The village is poor beyond the comprehension of someone from places they call developed. The village children wore western clothes, shorts and shirts, dirty and faded. The woman wore bright blankets, barefoot with dream catcher ear rings. The higher the status of the woman, the more fancy was the dream catcher hanging from her ear.…
My Travels: A visit to a Masai Village –Part 1
The interesting thing about wildlife viewing in East Africa is that the Masai are an integral part of the scenery. These tall and regal cattle herders work in the reserves as guides (like Wilson), askaris and managers. They live in the adjoining conservancies, where cattle still graze. We visited a small village in the Naboisho…
My Travels: Crossing the Rivers – Part 3
A crossing is a photographers dream. There is complete chaos with an overriding goal to make the crossing. This was the fourth crossing I had witnessed in the Masai Mara in five days. I was truly privileged. The first was before lunch under the trees at Rekero Camp on the Talek River. We were having…
My Travels: Crossing the Rivers – Part 2
At that Marius jumped out of our Landcruiser and spoke fast. “Mr Shah, hello, I’m Marius Coetzee. I’m a huge fan of your work. It’s an honour to meet you. I would be honoured to shake your hand.” The Guru looked humble and stunned. “You know who I am?” “Yes, yes. I have been inspired…
My Travels: Crossing the Rivers – Part 1
“Onesmus, can you call for lunch? Ask them if the Memsahib wants to come with the driver.” “Ndio.” “What do you think, O? The wildebeest are coming down to the river on our side. Should we wait here, or move further downstream. There’s big pressure there with lots of zebra. The pressure should force a…
My Travels: Feeling Two Million Wildebeest
Ever since I could remember I wanted to see the wildebeest migration from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara. From the endless plains to the lone spotted trees on the Kenyan side, for that is what each name means respectively. If Africa could be afforded a single place for its heart, then surely the aorta…
My Travels: Birds and Bees in Flight
Although the Masai Mara is all about cats, the real reason we were there was to see two million or so white bearded wildebeest. I kept on losing count when I got to three hundred and fifty, which was when I opened the first Tuskers for the day. So sometimes it was easier to take…
My Travels: The Fast Cats of the Mara
We had just witnessed our first crossing: a few thousand wildebeest pouring over steep dusty riverbanks, splashing through the water and climbing to the north bank of the Talek. We followed them north after the last had crossed. “There’s a cheetah!” said Onesmus, pointing ahead to another herd of wildebeest. Marius turned to Ines and…
My Travels: Husbands and Wives in the Mara
One afternoon we were driving along the Mara River and heard a lion roar. I lifted my head and looked in the general direction and spotted a lioness about two hundered meters away, in the grassland just off the riverine bush. We followed her along the river, lost her and had to backtrack. She had…
My Travels: Brothers and Sisters in the Mara
Cats are my favourite animals. Their behaviour is similar across the spectrum, from domestic cats to lions. Well, similar except in mating. The first lioness we saw in Naboisho was well hidden on a rocky slope covered with bush. She groomed herself and then moved on, out of sight. The buffalo grazing below the slope…
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