Tag: featured

Lions rescued outside Nairobi National Park as cubs safely in Nairobi Animal Orphanage

African Wild Dog and more at Nairobi Animal Orphanage

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Published Nation newspaper Saturday Magazine 18 February 2017

I’m over the moon – l’ve never seen an African wild dog in the wild when unexpectedly l’m staring at one. I’m so excited because l’ve been everywhere in Kenya where they are seen – Samburu, Laikipia, Kajiado – and never seen it. This poor creature had such bad press in the early 1900s that it was shot on sight by farmers – to the extent that the species nearly went extinct.

The Cheetah at Nairobi Animal Orphanage – Copyright Maya Mangat
A Cheetah cub at Nairobi Animal Orphanage – Copyright Maya Mangat
Talek the leopard rescued from Maasai Mara in Nairobi Animal Orphanage Copyright picture: Maya Mangat

It was only when wildlife researchers began watching their behaviour did they record that the wild dogs were efficient pack hunters and very caring parents. Their soft playful side was captured by Karl Ammann the wildlife photographer, author and now exposing the horrendous illegal trade in wild animals like chimpanzees and other wild life. People did not believe him until he showed photographs of a pack in the Maasai Mara playfully tugging a sheet from him.

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Nightlife at Serena Mountain Lodge at the waterhole - the genet comes out to eat on it high perch

Forest Serenade

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at Serena Mountain Lodge on slopes of Mount Kenya

Published Nation newspaper Saturday magazine 4 February 2017

Above: Nightlife at Serena Mountain Lodge at the waterhole – the genet comes out to eat on it high perch. Copyright picture by Maya Mangat

Indigenous forest surounding Serena Mountain Lodge
Indigenous forest surounding Serena Mountain Lodge – Copyright Maya Mangat

Shafts of morning sunlight filter through the canopy of the massive tall trees and spread on the forest floor. The ground is wet with the morning dew, the grass cool and the air so fresh that taking in deep breaths is rejuvenating. It’s forest therapy.

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In the Ndoto Mountains - the beautiful mountain chutes.

Fake Hirola in Ndoto Mountains

Published on by Rupi Mangat1 Comment

Published Nation newspaper Saturday magazine 28 Jan 2017

Above – Pools in the Ndoto mountains
Copyright Maya Mangat

Walking in the Ndoto mountains
Walking in the Ndoto mountains Copyright Maya Mangat

Enormous tortilis acacias spread their canopy over the beautiful Salato campsite that is a business venture for the local Samburu women of Ngurunit in the Ndoto Mountains. Straddling the banks of the Ngurunit River, it’s cool and we plan to hike upstream into the mountains where water chutes and fresh pools of water are.

Up in the Ndoto mountains
Up in the Ndoto mountains Copyright Maya Mangat

Across the road a cluster of tents is the base for the newly appointed Samburu county rangers and l pop in to ask if there’s anything new to look out for.

“We have lots of wildlife in the forests of the mountains,” tells Henry Lekuyie the ranger. “But the animals are very shy.

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Mountains and Plains - the Ndoto Range in northern Kenya

New Year in Ndoto Mountains

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Mountains and plains – the Ndoto range in northern Kenya – Copyright Maya Mangat

Published Nation newspaper 21 January 2017

Reticulated giraffe in northern Kenya
Reticulated giraffe in northern Kenya Copyright: Maya Mangat

A Reticulated giraffe stands alone in the midst of the green thorn scrub past the iconic Ololokwe mountain – the loaf-shaped of the northern drylands. It’s a giraffe listed in December 2016 as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and therefore threatened with extinction. Fewer than 100,000 exist on the planet with the Reticulated even more endangered than the other species.  Understandably, we stop on the side of the newly tarmacked road that stretches all the way from Nanyuki via Isiolo past Samburu to Moyale on the Kenya-Ethiopia border.

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Batian - highest peak of Mount Kenya

Vanishing glaciers of Mount Kenya

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In 1893, the famous British geologist of the ‘rift valley’ fame, Dr John W Gregory led the first scientific expedition up Mount Kenya but could not make it past the ice glaciers to reach the summit. The mountain top was decked in ice and snow. He spent several hours at the Lewis Glacier at 15,000 feet before descending.

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