There are birds and then there are birds! Of the strange looking ones the Ground Hornbill must be right up there. The size of a large turkey, it struts around on the ground like it owns the place! It can fly but usually only up into a tree. The first time I saw one in…
It had rained on this afternoon and the light was low when we went out. We found a couple of lionesses with three cubs. The cubs are still wet from the rain but they were very lively. Initially one of them just sat and watched while the other two leapt at each other and engaged…
It is easy to get hung up on the ‘big five’ when on safari and on a first/only trip that actually makes sense as it can take a long time to find them! I’m lucky because I have been several times so have had sightings of most things before. Much of my enjoyment now comes…
It was great to be back at Brian Freeman’s camp ( (Freeman Safaris) a few people had moved on but there were still several staff from my last visit and there is something special about being greeted by people who know you. Settling in, having lunch, meeting the other guests – yep it definitely felt like coming…
It was a quiet final afternoon and you could feel in the air that the rain was finally coming. We had seen a few more elephant groups over the last few days – a sign they were making their way back into the park. I was lucky and got a good stormy sky picture. The…
The morning started off well with good sightings of plains animals, gerenuk, and grevy zebra and excellent birds. The goshawk has such attractive markings and a strong but somehow delicate face. The warthog picture is a joy. You don’t often have them coming towards you – usually they are running away! The red ground sets…
Sorry about the gap in posting – as soon as the good weather comes I am out walking and taking pictures (even if my locations aren’t as exotic as Africa!!) But today is wet and grey so back to my Kenyan trip last year … The highlight of this afternoon was elephants digging for water…
As I explained in the last post, I had thought that the ostrich we saw on the nest yesterday evening had hatched just one chick so far and I was keen to check it out and see if there were some more this morning. So that was to be our first port of call. I…
When we set off the sun was out but the sky was a dark, stormy, grey-blue. Probably my favourite combination! After about an hour, a movement to our right caught our attention. It was a cheetah. You don’t see cats in Samburu as often as you do in the Mara so this was special. It…
The area is always arid but this year the effects of the drought took me by surprise. I have seen the river in full flood and I had seen it very low but never completely dry. These pictures, taken at roughly the same time of year, show the extent of the drought this year. This…