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

Elephants enjoying a refreshing swim at a waterhole in Tsavo East A recent project involving the desilting of waterholes in Tsavo East has been extremely welcomed by the local wildlife. Most of the regularly visited waterholes slowly became shallower over time as sand, stone and dust made its way into them through soil and wind erosion. With the support of KWS, a few conservation minded citizens undertook the task of restoring the waterholes for easing the water crisis during the dry periods. After a couple of waterpoints were desilted, deepened and refilled with fresh water using water bowsers, the wildlife quickly responded by visiting  to swim, drink and socialize. Pictured above a family of adult elephants, seem to rediscover their youth as they swim and play joyfully at the Irima Waterhole.

Elephant in Tsavo East photographed using an IR camera An elephant appears to be walking on snow covered grasslands on Christmas Eve at the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. Using a specially converted infrared camera to capture light which is invisible to human eyes, the snowy effect on the grass and trees in the background, is a result of the reflection of infrared light by plants during photosynthesis. Some animals which are believed to see in the invisible infrared range, could quite possibly be seeing the world as it is in this photograph.

Photographed using a specialized IR camera in Tsavo East Photographed using a camera converted to take infrared photos, these two lion cubs are part of the Aruba pride of lions in Tsavo East National Park, which has now grown to over fifteen members. The cubs here were staring very keenly at their siblings that were playing a little further on, and eventually, they both joined in the fun and games that all lion cubs enjoy very much.

Ngalawa returning from offshore fishing grounds Its 2016 and a wooden dug out canoe with a triangular sail swiftly and steadily traverses the waters in front of you, remnant of a time when hundreds of these ancient looking boats would dot the horizon, departing from local ports early before dawn and returning to their moorings minutes before sunset. The ngalawa is a traditional boat whose history is richly embedded in the coastal traditions of East Africa. Made from the hollowed out trunk of a mango tree and held together with ropes and bamboo, it is still widely used by traditional fishing communities today and its design has remained unchanged for hundreds of years.  Ngalawa docked on the beach Heading out to sea day in day out, local fishermen entrust their lives to this traditional six meter long ngalawa for various reasons. Its tough wooden hull reassures the crew that it will not fall apart while being bobbed around at sea, and remain relatively b...

The 14th Century Kongo Mosque on Diani beach On the northern most tip of diani beach, stands a wonderful spiritual monument known today as Kongo Mosque (formerly Diani Persian Mosque).  It is reputed to be one of the oldest and most unique mosques ever built in East Africa which is still being frequented by worshipers on a daily basis. Built using coral stones in the 14th Century, the Kongo Mosque's location and atmosphere is nothing short of heavenly. The mosque is located on a dreamy white powdered beach,  surrounded by coconut palms, ancient baobab trees and is literally just  a few feet away from the turquoise waters of Indian Ocean.  Imagine yourself standing in prayer between these naturally cooled stone walls, feeling the light ocean breeze as you listen to rumbling sound of the waves landing on the beach... the feeling is absolutely supernal. So on your next visit to diani beach, just remember that your trip will not be complete witho...

Super Moon rising over the Indian Ocean in Mombasa Mombasa residents on 14th November were treated to a wonderful sighting of the supermoon rising over the coastline. It was a special treat for both astronomers and photographers across the globe to witness this event as the last time the moon was this close to earth was in 1948. The next one like this will be on November 25th, 2034 while the closest supermoon of the century will be on December 6, 2052. For those of us who tried to photograph it, you definitely understand how difficult it is to capture a perfect photo while trying to correctly expose for the moon and all the surrounding details in 1 shot. Regards Shazaad Kasmani

A pair of Beisa Oryx photographed in infrared Its quite evident by now that the unique effect of infrared can help create some stunning and very interesting landscape photos. So while keeping this uniqueness in mind, put down that telephoto lens used to shoot those closeup animal portraits and try going for something alittle wider to capture more of the natural environment.  The above photo of the two beisa oryx walking out of a wooded area was captured at 45mm using the Nikon 18-55mm kit lens, which i find sufficiently wide enough to use in most cases. Going wider here helped me incorporate more of the beautiful background elements such as the trees, grass, skies, branches and alittle water which are all the hallmarks of a pleasant infrared photograph.  Best regards, Shazaad Kasmani