A Kenyan Safari

On March 24, we had a leisurely morning. For once, it wasn’t an early start—we left the hotel around 8:30AM! Compared to the 5AM days we’ve been having, sleeping in felt like a luxury. But, we all know I don’t go on vacation to rest like most people! We drove a short distance to Wilson Airport where we boarded our bush plane to Lewa (after having all our bags weighed by Safarilink). In 1922, the Craig/Douglas family ran Lewa Downs as a cattle ranch and in 1972, they began hosting visitors—the first private ranch in Kenya to do so. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is what it is today because of a lady named Anna Merz, who became a friend of David and Delia Craig. She stayed as a guest at Lewa Wilderness and approached them in the early 80s with a request: horrified by the declining rhino population across Africa, she wanted to build a rhino sanctuary to protect the last remaining members of the species. At that point in time, demand for rhino horn had reduced Kenya’s 20,000 rhino to a few hundred in less than 15 years. This was the start of converting the ranch to a wildlife and environmental sanctuary. Today, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is home to over 350 species of bird and 70 species of mammal including the famed ‘Big Five’. 
 

Our plane taking off.

 
We landed on a dusty brown airstrip about an hour after takeoff, immediately hoping into our land cruisers for a game drive en route to camp. Our pilots must have been in a hurry, because they forgot two of our bags on the plane (including mine!) and our group had to flag them down to open the hatch again. Moral of the story: even when your group takes up the entire airplane, always make sure you have eyes on your bags...

Panoramic view of the airstrip.

We mainly stopped to photograph birds—ostrich, secretary bird, European roller, and more. 

We arrived at camp shortly after 12:30, getting a quick tour of the property before having lunch. Below are some shots of the property.

The main courtyard with WiFi, the gift shop, the office, and the walkway to where the vehicles wait when you go out on game drives.

One of the cottages near the main area of the lodge.

Indoor/outdoor seating (and where afternoon tea is served).

One of the many outdoor seating areas.

View from the indoor/outdoor dining room.

I’ve been sharing a room with our photo leader and at this property, we had so much space that we didn’t even know what to do with it all! Our room alone had 3 beds, a desk, and a sitting area, not to mention the common area outside our room with a fireplace, another desk, two seating areas, and a breakfast table that linked up with another bedroom that another woman on our trip was in. Our cottage felt like a mansion! See below.

The French doors led out to a grassy area.

Common area of our cottage.

Cute fireplace in the common area of our cottage.

My room-- we used the middle bed to lay out clean clothes and camera gear. 

Another angle of our room.

Massive bathroom!

Rain shower in our bathroom. I loved the stone accent and how the shower head was coming out of a tree branch!

After a buffet lunch, we set out on a game drive. On our first afternoon game drive, we came across an elephant with two calves...

...An ostrich family with 8 chicks... (not all are pictured here!)

...Reticulated giraffe (known for their dark brown spots with tiny lines in between—narrower than other subspecies)...

a grass owl... (not the best picture, but one for the memory!)

lilac breasted roller, kori bustard, buffalo, zebra (common and Grevy’s), eland, and of course rhinos (both black and white). 

**Note: usually, I do not post photographs of rhinos due to poachers using social media to locate rhinos to poach (even though most properties have anti-poaching patrols). However, it is common knowledge that Lewa is known for their rhino population, so I am not giving out any information that isn't already known worldwide. Please, if you go to Africa, avoid posting information about rhinos you see. Most lodges avoid posting about rhinos all together (Lewa frequently posts about their rhinos, so I feel comfortable posting occasional photographs as well). 

At one point, our guides Francis and Mungai heard monkeys sounding an alarm—that meant there was a leopard nearby. We rushed over to try to track it. We found it, but only the tail was visible in the dense brush, and we lost it shortly afterwards. And so, the running joke continues… Africa won’t show me a leopard because Africa wants me to come back. I’m hoping that July will finally be the trip where I see a leopard in the daytime. If not, I give up after my now 11+ trips to the continent!!! On the way back to camp, we had a sundowner from the car. Typically, guests will stop to have alcohol or soft drinks while taking in the views of the sunset. As photographers, we don’t want to lose light or time which means we take our drinks to go—imagine sipping a Tusker beer (in a glass bottle) while on bumpy roads… It’s a miracle I didn’t knock out any of my teeth! 

My favorite beer!

Returning to a warm fire after a long afternoon photographing.

 
To avoid repetitive day-by-days for the safari portion of our trip, I am going to include some of my favorite sightings and applicable descriptions below but typically, we’d wake up at 5:30AM to tea/coffee in our room, head out on game drive by 6AM, have breakfast in the bush, be back no earlier than 11AM and often later than that, have lunch, edit photos, and then go out again in the afternoon, returning in time for a 7PM or so dinner. Between recharging batteries, eating meals, and sleeping, there wasn’t as much time to edit (but still enough to edit favorite photos on location) but thankfully, I was able to fully catch up on the plane on the way home! 
 
 

On our first full morning, we had hot water bottles for the car ride since it was chilly—my favorite. 

I sat bundled up with my hot water bottle on my lap and the Masai fleece poncho draped over me. We passed your typical safari roadblock of animals in the road, so we took a right turn at one of the intersections. 

Buffalo roadblock.

We came across some lions early on: first, a male and then, lionesses (one of which had a baby Grant’s gazelle in her mouth—still alive).

Safari traffic!

Full speed ahead!

A male lion in the early morning light.

Warning: the next few images are graphic and involve a lion kill. If you don't wish to view these, scroll down until you see a jackal (right after all the lion photos).

Lions on the move.

A lioness with a baby Grant's gazelle.

A lioness runs with her prey.

We followed the lions for awhile as they walked in the road and alongside our vehicle, as the females swatted at one another, and as one of the lionesses tossed around the Grant’s gazelle, playing with it, before finally putting it out of its misery. 

Feasting on her prey.

 

On the move once more.

We also came across a black backed jackal running through the grass—I find their markings incredibly beautiful! 
 
 

 

Later, we came across the largest herd of buffalo we saw on the entire trip. With the way the light was hitting them as they kicked up dust, my car chose to photograph them at a distance for more scenic shots. 

Panorama of the herd.

 

Here are some other shots from the morning: 

Shortly after, we had a nice bush breakfast before continuing our drive. 

Coffee in the bush!

Our guide, Francis.

Francis saw a lone elephant walking in the direction of a water hole, so we hot tailed it over there where we found a herd of elephants drinking water and splashing mud on themselves. He allowed us to step out of the vehicles, staying close to the car, where we sat and photographed the elephants from eye-level. 
 

You can see the car's tire on the top left!

For perspective on how close we were.

 
That same day, after lunch, we had a photo shoot with our Masai guide. Francis told us that the Masai didn’t like to be photographed for a long time because they believed that photographs sucked the blood out of them. With the dark skies of an approaching storm, his traditional attire stood out even more. He was such a great model! 

Not long after, it began raining heavily. We photographed an elephant herd, stormy skies, and the same lionesses that had climbed a tree in the swamp area (unfortunately, in one of the few areas of the conservancy where you can’t off road) before heading back for dinner. 

When it rains in Africa, you break out the Masai poncho!

The beginning of the storm.

When we got back to the lodge, we had a cozy fire waiting for us in our cottage once more! 
 

 
The following morning, we woke up to hazy skies. At first, we thought maybe it was just fog because it felt misty but later in the afternoon, our guide Francis showed us a horrifying video from Lake Turkana (a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley of northern Kenya) of a massive dust storm approaching a village. The hazy skies provided a natural sepia tone for images, with the African sky tinted a soft brown. 

Hazy skies in the morning.

Crowned crane in the morning.

The morning was relatively quiet, but we did come across one of Lewa’s famous rhinos and some Grevy’s zebra sparing. 

Compared to the common zebra, Grevy’s are more closely related to wild donkeys than the horse, are typically taller, have larger ears, and have narrower stripes. They’re the largest of the zebra species and, in my opinion, the prettiest. About one minute after we arrived at a small zebra herd, two zebras began fighting. 

They were first on the left side of the vehicle, bucking and biting, before crossing the road, walking further into the haze. Once again, we were allowed out of the vehicles (though I actually chose to photograph from my elevated seat). We continued on when they calmed down.
 
 

A yellow-necked spurfowl in the grass.

Gerenuk eating from the trees.

 
My favorite sighting from the afternoon game drive was when we came across more lions at sunset. 

Biiiiig stretch!

You never know what's lurking in the grass...

Keeping a careful eye on the approaching elephant.

We stayed with them until the light faded, and I got one of my favorite shots from the entire trip there: this artistic take on a lion portrait. 
 

Of course, I also had to photograph the stunning sunset behind me! 

 
On our last full morning, March 27, we came across a rainbow. I was joking and asked, “could we find a rhino to photograph under the rainbow??” Not even two minutes later, we came across a lioness under the rainbow—I’ll take it! 

We proceeded to follow her, thinking she might try to hunt some nearby zebra. When she didn’t, we continued and found 3 male lion brothers (two of which are pictured below) with an unexpected photo bomber—
 
 

 
At one point, we came across 4 jackal pups playing in a graveyard (literally—the area they were playing in was used as a gravesite for people). One was running around with a bone in its mouth while the others chased and tackled it, probably to get the bone. 

Tackling its sibling.

Stopping for a drink of water after the previous night's rains.

On the way to our more formal bush breakfast (the first of the trip), we also photographed some oryx and my favorite bird in all of Africa: the lilac breasted roller.

 

 

A more formal bush breakfast was deeply appreciated after so many jam-packed mornings. It was nice to take the time and slow down for a more complete meal under the shade of a tree (even though I love breakfasts on the go where we just decide when we are hungry and where we are pulling over to eat). We had our typical fruit, cereals, and pastries, but with the formal breakfast you also get luxuries like fried eggs and bacon… and even chairs, coffee tables, and an outhouse! It’s the little things in life… 
 

Our breakfast tree.

Setting up breakfast.

Small seating area, safari style.

 

Panorama from the breakfast spot.

Setting up breakfast in the bush.

The rest of the drive was slow, though we did find a leopard tortoise on the side of the road. Once again, we got out of the vehicles to photograph it. Lying belly down in a white shirt wasn’t ideal, but I think it was worth it!! 
 

 
Whenever I’m in Africa, I never really have time to enjoy the lodge. So, I took the afternoon off to edit photos, sit outside, drink tea, and just relax. It was much needed, and a good thing too because on our last morning, we left for our game drive at 5:20AM to photograph the sunrise!!!! 
 
 
 
The day prior, our photo leader had scoped out a tree to use as our foreground subject for sunrise (massive shoutout for always thinking ahead and positioning us for photographs!). While we had hoped an animal might walk across the horizon, that didn’t happen but at least we had our tree. We arrived in the pitch-black morning and waited as the sky started to illuminate with orange hues. 

Panoramic sunrise.

iPhone shot once the orange started fading.

 
After photographing the sunrise, we continued with our drive: a quiet morning where I only photographed a guinea fowl and a hornbill. 
 
 

 
We returned to the lodge for breakfast there at 9AM, the first time we had done so on the entire trip. We did some last-minute packing and last-minute gift shopping (I bought one of the Masai ponchos that we wore in the car—I had always wanted one in all my trips to Africa but could never find one already made… These had arrived at the lodge the day prior, and I was the first customer!!) before it was time to head to the airstrip. Of course, on the way to the airstrip we came across a gorgeous scene of zebras at the water hole with puffy clouds in the background… and no one had their cameras out, so we photographed with our phones. The best camera is the one you have on you, but I would’ve loved a pano shot on the camera instead! 

 
When we got to the airstrip, we waited in the safari vehicles because the sun was particularly hot that morning. In typical Africa fashion, our plane was late. Safari vehicles from nearby camps kept coming to the airstrip, everyone thinking that the first plane that landed would be theirs. Ours was supposed to be the first flight out and it would’ve been funny if the flight after ours arrived first, but our plane came and off we went to Nairobi. When we landed at Wilson Airport, we sat in heavy traffic for over an hour on the way to our hotel. I’ll never complain about LA traffic again—we were hardly moving! It was worse than the 405 freeway at home, and that says a lot. To get to our hotel near the airport, we had to pass through a security screening. Everyone had to leave the car, walk to the sidewalk, go through metal detectors, and then the cars met us on the other side. Kenyans take security very seriously and even though it’s annoying to go through constant security checks, it’s appreciated—you always feel very safe. By the time we had checked in to our hotel, it was past 3PM and I was starving since we hadn’t eaten since 10AM (by the time we finished breakfast). I said "see you later" to our amazing photo leader, who I'll travel with again, before going up to the rooftop bar with another woman from our trip and we ate a late lunch. I took full advantage of the wonderful fish in Africa and had Nile River tilapia with French fries and a coffee “milkshake” that ended up being an iced coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it… Still good!! 

After our lunch, I returned to the room, took a hot shower, and tried to take a quick nap before repacking for the long journey home. 

The full travel look, complete with camera gear and lots of purchases!

There were still 6 out of 8 of us staying in a day room at the hotel, so we all gathered for one more dinner together before going our separate ways. We took a shuttle to the airport at the same time, but apparently there were two terminals, so we didn’t get to say goodbye in person. At my terminal, we waited in line to show our negative COVID test before even entering the airport. I then passed through security, checked in our bags, went through immigration, hung around the lounge, went to the gate, and went through additional screening where our bags were swabbed and analyzed. Finally, I was on the plane for my 8 ½ hour journey to Amsterdam. The flight went smooth (I slept almost the entire way) and once in Amsterdam, I went through additional security before going to the airport lounge to kill time before my next flight. The 11-hour flight from Amsterdam to LA was good and I slept almost the entire way once again—I was catching up on all the sleep I didn’t get on the trip! When I arrived at LAX, I went through Global Entry (which is all facial recognition now… you don’t touch the screens at all! Kinda creepy) and caught a longtime friend of mine in passing. I had just collected my bags, and she was getting ready to check in for her flight back to the UK! It was a great ending to my long travel day. 

 
 
Once I got home, it was straight to the souvenirs and decorating my house with the baskets I bought in Uganda and the table runner I bought in Kenya. 

 

Africa is like a second home to me. It’s a pain in the butt to get to and I hate the long journey every time I go, but once I’m there, I never want to leave. Two weeks has become too short a stay, and I always long to return. Lucky for me, I’ll be back in July! 

Thanks for following along with my African journey. As always, follow my Instagram @elissatitle for more photos, and stay tuned for my adventures to Mala Mala, Mashatu, and Mana Pools… an adventure I’ve had booked for 4 years! Until next time…