Why Lamu is one of the Indian Ocean’s best-kept secrets
1. The oldest Swahili settlement Lamu Town, located on Lamu Island, is the oldest Swahili settlement along the East African coast, stretching from Kenya through Tanzania to Mozambique, and including Zanzibar and The Comoros. For centuries, the local Swahili people proved to be prolific traders along this route and their legacy is evident in […]
Margot Raggett on Compiling Conservation Book Remembering African Wild Dogs
While on safari at Laikipia Wilderness camp in Kenya, Margot Raggett first encountered African wild dogs. They were running off to hunt, with Margot and her guide racing to keep up with them. When the pack came back together, they greeted each other so enthusiastically — as if they’d not seen each other for 20 […]
The Day May Break: Nick Brandt’s powerful take on climate change
The powerful, mostly monochrome images have people sitting for portraits with a foggy background and rescued animals entering the scene. It looks as if they’re posing together, but the message is that the human characters are victims of environmental degradation and climate change. Climate change, and its resulting erratic weather patterns, has made Laikipia in […]
Why the Magoroto Forest is described as Africa’s ‘Bali’
Jerry Mchechu, a Tanzanian photographer and content creator, took a leap of faith in 2017 and relocated from Dar es Salaam with his wife to the Magoroto Forest Estate, his mission was to create an eco-tourism project after he was impressed by the remoteness of the area, weather and the scenery. “For a person coming […]
Why Prints for Wildlife is a story of hope
Over 120 photographers donated their images to the campaign and in just a month they had sold over 6,500 images raising 660,200 USD for the non-profit Africa Park Networks. But how did they achieve all this? The Project Two friends, Marion Payr and Pie Arts, photographers from Austria and The Netherlands respectively both felt the […]
Safari Rally: The Greatest Show on Earth
Ask any Kenyan above the age of 30 what their favourite childhood memory was and the Safari Rally would rank right up there. The country would be united over the Easter period as heroes and legends were born during the tough cross-country race. Schools and businesses would be closed ‘unofficially’ to ensure everyone watched the […]
The Legend of Notch, King of the Maasai Mara
This incredible coalition was unlike any that had ever been seen before. The strangest thing was that it was made up of a father and his five sons. This was unheard of in the lion kingdom. The young lions might have killed their father, but it goes to show how feared Notch was and how […]
This man wants to reclaim Africa’s lost art
Although he was stopped by the museum’s guards, the point had been made by his largely symbolic and political gesture. There are thousands of items of African art and artifacts residing in museums and galleries around the world, but mostly in Europe, that were looted from the continent. Mwazulu was fined €1,000 for the Quai Branly […]
Will Burrard-Lucas on photographing Laikipia’s mythical Black Leopards
I overheard the villagers say that the owner of the conservancy, Kuki Gallman, had brought several of these animals from Italy. Back at my aunt’s ranch we excitedly told her about the sighting. She told us it was probably a black leopard – she had seen them over the years in a tree nearby. There […]
Saving Kenya’s last Super Tuskers
Then she appears! Mudanda, as she was known, slowly makes her way to the water and starts drinking. You fumble with the camera, overcome by the moment and sighting of this magnificent animal. After a series of attempts at capturing its greatness, you just let it be and place the camera by your side. She […]