Kenya: The Great Migration

Kenya: The Great Migration, September 2011 and Big Cats on TV and Film

In September Peter Smart will be accompanying several tours to Kenya which are timed to coincide with the annual Wildebeest and Zebra migration into the Masai Mara. The first trip – Kenya: North & South - which still has a couple of places remaining, also visits Ol Pejeta Conservancy which is home to a range of northern species, rhinos and a Chimpanzee sanctuary established by the Jane Goodall Institute. The later Kenya: The Great Migration trip has just one place remaining.

Last year at the same time of year the huge herds were present in the Mara and they performed admirably for us; during one morning the crossings were almost continuous and offered fantastic photographic opportunities. The Big Cats were abundant and the variety of other wildlife and unusual encounters kept the cameras clicking. A tour report and an extensive gallery of photos from 2010 may be found on the Kenya: The Great Migration page of the site.

For many the Masai Mara is known as the home of the BBC Big Cat television series. Although there has been no recent filming for this series, there continues to be work on other programmes to satisfy people’s continued interest with Africa. Much of Jonathan Scott’s The Truth About Lions was filmed in the Mara and also the large budget Disney Nature feature film African Cats which is due for release this year. We had several encounters with the well-known Marsh Pride of lions who continue to thrive and were proudly showing off their next generation. The three Cheetah boys continue to patrol the area known as Rhino Ridge and Bella the leopardess still had her huge “teenage” boy from the previous year hanging around!

Peter has now led around 40 safaris to the Masai Mara and the area always lives up to its promise of providing excellent and varied game viewing, particularly of the Big Cats, and many fantastic photographic opportunities. Please contact us for further information on any of the trips or if you would like to book one of the few remaining places.