Thanks and waiting for more. (I still owe forum a trip report, soon). Nice photos of cheetah and cubs. On the little table with your two guides it looks like a bottle of gin. Having sundowners G&T I'll bet? That's only time I drink G&T is on safari, it just seems so "right"!!

regards - tom

Fantastic photos sundowner!

Sure wish one day a cheetah would perch on the roof of the vehicle I was in!! Can you imagine if that cheetah just kind of jumped inside the vehicle thru the pop up? Where was that photo taken?

Wonderful shot of the sunset.

Hi sundowner,

Thanks for sharing the photos. That's definitely Malaika. You we very lucky!

My friends Aatish and aasit Patel are in the Mara right now. They saew Malaika yesterday with her two cubs. If you want recent updates on some of the Mara cats, check out their blog:

http://aatishpatelsafari.blogspot.co.uk/

Wow - fantastic photos! We spent time at Lion Porini and Porini Amboseli, but didn't get to Mara Porini. How did it compare?

Gorgeous photos! Looking forward to more...

Yes, Tom, G&T sundowners for sunset! I, too, only drink G&T's in Africa. They just don't taste the same at home.

Thanks, KathBC. She jumped on our vehicle two different times. And - yes - I was very excited both times! This was in the Mara. I feel lucky every time I see a sunset like that one. Thanks.

DShah, I will have to check out your friend's blog. Thanks for the ID.

crosscheck - Thanks! We almost did Amboseli and Lion but ended up choosing more time in the Mara area. I will write up some more about the camps tonight.

moremiles - Thanks!

Perfect shot of the cheetah jumping from the vehicle! I hope you'll compare and contrast both Porini camps if you visited them both.

Just beautiful pictures. The Exif data showed you were using 400 and 500mm lens. With a full frame that must have involved lugging some heavy glass. Did you or were you using fast lenses with extenders?

Thnaks for sharing.

atravelynn, nothing I could write would ever compare to the information you give but I will say what I can.

AKR1, thanks! I used the new 70-200 f/2.8 IS with the new 2x extender and the 500 f/4 IS. So yes, it's some heavy stuff. In the past I used the 100-400 and the 500 but the 100-400 images were never real sharp. I haven't decided if I like the 70-200 with the 2x. I use two Canon 1D Mark IV's and they are 1.3x sensor size.

Seriously beautiful pictures, Sundowner! Am in awe ...

The G & T's go seamlessly with your name

I forgot the 1D IV has an APS-H sensor so you get an additional 30% reach. I have the old 100-400 and despite an IQ that is not on par with Canon's super-tele Prime L lenses, it has served me well- I think I was lucky to get a good piece!

Thanks, sangeeta!

AKR1, I do love the reach of the 100-400 and it's perfect for Africa so you are lucky to have a good one.

The camps. I really liked both camps. The tents were very spacious with a large bed plus a single bed, desk, large bathroom area with flush toilet, large vanity and bucket shower.

The lounge and dining areas were very nice as well. The food was fine. I think maybe a little better at Mara Porini. Especially the chocolate desserts.

I should mention that we spent very little time in the camps. We left most mornings at 6:20 or 6:30, had breakfast and lunch in the field and returned for dinner a after dark. There was usually just enough time for a shower before dinner.

We were the only ones at camp a couple of nights. We did meet another mother/daughter (J & J) pair at Mara Porini that we really liked and we shared game drives with them. They were real troopers and were willing to stay out all day. We did go in early one day and ended up having a fire and sundowners when we arrived back at camp instead of going to the fire before dinner (at Lion Porini). That was really nice and we had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the fire.

J & J arrived at Mara on our 2nd day there for 2 nights and then they had 2 nights at Lion Porini. We had 3 more nights at Mara but there wasn't much game there so we asked if we could move to Lion Porini with J & J. They made some calls and told us we could go to Lion Porini a day early so that's what we did. So we ended up with 3 nights at MP and 6 nights at LP. We could have stayed longer at LP. We weren't ready to go home yet.

We were sad to leave our guides, Stanley and Wilson, when we left Mara Porini to go to Lion Porini because they were very personable and fun. Then we met Jackson and John Mark at Lion and enjoyed them just as much. They were in contact with other guides in the area so we were able to see some sightings that weren't near us.

Mara Porini is in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy. It is a lovely area but we were there too early in the season and there wasn't much game. And the grasses were very high making it difficult to see everything. It is not connected the the Masai Mara and we drove about an hour to get there and had to stop at the entry gate and wait while Wilson got permits etc. And we were bombarded by the locals trying to sell stuff to us. Then I think it was about another hour before we were deep in the Mara.

Lion Porini is in the Olare Orok Conservancy. It is connected to the Masai Mara and they report which guests will be entering and pay them at some other time. We didn't have to go through a gate to get there. They showed us the tree line/ river bed that separates the conservancy and the Mara and I guess all the drivers in the Mara know to stop and not cross that line because they aren't authorized to go into the conservancy. One cheetah kill we saw was in the conservancy so we would have missed it if we were staying elsewhere.

The grass was just as high in the Mara and the animals were just as hard to see. There were more vehicles around so we were able to see more because the guides shared sighting info. We went to the Mara every day and we game drove the whole way there and back. I do have to say we got into tsetse flies a couple of times. I have no sense of direction (the guides laughed when I told them I could get lost in a boma but it's true) so I don't know if we were in the conservancy or the Mara but I HATE tsetse flies. I was bitten and my arm swelled from my knuckles to about 12" up my arm. We were looking for a leopard and it was almost worth it. I told the guides I didn't want to see a leopard bad enough to get bitten but I think they thought I was kidding because they kept going to look for them. I finally convinced them I was serious but I was bitten again on the foot and could barely wear a pair of flip flops. My foot was so swollen and it really hurt. But we ended up seeing a leopard with a 5 month old cub the last night and the last morning without tsetse flies.

I'll tell you about the cheetahs in a day or two.

Amazing photos, Sundowner - really terrific! So sorry to hear about the tsetse fly reaction - that sounds awful. Thanks for sharing.

Great read sundowner...loved the pics too. Bummer about the flies but I hope all is okay now.

I know you havent decided but am still asking in case you are closer to the answer or if you would be in the next few days

Did you like the IQ out of the 70-200f2.8 mk ii+2x tele mk iii? Or would you rather restrict it to 1.4x mk iii unless push came to shove... Am wondering if the mkiii tele has made a world of difference that I can have a default combination of the 2x with my 70-200.

Thanks, Jane62 and tanya_1976.

Tanya, I don't know! I didn't even use the 1.4, just the 2x. I've been real busy with work and haven't had time to go through all the photos yet or study them. Sorry!

Sad news. I just read this on Governors Camp facebook page: "Very sad to report that a few days ago Malaika lost one of her cubs to hyena, some driver guides saw the remains of this cub." Malaika is the cheetah mom.

Thanks for the info, Sundowner, although I could have done without that last bit.

Lost in a boma. That's hilarious. I can definitely relate.

Wow Cindy, some amazing photos! You are too clever for words with your photos!

Loved what your guides wore, and here they are always saying wear subdued colours, earth tones and no bright colours! hahaha - your guides must not have got that memo!

How do they know a hyena killed the poor cheetah cub?

Just seen a photo of a spotless cheetah, bizarre, just looks so very wrong!

Kind regards

Kaye

Kaye, thanks! I've wondered the same thing about the red clothing, too.

I read about the cheetah cub on Governors facebook page and they only said that some guides saw remains. Today their facebook page had a photo of the mom and the remaining cub. Dshah's friends are still in the Mara. Their website says a guide saw 3 hyenas feeding on the remains of the cub. http://aatishpatelsafari.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/sad-news-from-mara.html

Here are some amazing pics of a cheetah mom with 6 cubs. I don't know the photographer or when they were taken but it says they were taken in the Mara
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2177458/Its-shower-time-Six-adorable-cheetah-cubs-soaking-mum-flash-downpour-Masai-Mara.html

Cindy, by the look of the photos I think that was Shingo from 2010. Just a hunch, though.

Interesting that they would say a hyena killed the cub just because they saw hyena eating the remains, hardly compelling evidence to blame the poor hyena. Wonder if not more likely to be killed by lion or leopard then eaten by hyena.

Watched a documentary taken in Kalahari of a cheetah mum raising 6 cubs to adulthood, an amazing feat anywhere for a cheetah.

I think the colour of clothing makes no difference at all to the animals, although people do go on about it. Just look at mother nature in the bush!

So looking forward to returning at the end of September, this time at a different rehab centre and then 8 nights in Durban, which in itself is something very novel for me!

Kind regards

Kaye

Great pictures and narrative. Thanks.