THE STORY ABOUT ROHO...
Hey friends!
This one’s from the latest Safari I did. As much as I want to talk to you about the whole trip and all of the game I saw, I’m focusing on a special event or living thing, Roho. I really would like to know what your initial thoughts about this is. What really does come to your mind when I say I’m focusing on Roho? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Okay, okay getting to the point. In summary, Roho is what we (my family and I) and our wonderful guide, Amos (you read about him in my previous blog post here), want to name a little leopard cub. To be precise, Lorian’s little cub. Here’s how this happened. As we got to the tree and watched the beautiful Lorian feasting on an Antelope, someone from the back asked “what’s the little cub’s name?”
Lorian
Everyone knows in Mara, most of the main ones are named or identified with specific names, either by the local Masai or the wildlife photographers and/or documenters.
Amos then said to us, well this one doesn’t have a name yet because it hasn’t been confirmed whether it’s a male or female… and so we left it at that. We continued to watch Lorian. We couldn’t see the cub as clearly as Lorian yet because it sat higher up than she did.
Of course, because of his knowledge of the animals, Amos knew Lorian would be coming down at any moment. Why? Because she had been up on the tree for 3 days with the kill and the antelope was almost dry with no meat and so we stuck with her. We had the best spot in terms of lighting and our view. The best part was that there was only 2 other cars there with us because the rest would just come watch and leave, not realising she is going to come down soon.
We had no idea how long it would take her but we stuck with her till the end. Now, she didn’t make us wait too long! She gave us a show while she was eating and about half an hour later she made her way down to the ground showing off her full self to us. What a sight.
I’d love to tell you so much more about her, I think I could write a whole page just for her. But, this one is about Roho!
Lorian’
The little cub obviously followed the mum down a few moments later. A lot happened in between which I’m going to tell you about shortly. But, in the moment of it coming down, Amos confirmed it was a boy. And we asked “who usually names them?” and his answer was “We (the Masai’s) name them”.
He said “What would you name him?” At this point, I was starting to get excited because imagine having a chance to name a leopard? There’s a whole process for it to be confirmed but hey even getting a chance to try is good enough. For this reason, I still was skeptical and I asked Amos “Are you sure we get to name him?” and he said we can give a suggestion, explain why we chose this name and he’ll forward it. If it’s agreed upon then we’ll continue with the same name.
This was enough to get us thinking about suggestions while we watched him and his mama…
Before I continue to tell you about the little guy, let’s start from the beginning. Do you know what the word Roho means?
“Roho” is a Swahili word that means spirit.
To elaborate, when used in Swahili the word itself is referring to your whole spirit which includes yours personality, your heart, and your aura. Sometimes as a way to describe a free spirit. Keep this definition in mind as you read everything that comes after it and at the end you can let me know if you agree or disagree?
At first, we only saw Lorian, the cub was hard to spot because of all the leaves and branches on the tree. We weren’t sure if we would get a chance to see him at all. He was shy and hiding himself for some time. However, as we sat there patiently watching Lorian, there was a sudden movement of leaves above her.
My instant reflex was to turn my camera in the direction of the movement and look through the lens. I wasn’t expecting it but I caught the little one peeking through one of the branches - it was a completely lucky shot. It was as though he was playing hide and seek with me in that moment. The rest weren’t able to see him as clearly but they saw the little tail hanging between the branches.
That could have been all that we saw of him but really I think he wanted to show off to us too, just like his mama. It was completely out of view again so I shifted back to Lorian.
Her eyes were so captivating, every time she looked directly at my lens I felt my heart skip a beat. It honestly felt like she was about to pounce on me. Obviously this was because of the zoom and she was at a good distance but hey!
Spent about 40 minutes just watching her eat, admiring her teeth, her tongue and her big beautiful eyes and of course her PRINT. She was gorgeous and I couldn’t stop staring. Once she was done she moved to an opening of the branches and this was the moment we had been waiting for. She was ready to come down but she really was teasing us. I mean we almost forgot about the little cub that was up there in the branches too.
It would have been so easy to miss it. We didn’t even realise he had started making his way down to the where the antelope hung. He walked down very quietly in stealth mode and placed himself ready for a meal.
Look at those eyes, there was a connection, I could feel it…
The cub was about six months old and he definitely knew the way to your heart, at least to mine, with its enchanting eyes. Playful yet deadly in his own way. Very elegantly licking away at the meat on the antelope. Like a young male enjoying and appreciating the food that lay before him.
And then she decides it’s time, Lorian starts her preparation to climb down the tree. Before this, she stands between the two thick branches, with the sun shining on her face as though it was directly telling her “It’s TIME!” The sun rays were directly on her and you could see her whiskers reflecting the stunning light back.
She does it, she very quickly starts her descend and about two seconds later she was on the ground, walking towards our car before she quickly turned into the grass and slept there. This time I really felt she was coming for me!
The cub was watching her from above yet licking away the meat. He was on his own with the meat for a little while before Lorian called out to him. He looked at her very attentively and straight after stared directly into my lens. It’s like he was saying “It’s my turn NOW!
You can see the determination in his eyes, he was ready. He looked back at his mother for some confidence before he started to move and walk toward the opening. This scared him a little bit and you could tell he really didn’t know how to get down.
He went back up and started calling his mum, who wouldn’t respond obviously because he’s old enough to get down himself. He came back to the opening, tried to go a step further this time face first, just the way his mum did.
Defeated again, climbed higher onto another branch looking for another way to come down. Still calling for his mum, who continued to bask in the morning sunlight. By this point, he was completely terrified, you could see the look in his face. BUT, he didn’t stop trying. Walked into the opening, just like his mum did and stared directly at the sun as if to look for an answer
With his movement and body language you knew he wasn’t giving up. He was looking for an easier way to come down. This opening now became his lookout point. He looked for a way down.
Anyway, he went back up once again. However, this time was different. He turned around and now we could see his back facing the light. For us, we simply thought he was scared again and calling out to his mum. But not realising he’s saying he found a way. To us we were amazed with what he did next!
That’s right! He came in reverse, the same way he went up he came down. What a smart little guy… right? Literally crawling down the tree until he got very close to the end, he turned and jumped the best way he knew how.
Yes, he took a little longer than his mama to get down, but he did it. All on his OWN! And he knew that too! You could see it on his face, he was proud of himself… and so was his mama! That was an incredible moment to witness, we all felt just as proud of him as though he was one of our own!
I could feel his energy and he was not only proud of himself but he was proud to say he was his mama’s, not so little, boy! They definitely paraded themselves to us before they walked away, he definitely came to tell me “That’s what my mum taught me” before they so elegantly walked away!
In that moment, we suggested the name Roho to Amos and explained why and went ahead to say that I needed to write something to explain why he should be called Roho. The determination, the confidence and the free spiritedness he portrayed was undeniable and the name just felt right!
After reading this, what do you think? Does the name fit this little guy or do you disagree? I’m excited to hear what you have to say!