Colours Of Kenya with Sarah Rees
People know I don’t like to just stop at Travel, hiking or views. Popping up on social media I see many many people championing the nature side of travel as well as sharing expert insights. A delight in the stream is Sarah Rees. Knowledgable, sharing and always positive. A pleasure to learn from and quite incredible with a camera. I was honoured she chose to share the wildlife, captures and insights on one particular trip here.
From the desk and camera of Sarah………
Everywhere you look in Kenya there is a photo to be taken, or a story to be told. The diversity of the Kenyan people and its abundant wildlife is just astonishing and I long to return one day. The sheer richness of colour is breathtaking – from the bright orange, iron-rich ‘ferric soils’ – piled high as termite nests – to the spectacular colours of the creatures themselves. Here are some of my favourite wildlife shots from my Kenyan adventure. Hope you enjoy them…
Weaver Birds producing their most delicate and intricate nests
The male weaver bird will often weave several perfectly good nests before the female will finally commit to him, after she has been convinced by both his dexterity and his commitment as a mate.
Vervet Monkeys
Widespread in East Africa and their distinctive black faces (and bright blue ‘nether regions’) are a familiar sight in tourist resorts. Complete opportunists, mischievous and clever, this one appears to be contemplating his next move…
Agama Lizards
A pleasure to photograph as they like nothing more than static posing! Usually perched on a high rock or log, they enjoy the sun’s rays before setting off to woo the females by bobbing their bright heads. The females are a dull brown colour in comparison. The males seemed very aware of their own beauty and invariably had several females following them around!
Elephants
Many of the elephants in Tsavo National Park seemed to be a bright red colour. This was purely a result of their rolling in the ferric soils. To finally see herds of wild elephants roaming free in the vast savannah has been one of the most moving experiences of my life.
Sarah is an Environmental Scientist, presenter and keen wildlife photographer. She started out in environmental consultancy before moving into TV production where she eventually ‘fell’ into presenting after covering for a presenter who was ill. She hasn’t looked back and has since worked on shows for kids, a range of live shopping channels where she demonstrates technology items – especially cameras; and she regularly presents for corporate clients. With a special passion for trees, Sarah launched Forestwatch earlier in 2011, an online series of video diaries from Epping Forest. She hopes to do more work on Natural History and environmental programming. Sarah’s website for lots more is here
Nice reminder of how beautiful my own backyard is. Brings back many nostalgic memories.
Having been born and brought up in the Taita hills, we used to farm in the regions around Tsavo West (most of those photos seem to have been taken from there). Human-wildlife conflict was a normal thing then. Elephants, buffaloes, etc would stray into our farms, destroy crops, and occasionally kill one or two people. We had to guard our crops from them, day and night, chasing away the elephants using burning logs. Once in a while, a lion would invade the boma where our cattle slept, kill a number of them, leaving us counting our losses in the morning.
With such a background, it’s easy to take the all that for granted. When I see other people appreciating the beauty, it teaches me to appreciate my surroundings all the time. There’s someone out there trying to save thousands of dollars just to come and see it for only a few days.
Bright beautiful and soothing..
:)
One can find so much in Kenya; ranging from the spectacularly vast wild life species to the fantastic scenic beauty its home to. Quite a many travellers visit Kenya through cheap flights to Nairobi, its fabulous capital city. The natural beauty in this African gem is outstanding and the game reserves and the safaris you can indulge into are the stars of travel to Kenya. You will simply get amused after a holiday spent in Kenya.
Thanks for making my day brighter with your wonderful photos
The WORLD is Magnificent, please keep us inspired! Thank you for your passion!