Sunset With The Topi

Masai Mara National Reserve

It had been a day since we saw Osapuk and we were greeted by a new driver who was to be with us that day. His land cruiser was newer and we had an off road permit for the day. The need for which became apparent after lunch when we headed out to meet the famous Topi Pride.

We drove up steep rocky areas I didn’t think existed here and after a while came to a clearing where, under a few trees, in a flat area on the hill, lay the Topi females and the cubs. All of them. As we slowed and moved closer, we went past the Salas Boys who were spread out, guarding the approach to the Pride from below on 3 sides. I took some pictures but honestly being where I was, my brain had stopped working. Our driver said that we would not move too much. I wasn’t gonna tell him to anyway.

How do you make a picture with 30 subjects right there and you can’t move nor do you want to make any noise? What angle? How? They were, laying, sitting, nuzzling, some cubs climbing somewhere. I do wildlife, not weddings. How do I frame a shot? Too many subjects, too close, too far. Too many dangerous wild animals all around. I could not focus. My camera didn’t know who to focus on. In fact, we didn’t even whisper at all. Just watched, flabbergasted. There were 3 vehicles in the area, all parked apart and all quiet.

The pride stirred as the sun started to set. They got up slowly, stretched, the kids started getting even more active and they walked to the edge of the hill, past our vehicle. Each one picked a spot again and they watched the sunset after which, they got up and marched the way we had come and we took another route home. I think we finally started to talk 5 minutes or so after we had left the Topi behind.

That evening, at dinner, the owner of the camp walked up to me and asked, “So, How about the Black Rock Pride tomorrow?” I replied, “Umm, Let’s not ruin it, Im still mind blasted here. Let’s try for a leopard on a tree.” His response was spot on, “Overwhelmed?”