The Endless Plains, Chapter 5: In Search of the Elusive Caracal part 2

 Tuesday Afternoon 16th September

We had only been on safari twenty-four hours, but had already seen more than many safari-goers see in a week or more. Incredible. 

However, enough bragging, let's get back to our search around this part of eastern Serengeti. 

There were several Kopjes (rocky outcroppings) which we knew the Caracal liked. As did the lions. As did the leopards. I was quite fond of them too.

We searched for caracal but found this larger version of cat instead.

This mother leopard had two cubs in a nearby bush, but it was impossible to see them well. We would try our luck again tomorrow.

We continued our search.

We did see much wildlife that I will not bore you with here. I will bore you elsewhere...

Suffice to say that the ubiquitous hyenas were ubiquitous.

The Jackals, not so much. 

Golden Jackal

And of course, wherever you look, one of these is looking at you, in the hope that the last greasy chapati wrap you ate for breakfast will actually be your last greasy chapati wrap.

Upon these outcroppings you will always spot the odd lizard. And these lizards are definitely odd.

Mwanza flat-headed rock agama

And don't forget the birdlife.

Magpie Shrike

Verreaux's Eagle Owl

We also, strangely, saw two cows grazing on the savanna. These animals would have been from a Maasai tribe just outside the border of the National Park. They are strictly not allowed to graze here, but the Maasai often try it on. In this case they had wandered way too far, and thus had no protection, making them easy meat for the lions. We told the rangers in the hope that they would return them, but apparently the usual result was the rangers taking them for their own culinary delights.

Then, as we were giving up our search (we had six days, so no panic) and were heading back to camp. 

This:

The cat that we had been searching for, for over ten years.

There. 

Right in front of us.

None of us could believe it, standing just there looking at us, as if asking "Where have you been?"

There were tears.

This cat is without doubt a work of art. These photos have not been manipulated by artificial intelligence. They haven't even been manipulated by non-artificial intelligence (me, on a good day). These cats are simply perfection.

They are very rarely seen as they normally hide in beauty parlours all day.

Bigger than the average cat, longer legs than the average cat, with ears that can rotate in all directions.

It was not there long for us to see, so each photo was precious. 

She may not look real, but she is 100 percent caracal.

She glanced at us as if to say farewell.

We knew that we would probably never see her like again.

Short but oh so sweet. True, it would have been better if we could have spent more time with her. But that wasn't going to happen. 

Was it?

The Endless Plains, Chapter 4: In Search of the Elusive Caracal - Intermission

Tuesday Morning 16th September

Ok, so these are not Caracals. I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Incredibly, we had come across a second family of cheetahs, this time with three even younger cubs. 

We were to see several more cheetahs during our sojourn, but these two sightings were the best for seeing cubs at play, so fear not, these blogs will not just be about cheetahs.

This family was on the move. The mother has a constant fear that her cubs will be lost to predators. 

I guess all species have fears for their children. Thankfully being eaten by hyenas is not high on our list.

Hyenas, lions, leopards, all these big predators and scavengers will eat these little adorable kittens. Just a tasty snack for them.

Despite being the fastest land animal on earth, they are sadly racing towards extinction. This is because of their high mortality rate as cubs, from predation, habitat loss and poaching.

Cheetahs are not territorial. There are too many dangers around for them to stay in one place.

Hyenas probably pose the greatest risk, and not just because they are big ugly brutes (although other opinions are available) but because there are so damned many of them. 

Cheetahs will know how to avoid lions, as they are territorial, but hyenas spread far and wide. 

More of them later.

We were to spend a whole hour with these cubs and their punk hair style.

Their play is identical to that of the domestic moggy.

Although, as an adult, they do move considerably faster than our's do.

As usual, cheetahs show no fear of humans, and will come very close to us without aggression. 

In fact, they were once kept as house pets. Notably in ancient Egypt. Surprisingly, that was even before I was born.

Unusually for cats, they cannot fully retract their claws.

We were to have first-hand experience of this later in the week.

Sometimes they come too close...

Cheetahs are not the only ones like this, as we were to find out the next day.

This typical pose is the mother watching for two things. Predators and food.

The food doesn't come in a delivery van, but has to be fetched fresh and kicking.

She's off on a hunt, leaving the cubs behind as she hunts.

Or so she thought...

We, on the other hand, are still on our own hunt. So let's get back to it.

The Endless Plains, Chapter 3: In Search of the Elusive Caracal part 1

Tuesday Morning 16th Sept

 These are our first twilight photos.

Dawn in the Serengeti. The first taken at 6am, the next, half an hour later.

Our previous evening had lacked any sunset colours, apart from a muddy shade of grey. This morning there were only a few small few clouds. More would appear later to shed their torrential rain. Mostly, lucky for us, deposited on the Maasai Mara to our north.

A fundamental reason for us visiting this area of the Serengeti was to search for a Caracal. These cats are, as we have found out, extremely difficult to find. They may not be an endangered species, but they are not very big (large domestic cat size with longer legs) and they simply just don't want to be seen. The slightest hint of humans and they're gone. We had been trying to find one for years and we knew that our chances were slim.

The Eastern Serengeti is an ideal environment for them. The grass at the end of the dry season is short and looks dead, making it easier to spot our prey. Easier verging on impossible. This week would be our greatest chance, but asking around many other guides, few had ever seen one. We had six days to test our luck. Spin the coin.

We had not gone very far in our search when, instead of Caracal, we found other cats. At about 7am we came across part of a pride of lions. The youngest cubs were very thin. At this stage of the Serengeti seasons, food is is more difficult to come by. This was part of the normal cycle of life here and soon the food supply would be replenished as the great migration of wildebeest approached.

This young male posed well in the rising sunlight. Posing for a 'golden hour' portrait.

Posing, yes. Hunting, no. I tried to explain that we were after some of the blood and guts included in the deal...

This Tawny Eagle was after very much the same thing.

Sadly, waiting for him to take off for some acrobatic photography was too hard on my trigger finger. He carefully waited until the moment I put my camera down with finger fatigue before flying off. 

These nest-making Secretary Birds looked on whilst a male lion arrived.

And it was still only 7:45am

A handsome beast, but no way was he doing any hunting today. That's women's work.

Giving up on waiting for bloodshed, we came across this handsome beast freshly dried out from a luxurious mud-pack therapy session. 

It certainly brought out his better features...

And then... guess what.

And it was still only eight o'clock in the morning...