From my archives in April 2007
In 1997 ‘Watamu Turtle Watch’ was launched. It still operates under Local Ocean Conservation today.
A whole load of journalists descend on this one little turtle happily snoozing under his shaded spot in the pool. All we can see of this star-to-be-soon turtle are his flippers sticking out from the slab of stone that he’s resting under.
Continue reading “Watamu Turtle Watch: A Hawksbill in the Spotlight”
Above: Great white pelicans herding fish for breakfast. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Replace the swan with pelicans because in Africa we have pelicans and not swans. We’re sailing on Lake Oloiden that’s changes dramatically every so often that it keeps everyone guessing – what next? Salty or fresh?
We’ve woken up to a spectacular performance by the pelicans – that is the Great white pelicans – performing a ballet that’s captivating. On a blue lake, flotillas of the great white birds synchronize their dive in the water, upturning their white butts like a ballerina’s tutu while their enormous yellow bills vanish in the water to swallow the fish they have herded below. It’s spectacular.
Continue reading “Swan Lake: A Fascinating Performance at Lake Oloiden”
The Vanishing Rituals and Ceremonies of the African Continent
Above: African Heritage House bathed in morning light. Copyright Maya Mangat
Published: The Star newspaper, Kenya – 2 March 2019
“It’s my dream to set up a pan-African centre where artists from all over Africa can come and see the creativity from all parts of Africa,” said Joseph Murumbi, Kenya’s first foreign minister and second vice president.
He never lived to see his dream for his house that had one of the most extensive and valuable collections of all things African, was allowed to fall in ruin after he sold it to the government on condition that it would be turned into the Murumbi Institute of African Studies. Murumbi died shortly after that in 1990 when he saw his once cherished house and indigenous garden in Muthaiga, Nairobi bulldozed away. Continue reading “African Twilight”
Above: Grey crowned cranes in Nairobi National Park February 2019. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: 2 March 2019
The Nairobi sky was red-hot before sunrise as we made it to the gates of Nairobi National Park…and l got to say this again with pride – Nairobi’s first national park established in 1946 and the only park in a city that is home to free-ranging wild animals like the big cats – lions, leopards and of recent, a cheetah spotted after decades. It’s 117 square kilometres.
Continue reading “Lion Count: A Weekend in Nairobi National Park to Log Lions”
Above: Elusive leopard in Mara early morning. Copyright Maya Mangat
Published: 23 February 2019
The view is dramatic view of the great Mara from the heights of Siria Escarpment of the big game country.
A few miles from Mara’s Oloololo gate, dots appear. It’s a trio of elephants in the midday heat at a mud hole splashing themselves with muddy water. The muddy water is a great sunscreen and a body mask – every one’s concerned about their looks.
Moonlion Safaris 