“Lappet-faced vulture on a tree in Maasai Mara National Reserve”
This vulture prefers to live in dry savannah, thornbush, arid plains, deserts with scattered trees in wadis, open mountain slopes. They are usually found in undisturbed open country with a scattering of trees and apparently prefer areas with minimal grass cover.
“Lappet-faced vulture in Maasai Mara National Reserve”
This vulture prefers to live in dry savannah, thornbush, arid plains, deserts with scattered trees in wadis, open mountain slopes. They are usually found in undisturbed open country with a scattering of trees and apparently prefer areas with minimal grass cover.
This high and mid-mountain species, which descends at its lowest around 800 meters in Uganda and Kenya, is well adapted to degraded, agricultural and even urban environments. At the base, it lives in the edges and clearings of the mountain forest.
It is a solitary nester, which can however organize a collaboration between two couples on the same territory. The nest is discreet, unlike colonial weavers, and can go unnoticed in the foliage. The male builds alone, but can aggressively steal a nest from another weaver species. The female incubates alone, a dozen days, only a few eggs (maximum three).
This weaver is mainly insectivorous, and eats fruits, berries and seeds only in small quantities.
“Variable sunbird in Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya”
The variable sunbird (or yellow-bellied sunbird) is a passerine bird which feed largely on nectar, although it will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time.
The variable sunbird is a fairly common resident breeder in equatorial Africa.
Standing proud in the savannah with their red blankets and painted shields, the Maasai people have become one of the more widely known symbols of East Africa; the Maasai shield is even featured on Kenya’s national flag. It’s not uncommon in Kenya and Tanzania to see the Maasai in their traditional dress, not only in their villages but also in the streets of the cities.
Maasai are pastoralist and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries.
Visits to Maasai villages are a popular activity during trips to Kenya and Tanzania. Meeting the local people and getting to know more about their life in the savannah is an integral part of the East African travel experience. It’s just as unforgettable as gazing into the eyes of a lion, or watching the sunset over the Serengeti Plains.
Possibly Africa’s most famous ethnic group, the Maasai people are semi-nomadic people located primarily in Kenya and Northern Tanzania.
According to their own oral history the Masai people originated in the Nile Valley in Northern Africa and migrated south around the 15th century with their cattle.
Once considered fierce warriors and feared by all tribes in the area, the Maasai lost much of their power in the 19th century.
The Maasai have now adopted a more sedentary lifestyle that includes growing and buying cultivated food.
Real practice or only folkloric demonstration for the easily impressed tourists, the realization of a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood is mastered by the Massaï.