News and reviews

It has been a long time coming but Danny finally heard back to Kenya after an exceptionally long absence late last year and what a collection of images he came back with and shares here.

At the beginning of November, I visited the Mara North Conservancy in Kenya. This was a combination of a guiding trip for Natures Images and then a private family holiday as Liz my wife and my daughter Megan flew out to join me for an extra week, so it was a trip I was really looking forward too and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We have been running trips to the Mara North conservancy for over ten years now as we decided it was a better bet than trying to run trips to the main reserve of the Maasai Mara National Park as it had become so busy in the main park and was taking away the enjoyment and pleasure of the animal encounters because you can get so many vehicles jostling for a better view. It is not just Mara North but the other conservancies that surround the reserve that have been offering an overall better experience. The number of people and vehicles is very restricted in the conservancies, so you never have a feeling of being overwhelmed by other tourists. On any big cat sighting the restrictions are even tighter and limited to just five vehicles which works so well, and you never feel that the animals are being harassed in anyway.

The Conservancies have been running now for over twenty years, and the idea is for the local people to benefit from them which in return benefits the wildlife that move between them. It is a fantastic idea, and the wildlife is expanding its range and numbers as they cross from the main reserve and between the conservancies. I have never been to the National Park itself, but people have told me of the sheer volume of wildlife that can be found there is amazing. It is not entirely like that in Mara North, but I can only say with the right management it will just get better in the future.

On our Natures Images trip, we call it Kenya’s Big Cats as these majestic cats are our main target on the trip. If you want to photograph the Big Cats, then you must put in the time and effort into them and on a general safari you can get side tracked by the many different species. I was hoping to see all three, but I was excited at the prospect of seeing and photographing Leopards. I have done them before in India but to be fair my images aren’t great and so I was hoping to improve on my portfolio of this beautiful cat. There is a female Leopard called Ndoto with her main territory near to our camp and she had been showing well but with the bonus of her having a young four-month-old cub.

On our first few days we spent most of the time looking for her and we got some amazing encounters of her, sometimes on her own as she was out hunting but also with her young cub. One morning was especially good as she spent a good hour out in the open playing with her young cub, fantastic to watch. Unfortunately, we then had news that a male Leopard had tried to kill her cub which is what males do from time to time as it can then bring the female into season. Ndoto fought bravely to protect her cub but for a few days no one had seen her or her cub. We then saw her a few days later, but she had sustained some serious injuries. Her cub was eventually spotted and so all seemed well with her, but it just goes to show the dangers these beautiful cats can face. I did get to see Ndoto again later in my trip and her injuries were heeling up well. I loved my time spent with this beautiful Leopard.

The one big cat that I thought would be no problem to see was the Lion, but they were proving elusive throughout my trip. For the first few days we didn’t see any, but our time was occupied by the Leopard sightings anyway, so I put it down to that, but the trend continued. Towards the end of my guided trip, we then came across two large males that had heard the commotion of a Hyena pack that had brought down a Wildebeest. Their hearing must be amazing as it was a long way by driving but eventually, we found them. It is gruesome watching, but the encounter was superb and eventually a third male arrived. The whole scene lasted less than an hour with the Hyenas and Jackals waiting in the background to finish off anything that was left, which to be honest was not a lot. There is no finer Cat than a big Male Lion and to have three was very special.

By concentrating on the big cats, you can miss all the other subjects, but you must be disciplined in your approach but throughout my trip and especially with my family holiday into the second part I could take advantage of any good sightings of the other subjects. The Elephants were a highlight, and I spent a lot of time with them into second week as this was the main subject for Liz to see. I did manage some images of Giraffes along the way and I have to say they are just great fun to work with because you can be very creative with them, on a few afternoons we got some cloudy conditions which was perfect for working with these because I could shoot more high key which is a great way of capturing there beauty. My own personal favourite was the Bull Cape Buffalos, and I could spend ages with these guys as they are so photogenic. Big herds can be found in the Mara North and so you are never far from a decent herd so can take advantage of good light. We would basically try and find a Cat to photograph in good light but if it wasn’t happening then at least, we could then spend the time with these guys in good light.

I wasn’t expecting too many encounters with Cheetahs whilst out in the Mara as Mark Sisson had said to me that it’s getting harder to find this beautiful cat and he doesn’t encounter one on every trip these days. Well, I must be lucky because we found four different ones whilst out there and I spent more time with them than any other cat. There are only 61 Cheetahs left in the Mara ecosystem, so I do feel blessed to have spent time with them especially a female and her young cub. Life is so hard for a female Cheetah as she has many dangers facing her and her cubs. She is well known to the guides in the Mara North as her name is Kulete and she kind of stayed in roughly the same area so you could get there before the sunrise and try and find her so you could photograph her in the golden light. I have many images of her and her cub, and it was difficult to just choose a few. My favourite encounter with a Cheetah though was of a lone female that was passing through and then moving onto another conservancy. She was a real poser, and I managed to get my favourite images from this encounter. It was nice too because it was just our vehicle and so she was so relaxed with us. The Cheetah is such a beautiful Cat, and I have to say it is the most graceful and beautiful of the Big Cats.

I first went to Kenya in 1990 and so it has taken me 35 years to go back. There are many reasons for this as my career took a different path of mainly working in the northern hemisphere. I will say that photographing in Africa is not easy, granted you can see a lot of subjects and in great abundance but getting the right light is tricky. I feel you have such a short period once the sun has come up and it quickly starts to turn into harsh light, producing strong shadows. It is also difficult to produce original images as so many great photographers have done so in the past. Having said that I loved my trip there and thankfully I don’t have to wait too long to go back as I am going again later this year. Hopefully I will catch up with Kulete and her young cub again as it would be great to see their progress together.

Danny