The ungulates were ubiquitous in the Mara, they are part of the migration and serve and a critical source of food for the big cats.  Below is just a sampling of the animals we saw.

The cape buffalo is different.  This animal is one of the “Big Five.”  They have a rather bad temper and became easily irritated when we were around them.  They are ferocious and will kill a lion.  At one point, a herd of these animals was passing a fallen tree and there was a lioness on the tree sleeping.  As typical, the buffalo faced her and moved closer, waiting for her to move.  She did not, and they gave up.  Had she confronted them, she would have died.

If you look as some of the cape buffalo photos below, you will see birds on their back and faces.  These red billed oxpeckers have a symbiotic relationship in that they eat insects that are on the buffalo’s hide.