A three-week safari odyssey through the highlights of Botswana and Zimbabwe last month immersed us in the fascinating wildlife and stunning scenery of this region. 

Here is a series of images from this epic trip.

Enjoy our new short video on the essence of the private guided safari experience in Africa. The Original Ker & Downey Safaris has been in operation for more than 70 years, and I am so proud to be a partner and director of the company that outfits my safaris.

Not every meal at our home in the Mara finishes with the sounds of lions and hyenas scrapping over a kill, but one recent night it certainly did! Just after 8pm, as we were about to do the dishes, the unique, eerie cackling of hyenas and the sharp, aggressive growls of lions drifted into our open kitchen. We knew there was about to be some super carnivore action, so we grabbed the cameras and binoculars and our carnivore-loving family headed out to investigate. On arrival we witnessed the classic head to head combat of lions and hyenas in the dark April drizzle. Of all the up-close wildlife viewings in Africa, it’s an unbeatable experience of pure, primal competition as ferocious hyenas rally their clan members for what they know will be some rough and tumble. Sure enough, several of them are pummeled, clawed, and even bitten by the lions, but they get their own back when they eventually overpower the big cats with a few good butt-bites to see them off. After raging back and forth for close to an hour, with yelps and growls the lions eventually retreat, not wanting to risk serious injury.  

For our kids, ending the day with such a wild and dramatic scene less than a mile from the house is a pretty good consolation after the challenge of school closures and their online classrooms. Being stuck at home for nine onths could be a lot worse! Sound on for these fun videos!

Turn up the volume and enjoy these three videos from the night of war!

Every time I explore the vast Mara-Serengeti ecosystem I’m reminded that it truly does hold the greatest wildlife viewings on Earth. We’ve preserved some really fun and memorable moments of this magical place during a recent safari. Depending on the time of year, the Mara or the Serengeti is an absolute must for any inaugural safari, and perhaps even for a second or third safari as well! A few days under canvas in the heart of this region will be rewarded with outstanding big cat viewing, and always the chance of witnessing their mesmerizing predatory behavior.

We do not typically go on safari in the Masai Mara in May. It is often raining, the black cotton mud is horrible, the grass can be six feet tall, and the migration is still in the Serengeti. But this year we made a trip to fisi camp, and we are very glad we did!

Stephanie first spent a few days teaching the fundamentals of science writing to students participating in the Michigan State University study abroad course Behavioral Ecology of African Mammals and to a couple of the research assistants at The Mara Hyena Project, where she did the field work for her PhD. Fisi is the Swahili word for hyena, and we were lucky to spend some quality time with the Talek hyenas at their den and on a fresh kill. Steph even saw an old friend – Yogurt, daughter of Moonpie! Yogurt was the last cub born in the clan before Steph finished her field work in 2002, and the last cub she named. The Talek clan is now the largest it has been since research on these hyenas began in 1988, and we are looking forward to catching up with the hyena researchers to get the latest news this safari season.

We were amazed by how many wildebeest and zebra were there -unusual for this time of year. It turns out that the smaller, local “Loita” migration was already in the reserve. The larger migration from the Serengeti has also just started crossing into Kenya, making it an early year for the migration – and a fantastic time to be on safari! Of course, for the kids ANYTIME is a great time to be on safari….