People we met in Tsavo told us that. They might of course have misinterpreted, but they saw a Masai warrior stand a few meters beside a sleeping lion (or more than one, I don't remember :oops: ), and their guide told them he was there to make sure no one would harm or harrass the lion. Last summer it was mentioned in a travel report for a national newspaper as well.

Tabs, maybe that's the problem with going to Africa more than once. You get spoiled :mrgreen: But I know how you feel, I liked the geckos in our rooms just as much as the fish eagle in the tree by the lodge or the wartie family coming for a drink at night :)

I have never had any desire to visit the Masai Mara, due to the reputation it has for multiple vehicles at cheetah (and other) sightings.

Friends who 'know where to go' in Kenya and Tanzania to avoid the crowds usually pay premium prices in order that they can be alone at sightings - but I cannot afford the huge accommodation prices/service charges/tips that are required!

I much prefer to pay the (very) reasonable prices that organisations such as Eco-Training and other Field Guide training companies make for a real 'in the bush' experience which includes walking, under the protection of armed rangers/trackers, and daily Game Drives, in Big 5 territory.

It is far more exciting and exhilarating, for me, to be able to go [relatively] safely into the bush on foot - not knowing what animals I may encounter - than to be just one more spectator at a sighting where, frankly, the animals are often so aclimatised to tourists that it is only marginally better than visiting an exceptional wildlife park or zoo in the UK, Europe, the USA or wherever....

I am, in any case, more interested now - after many visits to the African Bush - in the smaller animals. Arachnids, reptiles, invertibrates, small mammals birds and amphibians. Unusual sightings of these excite me much more than seeing 'yet another' leopard in a tree!

The Big 5, and other large mammals, are still, and always will be, very interesting; but we can learn so much more about evolution, about our roots and about the history of our planet by studying the smaller animals

My experience is a little different.
Yes, there were a lot of tourists in the Masai Mara when I went there in January 2006. But the Masai Mara is so vast and the game drive vehicles spread in many different directions, so it didn't feel crowded - not even at lion sightings.
The only crowded sighting was at a cheetah kill. There were 5 or 6 vehicles at it which is still not too bad for a kill site - I have seen much more crowded sightings in other parks.

There were more traffic jams in Samburu - the worst ones were at a leopard in a tree (10-12 vehicles around one tree :shock:) and a python with a dead gazelle (we had to queue to see that!).
In spite of this Samburu is still a park I wouldn't want to miss because you can see some species and subspecies there that you don't see in other parts of the country.

So I guess a lot depends on at what time of the year you are going and how lucky you are. Masai Mara is not my favourite safari destination but it's a good place to go if you want to find the big cats.