Cheetah Eating a Warthog - Maasai Mara

Taken 9th February 2016
Evening drive in the Maasai Mara
For more details on my trip, see here: http://www.zoochat.com/808/trip-kenya-february-2016-a-435669/

Now that you've seen an imagined view of a lone cheetah out in the wilds of Kenya, here's what the scene was actually like.

Note that it's not boxed in completely, and there is a route left for it to leave if it wants. It's also worth noting that nowhere else in the Maasai Mara is this busy. I suspect a cheetah out in the open eating a warthog is not a common sighting, so when a call comes over the radio, all of the nearby vehicles scramble to have a look. Even at places such as at lion cubs, there were only about 4-6 cars, and most of the time you drive for hours passing few, if any, cars.

So much for, "Hakuna matata"

Nice photo!

What a fascinating picture. Thanks so much for sharing. Very illuminating. Reminds me of traffic jams in Yellowstone.

Thanks. The Cheetah was very accommodating.

In the Maasai Mara, there weren't really traffic jams because the cars don't always stick to the tracks. When going between areas they generally follow tracks, however to get close to the animals, all the cars go off road which didn't seem to be allowed in the other places (possibly because the others are National Parks and the Mara is just a National Reserve? This is just speculation, maybe someone else will be more informed).
Although it was nice to get close views like this - the Rhinos that I saw in Nairobi National Park and Nakuru were very far away - I feel like it would be better if the vehicles stuck to the tracks.

This looks exactly like the reason why I won't be visiting the Serengeti this year but Katavi instead...

The first pic is very cool though

The number of people do disturb the moment of watching a lone cheetah, though the number of safari vehicles all with radios means that when anyone spots something you find out about it.

You don't get such a big line up when looking at a small nondescript bird though (or even a fairly big impressive bird if it's anything smaller than an ostrich)

My experience in the Serengeti was nothing like that at all. Vehicles were not allowed to leave the roads, and the only time I saw a cluster of vehicles together was in the carparks at either the Visitor Centre or a designated picnic area where you are permitted to leave the vehicle. And the vehicle I was in didn't have a radio.

Maybe Tanzanian laws are different.

Having said that, visiting Katavi will certainly be exciting - you might even see a shoebill!

I'd wholly concur with this. The Serengeti is vast, and can soak up a huge number of visitors - and Tanzania has far fewer tourists than Kenya.

I think also Tanzanians are different. Kenyans have a reputation for being willing to sell their own grandmothers to make a shilling or two; Tanzanians in general are a great deal more relaxed.

Katavi will be a wonderful place to visit but, sadly, I don't think shoebills are to be found there.