July 28, 2025 • 23 mins
Well, being completely on my own in a tiny, doorless vehicle when a heavily pregnant leopard decides to walk right past is a feeling I’ll never forget!
I finally tracked down my first leopard of the trip, the incredible Ndoto, and the experience was sensational. She was so confident, parading between the cars, and the thrill (and slight heebie-jeebies) of having her so close while I was in a completely open vehicle was next level.
In this episode, I share that heart-pounding story, and the bizarre one that followed. I came across one of the strangest things I've ever seen in the wild: a huge bull giraffe, dead, but standing perfectly upright with its head wedged in a tree. I talk you through my theory on what happened and the incredible scenes that unfolded afterwards.
Plus, I share the absolute joy of finding my very own lions, calling the sighting in on the radio like a proper guide, and giving you a few of my go-to photography tips for capturing that perfect sunrise on the plains.
Get in touch via social media:
Instagram: @bobbyjosafaris
Facebook: Bobby-Jo Safaris
And to explore upcoming safaris: Bobby-Jo Safaris
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Safari Life with Bobby Jo, where you'll get a
front row seat to some of the most breathtaking wildlife
experiences on the planet. Bobby Jo's a wildlife
photographer and safari guide, leading photography tours to
incredible destinations like theSerengeti, Patagonia, India,
Antarctica and beyond. In this podcast, she shares
(00:21):
expert photography tips, behind the scenes stories, and insights
into Wildlife Conservation. If you'd like to learn more
about her tours and workshops, visit bobbyjoesafaris.com.
Hello Honey Badgers, it's your chief honey badger here.
Bobby Joe, Are you ready for another round?
(00:43):
Round two of my photographer residence at Mara N Conservancy
with the wonderful Alex Walker'sCamp Syrian Original.
I'm still here and still making memories and having some
wonderful stories to share with you all.
This afternoon was incredible. I managed to find my own lines
and I'm pretty stoked. Every day when I go out, I'm on
(01:05):
my own. When I'm not with the guests, I
scan with my binoculars. I'm very adamant about scanning.
I stop every, I don't know, a couple 100 meters, scan, stop,
scan. I'm seeing the usual suspects,
zebra, giraffe, Impala, topi, the odd elephant.
But today I was heavily rewarded.
I spotted my own lioness in the distance on a sitting on a
(01:27):
termite mound. It was quite far from where I
was and as soon as you put the binoculars down you kind of go,
OK shit, where did she go? I found her and she was stalking
topi. I thought it was on.
I thought it was going to happenthem.
I've never ever seen lions with a topi kill before because topi
are incredibly. Fast.
And Gillits, sure enough she didn't get them, but the build
(01:48):
up was happening. She was in full stalk mode and
you know, I had to park my car. I felt like for Roz, parking the
car in the right direction so I could capture the action.
Fortunately for the Topi, unfortunately for her, they did
get whiff of her and took off. Now I've been photographing this
female lion the last few days. She's been mating with a big
male so she's obviously finishedthe honeymoon and she was
(02:10):
looking incredibly skinny, nice and lean and she's hungry so
she's finished her mating for five days I think it was.
She was with him and now she's looking for a bite to eat.
She's pretty hangry. SO followed her for a while.
Then found a male lion that had no tail and then we followed
him. I had a wonderful young woman
called Cheery with me. She's just started here as an
(02:32):
intern so it's her second day inAfrica and first game drive and
she's coming away from Texas to volunteer here as an intern and
learn about hospitality. So I took her out and her mind
was completely blown. I felt like a full on
professional guide, like all my years of learning from Faroz and
my other wonderful guides acrossAfrica really paid off.
I think Cheri actually thought Iwas an OK guide, so found this
(02:57):
male with no tail, followed him and then of course word got out
of the street. There were lines around and I
actually made a radio call to our camp's car.
Dennis and George were out with guests and able to call them
into the siding, which is reallycool.
Felt like a proper. Guide.
And then we came across the restof the pride and we literally
(03:18):
had two mating pairs near the car mating simultaneously.
So one pair of lines, they were way too close to my car and I
couldn't really move but where they mated I couldn't even take
a photo. They were they were pretty
close. So I had my 400 mil on so I had
to get the good old iPhone out the.
Light was low. But yeah, to have mate lines
walk up and basically mate next to your car.
(03:41):
And keep in mind, my car is so small and it has no doors.
It's pretty amazing. I mean, I'm just so chuffed that
I can start this podcast lettingyou know I found my own big
cats, found my own lions. Look out for Oz.
You might be out of a job. So I'm back out on the planes.
Just up to 6:00 AM it still. Dark, I've just pulled over.
(04:04):
I've just. Taken off again, but I've pulled
over for about. 10 minutes. 15 minutes to just sit in the dark
and listen. You can really find stuff by
listening. So I could hear Hyena calling.
Birds are waking up and singing their song, happy that they've.
Survived the night I was waitingto hear the lions.
Roar. I'm going back.
Out to find these lions and unfortunately no roaring but.
(04:25):
The light has come. Up now, so I've decided to.
Head to the location. Where they were last seen, which
is not far away. So hopefully, fingers crossed I
find them again this morning. Guys, I'm so excited.
I've just sat still in the placewhere I left the Lions and I
just heard the post coital roar of a line.
(04:45):
So when they finish mating, theydo a big growl.
So I know this, I know the soundvery well, which is a bit
disturbing really. So I'm going to go see what I
find. It's in the long grass, so I'm
not really sure which direction to take it.
I want to run over a line guys. I found the lines.
It's. Amazing.
Very early stages of oestrus. I think for the female, she's
(05:06):
not so receptive. They have mated once, but she's
quite cranky with him. And yeah, I've got them all to
myself. They unfortunately near a
lugger, which is like a bit of avalley, like a area that I
cannot drive this car. So I may lose them over the
lugger in a second and I might have to just backtrack around to
(05:28):
find a road. But yeah, it's great.
It's exhilarating feeling being out here with no doors on my car
completely open, but I'm giving him a nice healthy distance
because they've got a big lens on and that's all that's needed
really. You don't need to be up in
animals faces to get good shots.It's much better if I can sit
back and get natural shots of these guys.
(05:49):
But yeah, he's definitely mate guarding her.
Every little move she takes, he's right there.
He's very receptive to everything.
She's doing. It's pretty cool to watch.
So the lines led me down to kindof like, I guess it's like a
marsh area, it's not too wet andI've been sitting here and
(06:09):
they've had a little bit of a sleep in so the tussocks, so I
can't see them. But then there's another 2 lines
in the same marsh there, I can just see them.
It's another mating pair. So we've got 2 mating pairs in
the marsh in front of me and other cars have now obviously
spotted me here. So they've all come in and
they're all having a bit of a, aquick look and then off they go.
(06:30):
When I'm at the guests, it's totally up to what the guests
want to see. But if I'm on my own, I would
literally sit with a siding for hours rather than running around
trying to find something else. But you know, when you're
running on safari for two or three days in an area, you've
got to sort of cover a bit of ground to, to get other things.
But it's just interesting watching the vehicles come and
go. There's no patience there to
wait for the lines to come out. And these lines could probably
(06:52):
sit here in this marsh for the rest of the day.
It's a very cool place. It offers privacy and they're
also mating, so they're going tobe sort of stuck together
literally for a few days. So it's a good spot to start
this afternoon to come and try to find them.
Hey there. I've come across a very sad and
(07:12):
bizarre sighting this afternoon.A male giraffe, a big bull, is
standing upright next to me in the bushes.
He's dead. He is completely upright.
His head is wedged between the fork of a branch.
He's stuck now. I heard rumours that the lions
(07:34):
had been eating him and I can see that some of his stomach is
opened up, but his legs and his body's upright.
And DI, no one knows what's happened.
I mean, this poor animal. Hopefully it was quick.
I have a feeling going off the way he is, he's over.
Was browsing in the Bush the waythe body is and it looks like
the impact it's had on the tree.Oh God, I feel like I'm on
(07:55):
bloody law and order of CSI out in the Mar.
It looked like he'd hit the treequick.
So my feeling, my gut feeling isis that he's been chased into
the Bush or he's been browsing and he's quickly.
You know, giraffe are very reactive.
They they spook easily and they move quickly.
I've seen it happen with the giraffe I work with.
(08:16):
I think that what's happened is he's ran into the Bush and hit
the tree. It unfortunately just gone smack
bang into the fork of the tree and broken his neck.
That's my theory. Who?
We'll never know. I can see his rumen is
completely opened up and on the ground.
All the contents of his rumen, which is one of his stomachs.
Giraffe of four stomachs. They're ruminant.
(08:38):
Yeah. Poor bugger.
It's just the most bizarre thingto see him, like, upright.
Yeah, really sad stuff. But all part of it, I guess it's
not even really worth the photo.It's it's quite confronting the
Blade giraffe here. They've got a tough old life in
the Mara N I've just noticed hisback legs have been eaten a
little bit, but the lines definitely can only reach that
part. OK, now I'm stuck in the.
(09:02):
Pouring rain with the 2 lines that we're eating the.
Giraffe. It's pouring and I'm saturated.
Again, this time I'm wearing a poncho which is helping a little
bit, but. I've had to put my camera gear
away. It's always the way.
I get a good sighting and it starts to pour anything and
everybody's. Sitting in these really big,
comfortable cruisers that are much more waterproof than me and
(09:22):
I'm just getting smashed in the Suzuki.
It's all part of it. Bless the pains.
I'm currently sitting with a pretty big pride of lions.
It's cesarean and pride, and they're at the giraffe kill.
The giraffe is still standing and they've eaten sort of the
lower half. I'm all on my own.
There are lots of trucks here before and people just coming
(09:44):
and feel like people don't really appreciate them.
They kind of just come and get their photo and leave and now
I'm here all on my own. It's beautiful and quiet.
The lines are doing their thing.They're slowly finishing up
eating. They've all got full bellies.
They're laying on their back chucking a big leg spread as
lines do. It's beautiful.
This is the kind of thing that when I'm older, later in life,
(10:06):
I'll look back on and think, well, like, that was amazing and
I'm so glad I got to do that, OK.
Update on the giraffe kill so Fast forward.
The Lions. Sat on that giraffe kill for six
days in total, so we've had really great lion action.
The. Poor giraffe was still stuck in
the tree, so they ate the lower half, which is quite a gruesome
(10:29):
sight to see. Just like the top half of the
giraffe stuck in a tree and thenthe bottom half has been eaten.
Legs are off. They pull the legs off and
apologize if this is a bit gory.You're trying to eat your
breakfast or coffee on the way to work.
But yeah, this is the reality ofit.
Only yesterday, on day five, I went back to check out the
giraffe kill because it's a great place to take new guests
(10:50):
because we were guaranteed lionsthere.
And the giraffe has fallen out of the tree.
So they've managed to loosen up and it has fallen out of the
tree. It's no longer upright and they
have consumed all of it. It's just a rib cage that's
left. The lions are that full that
they can't even move. One of the females who I think
is also pregnant, I have never seen a belly so big in a lion.
(11:13):
It looks like she is about to explode.
So they've had a very good feed and the poor little jackals have
been hanging in there for the whole week as well.
Morning. Just saying good morning to some
fellow safari goers. Yes, the jackals have been
hanging out waiting for the tinylittle bit of meat, but there's
so many lines there that it's not possible.
(11:34):
And where they're all the Bush, it's quite dangerous for another
scavenger to come in and to get their peace.
But yeah, what an outcome. I still can't believe it.
Talking to all the guides, all my friends in Africa and they
have never ever seen that happenbefore.
The guides are challenging me onmy theory.
There's a lot of theories going around.
(11:54):
A lot of the guides still believe that it was browsing and
that it's it slipped and fell into the fork of the tree.
I just don't see that mostly because of the vegetation it
would have had to get through tobrowse.
And also the tree that it was stuck in was not what I would
call an ideal about browsing tree for a giraffe.
And some of the guys think maybeit was browsing and then got a
(12:15):
fright by the lions and then tryto move.
I don't know, we'll never know. But it's it's quite very
fascinating sight and one that has kept the guides very happy
because it's guaranteed lions all week.
They're not moving. But the coolest thing about the
lion sighting as well is that a lot of the lionesses from the
Syrian pride have been an estrus.
(12:35):
So in between eating a giraffe, socializing with their pride,
they're actually off to the sidemating.
So there was like there was like3 or 4 different mating pairs
happening at one time. It was, it was pretty crazy.
It was quite the same. So this morning I'm heading out
to the South to the offbeat areaon my own.
It's an area that I don't normally drive to because it's
quite far, but I've chosen this morning to to go out there and
(12:57):
have an explore and there's goodcheetah out this way.
So I'm really hoping to find my own cheetah or leopard.
The sun has not come up yet, butit could be just behind the
thick cloud that's forming. The weather here has been really
cold and wet, so we've had rain almost every afternoon.
I haven't been stuck in it for acouple of days, which is great.
(13:18):
But the roads are wet, it's slippery, it's everything's
looking lovely and green. And the wildebeest I believe
have started to cross into Kenya, which is great.
And I've been out with loads of amazing guests.
I mean, some of our guests have been from the UK, America all
over and we had an Australian family that haven't lived in
Australia for about 9 years, years.
(13:38):
They've lived all over the world.
They were wonderful. So I've been visiting the Masai.
Villages with the guests. And two of the guests got
engaged just before they arrivedhere, Keith and Bonnie, and they
were from San Diego. And we had the really incredible
counter through the week where we got a serval.
For those that don't have a serval is it's a small spotted
cat, lives sort of on the plains, quite hard to come
(14:00):
across. And generally they're really
shy. This serval was the most
confident cats I think I've everseen.
It walked straight up to our vehicle.
And earlier on that morning, we were the lions.
And the big male lion sprayed, Ilifted his tail and sprayed the
side of our car. So there was a line, basically
line you're in all the side of our car.
(14:21):
And this servo came up and was investigating the smell of the
line. It was smelling where the spray
had been. It was really fascinating.
We've got a video of it. And then he went under our car
and he come out of our car and he was looking up at us next to
the car. That's crazy serval sighting.
I mean, they normally are not that ballsy.
They normally you get a look at them, they're sort of hunting
(14:42):
and they're walking away. This guy was wanting to smell
and investigate our car, which I've never had happened before.
So that's the coolest thing about Safari.
Even though I've been on thousands of game drives or
Safari time, you see something different every day.
I mean, some days you go out andyou see absolutely nothing.
Well, sorry, you never see nothing.
(15:02):
You see birds, insects. The usual suspects, I mean.
But. You're always seeing something
new and I'm always amazed and it's incredible.
So fingers crossed I get. Something incredible this
morning. OK honey Badgers, I am
photographing a rising sun on the beautiful plains here.
I was going to run you work. Workshop.
(15:23):
Through how I photograph either a sunrise or a sunset.
So I'm normally on about a mid shutter speed.
So right now I'm on 800th of a second.
I'm on F8 because I want a lot of detail in my tree and
background. I'm on about ISO 640, a little
bit bright, but I've done that so I can get this aperture.
And the biggest trick I've got for you guys is to change your
(15:47):
white balance into shady and that will really warm up the sun
and the colours. And I look for something really
simple. Right now the sun is on top of a
small Acacia tree, but I've got a cluster of 4 Acacia trees in
the background. Really sort of simple shot
looking beautiful. If you're lucky, you'll get an
elephant. Giraffe.
(16:08):
There's even a hot air balloon out here right now.
But. Sometimes you just got to look
for that one simple tree and it just makes such a beautiful
composition. And that's what I really love
about the plains, the simplicityof it all, the grass, the trees
that have magnificent shapes, the openness.
It's really it's quite a beautiful place.
(16:28):
There's a lot of other camps in the Mara North and their
drivers. I've been seeing this blonde
haired Mazungu woman with an Acubra and a big lens driving
around the past couple of weeks and they've realized I'm not a
threat and they've been really nice to me.
So I've just got flagged down byone of the camps, Kocheche, and
(16:49):
he's just told me that there's aleopard sighting.
He's given the direction, so let's see if I can go find this
leopard. The guests were really happy
about it and I just was able to give them some tips about the
line. So yeah, good morning for
collaboration. I read him.
Fingers crossed we get this leopard.
I will be so thrilled because I haven't seen one yet since I've
been here. That's the reality, guys.
If you come on Safari. Expecting a leopard unless.
(17:10):
You're going to be in the. One girl or sabi?
Sands or something or Sri Lanka the reality is is I've been
driving on safari almost every single day in this Conservancy
and I have not seen one single leopard and this is an area
where there's lots of leopard. I just want to give you a bit of
a visual of where I am now. I'm in the open plains.
There is 2/3 hot air balloons above me.
(17:31):
The. Balloons.
I have mixed feelings about the.Experience is incredible being.
In a hot air balloon floating across the plains.
I think everybody should do it. It's that real out of Africa,
you know, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford moment being up there.
The sun has just risen, so it. Had a spectacular sunrise.
But it does scare the animals, so I'm not going.
To lie, it's yeah, it can scare the animals a little bit, but.
(17:53):
It does. It does look amazing in the sky
right now, but everybody should do it at least once.
Especially the champagne breakfast.
Afterwards. It's a good way to start the day
on the planes drinking bubbly. Hey, guys.
I'm going to give. You a full update.
But I'm currently following the most massive leopardess that's
heavily pregnant and she's fullytrying to hunt after she's just
(18:15):
already haunted. I didn't.
See it? But she had a.
Thompson's gazelle up a tree andshe's come down and she's walked
past my car like 100 times and it is a sensational leopard
sighting. I'm very excited and I'm going
to stop talking because I need to concentrate because I'm
driving over. Rocks and trying to keep.
Up with this female, but she my word, she is amazing.
(18:37):
OK, I can finally get myself kind of sorted.
The excitement has come down. So earlier on I got a hot tip
that there was a leopard quite far on the very far side of the
Conservancy. We're bordering another
Conservancy. It's the furthest I've ever
driven on my own and I couldn't find it.
It would have been handy that ifthe person that told me that it
was right next to the Rangers Hut, that would have been a
(18:57):
really good tip. You think so?
When I got to the Rangers Hut, Isaw a heap of cars under an
Acacia tree and I was like, there's a leopard.
So it turned up and it's a leopardesque called Dotto and
she's heavily pregnant. And she was having a Thompson's
gazelle kill up a tree. And she was kind of trying to
rearrange it and do a bit of housekeeping and it kept
(19:17):
slipping and she she's eating about maybe 1/4 of it.
And so she was tidying it all upand I guess she was trying to
put it in a good, really good place.
And then she decided to get downoff the tree, which I managed to
film in slow motion and basically parade herself between
the cars for about 3400 metres. So we all kept taking turns to
line up for the shot and. It's really.
(19:39):
Really windy here today. Every time she got close to my
car though, unfortunately, well,for my own benefit, I had to
move because I've got no doors. My car's completely open.
And this leopard, like she looksat people in the car like she
could be a candidate for a leopard that jumps up into a
vehicle. So the Rangers are here, they're
keeping me safe, they're checking on me.
(19:59):
They're letting me know that I'mvery close to another
Conservancy and that I need to be very careful I don't go over
into that Conservancy. They're driving around in these
little brand new Suzuki chimneys, which is amazing.
Everybody's really helping one another to get the shots.
It's just an incredible bloody first leopard sighting here in
the Mira N like I am. Thrilled.
And shout out to my mum, it's her birthday today.
(20:20):
So this is my mum's birthday present.
Well, I mean, I'm enjoying it for her.
But yeah, this cat has turned upon my mum's birthday.
So that's really special. Currently on a really rocky
area. So if she comes down, I'm not
going to be able to follow her too closely because it's like
basically on this like very rocky area.
And Suzuki will not make it. But mad.
(20:41):
I've never driven around a leopard like that on my own
before. It's she's next level.
I can't wait to share the photos.
Such a crazy feeling to be. Sitting in an open.
Vehicle below a leopard on my own.
Everybody got bored. Or maybe they've got to get back
for Bricky, or they've ticked their leopard, who knows.
(21:01):
Or they've just had enough and they're happy with their
sighting me. Never.
I never really leave a leopard unless I have absolutely have
to, or unless the leopard leavesme.
So right now she's probably like1015 meters from me, probably
about 12 meters above me in a tree, heavily pregnant like her
little belly's hanging over the branch, She's relaxing.
(21:22):
It's such interesting behavioural epid, like she's
left her Thompson's gazelle killin a tree about 800 meters from
here and she's gone into anothertree.
So I don't know what that's about.
If it's because she's trying to lure fine her and other
predators away from that area, or if she's just wanting to rest
in a separate. Tree like I don't.
(21:44):
I don't know if she wants to, doesn't want to draw attention
to herself. I mean the Hina will get a smell
that it's up there. They can't get it unless it
falls. It's just unusual that she has
come so far away to rest in a what I would think was not a
very comfortable tree. But I guess I'm not a leopard
and I don't know what her intentions are.
She's definitely in relaxing mode though.
(22:05):
And this is the tell tale sign. Normally when you're driving
along, you're looking for that classic leopard tale hanging out
of the tree. She keeps sneezing.
But yeah, she's spectacular and DOTO and she's well known around
these parts. And I couldn't be any further
from camp if you tried. So it took me like an hour and a
half to get here. I think.
I just hope I can get back. I'm I'm way off the main road,
(22:27):
so we'll see how I go. Well, Dotto the leopardess has
just come down the tree. I'm on my own still.
She did give me a real good stare.
So I managed to get some good shots but also slightly heebie
jeebies. Again, being on your own little
leopard and she's looking at you.
She's headed down into the lugger, the sort of little
(22:48):
valley, and it's very rocky and I think I'm just going to let
her be. I also don't want to risk
getting stuck down there, and I think it might be a different
Conservancy, so I don't want to get fined by the Rangers.
But shout out to the two Rangersof Mara N, who just really took
care of me this morning at this leopard sighting and were giving
me advice about being careful ofwhere the boundary was.
And they're wonderful guys. They could see I was driving
(23:09):
quite safely around her. She, yeah, she approached my
car. There'd be a big chance she'd be
in it. So I was talking about how
confident the server was. I mean, obviously she's taken
notes from this leopardus. But yeah, beautiful, beautiful
morning for my mum's birthday. If you enjoyed this episode, be
sure to hit the follow button soyou never miss an adventure.
You can keep up with Bobby Joe'swildlife photography and safari
(23:30):
journeys on Instagram and Facebook at Bobby Joe Safaris.
And if you'd love to join one ofher photography tours or
workshops, you can find all the details at bobbyjoesafaris.com.
Welcome to Safari Life with Bobby Jo, where you'll get a
front row seat to some of the most breathtaking wildlife
experiences on the planet. Bobby Jo's a wildlife
photographer and safari guide, leading photography tours to
incredible destinations like theSerengeti, Patagonia, India,
Antarctica and beyond. In this podcast, she shares
(00:21):
expert photography tips, behind the scenes stories, and insights
into Wildlife Conservation. If you'd like to learn more
about her tours and workshops, visit bobbyjoesafaris.com.
Hello Honey Badgers, it's your chief honey badger here.
Bobby Joe, Are you ready for another round?
(00:43):
Round two of my photographer residence at Mara N Conservancy
with the wonderful Alex Walker'sCamp Syrian Original.
I'm still here and still making memories and having some
wonderful stories to share with you all.
This afternoon was incredible. I managed to find my own lines
and I'm pretty stoked. Every day when I go out, I'm on
(01:05):
my own. When I'm not with the guests, I
scan with my binoculars. I'm very adamant about scanning.
I stop every, I don't know, a couple 100 meters, scan, stop,
scan. I'm seeing the usual suspects,
zebra, giraffe, Impala, topi, the odd elephant.
But today I was heavily rewarded.
I spotted my own lioness in the distance on a sitting on a
(01:27):
termite mound. It was quite far from where I
was and as soon as you put the binoculars down you kind of go,
OK shit, where did she go? I found her and she was stalking
topi. I thought it was on.
I thought it was going to happenthem.
I've never ever seen lions with a topi kill before because topi
are incredibly. Fast.
And Gillits, sure enough she didn't get them, but the build
(01:48):
up was happening. She was in full stalk mode and
you know, I had to park my car. I felt like for Roz, parking the
car in the right direction so I could capture the action.
Fortunately for the Topi, unfortunately for her, they did
get whiff of her and took off. Now I've been photographing this
female lion the last few days. She's been mating with a big
male so she's obviously finishedthe honeymoon and she was
(02:10):
looking incredibly skinny, nice and lean and she's hungry so
she's finished her mating for five days I think it was.
She was with him and now she's looking for a bite to eat.
She's pretty hangry. SO followed her for a while.
Then found a male lion that had no tail and then we followed
him. I had a wonderful young woman
called Cheery with me. She's just started here as an
(02:32):
intern so it's her second day inAfrica and first game drive and
she's coming away from Texas to volunteer here as an intern and
learn about hospitality. So I took her out and her mind
was completely blown. I felt like a full on
professional guide, like all my years of learning from Faroz and
my other wonderful guides acrossAfrica really paid off.
I think Cheri actually thought Iwas an OK guide, so found this
(02:57):
male with no tail, followed him and then of course word got out
of the street. There were lines around and I
actually made a radio call to our camp's car.
Dennis and George were out with guests and able to call them
into the siding, which is reallycool.
Felt like a proper. Guide.
And then we came across the restof the pride and we literally
(03:18):
had two mating pairs near the car mating simultaneously.
So one pair of lines, they were way too close to my car and I
couldn't really move but where they mated I couldn't even take
a photo. They were they were pretty
close. So I had my 400 mil on so I had
to get the good old iPhone out the.
Light was low. But yeah, to have mate lines
walk up and basically mate next to your car.
(03:41):
And keep in mind, my car is so small and it has no doors.
It's pretty amazing. I mean, I'm just so chuffed that
I can start this podcast lettingyou know I found my own big
cats, found my own lions. Look out for Oz.
You might be out of a job. So I'm back out on the planes.
Just up to 6:00 AM it still. Dark, I've just pulled over.
(04:04):
I've just. Taken off again, but I've pulled
over for about. 10 minutes. 15 minutes to just sit in the dark
and listen. You can really find stuff by
listening. So I could hear Hyena calling.
Birds are waking up and singing their song, happy that they've.
Survived the night I was waitingto hear the lions.
Roar. I'm going back.
Out to find these lions and unfortunately no roaring but.
(04:25):
The light has come. Up now, so I've decided to.
Head to the location. Where they were last seen, which
is not far away. So hopefully, fingers crossed I
find them again this morning. Guys, I'm so excited.
I've just sat still in the placewhere I left the Lions and I
just heard the post coital roar of a line.
(04:45):
So when they finish mating, theydo a big growl.
So I know this, I know the soundvery well, which is a bit
disturbing really. So I'm going to go see what I
find. It's in the long grass, so I'm
not really sure which direction to take it.
I want to run over a line guys. I found the lines.
It's. Amazing.
Very early stages of oestrus. I think for the female, she's
(05:06):
not so receptive. They have mated once, but she's
quite cranky with him. And yeah, I've got them all to
myself. They unfortunately near a
lugger, which is like a bit of avalley, like a area that I
cannot drive this car. So I may lose them over the
lugger in a second and I might have to just backtrack around to
(05:28):
find a road. But yeah, it's great.
It's exhilarating feeling being out here with no doors on my car
completely open, but I'm giving him a nice healthy distance
because they've got a big lens on and that's all that's needed
really. You don't need to be up in
animals faces to get good shots.It's much better if I can sit
back and get natural shots of these guys.
(05:49):
But yeah, he's definitely mate guarding her.
Every little move she takes, he's right there.
He's very receptive to everything.
She's doing. It's pretty cool to watch.
So the lines led me down to kindof like, I guess it's like a
marsh area, it's not too wet andI've been sitting here and
(06:09):
they've had a little bit of a sleep in so the tussocks, so I
can't see them. But then there's another 2 lines
in the same marsh there, I can just see them.
It's another mating pair. So we've got 2 mating pairs in
the marsh in front of me and other cars have now obviously
spotted me here. So they've all come in and
they're all having a bit of a, aquick look and then off they go.
(06:30):
When I'm at the guests, it's totally up to what the guests
want to see. But if I'm on my own, I would
literally sit with a siding for hours rather than running around
trying to find something else. But you know, when you're
running on safari for two or three days in an area, you've
got to sort of cover a bit of ground to, to get other things.
But it's just interesting watching the vehicles come and
go. There's no patience there to
wait for the lines to come out. And these lines could probably
(06:52):
sit here in this marsh for the rest of the day.
It's a very cool place. It offers privacy and they're
also mating, so they're going tobe sort of stuck together
literally for a few days. So it's a good spot to start
this afternoon to come and try to find them.
Hey there. I've come across a very sad and
(07:12):
bizarre sighting this afternoon.A male giraffe, a big bull, is
standing upright next to me in the bushes.
He's dead. He is completely upright.
His head is wedged between the fork of a branch.
He's stuck now. I heard rumours that the lions
(07:34):
had been eating him and I can see that some of his stomach is
opened up, but his legs and his body's upright.
And DI, no one knows what's happened.
I mean, this poor animal. Hopefully it was quick.
I have a feeling going off the way he is, he's over.
Was browsing in the Bush the waythe body is and it looks like
the impact it's had on the tree.Oh God, I feel like I'm on
(07:55):
bloody law and order of CSI out in the Mar.
It looked like he'd hit the treequick.
So my feeling, my gut feeling isis that he's been chased into
the Bush or he's been browsing and he's quickly.
You know, giraffe are very reactive.
They they spook easily and they move quickly.
I've seen it happen with the giraffe I work with.
(08:16):
I think that what's happened is he's ran into the Bush and hit
the tree. It unfortunately just gone smack
bang into the fork of the tree and broken his neck.
That's my theory. Who?
We'll never know. I can see his rumen is
completely opened up and on the ground.
All the contents of his rumen, which is one of his stomachs.
Giraffe of four stomachs. They're ruminant.
(08:38):
Yeah. Poor bugger.
It's just the most bizarre thingto see him, like, upright.
Yeah, really sad stuff. But all part of it, I guess it's
not even really worth the photo.It's it's quite confronting the
Blade giraffe here. They've got a tough old life in
the Mara N I've just noticed hisback legs have been eaten a
little bit, but the lines definitely can only reach that
part. OK, now I'm stuck in the.
(09:02):
Pouring rain with the 2 lines that we're eating the.
Giraffe. It's pouring and I'm saturated.
Again, this time I'm wearing a poncho which is helping a little
bit, but. I've had to put my camera gear
away. It's always the way.
I get a good sighting and it starts to pour anything and
everybody's. Sitting in these really big,
comfortable cruisers that are much more waterproof than me and
(09:22):
I'm just getting smashed in the Suzuki.
It's all part of it. Bless the pains.
I'm currently sitting with a pretty big pride of lions.
It's cesarean and pride, and they're at the giraffe kill.
The giraffe is still standing and they've eaten sort of the
lower half. I'm all on my own.
There are lots of trucks here before and people just coming
(09:44):
and feel like people don't really appreciate them.
They kind of just come and get their photo and leave and now
I'm here all on my own. It's beautiful and quiet.
The lines are doing their thing.They're slowly finishing up
eating. They've all got full bellies.
They're laying on their back chucking a big leg spread as
lines do. It's beautiful.
This is the kind of thing that when I'm older, later in life,
(10:06):
I'll look back on and think, well, like, that was amazing and
I'm so glad I got to do that, OK.
Update on the giraffe kill so Fast forward.
The Lions. Sat on that giraffe kill for six
days in total, so we've had really great lion action.
The. Poor giraffe was still stuck in
the tree, so they ate the lower half, which is quite a gruesome
(10:29):
sight to see. Just like the top half of the
giraffe stuck in a tree and thenthe bottom half has been eaten.
Legs are off. They pull the legs off and
apologize if this is a bit gory.You're trying to eat your
breakfast or coffee on the way to work.
But yeah, this is the reality ofit.
Only yesterday, on day five, I went back to check out the
giraffe kill because it's a great place to take new guests
(10:50):
because we were guaranteed lionsthere.
And the giraffe has fallen out of the tree.
So they've managed to loosen up and it has fallen out of the
tree. It's no longer upright and they
have consumed all of it. It's just a rib cage that's
left. The lions are that full that
they can't even move. One of the females who I think
is also pregnant, I have never seen a belly so big in a lion.
(11:13):
It looks like she is about to explode.
So they've had a very good feed and the poor little jackals have
been hanging in there for the whole week as well.
Morning. Just saying good morning to some
fellow safari goers. Yes, the jackals have been
hanging out waiting for the tinylittle bit of meat, but there's
so many lines there that it's not possible.
(11:34):
And where they're all the Bush, it's quite dangerous for another
scavenger to come in and to get their peace.
But yeah, what an outcome. I still can't believe it.
Talking to all the guides, all my friends in Africa and they
have never ever seen that happenbefore.
The guides are challenging me onmy theory.
There's a lot of theories going around.
(11:54):
A lot of the guides still believe that it was browsing and
that it's it slipped and fell into the fork of the tree.
I just don't see that mostly because of the vegetation it
would have had to get through tobrowse.
And also the tree that it was stuck in was not what I would
call an ideal about browsing tree for a giraffe.
And some of the guys think maybeit was browsing and then got a
(12:15):
fright by the lions and then tryto move.
I don't know, we'll never know. But it's it's quite very
fascinating sight and one that has kept the guides very happy
because it's guaranteed lions all week.
They're not moving. But the coolest thing about the
lion sighting as well is that a lot of the lionesses from the
Syrian pride have been an estrus.
(12:35):
So in between eating a giraffe, socializing with their pride,
they're actually off to the sidemating.
So there was like there was like3 or 4 different mating pairs
happening at one time. It was, it was pretty crazy.
It was quite the same. So this morning I'm heading out
to the South to the offbeat areaon my own.
It's an area that I don't normally drive to because it's
quite far, but I've chosen this morning to to go out there and
(12:57):
have an explore and there's goodcheetah out this way.
So I'm really hoping to find my own cheetah or leopard.
The sun has not come up yet, butit could be just behind the
thick cloud that's forming. The weather here has been really
cold and wet, so we've had rain almost every afternoon.
I haven't been stuck in it for acouple of days, which is great.
(13:18):
But the roads are wet, it's slippery, it's everything's
looking lovely and green. And the wildebeest I believe
have started to cross into Kenya, which is great.
And I've been out with loads of amazing guests.
I mean, some of our guests have been from the UK, America all
over and we had an Australian family that haven't lived in
Australia for about 9 years, years.
(13:38):
They've lived all over the world.
They were wonderful. So I've been visiting the Masai.
Villages with the guests. And two of the guests got
engaged just before they arrivedhere, Keith and Bonnie, and they
were from San Diego. And we had the really incredible
counter through the week where we got a serval.
For those that don't have a serval is it's a small spotted
cat, lives sort of on the plains, quite hard to come
(14:00):
across. And generally they're really
shy. This serval was the most
confident cats I think I've everseen.
It walked straight up to our vehicle.
And earlier on that morning, we were the lions.
And the big male lion sprayed, Ilifted his tail and sprayed the
side of our car. So there was a line, basically
line you're in all the side of our car.
(14:21):
And this servo came up and was investigating the smell of the
line. It was smelling where the spray
had been. It was really fascinating.
We've got a video of it. And then he went under our car
and he come out of our car and he was looking up at us next to
the car. That's crazy serval sighting.
I mean, they normally are not that ballsy.
They normally you get a look at them, they're sort of hunting
(14:42):
and they're walking away. This guy was wanting to smell
and investigate our car, which I've never had happened before.
So that's the coolest thing about Safari.
Even though I've been on thousands of game drives or
Safari time, you see something different every day.
I mean, some days you go out andyou see absolutely nothing.
Well, sorry, you never see nothing.
(15:02):
You see birds, insects. The usual suspects, I mean.
But. You're always seeing something
new and I'm always amazed and it's incredible.
So fingers crossed I get. Something incredible this
morning. OK honey Badgers, I am
photographing a rising sun on the beautiful plains here.
I was going to run you work. Workshop.
(15:23):
Through how I photograph either a sunrise or a sunset.
So I'm normally on about a mid shutter speed.
So right now I'm on 800th of a second.
I'm on F8 because I want a lot of detail in my tree and
background. I'm on about ISO 640, a little
bit bright, but I've done that so I can get this aperture.
And the biggest trick I've got for you guys is to change your
(15:47):
white balance into shady and that will really warm up the sun
and the colours. And I look for something really
simple. Right now the sun is on top of a
small Acacia tree, but I've got a cluster of 4 Acacia trees in
the background. Really sort of simple shot
looking beautiful. If you're lucky, you'll get an
elephant. Giraffe.
(16:08):
There's even a hot air balloon out here right now.
But. Sometimes you just got to look
for that one simple tree and it just makes such a beautiful
composition. And that's what I really love
about the plains, the simplicityof it all, the grass, the trees
that have magnificent shapes, the openness.
It's really it's quite a beautiful place.
(16:28):
There's a lot of other camps in the Mara North and their
drivers. I've been seeing this blonde
haired Mazungu woman with an Acubra and a big lens driving
around the past couple of weeks and they've realized I'm not a
threat and they've been really nice to me.
So I've just got flagged down byone of the camps, Kocheche, and
(16:49):
he's just told me that there's aleopard sighting.
He's given the direction, so let's see if I can go find this
leopard. The guests were really happy
about it and I just was able to give them some tips about the
line. So yeah, good morning for
collaboration. I read him.
Fingers crossed we get this leopard.
I will be so thrilled because I haven't seen one yet since I've
been here. That's the reality, guys.
If you come on Safari. Expecting a leopard unless.
(17:10):
You're going to be in the. One girl or sabi?
Sands or something or Sri Lanka the reality is is I've been
driving on safari almost every single day in this Conservancy
and I have not seen one single leopard and this is an area
where there's lots of leopard. I just want to give you a bit of
a visual of where I am now. I'm in the open plains.
There is 2/3 hot air balloons above me.
(17:31):
The. Balloons.
I have mixed feelings about the.Experience is incredible being.
In a hot air balloon floating across the plains.
I think everybody should do it. It's that real out of Africa,
you know, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford moment being up there.
The sun has just risen, so it. Had a spectacular sunrise.
But it does scare the animals, so I'm not going.
To lie, it's yeah, it can scare the animals a little bit, but.
(17:53):
It does. It does look amazing in the sky
right now, but everybody should do it at least once.
Especially the champagne breakfast.
Afterwards. It's a good way to start the day
on the planes drinking bubbly. Hey, guys.
I'm going to give. You a full update.
But I'm currently following the most massive leopardess that's
heavily pregnant and she's fullytrying to hunt after she's just
(18:15):
already haunted. I didn't.
See it? But she had a.
Thompson's gazelle up a tree andshe's come down and she's walked
past my car like 100 times and it is a sensational leopard
sighting. I'm very excited and I'm going
to stop talking because I need to concentrate because I'm
driving over. Rocks and trying to keep.
Up with this female, but she my word, she is amazing.
(18:37):
OK, I can finally get myself kind of sorted.
The excitement has come down. So earlier on I got a hot tip
that there was a leopard quite far on the very far side of the
Conservancy. We're bordering another
Conservancy. It's the furthest I've ever
driven on my own and I couldn't find it.
It would have been handy that ifthe person that told me that it
was right next to the Rangers Hut, that would have been a
(18:57):
really good tip. You think so?
When I got to the Rangers Hut, Isaw a heap of cars under an
Acacia tree and I was like, there's a leopard.
So it turned up and it's a leopardesque called Dotto and
she's heavily pregnant. And she was having a Thompson's
gazelle kill up a tree. And she was kind of trying to
rearrange it and do a bit of housekeeping and it kept
(19:17):
slipping and she she's eating about maybe 1/4 of it.
And so she was tidying it all upand I guess she was trying to
put it in a good, really good place.
And then she decided to get downoff the tree, which I managed to
film in slow motion and basically parade herself between
the cars for about 3400 metres. So we all kept taking turns to
line up for the shot and. It's really.
(19:39):
Really windy here today. Every time she got close to my
car though, unfortunately, well,for my own benefit, I had to
move because I've got no doors. My car's completely open.
And this leopard, like she looksat people in the car like she
could be a candidate for a leopard that jumps up into a
vehicle. So the Rangers are here, they're
keeping me safe, they're checking on me.
(19:59):
They're letting me know that I'mvery close to another
Conservancy and that I need to be very careful I don't go over
into that Conservancy. They're driving around in these
little brand new Suzuki chimneys, which is amazing.
Everybody's really helping one another to get the shots.
It's just an incredible bloody first leopard sighting here in
the Mira N like I am. Thrilled.
And shout out to my mum, it's her birthday today.
(20:20):
So this is my mum's birthday present.
Well, I mean, I'm enjoying it for her.
But yeah, this cat has turned upon my mum's birthday.
So that's really special. Currently on a really rocky
area. So if she comes down, I'm not
going to be able to follow her too closely because it's like
basically on this like very rocky area.
And Suzuki will not make it. But mad.
(20:41):
I've never driven around a leopard like that on my own
before. It's she's next level.
I can't wait to share the photos.
Such a crazy feeling to be. Sitting in an open.
Vehicle below a leopard on my own.
Everybody got bored. Or maybe they've got to get back
for Bricky, or they've ticked their leopard, who knows.
(21:01):
Or they've just had enough and they're happy with their
sighting me. Never.
I never really leave a leopard unless I have absolutely have
to, or unless the leopard leavesme.
So right now she's probably like1015 meters from me, probably
about 12 meters above me in a tree, heavily pregnant like her
little belly's hanging over the branch, She's relaxing.
(21:22):
It's such interesting behavioural epid, like she's
left her Thompson's gazelle killin a tree about 800 meters from
here and she's gone into anothertree.
So I don't know what that's about.
If it's because she's trying to lure fine her and other
predators away from that area, or if she's just wanting to rest
in a separate. Tree like I don't.
(21:44):
I don't know if she wants to, doesn't want to draw attention
to herself. I mean the Hina will get a smell
that it's up there. They can't get it unless it
falls. It's just unusual that she has
come so far away to rest in a what I would think was not a
very comfortable tree. But I guess I'm not a leopard
and I don't know what her intentions are.
She's definitely in relaxing mode though.
(22:05):
And this is the tell tale sign. Normally when you're driving
along, you're looking for that classic leopard tale hanging out
of the tree. She keeps sneezing.
But yeah, she's spectacular and DOTO and she's well known around
these parts. And I couldn't be any further
from camp if you tried. So it took me like an hour and a
half to get here. I think.
I just hope I can get back. I'm I'm way off the main road,
(22:27):
so we'll see how I go. Well, Dotto the leopardess has
just come down the tree. I'm on my own still.
She did give me a real good stare.
So I managed to get some good shots but also slightly heebie
jeebies. Again, being on your own little
leopard and she's looking at you.
She's headed down into the lugger, the sort of little
(22:48):
valley, and it's very rocky and I think I'm just going to let
her be. I also don't want to risk
getting stuck down there, and I think it might be a different
Conservancy, so I don't want to get fined by the Rangers.
But shout out to the two Rangersof Mara N, who just really took
care of me this morning at this leopard sighting and were giving
me advice about being careful ofwhere the boundary was.
And they're wonderful guys. They could see I was driving
(23:09):
quite safely around her. She, yeah, she approached my
car. There'd be a big chance she'd be
in it. So I was talking about how
confident the server was. I mean, obviously she's taken
notes from this leopardus. But yeah, beautiful, beautiful
morning for my mum's birthday. If you enjoyed this episode, be
sure to hit the follow button soyou never miss an adventure.
You can keep up with Bobby Joe'swildlife photography and safari
(23:30):
journeys on Instagram and Facebook at Bobby Joe Safaris.
And if you'd love to join one ofher photography tours or
workshops, you can find all the details at bobbyjoesafaris.com.
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