Above: Roundabout in Gisenyi. Copyrght Rupi Mangat
Published: 21 September 2019
Gisenyi in western Rwanda is the other half of an urban landscape that includes Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. So like Goma, Gisenyi is perched on the edge of the gas-filled Lake Kivu that is one of the African great lakes.
Part 2 of 2
I’m sitting on the saddle of the Sekerr mountain range between the peaks of Katugh and the rest: Kaimut, Chaichai and the famous Mtelo that is the peak and the fifth highest point in Kenya at 10,944 feet. It is also the sacred mountain of the Pokot and all face the mountain when praying.
Part 1 of 2
Above: Baboon parliament on Kaimot Hill in Sekerr Range. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published 24 August 2019 saturday Nation magazine
Little known and shrouded in secrecy, the Sekerr range is a striking feature of the Pokot land in north-western Kenya. Reaching Kapenguria at dusk from South Nandi forest we’re unsure whether we should drive at night into unknown territory.
“It’s safe,” replies John Yoposiwa Ywalasiwa the highland Pokot and our host at Mt Mtelo Eco Lodge. “I’ll be waiting for you at Maarich Pass trading centre.”
It’s a downhill road following the curve of the Cheranganis – only we can’t see the massif blanketed in darkness. Ortum the town before Maarich Pass trading centre is lit with electricity and an hour later, we meet Ywalasiwa and follow him on his pikipiki up into the Sekerr Mountains. The darkness is absolute save for the stars sparkling like jewels flung in the sky.
Above: Maasai giraffe, mother and calf. In Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: 27 Juy 2019
It’s the mid-year bonanza in the Maasai Mara. It’s lush and green after a long dry spell. We’re in the south-eastern part of the 1,510-square-kilometre park that is a continuation of the 14,750-square-kilometres Serengeti National Park.
It is this enormous space that is world-famous as big game country: big for the huge herds of wildebeest, big for the big cats, big for the world’s largest land mammal – the elephant and big for the tallest – the giraffe. There are so many superlatives that describe the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem that it is mind-boggling.
Above: CBD Goma. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Published: 20 July 2019
Congo’s been my dream destination even before Nyiragongo erupted in 2002 and nearly wiped out the little town of Goma in eastern DRC that’s on the shores of Lake Kivu and neighbouring Rwanda. The country is gigantic and the second largest in Africa, the Congo River sways 3,000 kilometres across its girth flowing through the mighty Congo forest which like the Amazon forest is a major lung of our planet. The river empties with such force into the Atlantic that for 200 kilometres into the ocean the water is said to be fresh.
Continue reading “Gone to Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo”
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