The 2022 Africa Journals, Chapter 33: The Trip to Musiara Swamp, Part One

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 Chapter 33:

The Trip to Musiara Swamp

Part One

  

Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations.

--William Burchell

It's five o'clock, the darkest hour before dawn, when Shelly hears noises outside her tent.   She grabs her flashlight, unzips the tent fly and sees two men, armed with flashlights and spears, standing on her deck.

She looks at my tent 15 yards away and sees more men there. They huddle together  and the men explain that they are concerned as they are unable to wake me.  She goes with them and  steps onto my deck.

jeanne?

No response.  Again and again and now they are all very concerned.

Jeanne?   JEANNE?

Then, at a volume that makes the yellow-winged bat in the tree next to my tent want to take flight, and the bushbabies flinch in the acacia tree next to Shelly's tent,  at a decibel level that awakens all men, birds, and animals in the area, in a shout guaranteed to raise the dead, which is exactly what is needed at this time:

JEANNE!!!

As Shelly puts it, "I screamed at you. That evoked a sweet "Good morning" from you, and smiles and giggle from everyone outside the tent.

I heard Shelly call my name once but though the sound penetrated my ears, my brain refused to process it.   Same with the second call.   Only until the third tent-shaking call did I understand someone was calling my name and it was time to wake up.  It was a peculiar sensation, that of hearing the third call and then remembering the previous two.

I'm up.   I'm excited about today.   We are going to one of my favorite places in the Maasai Mara.   It's a long drive and we'll be out all day. 

The light green is the Maasai Mara and Musiara Swamp is located along the aqua area at the 11 o;clock position.  The two darker greens are the conservancies of Naboisho and Olare Motorogi on the left, and the yellow is Mara North.   Our camp is located in the small beige area under OMC.      No, not that one--the tiny beige spot.

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is 580 square miles large.   W hen you add the private conservancies that border it, it doubles the amount of habitat for wild animals.   None of them are fenced.

It's still dark when we leave camp.   Marg and I are in Francis's truck.

It isn't much of a sunrise but when you see anything silhouetted against the sky. even if it's the ubiquitous Egyptian goose, it's time for a photo.

We find a hippo slowly making its was back to the water where it will spend the day, protecting its hide from sunburn and heat.   They graze all night in the grasslands.

A spotted hyena temporarily leaves it reflection in a puddle.

There are rumors of a leopard hiding in a patch of brush ahead of us. We scurry there and look, but cannot find it. Instead, a beautiful antelope is highlighted by the morning sunlight.   I have never seen one of these before.

Bohar reedbuck

Leopard or no, this female Bohar reedbuck decided to get away from the brush and out in the open.

The Bohar reedbuck female is a foot taller at the shoulder than its dwarf cousins.

Finally, we are at the Musiara airstrip and stop to photograph the wildlife at two small ponds.


This airstrip at 5160 feet elevation is probably the most well-known strip in the Maasai Mara out of the ten located in the reserve.    It's 1600 meters of well-maintained gravel. The first time I visited the Mara, in 2017, we landed here although our camp was at least an hour away. The airstrip there was closed for maintenance.

I am so glad serendipity was paying attention on that trip, because it was not far from the Musiara strip that I saw my one and only Kori Bustard  displaying. I have seen many Koris since, but none were displaying.

I was mouth-open astonished when I saw it.

From 2017.  The male kori is about five feet tall and can weight up to 42 lbs.   It is the heaviest animal capable of flight.

Normal appearance.

Even when they are not displaying, they make a nice sunrise photo.   I had this photo sublimated onto metal and it's hanging on my living room wall.

From 2017

Back to today and the Mara savannah grasslands.   Zebra are only one of the animals that like to walk in  single file when moving to another location.

A number of ostriches are searching the grass for edibles.  

This one was in the act of standing up.   It might have been dust-bathing or just sitting on the warm dirt.

  One male has romance on its mind and follows this female for a long time, but is rebuffed constantly.   Finally, when she does get into a receptive position, he misses his chance.   I wonder if he couldn't see around his engorged neck.

And then we're at the ponds.

Egyptian goose.   

Black-winged stilt.

Black-winged stilt.

Black-headed heron.

These are white-faced whistling ducks.   They are very shy, so these photos are cropped to show your their beautiful colors.

Francis drags me away from this wonderful birding spot and heads for the trees.    I am still wondering when we will get to the Musiara swamp.    We must be close because we were beside the airstrip.

And looks what appears in a bush right beside the trail.

This bird is a Baglafetch weaver.

We come out of the trees to this beautiful sight of the Mara River.

The guys are setting up breakfast for us.

There's fruit, toast, croissants, bacon and sausages, potatoes, beans, mushrooms, veggies, hard boiled eggs.   And lots more out of the photos.

The Mara river in the other direction.

We chased this Little bee-eater around.   It was very cooperative.   If a bird flies off it will often return to the same perch.

Big ol' croc!

Two large crocs in back and three hippos sunning themselves.

Hippos, hippos, hippos, and a big rock.

After breakfast, we begin the long journey back in the direction of camp.

(To be continued)