After many many failed attempts at spotting a Leopard in India, this trip was specifically planned for Ishrat and his love for this beautiful cat – little did we know what other wonders Kenya was going to show us in these 2 weeks.
But, the first story is about Fig.
We got to our second Conservancy in the Mara region and met with our amazing guide, Meshack. (We give 90% of the credit to Meshack for these photographs – always giving us the best compositions and angles!) 5 minutes into our first game drive of the day, we found this sleeping beauty. I hadn’t even fixed my beanbag properly yet!
She woke up after a w hile and went to her tree where she had put last night’s hunt – only to be scared away by some nasty Baboons. They followed her into a bush and attacked her for a few seconds (Caught that on video – hate those Baboons!). She got badly injured, which we realised later the next day when we found her again.
After some 40 minutes or an hour, she made sure the Baboons had gone away (Probably because of the jeeps coming in to see her). She crept out of her bush and headed back to her lunch. Despite her wounds, she took some beautiful leaps up the tree, threw the wildebeest down, carried it inside a bush again and enjoyed the meal.
Wish we could’ve just watched her all day!
Point to note: I’m not a Wildlife Photographer, I’m a portrait photographer – And I went in for these game drives keeping that in mind. I wanted to photograph and frame these animals the way I have always photographed people. And thanks to our wonderful guide, and also a mad amount of luck – I managed to do just that.
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Adding a Lion King Soundtrack to it – because, obviously.
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The First Look
Always wondered why Ishrat was always so obsessed with Leopards – now we know. Haven’t seen anything so beautiful.
Wake up sleeping beauty.
Spotted by the Baboons
I wanted to go kiss this forehead like I do with my dog >.<
After the Baboon attack, Fig hid for an hour or so. This is when she started crawling out cautiously …
Still keeping a look out.
There she comes out.
My heart.
One last check on the lunch.
Up she went for her lunch.
Slowly and calmly, dropped the wildebeest down.
Still super alert.
My favourite shot.
This petite little thing dragged the whole carcass into her bush.
Went back looking for her the next day and found her sleeping in a small stream – Visibly in pain, and kept licking her wounds. We left her there as we didn’t want her to get distressed. I hope she’s well and with her two cubs now!
Miss you already Fig! Hope to see you soon again with your grown up cubs!
5 Comments
WOW! Incredible!
Absolutely amazing! A tribute to a beautiful creature. Comes as close as you could to being there! Thank you Ishita, looking forward to seeing more Africa photos.
Nature at it’s best. .moments of such a majestic creature such well captured… awesome work?
Thank you so much! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂