WILD KENYA SAFARIS - Kenya Safaris, Diani Beach Safaris, Mombasa Safaris and more

Beautiful stripes of the Burchell's "Plains Zebra" in Kenya When you come across a herd of zebra while on a game drive, its difficult not to admire their beautifully contrasting black and white stripes. Glancing at the herd, one could even have an impression that all the zebra stripe patterns are alike. In reality however, every zebra has its own unique pattern and each zebras stripe is as unique as a person's finger print. Try picking two individual zebras standing side by side and take a closer look at them with a pair of binoculars, you will suddenly begin to spot quite a number of differences between their complete body stripes. Some of the differences you may find include; direction and angles of patterns, thickness of the stripes, some random hidden spots and different shades of grey, brown and black colouring. Zebra patterns differ in design, thickness, colour and also have occasional spots like the one pictured above So the next time yo...

Diving with two White Tip Reef Sharks at Shark Point in Mombasa Marine Park, Kenya Among the most special of all dive sites in Kenya is a spot called Shark Point in the Mombasa Marine Park. As the name suggests, it is one of the few places on the Kenyan coast where the adventurous scuba diver can have an 80% success rate of spotting one of these beautiful aquatic predators in their natural environment.  The White Tip Reef Shark (Triaenodon Obesus) grows to about 2.5 metres in length and can easily be identified by the tale-tale white tips on the top of its dorsal and caudal fin. Shark Point dive site averages between 10 - 25 metres in depth and on a typical day, its not uncommon to see up to 10 resident sharks swimming past you as they stealthily patrol up and down the reef along the coral ledges, or to find one resting for a while on the sandy bottom. Diving with these sharks is a real rush for the first time visitor to the site, but is also equally enjoyable f...

This Baboon is clearly thinking about some monkey business, Tsavo East Kenya With a hand over its head, mind preoccupied and eyes seemingly lost in a far away place, was this baboon possibly remembering a romantic episode? or was he just love struck as he was cheekily checking out some of the lovely baboonesses passing by?  Well, i'll let you be the one to decide ...

A Lion in Tsavo East National Park with half a dozen Egyptian Geese in the background After leading hundreds of safaris i can safely say that i remember almost each and every one of them! Believe it or not, its true. If not in their entirety then at least in some bits and pieces. I can look back at a photograph from ten years ago and remember some very interesting moments about the scene and quite likely the entire day in general. How is that possible you ask? Well because i believe that wildlife photography can serve me many purposes. The main purpose being; its a hobby that i enjoy very much and I try to capture the finest of wildlife moments to later share and educate the people around me on the beauty and importance of nature.  The other purpose is; i use photography to remember wildlife behaviour. Take the above photo for example, a male lion from the Aruba Pride walks towards us after quenching its thirst at the distant waterhole.  Ordinarily...

The distinct white colour of Cattle Egrets are unmistakable in Kenya's National Parks Unlike other herons that favour waterbodies such as lagoons, swamps and streams the cattle egret prefers to roam the grass patches and fields looking for their favourite prey that consists mostly of insects but also small vertebrae such as frogs, lizards and the like. Gathering at times in dense colonies during their breeding seasons, these white coloured birds stand out unmistakably in the savannah lands of Kenya's national parks. The adults have yellow legs and attain a golden colour on their head and chest during breeding seasons while immature egrets have dark legs and beak until they mature. Hundreds of Cattle Egret gathering to feed in the grassland At times they can be found riding the backs of animals such as elephants, buffalo and zebra without any opposition as they pick off the ticks from their hosts bodies. While in other instances, cattle egrets closely foll...

Elephant in the Taru Desert after the rainy season walks up to the highlands Elephants are one of the most adaptable of all animals in this world. They have been found to survive in all sorts of habitats including deserts, grasslands, highlands, swamps, forests and all these unique diverse environments quite literally cover most of the planet. Their extinct decedents the wooly mammoths were once also commonly found in the Arctic Tundra! Elephants are majestic mammals that have been able to adapt across the earth primarily because of their high intelligence and extraordinary memory that keeps helping them to find reliable sources of food and water. Elephants follow age old migration routes have been passed down to them from generations. The paths they follow seemingly takes them around in a circle from one place to another in an annual or six month cycle, moving them from one sustainable location to another.  Once food and water has almost been depleted at th...

There are quite a number of wildlife photographs and natural history documentaries out there that showcase a pride of lions on the hunt. Most of these sequences and footage however have been usually shot from one angle, which is that of a vehicle on ground level.  This particular hunt however is very special as it has been photographed from a rarely seen perspective ... A birds eye view! While photographing a hunt from the ground, the photographer faces a number of challenges. The subjects tend to usually get lost in environmental noise such as dust, bushes, tall grass, trees and other permanent obstacles, but with an aerial view such as this one, a lion prides entire strategy unravels completely uninterrupted as if as you are looking at it on a chess board. It all began one early Saturday morning at a waterhole in Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. A pride of seven lions were successful in bringing down a buffalo at about 06h30 and after enjoying their heart...

Kenya's thriving coral reef is beautifully fragile and endangered Some Black Spotted Sweetlips on the reef in Kenya There is an annual celebration across the world on June 8th where people from all walks of life come together to celebrate the beauty of our blue planet. This day is known as World Ocean Day and every year the theme changes in accordance with the UN specifications for improvement in oceanic conservation. This years Wold Ocean Day 2015 theme is titled "Healthy Oceans - Healthy Planet". Kenya's section of the Indian ocean is without a doubt one of the most pristine and relatively untouched of Africa's oceanic realms. The diving here is phenomenal and the potential for divers to discover new reefs that have never been dived before adds to every explorers excitement.  The Kenya Wildlife Service has placed certain sections of Kenya's fringing reef under its protection by designating them as marine parks. This naturally means d...

Leopard walking after sunset in the Masai Mara photographed with a camera setting of ISO 6400 Believe it or not, this photograph of a leopard in Maasai Mara was taken about fifteen minutes after the sun had already set. With camera technology improving as fast as newer models are being released, the avid wildlife photographer now has more flexibility at their fingertips for all different types of lighting conditions.  As we were returning to the camp from our game drive and ready to turn in for the night, this handsome leopard was casually walking out in the open and just about to start his day! Since the sun was already down and light was very low, i steadied the camera on a bean bag and increased the camera ISO to 6400. By doing this increment, the camera knew that it needed to allow for more light into the shot giving the above result.  I simply love the way this photo has come out. The Leopard and the background details are visible, but there is also a cool...

Its been a magnificent start to your early morning safari. So far you have photographed the grand opening of the magical sun rising with a stunning golden skyline, a herd of zebras crossing the red dusty road of Tsavo and a mighty lion; the king of the jungle with his jaws agape, as he greets you with a mighty yawn. All these perfect photo opportunities have you itching with excitement to play them back! You have now retreated to the comfort of your lodge, enjoying a cup of coffee as you browse through the photos on the LCD screen of your digital camera.  Guess what? Those special moments captured don’t seem so perfect now as they did in reality, its like the photo just does not represent what you really saw... Well, do not lose hope! For your next game drive, here are some tips that can help you improve your photographic skills by making your pictures come alive and seem more appealing. The Rule Of Thirds: Once you have found a subject of interest th...

An Immature Pale Chanting Goshawk 'Melierax Canorus' searches attentively for some prey in Tsavo East National Park The greatest weapon that a predatory bird possesses is not the length of its talons, nor is it its body size, nor the speed with which it can fly. Its most vital hunting tool is actually the good health and sharpness of its eyes!  For a bird of prey such as the above pictured Goshawk to successfully survive in the wilderness, it needs to be able to identify the smallest of potential prey hiding on the ground (like mice and lizards) at a close-up range even though the bird is searching from high up in the sky. The moment its large eyes spot a potential target, it needs to accurately judge the distance, direction and momentum of its prey, then as it dives in for the kill, it literally needs to keep its eyes on the prize by continually having its target in clear sharp focus during the high speed aerial chase. Birds of prey unquestionably have so...

Fully grown dominant male lion of the Aruba Pride in Tsavo East Kenya Among the many different lion prides that i have been meticulously following the lives of for the last few years in Tsavo East National Park, one of the most regularly spotted by visitors is a pride that i have called "The Aruba Pride".  With over fifteen members in the family, this pride's most preferred area of their territory is the vicinity of Aruba Dam which is located right opposite Ashnil Aruba Lodge. The dam holds plenty of water during the wet season while a windmill runs a borehole that supplies a small waterhole for the really dry periods. So with adequate water all year round, relatively few bushes and lots of grass about, Aruba Dam is a real favorite hangout for the lions favorite prey which includes zebra, buffalo and hartebeest. So its no coincidence that the pride can be spotted regularly or at least heard calling during the night for most days of the ...

A detailed close up of a White Spotted Hermit Crab in Mombasa Marine National Reserve, Kenya The White Spotted Hermit Crab - Dardanus Megistos - is a lovely little crustacean that can be found while scuba diving along the outer reef or while snorkeling in the lagoons of the Indian Ocean. Growing up to about 20cm in size, its beautiful red color dotted with white spots makes it quite unmistakable compared to the other 1000 global hermit crab species. Its lovely color contrast and the fact that it is very approachable makes it a real nice subject to photograph underwater. Contrary to the belief that hermit crabs grow bigger together with their shells, the reality is that as the individual grows, it actually has to vacate its now tightening mobile home in order for it to attain a large healthy body size. To do this it first needs to identify a suitable home, then vacate its current shell to move into the bigger one! A homeless hermit crab would not even last a minute on the op...