Fantastic beasts and what to mention when you find them: a guide to being your own self-drive safari guide
We know the Masai Mara has a lot of amazing things to offer.
It’s a veritable smorgasbord of savannah sights. With a three-day self-driven safari here, you can certainly hope to scratch most of the big five off your list.
You’ll also, however, see a lot of the more common, though no less weird and wonderful, animals while you’re out on your self-drive safari. The Masai Mara’s elephant and big cats certainly pull in the international tourists but there are Kenya residents amongst our clientele who can appreciate the beauty (or extreme lack thereof) of all of this country’s wild animals.
There are times of year when international tourism slows down, opening the park up to locals who can explore it at their own pace. We want to leave the razzing past of zebra and giraffe to the international wageni.
We want to give our safari goers (true aficionados, real safari wallas, proper do-it-yourself bundu bashers) a reason to stop and take in each of the savannah’s beauties.
So, below is a list we’ve compiled, with the help of a FGASA field-trained safari guide, of interesting facts to share, and exciting things to look out for, when you encounter any of East Africa’s animals. If you’re planning on doing your own self-drive safari anywhere in Kenya, these factoids will keep your car entertained whatever animal you choose to stop beside.
Cheetah
(We’re not going to tell you about) Cheetah’s non-retractable claws:
You know this one; this isn’t your first time in the bush. Unlike other cats, lion and leopard including, the cheetah’s claws are not fully retractable.
These non-retractable claws work in the same was a sprinter’s running spikes, giving the cheetah traction in its sprinting attempts to keep pace with the plains gazelles that it feeds on.
A cheetah’s top speed:
If you’re stopped and presently looking at a cheetah, this debate has happened and needs a conclusion, is happening and needs a conclusion, or is about to happen and, believe us, you’ll want a speedy conclusion.
According to the WWF (who should know what they’re talking about with regards to wildlife), a cheetah can reach speeds of 103 km/h. It takes them 3 seconds to reach top speed and how long they can stay at top speed is dependent on their health and energy levels, the terrain and probably a number of other factors we’ll never understand.
Cheetah cubs’ defensive mimicry:
Cheetah cubs are very distinctive with their white and fluffy backs, this is thought to be a form of defensive mimicry. The thinking is that they are mimicking the distinctive look of the incredibly aggressive African Honey Badger.
Crocodile
Kenya’s rivers and lakes are home to Nile Crocodiles, the second largest crocodilian species on earth
The species of crocodile that you’ll find here in the Mara are the Nile Crocodile. Nile crocs are the largest reptiles in Africa, and the second largest crocodilian species in the world after the Saltwater Crocodiles of Australasia.
Due to their indiscriminate diet, they’ve got a reputation as being of significant danger to humans. Estimates put forward by National Geographic suggest that Nile Crocodiles kill about 200 humans a year, across the continent.
Nile Crocodiles are caring parents
Despite their fearsome reputation amongst humans, Nile Crocs are known as caring parents. By reptilian standards, that is. While most reptiles abandon their nests once they’ve lain their eggs, both mother and father Nile Crocs have been observed to guard their nests and even roll lain eggs around in their mouth in order to help in the hatching process.
Eland
Eland’s clicking joints
To really try impress your group with your safari know-how, approach Eland as quietly as you can and then turn off your car’s engine. Make sure everything is as quiet as can be. With luck you will hear a distinct clicking sound as the Eland trot away from your car. This is the point where your entranced audience will look to you, their wise guide, for an explanation.
You can then explain that the sound is caused by a tendon in the leg, slipping over the bone, causing it to vibrate like a string.
For extra points, you can explain that the longer and thicker the tendon the deeper the clicking sound, essentially the larger and more dominant the eland the deeper the sound it makes.
Eland are the largest antelope species in the world
The average male Eland stands at about one-and-a-half metres (4.9 feet) tall at the shoulder. Females are slightly shorter (1.25 metres at the shoulder).
Most Bovids (Eland including) drink each other’s urine
The Bovidae family are a group of species grouped together by common traits such as the fact of their being ruminants (see our section on Giraffe for more info on ruminants) and hoofed. This family includes antelope, goats, cattle, sheep, buffalo and bison.
Another trait that is nearly universal amongst bovids is that they routinely drink each other’s urine. Its a form of communication the purpose of which we can only speculate at.
What we do know is that amongst Eland (and Buffalo, Wildebeest, Topi and Gazelles), urine testing is an important part of the reproductive process. Males will closely follow females around in effort of stimulating urine production. They will then sample the urine to ascertain if the female is in oestrous: an attempt to gauge if her hormone levels are suitable for procreation.
It’s not clear why males drink the urine of other males.
(We want this fact questioned least of all. Source: The Behaviour Guide to East African Mammals by Richard Despard Estes)
Giraffe
Giraffe chewing the cud
If you’ve found some Giraffe, stop and stay a while.
A lot of savannah animals are ruminants, Giraffe including. This means that they digest their food by passing it through several compartments which comprise their stomach. The largest part of a ruminant’s stomach is the name-giving rumen.
Giraffe, Eland, Wildebeest (and the rest) first eat to fill their rumen then they’ll stop ingesting food. Standing or laying down they begin the process of ruminating. This involves bringing back up a mouthful of cud (comprised of the coarsest plant particles presently in the ruminant’s rumen) and chewing it again before re-swallowing it.
Rumination allows ruminants to get as much nutrients as is possible out of their diet of tough plant particles (Giraffe eat Acacia leaves so it has to be pretty effective). This process, and the fact that it allows this family of creatures to exist and thrive on such a fibrous diet, is credited with why bovids are so globally spread.
All ruminants regurgitate and re-chew their food, of course, but in Giraffe it’s easiest to see.
So, bring your car to a stop next to a Giraffe that’s not directly feeding and watch it’s throat as it comes to the end of a mouthful’s worth of chewing. It should look a little like this:
