is from Mara, considering they are the same park divided by political boundaries. Of course it is bigger, but is it more of the same or did you find anything different?
Stryker is offline  
Old 3rd October 2018, 16:37   #72
BHPian
 
grkonweb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 79
Thanked: 331 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Amazing travelogue with excellent pictures Stryker! Makes me want to go to there! The African jungles are a different league in itself.

Thanks for writing up in great detail. I'm sure this thread is going to be a definitive guide for anyone interested to go to Masai Mara.

You richly deserve 7* for this thread! Voted 5*
grkonweb is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 8th October 2018, 09:41   #73
BHPian
 
Stryker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 493
Thanked: 2,884 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Thanks grkonweb! I don't know about the thread becoming the definitive guide to Mara, since I haven't included much on the costs, places, the little things to watch out for and the other usual things that make a thread a definitive guide. Basically because I didn't do anything myself apart from taking the pictures.
Stryker is offline  
Old 8th October 2018, 10:02   #74
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Earth
Posts: 68
Thanked: 85 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

I'm in awe of your experiences and turning a little green with envy . Jokes aside, this is something that HAS to be done for a wildlife enthusiast.

Is there an age limit in these outings
shrjun is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 10th October 2018, 13:02   #75
BHPian
 
Stryker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 493
Thanked: 2,884 Times
Re: Masai Mara - A magical week in wildlife heaven

Thanks shrjun. Yes, this is a must visit place for any wildlife enthusiast. There is no doubt about that.

Regarding the age limit, I didn't come across any specific limit for the safari itself. Of course, the standard age limit of 12 years apply for resorts, i.e., anyone above 12 will be considered as adult and charged as such. But having said that, I did not see any really young children either at the resorts or on safaris. Most visitors are either adults or teenagers. It would be very difficult to handle young kids on a normal two or three hour safari, let alone full day ones like in Mara.
Stryker is offline   (1) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks