Back to the Mara...with a difference

I so distinctly remember the feelings, the emotions that I went through the first time I had come to the Mara.

It was a family trip, a long cherished one, a dream that had finally come true after quite a few missteps. I was still a novice with the camera, in the throes of that early excitement of a new hobby and deeply convinced that I will return with some award winning images (Spoiler alert – I didn’t).

But more than the excitement I had about going to this magical place, what has stayed with me have been the emotions that I went through in Mara.

I looked around me in awe. All around me were open lands that lay spread out hand in hand with the vast blue skies above. Acacia trees dotted the horizon and the golden yellow grass danced softly to the light breeze.

We would drive around for ages and see nothing around us, just open land and blue skies. And just a few minutes later, we would be at a place where gazelles and zebras dotted the landscape and giraffes gracefully patrolled the horizon.

This, I felt, was how the earth was supposed to be.

Of course, it was not all idyllic.

I watched slack-jawed as hundreds of wildebeest gathered near us, snorting nervously, pacing anxiously trying to summon up the courage to make that decisive leap into the swirling waters. I wondered what made the first beast decide to jump in and how that act by a single individual could spark a confident madness by the rest of the herd that can only be experienced and never accurately described.

I would look forward to experiencing these in each visit and I was never disappointed.

And, of course, I got to see lots of action. I got the much sought after image of a leopard coming down a tree. I was lucky enough to witness multiple cheetah and lion hunts. I stayed for hours with a cheetah mother who hunted for her six cubs and admired how she bravely distracted a lioness that was approaching her family. I spent hours with numerous prides as they rested, roamed around, hunted and fed. I keenly felt the frustration of hunters losing their kill to other larger hunters.

And, of course, I chuckled with delight at the antics of the young ones. Lion cubs being absolute pests for their pride, cheetah cubs playing with each other with no care in the world, elephant calves hurrying between the safety of the legs of the elders in the herd.

Above all, what  increased with each visit was a deep sense of love and affection for this land.

And then I, stopped going to the Mara.

The crowds had become a huge turn off. It was disheartening to see scores of vehicles around a pride of lions or a place where they expect a cheetah hunt. We kept trying to be in places where there were no other vehicles and that is possible but it still felt strange.

At the same time, I guess it also helped that we also started going to newer places where there were fewer people and the urge or the need to go back was not there.

Now, after some three years of going to newer places, I am headed back to the Mara.

I haven’t been able to go on too many trips this year. I was keen to get one under my belt before the year was done.

Also, despite the crowds, I wanted to be in Mara once again and experience the vastness, the quiet and the thoughts that it coaxes in me.

I am also challenging myself.

Mara, is after all, every wildlife lover’s dream. One could argue that every conceivable image of this place has been taken. What more remains to be photographed could be a valid question ?

I want to see how I can attempt to convey how Mara feels to me.

Masai Mara evokes in me, feelings of awe at the vastness. Its silence lends me a sense of peace and calm. It tells me that this is how the world used to be long long ago and, maybe, how it should be.

Mara evokes a similar feeling to what I get when I read a beautiful poem and I pause to take in a deep breath and marvel at the emotion that a few words have caused.

Can I challenge myself to see how I can capture all that in my images ?

As you read this, I would be in the process of winding up my trip. By then, I would be reasonably sure how far I would have succeeded in my ambitious goal. Even if I fail, it will be a start to a new attempt.

In the meantime, some of my images from Mara earlier trips, with a little backgrounder to each image. The idea is to try to take images that are very different from these :)

What a sight this was ! Sadly, those days, I didnt know enough to take advantage of such a spectacle...what I will give to get an opportunity like this again !!!

How proud I was of this image...this was taken during our first ever sighting of a pride in Mara

This was in the evening of the first day of my second trip. Two ageing warriors were resting, and it was raining heavily. I kept waiting for the head shake...interesting to think how I would compose this image today

One of those evenings when nothing much was happening and we were thinking of returning to camp when we saw Mardadi, a famous lion resting in between mating. Sadly, he and his queen didnt give us the opportunity to take a rim lit mating shot !

A poignant moment in a day full of such moments. The surviving cub looks stressed as he and his mother vainly search for the missing sibling. The duo searched the whole day and the following day :(

My very first leopard image which proudly hangs on the wall behind me. Bella2, stayed in the bushes for most of the morning, other than one heartstopping moment when she stepped out

A day of much joy. We spent hours with Siligi and her brood of six cubs. She made a kill, called out for her cubs, they had a feast and now are playing with the remains of their meal.

How can anyone resist an opportunity for a silhouette ? A queen stands proud and regal

One of my eternal favourites...I so love this image :)