Tag: kenya

Naretunoi Conservancy Neighbours Nairobi National Park

Published on by Rupi MangatLeave a comment

Above: The Wildlife Foundation Centre at Naretunoi Conservancy, Kitengela
Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 10 November 2018

“We have everything here,” says Moses Parmisa of The Wildlife Foundation. “If you had spent the night here you would have heard the lions and the hyenas.”

We’re chatting over a cuppa tea and cakes at The Wildlife Foundation Centre on a lawn dotted with wooden sculptures collected from different parts of Africa. On arrival we’ve been met by Impi the two-year-old female antelope whose mother was killed by a predator. The foal was found on the grounds and now thinks she’s a ‘people’.

IMG_0925
The Wildlife Foundation Centre at Naretunoi Conservancy, Kitengela Copyright Rupi Mangat

Continue reading “Naretunoi Conservancy Neighbours Nairobi National Park” →

Searching For The Beauty of Africa – Step In At The Nairobi Gallery

Published on by Rupi MangatLeave a comment

Above: Sculpture by Francis Nnaggenda at Nairobi Gallery – Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 27 October 2018

After an exhausting and stress-filled morning spent in the government office to renew a passport, l needed an energizing boost. The answer lay in the neighbouring Nairobi Gallery, built in 1913 as the PC’s office and dubbed ‘matches, hatches and dispatches’ where all marriages, births and deaths were recorded.

Continue reading “Searching For The Beauty of Africa – Step In At The Nairobi Gallery” →

Whales and Waves Make Adventure in Watamu

Published on by Rupi MangatLeave a comment

Above: Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, doing its back flip
Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

Published 13 October 2018 Nation Saturday Magazine

The waves surged, heaved and fell at full throttle, grey and dark with the wind howling. In the raging ocean, with a lurching stomach, l kept my eyes glued on the equally dark, grey heavy clouds threatening to burst at any point. And they did.

seastorm 3 (800x605)
Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, in Seastorm the Hemingway boat impressing tourists. Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

Continue reading “Whales and Waves Make Adventure in Watamu” →

Chasing After Shrews and Elephants in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest

Published on by Rupi MangatLeave a comment

Published 6 October 2018 Saturday magazine, Nation newspaper

Above: Copyright Nobert Rottcher -Golden-rumped elephant shrew in Arabuko-Sokoke forest

When friends in Malindi announced they were off to Arabuko-Sokoke forest I was on it – and for one sole reason – to look for the ‘only to be found here in the world’ animal, the Golden-rumped elephant shrew.

On reaching the ancient forest that’s just meters from the Indian Ocean, l’d missed the early morning birders who had wandered off into the forest at the crack of dawn.  Undaunted and in need of a good walk, l strode off in search of the sengi that is now the new name for the shrew.

Continue reading “Chasing After Shrews and Elephants in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest” →

Soysambu’s Cats, Colobus, Raptors and All

Published on by Rupi MangatLeave a comment

Published 29 September 2018

Above: Seen on Sept 13 2018 at Soysambu. The male in the photo is SM2 (collared) who is Flir’s son and the female is SF3, Valentine’s daughter. We think Flir and Valentine are sisters so they would be cousins. Unknown father’s  but  they are one or two of the males in Nakuru National Park. Copyright: Kat Combes

IMG_9563 (800x800)
Soysambu Conservancy with Flamingos on Lake Elmenteita and Delamere’s Nose. Copyright Rupi Mangat

There’s so much happening at Soysambu, the wildlife conservancy straddling the soda-fringed Lake Elmenteita in the Great Rift Valley. It draws one like magnet to keep up with its intrigues. For starters the wildlife haven is set picturesquely between the fresh water Lake Naivasha and the alkaline Lake Nakuru and being part of the volcanic upheavals from the last 20 million years or so, it’s a tapestry of little mountains with craters, volcanic rubble and an inch-thick layer of soil good only for hardy grass and trees.

Continue reading “Soysambu’s Cats, Colobus, Raptors and All” →