It looks like Spider-Man is inching his way up a gigantic cliff. He’s spread eagle and through my zoom l see his muscles taut as he gets a foot-hold in a tiny cervix in the rock as his hand grips another to move up. It’s tense but the climber is secured to a harness for safety. Finally, he reaches the top while his mates cheer him from below. A few minutes later, he rappels down in seconds.
Tiny figure of the rock climber on the cliff face of Lukenya belonging to the Mountain Club of Kenya. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Above: The Blue marlin, the ‘Grander’ and a shark at Malindi Sea Fishling Club. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: The East African Nation – 28 September 2019
I’m very hot and very hungry.
Jaws the Great white shark Malindi Sea Fishling Club. Copyright Rupi Mangat
It’s the middle of the day and l’m exhausted from playing tour guide to a friend, showing her places of interest in a town steeped in history from the time of Zheng He, the Chinese explorer who stopped in Malindi in the 15th century, decades before the more famous Vasco da Gama did. Zheng He was presented with a giraffe by the Sultan of Malindi to gift to the Chinese emperor. The Chinese had never seen such an animal and it caused a stir on the streets as it was paraded down.
By lunch, l’m in want of food and a cold drink and we’re close to Malindi Sea Fishing Club which is open to all at a daily membership. It’s the ideal place to lunch in town on a hot, airless day.
It’s a quaint old club set in a pretty garden shaded by tall trees by the beach. Hoping off the tuk tuk, it’s a grand entry into the sea fishing club with a Great white shark barring its jaws at the entrance. Inside, it’s a simple old-fashioned club from the fifties with nothing ostentatious to it. Its white washed walls – or rather columns –are open without glass windows and the low walls between the columns double as benches. The long bar features cold beers and spirits. I’ve found my place at the bar. A cold G&T for me please.
Above: Moshions. Haute Couture in Kigali. Copyright Rupi Mangat.
Published 5 October 2019
I’m in the heart of mille collines – Kigali in Rwanda – and l’m having a blast. The city is sophisticated, charming, spotlessly clean and elegant that l’m cast under its spell.
Above: African Rock Art with giraffe illuminated against the night sky, north Kenya. Copyright: Paolo Torchio
Published: The East African Nation Media 28 September to 4 October 2019, abrdiged version
“It’s the night sky, the same night sky seen thousands of years ago by another person,” explains Paolo Torchio. “It’s what l wanted to capture.”
The image is taken in Turkana in Kenya’s northern desert lands, the bedrock of human evolution from several million years ago. The rock illuminated by a galaxy of stars shines on a giraffe chiselled on it by our human ancestors. It’s dated between 10,000 and two thousand years ago.
“The sky is the same thousands of years later,” comments Torchio, “but the landscape is not.”
On the mudflats of the Sabaki, a strong sun beats down so fierce that it makes the water over the sand sparkle. On the bridge above, cars and matatus speed over the estuary – Kenya’s biggest – unaware of the stunning vistas below and of its importance as an IBA or an Important Bird Area.
Flocks of waders at Sabaki River Mouth. Credit Cisticola Tours Ltd
Moonlion Safaris 