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Showing posts from September, 2015

Wasini And Kisite Island Dolphin Dhow Safaris

Wild Kenya Safaris offers its guests an affordable day trip to Wasini and Kisite Island by partnering with the local Wasini Community. By booking this tour you directly assist the local people by offering employment and income for sustaining their simple island livelihoods. Departing in the morning from your diani beach hotel, start the journey with a scenic drive passing the coconut and sugarcane plantations of the south coast as you head towards Shimoni fishing village near the Tanzanian border. Upon arrival at the Shimoni Jetty, the crew will arrange for your marine park tickets from where you will then board a traditional Arabic motorized dhow to start your oceanic voyage into the Wasini Channel. The dhow trip is handled by the Wasini Island Community so the friendly local crew members will be quite happy to share their island life stories with you as you sail past their beautiful island.  Arriving close to the snorkeling spot, the sharp eyed captain and crew wi...

Lion Cub From Tsavo East Safari

A lion cub in Tsavo East National Park Out of the savanna big cats, its the little cats that gives a photographer the most amusement and also some of the best photo opportunities. Their playful energy and inquisitiveness can have you entertained for many hours. While its mum and sibling were taking their mid morning nap, this cute little lion cub did not disappoint in keeping us entertained.

World Rhino Day Kenya 2015

White Rhinos roaming wild and free but under surveillance by the Kenya Wildlife Service. Their Location remains secret. Every year the number of rhinos remaining across the planet dwindle as they are being relentlessly hunted by more and more poachers for their horns. In an attempt to create global awareness about this crisis, a World Rhino Day was announced by the WWF in 2010 with September 22nd being designated as the conservation awareness day for rhinos. Hundreds of rangers in Kenya put their lives on the line regularly by trying to protect these critically endangered species. These wildlife guardians risk life and limb trying to safe guard the country's rhinos not only for the people of Kenya, but for the rhinos themselves and for the whole of humanity.  Here are some things that just about anyone can do to help protect the rhinos too:  Supporting Rangers: The surest way to help rhinos is to help those that are currently in the field protecting them. Y...

Tsavo Lioness Photographed Eating An Elephant's Foot

Lioness spotted on a night safari at Ngutuni Sanctuary Tsavo feeding on an Elephant's foot  Among the most unique wildlife photographs out there on the subject of lions feeding on their prey, this one has definitely got to be up there with some of those other rare finds. This young elephant was hunted down by a different pride of lions at the Ngutuni Sanctuary in Tsavo East National Park and the lone huntress pictured above, homed into the scent of the kill and took some opportunistic bites while the main pride was away for a few hours searching for some water to drink.  Wild Kenya Safaris usually offers its clients night game drives on special requests in this private game sanctuary. It is amazing to see some of the magnificent nocturnal mammals and reptiles that come out under the cover of darkness.

The Unwritten Pecking Order At Wildlife Waterholes

Zebra and Giraffe observe a pecking order at the waterhole in Ngutuni Sanctuary Tsavo Kenya There is an unwritten law of nature when it comes to who gets special preferences at the waterholes. During the wet seasons, animals tolerate one another and there is some laxity in the system. This is because waterholes are typically full to the brim and there are also plenty of rain puddles scattered across the national parks for wildlife to drink from. When the dry period comes around however, water becomes a sacred resource and those lax privileges once enjoyed by many are now clamped down. This is when the unwritten pecking order of the savanna comes into effect, changing the entire animal social system at the now precious waterholes.  Each species of animal has its own unique place in this pecking system. As a 'general rule' the smallest makes way for the biggest, so a herd of Impala would make way for a dazzle of Zebras, up until a herd of Buffalo come marching in, w...

Timing Zebra's Tails

Synchronized swinging of Zebra tails in Tsavo East National Park Unique opportunities do not always present themselves when it comes to taking photos of subjects that have already been majorly photographed. The trick is to have some patience in trying to find something creative from within the subject itself.  Take this trio of Common Zebra for example (pun intended!). There are millions of zebra pictures out there, but there are possibly a hundred or so like the one above where their three tails are synchronized in the same direction. After coming across a herd of 25 zebra, i started looking for that one unique image and decided to single out these three individuals. Keeping a close eye on them, i started monitoring the direction of their tails that were swinging in every odd direction. With my finger on the shutter i just waited until they all happened to flow in one direction and captured this nice pendulum effect of their tails.

A Lioness And Her Cub Share A Moment

A lion cub lovingly reaches up to its mother as she reassuringly looks ahead. Tsavo East, Kenya To me this photograph is one of those "a picture is worth a thousand words'" kind of images. It possess a range of emotions on so many different levels - affection, love, care, authority and confidence just to name but a few. Photographed in Tsavo East National Park at dusk, the soft lighting also adds to the emotion of the moment.

Wild Kenya Safaris Sponsors The Colobus Conservation Beach Mini Golf In Diani Beach

Hole three at the diani beach mini golf was designed to look  like an elephant in dedication to Wild Kenya Safaris Just like we did last year, Wild Kenya Safaris were proud to sponsor the Colobus Conservation Beach Mini Golf fundraiser again in 2015. The funds raised during the event are to be used for the primate medical clinic, conservation initiatives, emergency response, insulating electricity lines, building colobus bridges across the main roads and so much more ... Hole three which was designed to look like an elephant was dedicated to Wild Kenya Safaris. Participants enjoying themselves at the Wild Kenya Safaris sponsored colobus conservation mini golf fundraiser

Wildlife Photography Positioning & Story Telling

A lioness gives her cub a scolding while the rest of the pride sleeps One of the things i enjoy most about wildlife photography is the challenge of combining animal behavior story telling with photography techniques. Within a matter of seconds, a photographer has to decide on how to position themselves for the best composition while telling the entire story before the whole scene has suddenly changed forever.  The above photo was taken at 18H10 and the light was fading very fast. I couldn't do much about that because the things i wanted to highlight the most in this picture were: 1. The lioness angrily growling at her naughty cub and the cub protesting back :- Photographed at a focal length of 270 mm, i could have got in tighter to the pair with my 500 mm if i wanted to, but by doing that i would have lost out on ... 2.  The rest of the pride :- I wanted to also capture the general scene of the pride that were sleepily resting while the ...

Lion Cubs Play Ball In Tsavo's Ngutuni

A pair of lion cubs play with a ball of dried elephant dung at Ngutuni Sanctuary, Tsavo East Lion cubs are never short of ideas when it comes to searching for interesting fun and games. From biting down on sticks to chasing mummy's tail about, when cubs are in a playful mood the possibilities of finding makeshift toys in the wild are endless. After these two lion cubs at Ngutuni Sanctuary finished their evening nap and were fully energized for some games, a dried ball of elephant dung became the center of their attention as the pair playfully pounced on it, picked it, ran with it and tossed it around until the ball eventually crumbled apart into little pieces.

The Best Leopard Sighting's In The Tsavo Area

A male leopard rests on Lion Rock in the greater Tsavo area of Lumo Conservancy in Kenya One of the most highly prized photographic subject for wildlife enthusiasts is the elusive and secretive leopard. Its mystical allure, clever hunting skills, expert tree climbing abilities and awesome personality make it an excellent photographic subject. I could personally spend an entire day - sunrise to sunset, watching this amazing big cat! Ordinarily the Masai Mara is well reputed for this predators regular sightings but for those safari travelers whose time, budget, is of the essence and can only travel by road from the coast, then the Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary located in the buffer area of Tsavo West is one of the best places to spot them.  Approximately 3.5 hours drive from Mombasa or 4.5 hours from Diani Beach, the Lumo Sanctuary was created in 2001 when three community run ranches called Lualenyi, Mraba and Oza, allocated portions of their land towards wildlife...

Saving The Park Angels - International Vulture Awareness Day

A Palm-nut Vulture rummages through elephant bones in Meru National Park, Kenya. One of the most important of all ecological species that can be found in Kenya's national parks are the vultures. Their presence is extremely essential to maintaining a healthy and disease free environment as they are the primary cleaners of dead and decaying wildlife that scatter the vast savanna. Patrolling the ground as they glide through the thermal  air currents, these park angels as i like to call them, are constantly on the job looking out for a potential cleanup.  Whether wildlife have died by predation or disease,  vultures will fly down to a carcass and as they begin to feed, will ingest any toxins or dangerous pathogens that would have otherwise been dangerous to other animals. These birds of prey can consume fresh or decayed meat without getting sick themselves, so if there were no more vultures left to clean up the carcasses, the potential of an epidemi...

The Sign Language Between Predator And Prey

A Leopard in the Lumo Sanctuary (Taita Hills) walks towards an unconcerned hartebeest  The African Savannah can be a very stressful place for certain types of wildlife, especially if they are among the favorite meals of predators. Antelopes and Zebras cannot keep their head down to eat or drink for more than a few seconds for fear of being suddenly ambushed. To make things fair however, there is a universal code of conduct between predator and prey that is seemingly never broken. Most predators display a body gesture or posture which is like sign language to notify animals in the vicinity about its intentions.  Take the above leopard photographed in Lumo Sanctuary for example, since it was not hunting but merely walking through its territory, it flipped its tail over its back to reveal the white underside which notified the hartebeest that it is not in search of prey. The hartebeest immediately understood the sign language and without raising any alarm, calml...

Photographing Snakes In Trees

An African Green Snake (locally called grass snake) hides in an Acacia tree top   The diversity of habitats in the wilderness, vary between the individual trees that dot the landscapes. Each and every bush, shrub or treetop is similar to a unique planet that sustains a multitude of permanent and migrating inhabitants. Among the many types of nesting birds, insects and mammals, the tree canopy is also home to a variety of snakes.  The secret to photographing snakes in their natural habitat however, is to first and foremost find out which tree they are currently on! With superb camouflage, flat bodies and immovable statue like posses, finding one can be quite a challenging task for the human eye. The trick however is to let the highly trained eyes of the resident wildlife do the finding for you. Listen  for alarm calls and watch for any erratic behavior caused by birds and primates coming out from a particular tree. Chances are, all that commotion is because...