Masai Mara’s dust
From the field notes of Roberto Isotti


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At first I am surrounded exactly by what I expected: an arid background with few bushes that emerge here and there. Only a bit later I’ll realize that the park is made up of different habitats. Some are green areas, others spotted with statuaries acacia trees placed at regular intervals one from the other to form a chessboard and many others places ... to discover in the days that I will spend in the reserve. Near the Mara River the great herds of wildebeest and zebras welcome me, their shapes are lost on the horizon. In a regular rhythm all move together towards the same destination. It’s like a big heart that beats life into the immense grasslands of Serengeti. Here is a pack of 5,000 individuals between zebras and wildebeest crossing the river Masai. The time of crossing, despite being a classical show seen several time in reportages and TV documentaries, is still source of an ancestral emotion, that affects the heart of every naturalist, even more one of a romantic like me... ... read more

Hoof beats, water, splashes, bellowing, neighing treble ... and dust, dust in the eye, dust announcing the arrival of tens of thousands of migrating animals.The first in line are watching the water, leaning out toward the river, then coming back a few paces behind now everything seems stopped. The uncertainty can last for hours, hours of long wait. Then, as moved by a mysterious impulse, suddenly throw themselves against fate, defying predators that patiently have been waiting this moment. "Crocodiles do not have enough water," says Joseph, our guide. "They cannot hide to tend their traps." The lions, instead, take advantage of this bonanza, literally fall from the sky, and on the other side of the river are making the first attacks. There are carcasses scattered everywhere, some bones have already been cleaned meticulously so nobody care for them, others are still reach in substance and are surrounded by dozens of vultures.