Photo safari in Kenya

With Alision Mees ARPS

Joaquim Capitao

As a kid growing up in Portugal, I was always fascinated with the African animals I saw on a number of TV shows. Occasionalvisits to the zoo left me with a strange feeling: I wanted to see those animals, but not confined to an environment that was not where they belonged!

The idea of going on a safari somewhere in Africa started taking shape already then. When I got a bit more serious about my photography that idea started to be a bit more precise, and I wanted to go on a safari in which photography would be the focus of the group.

In mid-2023 I saw an announcement from the RPS Travel Group concerning a photo safari in Kenya organised byAlison Mees ARPS. A few things made me think this was the opportunity I had been looking for:

First of all, I checked Alison’s web site and saw she was an experienced wildlife photographer, with several years of work in East Africa and regularly guiding photo safaris in that region.

Secondly, the safari would take place in relatively small nature conservancies rather than in large national reserves. Everyone I talked to who had experience in safaris invariably mentioned that in conservancies you never got the “traffic jams” that you can observe in larger reserves. Alison confirmed this in the video call we had before I booked.

Finally, the number of participants was limited to four, which meant there would be six persons in one eleven-seat vehicle, ensuring ideal conditions for photography (getting down from the vehicle being generally impossible for obvious safety reasons).

The concept of the conservancies is based on ensuring that wildlife and local communities live in harmony. Wherever possible, I believe this is a more effective way of conserving nature than an approach based on opposition between human presence and wildlife conservation.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in central Kenya, was previously a cattle ranch. Nowadays, cattle are still managed in the conservancy and the income from this activity helps support the costs of management/ranger protection for the rhinos (both black and white) that live there.

In mid-2023 I saw an

announcement from the RPS Travel Group concerning a photo safari in Kenya organised by Alison Mees ARPS. A few things made me think this was the opportunity I had been looking for:

First of all, I checked Alison’s web site and saw she was an experienced wildlife

photographer, with several years of work in East Africa and regularly guiding photo safaris in that region.

Secondly, the safari would take place in relatively small nature conservancies rather than in large national reserves. Everyone I talked to who had experience in safaris invariably mentioned that in conservancies you never got the “traffic jams” that you can observe in larger reserves. Alison confirmed this in the video call we had before I booked.

Brussels and before the real thing started. The time in Nairobi before the return flights allowed me to visit the Karen Blixen house/museum, a worthwhile visit for anyone spending a few hours in Nairobi.

As the name of the camps suggested, Ol Pejeta is a great place for rhinos, both white and black, while Olare Motorogi is excellent for big cats, and in particular for lions. But the variety of animals, including birds, in both conservancies was just amazing.

Seeing all these animals at sometimes very short distances and in their natural environment was certainly an unforgettable experience, but some moments deserve a special mention:

• Seeing young lions, cheetah, jackals, hyenas, elephants, playing with their siblings and/or with adults was wonderful and we had good demonstrations of how playing is also a preparation for adulthood, with lots of hunting practice.

• A herd of about a dozen elephants, big and (relatively speaking) small, crossing a river, taking their time to drink and even to suckle as they went across, was amazing and I was impressed at being surrounded by elephants when they got to the bank of the river where we had stopped.

• A cheetah hunting and killing a Thomson’s gazelle was a demonstration of speed and power, while serving as a reminder of how tough life is for these animals, some of them having to be killed so that others can survive. We also saw two failed attempts by the same cheetah the next day, proving that feeding herself and her cub is not an easy task, even when you are terribly fast.

You can never be sure which animals you will see on a safari. The grass being quite tall, mainly in Ol Pejeta, made it difficult to see them sometimes, and having expert guides was essential to be able to locate them and then follow them for a while. We were reasonably sure we would see lions in both conservancies and that was indeed the case. There was a good likelihood of seeing cheetah in Olare Motorogi, and we ended up seeing them in both conservancies. As for the rhinos, plenty of white rhinos, but only a very brief sighting of a black rhino one day, with the opportunity for a couple of (not great) photos. We also saw a black rhino very early in the morning, before sunrise, and quite far from us, so no photo opportunities there. Finally, while everyone we saw in Olare Motorogi seemed to be looking for leopards, no one could set an eye on one. Which means there is something to look forward to in my next safari! Photo

Specifically on photography, changing lenses in a bumping vehicle and in a dusty environment is not a good idea. I therefore took with me two camera bodies, one with a 100-500 mm zoom and one with a 24-70 mm zoom. I ended up using almost exclusively the longer zoom, as 100 mm was wide enough for most situations. I found that when the wider-angle zoom could have been useful the animals were so close to the vehicle that I could not get a good angle on them and take good photos. As for bird photography, I brought back some nice photos of perching birds, including the beautiful lilac-breasted roller, a striped kingfisher, several eagles, vultures, and the beautiful kori bustard, the largest flying bird in Africa. The

opportunities for photographing birds in flight, however, were limited, and I got only a few photos of vultures and some eagles. The main reason for the limited opportunities was that we were either stopped photographing something interesting on the ground or moving. And taking photos from a vehicle moving on rough tracks or even off-track is not an easy task…

One final word to say I had a wonderful time, with great company and excellent guiding and expert advice from Alison and from the local guides/drivers, both on photography and on animal behaviour. And being in conservancies rather than the popular national reserves was well worth

it, as we were often alone or with just a few more vehicles when following a group of animals. I believe the largest number of vehicles we were in was eight, and in more sensitive situations the rangers would be present and not allow more than five vehicles near the animals at any time.

All photographs © of Joaquim Capitao