A couple of years ago, I started buying a few photo books. I enjoy viewing the work of photographers of various genres and generations. After too long of mostly enjoying these works only on the web or at the (very rare) exhibition, I decided to get a few books. Photo books come in different types and forms, from those made by the photographer him- or herself, which have been carefully curated and laid out to present the work as the artist wants us to see it, to collections that put the artist’s work in the context of other artists. As well as many other types.

I enjoyed this experience so much that I started buying books quite frequently, eventually reaching one a month and, lately, even more. This leads to some challenges. Firstly, I’m running out of bookshelf space. I’m already considering remediating this, but that’s a more significant project. Secondly, how to keep track of the books you have, the books you want, the ones you lent out to friends, and where you left off each one. Photo books aren’t like novels; you might start on several in parallel and leave each for periods as your mood and focus change.

I accidentally stumbled across a personal library management program for desktops, which got me thinking this was something I wanted. But it was old-fashioned, clunky, and not very inspirational at all. I’m an old guy with old habits, so I tend to think of computing solutions from a desktop-first perspective, but in this case, I thought something with a mobile client might be more suitable. When I started looking into this, the options weren’t plentiful, but I found one that seemed to have the features I needed, and it was good-looking and effortless to use.

Handy Library is a well-designed Android app that’s really easy to use in terms of intuitive UI and effortless functionality. You can add a book simply by scanning its ISBN barcode or entering the ISBN number by hand. It will then try to look up information about the book online, on sites such as Goodreads, and then fill that in for you. It also provides really quick and easy ways of finding and adding book covers. You might need or want to correct or supplement that information (we all know that data quality on the internet isn’t always the best), but it’s usually pretty good off the bat, and it’s always a great starting point.

You can do various organisational actions, such as registering each book on which shelf it’s located, reading progress, whether it’s lent out and to whom, etc.

If you have a substantial library, going through and registering all your books is not a small task, despite the time-saving features of the app. That’s why it’s essential that the app also offers solid export options. Handy Library will let you export to XLS, CSV, or a zip file containing the SQLite database file. This means that even if the developer stops supporting the app, you move to an unsupported platform, or you find a different product that you like better, you can at the very least export the information you’ve added in a standard format and maybe even be able to import it into another program. You may even create your own projects using the data like I have. But more on that later.
With anything requiring a significant investment of your time, always ensure there’s a way to get that data out again.

One small caveat here is that the XLS export contains a bug. I believe it’s an unescaped / in the Lend/Borrow sheet that causes Excel and some other programs to see it as corrupt. The developer seems reluctant to fix this for some reason, but it can be fixed and worked around, so it’s not a dealbreaker.

To be able to share the contents of my library with others, I decided to use the export feature to import the data into an SQL Server database and then create a simple web page that lists the books, displays the covers, and includes a bit of the book description. Frontend web stuff is my kryptonite, so, for now, it’s mostly a proof of concept, but I hope to improve it to something half-decent in the not-too-distant future. But you can check out my online bookshelf already

If you’re interested, you can try it out for free, up to 100 books, and then upgrade if you want to keep using it beyond that. Also, you might need to pay a small fee for the Google API requests it uses to look up the covers. Always make sure you read the current conditions in the app or in Google Play.

The demise of my digital brain

A little while ago my QNAP TS-1079 Pro which has served me faithfully for nearly a decade as my main NAS, started complaining that it had lost the disk in bay 7. This would be the first time a disk in this unit died since I set it up, and it’s been running 24/7 without spindown for the whole time (I ran my vSphere virtual servers using it as shared storage). A tribute to the lovely HGST 4TBs, I suppose. No worries, since I fairly early on had swapped out one of the 10 disks for a SSD to use as a cache drive, I had a spare disk in a drawer. So I replaced the drive, and it rebuilt the raid to that drive and all seemed well. For about a day. Then I got the same error. Hmmm… well, the disk *had* been used for a while, then left in a drawer for 8 years or so. Some HDDs don’t like that. So I bought a 4TB WD Red, mounted it to the caddy and inserted it. Same error.

So I used the excellent Helpdesk app on the QNAP to open a support ticket, and after a bit back and forth the support tech said it was most likely a problem with the backplane – possibly the motherboard. I inquired about a replacement backplane, but while I didn’t get a clear answer, it seemed none were available to purchase. After a brief look at eBay, AliExpress, etc, I started accepting that the safest option with the least downtime was probably to replace it.

I had already started thinking about this, but of course, the timing wasn’t ideal. It never is, is it? However, since this is my main storage for everything in my digital life, I couldn’t risk running it in this degraded state for too long either. With RAID6 I could only afford to lose one more drive.

The requirements

My needs for my main NAS are quite simple, but unfortunately also quite diverse. On one side it needs to hold large volumes of data: Various backup sets from my client computers, backups of my VMs, some repositories of various rubbish, media files including my ripped Bluray and CD collection, and of course personal files, photos, etc.

On the other, it has to serve as shared storage for my running VMs in my home lab. This demands some IO performance, but it doesn’t make up a lot of data. maybe around 500GB currently.

For a while, I considered a separate unit for the high-performance stuff but I already have more than enough units spinning away in my computer room, generating both heat and noise.

Narrowing down the options

A long time ago I used to run my own fileservers with assorted types of software- or hardware raids, but after failures of different kinds and the headaches of trying to sort them out and recover data, I decided this was not what I wanted. At the time I also did enterprise storage at work and felt I had enough of dealing with storage there

When the first types of SOHO-style NASes as we know them today appeared, I figured this would be the perfect solution for me. A standardized, tested and verified hardware and software combination that is being run by hundreds or thousands of others and with a support organisation to lean on. Since then I’ve been through units from Infrant (later Netgear), Synology and QNAP and have generally been very happy with this approach.

So when looking to replace the TS-1079 Pro, it was natural to look at the offerings from Synology and QNAP.

Day 7 is our last full day in the Masai Mara area and we plan for a good morning drive as well as a full evening drive.

We set out northbound from the camp since one of the lion prides have been spotted not too far from the camp. Weather has continued to be shifting and clouds and rain seems to reduce our chance of that nice sunrise light. We arrive at a rocky hillside where some young lions and cubs seem to be gathered waiting for the adults. Presumably the older members of the pride were still out hunting.

A group of lion cubs wait for the adults to return with fresh food

The youngsters are pretty calm, and since the skies are cloudy and grey, we hang around photographing them for a while. While we’re there, an Impala buck walks right into the area. One of the cubs decide to try to sneak in on it, but its clumsy attempt quickly gets discovered and the buck easily jumps away.

While waiting for the rest of the pride to return, a cub practices its crouching skills on a passing impala

They clearly have some leftovers from a previous meal, and one of the female cubs gingerly walks around with an antilope leg. The male cub is obviously envious and tries to beg for it, with no response.

A male lion cub looks on with envy as sister walks by with leftovers from a previous meal.

As we move down towards the Ntiakitiak river, the weather quickly clears up and what remains of that nice morning light warms up the riverbank. A group of baboons have settled in the trees above the hippo pools and sound the alarm as we approach. The guards keep a keen eye on us and the hippos below while the rest of the group are busy collecting fresh leafbuds in the trees. Baboons are one of those few animals that will truly eat anything if they have to.

The little baby baboon is well protected by its mother and the dominent male as the group have settled in trees above the hippo pools.

The hippos have returned to the pools after the nights grazing and don’t seem to pay much attention to us or the noisy baboons. They’re often quite restless in the mornings until the hierarchy in the pool has been established, but there were so few here there probably wasn’t a reason to fight for the space.

Hippos have returned to the hippo pools along the Ntiakitiak river for the day.

The conservancy model differs from the national parks in that the land is originally private land owned by the local Maasai communities, and as such contains both settlements and livestock. In addition to renting out space to the smaller, environmentally friendly camps, the presence of livestock provides additional benefits to the wildlife viewing in the conservancies. The cows and goats help keep the grass down, even when the big migratory herds are in Serengeti, providing better hunting conditions for the vulnerable cheetah.

Along the Ntiakitiak river we meet this group of herders with their cattle, stopping for a drink.

3 maasai herders have led their cattle to the river. The conservancies balance the needs of wildlife, livestock and people, providing unique advantages for all sides.

While many maasai always wear their traditional checkered clothes, some prefer more western clothes, especially in the cold mornings.

Caught in the act… Moving on…

A pair of spotted hyenas mating. There’s a lot of growling and howling.

The showers in the night and morning have made the ground pretty soggy, and the areas near car tracks quite muddy. A lioness with her two cubs are resting right by the tracks and the cubs have obviously been more focused on play than on grooming for a while.

A small lion cub shows off his fiercest combat expression. (OK, he’s yawning…)

While we were watching, one of the cubs discovered a nearby warthog burrow and starts exploring the edges of the entrance. The mother, who have so far been looking relaxed and somewhat disinterested in the cubs activities suddenly get up and hurry over to the lair, with the more cautious cub in tow. She obviously felt it was best to make sure the burrow was really empty before the little explorer decided to enter it. A protective warthog could easily kill a young lion that tries to enter its lair.

Mother comes over to make sure the warthog lair one of the cubs found is safe to play in.

Once she’s satisfied the hole in the ground is safe, she relaxes and lets the cubs go back to playing on their own.

Mother keeps watch as the two young cubs explore an empty warthog burrow.

Mom is getting some rest while the kids continue to play “lion and warthog”.

As before we’ve brought a packed breakfast with us so we don’t need to return to the camp for breakfast. Quite frankly these breakfasts are so awesome, there’s no reason to eat in camp. You get a full breakfast with eggs, sausage and bacon, pancakes, fruit, coffee or tea as well as juice, and enjoy it to a spectacular view. Why would you sit in a tent? After breakfast I took this photo of Big John and Jared who have been guiding me on all my 3 visits to Masai Mara so far. They are fantastic people and incredible guides.

The two fantastic guides that have showed me around the Mara area for my previous 3 trips, Big John and Jared.

Another vehicle from Porini Lion coming from the crossing over Olare Orok. Tents of Porini Lion can barely be spotted among the trees to the far right.

A lone tree… ok, not quite lone… on a not quite hilly hill…

A maasai herder with cattle. Some permanent settlements in the background against the Oloololo escarpment

We set out again in the afternoon for the evening drive. We track some giraffes and buffalos but the light isn’t quite there yet, and there’s not much action.

Impalas running next to the car, showing off their agility.

As the light fades we come across another lioness with very young cubs. The cubs are superenergetic and are constantly playing. It’s a bundle of laughs.

A cub takes a break from the sibling playfighting by relaxing next to mom.

A cub practices its sneaking skills on a sibling.

Cubs are training their hunting skills on each other while the mother keeps watch.

A short break in the play between cubs.

The breaks don’t last long for the hyperactive lion cubs. Soon they’re back at trying to pretend kill eachother.

As the sun sets we find a group of wildebeest and zebras on a ridge, but unfortunately the clouds are once again moving in, blocking some of our glorious golden light. Even when I get out of the car and lay down on the grounds, I can’t seem to place the light behind them

A wildebeest against a cloudy sunset.

We return back to the camp earlier than previous evenings, since the light got swallowed by the clouds. It’s been a roaring day with lots of lion cubs. You can’t  honestly have too much kittens, can you?

In addition to our full access to the Olare Motorogi conservancy we were staying in, we had booked one day passes to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. For most wildlife viewing and photography, I’d say your experience in the conservancies will be better than in the reserve. But the reserve does offer a few unique elements that the conservancies lack. In particular, the big rivers Mara and Talek with their wildebeest crossing points are mostly in the reserve.

We had arranged with John and Jared the day before that this would be the day we would visit the reserve, and because of that also spend the entire day on a drive. This usually results in quite a shoot with a lot of interesting experiences, and as such this post contains a lot more pics than most of the other daily posts.

We started before sunrise (of course) and made it into the reserve looking for something interesting to shoot when the golden light arrives. We come across two lionesses that seem to be relaxing away from the pride. Maybe they’re on a hunt, or on their way to young cubs which are usually hidden away from the rest of the pride.

Two lionesses had separated from the pride, possibly to hunt, and were taking a rest before the sun came up

We haven’t seen anything more interesting, so we decide to hang around until the sun comes up. Minutes later the sun rises over the horizon and the savanna is flooded in that gorgeous light. As it does, the lionesses decide it’s time to get going and start moving past us like we’re not there at all.

Lioness bathed in the warm morning light

As the sun rises over the Mara, the incredible warm light floods everything for a few magical moments.

As they move away we notice a group of hyenas fighting over a carcass nearby. Maybe it was the lionesses kill the night before, or maybe some old bones, but the competition in the group is fierce.

A group of hyenas have managed to steal the remains of a carcass during the night and were fighting over the pieces.

Other scavengers have gathered in the area and are paying close attention to see if some bits and pieces are left unattended.

A group of vultures keep watch for any scraps of food that might become unguarded.

As the magical light fades, a balloon drifts across the mara behind a tree with vultures and an eagle

We come across a male ostrich, I haven’t seen nearly as many of these as I had expected on this trip. The light is still pretty warm, so I snap a pic

Not as common as in Samburu, a few ostriches still roam around in the Mara

Topis are scattered all over the Mara, usually in between groups of zebras or wildebeest. The males will typically find a mound like an abandoned warthog lair to stand on, with their front legs on the highest point. I tried to get a good silhouette shot as the good light was disappearing fast, unfortunately just when you want to shoot it, you can’t find that perfect pose (I still don’t have gerenuks on their hind legs either). So the closest I got was this guy with the legs cut off by the mound.

The classic Topi pose, in silhouette.

Making our way towards the Mara river, we come across a family of lions that are enjoying an impala kill. I try to get some interesting shots out of it, but the light is getting harsher and because we’re in the reserve we’re not free to drive outside the tracks, so I don’t feel they’re worth posting.

We move on and come across the leopard Siri with her young cub. They’re hiding in the bushes, and we can’t seem to get a good view of them. After trying for a while we hang back and wait for them to come out. Turns out they have an old carcass hanging in one of the trees, so after a while Siri climbs up and check the surroundings before she lets the cub climb up and try to get some more meat of the brownish bones while she stands guard halfway down the tree.

Leopards don’t generally follow the migration, and so being able to feed even when most of the wildebeest are gone is essential

Probably not the most tasty meal, learning to make use of old food sources is none the less an important skill.

With her cub further up in the tree, the mother makes sure nothing dangerous gets too close.

Down by the bank of the Mara river a group of young lions have moved up from the south. If they want to continue north, they need to cross the river. Maybe they’ve left their pride and are trying to avoid other lions, they seem to want to risk crossing pretty near to a group of crocodiles, maybe 20 meters away.

After a lot of hesitation the young males cross over one by one. But the young lioness seems far less convinced this is a good idea. Testing the water with her paw, she shows clear signs of discomfort. But eventually she reluctantly wades out and starts swimming across with a grimace.

After all her brothers had crossed, the young lioness was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of following.

Finally deciding to follow her brothers to the other side, the expression shows the young lioness is not enjoying her swim.

We pass a carcass and observe some of the vultures and other scavengers there, and I get a shot of the marabou’s impressive takeoff performance. Why on earth Nordic chocolate manufacturers chose this bird as their logo is beyond me…

Clearly not the prettiest bird in east Africa, the Marabou is nonetheless an imposing figure, and when taking off looks quite dramatic.

If you can’t find a good carcass, you have to make do with beetles and worms in dung.

Crossing the Talek river and continuing south of the Olkiombo airstrip we find Malaika the cheetah with her unusual litter of kittens. Originally 6 cubs is surprising in itself. But to still have 5 as old as these is really fantastic. Unfortunately I heard she lost 2 more in the following year.

Family of cheetahs relaxing under a tree

Most cheetah cubs don’t have as many play pals as these.

With one sibling stuck in a tree, the remaining 4 try to make the time pass while mother Malaika rests.

Sometimes having 4 siblings can get a bit much and it’s best to take a break.

This cheetah cub is discovering why most cheetahs don’t climb trees.

Cheetah cub discovering that while trees are easy to climb up, they’re not as easy to climb down.

One of Malaikas cubs decides to examine the surroundings alone

While she gave birth to six cubs, having brought 5 to this age is quite an unusual accomplishment for cheetahs.

Water = Buffalos

One of those animals you stop photographing when they stand up without taking their eyes off you…

When it’s time for lunch we stop at a spot overlooking the Mara river. This is the same spot I’ve been on previous trips, and normally it’s been a great place to photograph small birds. Unfortunately we get a rainshower just before we stop, which seems to dampen both the enthusiasm of the birds, and it certainly dampens my enthusiasm for getting down on my stomach in the undergrowth. We do get a few curious visitors, at least.

One of the few birds that came close while we had lunch at the bank of the Mara.

As we move across an open stretch of the savanna, among wildebeest and zebra herds, we find a mating couple of lions. Hanging around for a while, my travel companions get to observe the strange ritual that is lion mating. There’s a lot of growling, low rumbling noises, slaps across the face, and repetitions…. A LOT of repetitions…

Mating is hard work, especially if you’re a lion. So it’s important to get plenty of rest.

A mating couple of lions photographed against the Oloololo escarpment on the western edge of Mara

Again!? There’s not insignificant tension between a mating couple of lions.

Well, it’s lions mating…

And now for something completely different…

Well, I think it’s a flat-headed rock agama, anyway

Arriving back in the conservancy, we pass Porini Lion Camp northwards and find a lioness with her 3 young cubs. They’re a lot of fun and we hang around for a while, observing their play and the mothers incredible patience.

Practicing essential skills for adulthood

The more siblings, the more to practice your killer moves on.

Being the focus of constant sneak attacks by 3 claw-equipped energizer bunnies is trying stuff.

There’s just no peace to be had.

Lioness with one of her little cubs.

We start looking for something interesting to shoot in sunset lighting, and come across a leopard not far away. I think it might be the resident male Yellow, but I’m not sure. Could be Fig as well. I really should learn to tell them apart by the face. Unfortunately he or she is being uncooperative and stays in the creek and thereby in the shadows.

I think it might be Yellow, but I’m not sure. We came across him as the sun was setting, and light was pretty poor.

John spots some giraffes on a hill nearby and we move there in all haste to catch the last rays of light. I must say I’m pretty happy with these silhouettes.

As the sun set, we came across a group of giraffes on a hill.

A giraffe in silhouette during sunset over Mara.

After a 14 hour drive across most of the Maasai Mara system I’ll admit to being pretty worn out when we returned to the camp. I seem to remember I nearly fell asleep during the bucket shower. But these excursions into the reserve offer some unique sights and really shouldn’t be missed. Even if it’s outside of migration season.

The next day the plan was to stay in the conservancy, so we would have a chance to relax back in the camp in the middle of the day.

After a stay in Samburu that was less overwhelming than my previous visits (but still with some very powerful experiences), I was hoping that the Mara area would still stand out as the top wildlife experience to my friends on their first visit to east Africa.

We had booked the exclusive use of 4×4 just for us during the stay, something that is almost essential if you’re going on a photo-centric trip, but also something I would recommend even if you’re just going on a family holiday. It ensures that you are free to go wherever you want and stop whenever you want and for as long as you want. But most importantly it means you’re free to start whenever you want in the morning, and when staying in the conservancies, you’re not limited to going out after sunrise, like in the official parks and reserves. For photography, this is a big deal, as it lets you find a subject in time for sunrise and good light.

We had arranged with Big John and Jared to leave early and take a packed breakfast, so departure from our tents were in total darkness.

Only minutes after leaving the Porini Lion camp, John and Jared spotted a Lioness with a small Thomson’s gazelle calf, probably returning to her litter.

Lioness returning to her cubs with a Thomsons gazelle calf as the sun rises behind her

We followed her as she walked back towards were we came from. Within a few minutes, she was passing just outside the camp like it wasn’t there. With the picture below, it’s not hard to imagine why Porini Lion is named as it is, or why people are raving about the wildlife experiences from this camp on Tripadvisor:

A lioness with a Thomsons gazelle kill passes through the Porini Lion camp in Masai Mara

We let her continue in peace and continue on our way. Not far outside the camp area on the hillside up to the Olempaiakae ridge we come across a group of Topi. These are the champion runners among the grazers on the savanna and will normally outrun both wildebeest, zebras and small gazelles. Even the calves are capable of running relatively fast only minutes after they’re born. The one on the left leaning against its mother was probably born during the night.

Young Topis with parents in the warm sunrise over Masai Mara. The one on the left is newborn and still leaning against its mother

In some dense bushes we spot a group of young lions waiting for their mothers to return from the morning hunt. The light is still soft and comes through the foliage behind them, providing a nice backdrop.

Lion cubs resting in the cover of bushes while they’re waiting from their mothers to return from the early morning hunt

A bit later we’re sitting in the car waiting for a leopard to show itself from under some dense bushes, when our guides point in front of the car and explain there’s a bat there. We all look in the direction they’re pointing but I don’t think any of us spot it for a long while and until we get detailed instructions of where it is. Turns out it’s hanging literally over the bumper of the Landcruiser, but is amazingly camouflaged. Shot with the 500mm telelens it doesn’t look so impossible to see, but it was really the perfect disguise. One can understand why it’s spending the day out in the open instead of caves and tall tree tops like it’s cousins.

A Yellow-winged bat hanging just some 150cm above the ground, looking like a dried fruit or shrivelled leaf

Normally you don’t see a lot of sick or badly injured animals on the Mara plains. The predators will usually see to that. But sometimes you’ll see some animal with a recent injury or an issue. Yet I’ve never seen anything like one zebra we saw this day. We had a discussion in the car what the possible reasons could be for this, including internal displacement of bowels from a predator attack, infections, cysts, etc, but in summary none of us really had any good ideas. The biggest question was still how it was still alive and not already killed by lions.

You don’t really see many obviously sick or injured animals on the savannah, the predators normally see to that. I wonder how this Zebra made it this far

Speaking of nature’s maintenance services, an old wildebeest carcass would normally be swarmed by white backed vultures and other smaller vultures. But as we approached such a carcass, the arrival of two huge lappet-faced vultures had caused the others to clear off. There was an obvious rank order where one approached the other with considerable care and submissive posture.

Lappet-faced vulture on an old wildebeest carcass

Two Lappet-faced vultures gather on an old Wildebeest carcass

A Yellow-billed stork looks back at me over its outstretched wing

In the conservancies there are less gravel roads like in the National Parks, and driving mostly happens on barely visible paths, or where appropriate freely at the discretion of the local guides. Along one of the commonly used paths, a Crowned Lapwing had decided to lay her eggs, so some helpful passers by had built a circle of rocks around her to make both her and the eggs easier to see by other drivers. They are both very well camouflaged, so this probably saved her life. She didn’t move even as we drove past in the 4×4.

This Crowned Lapwing had decided to lay its eggs in the middle of a 4×4 path, but some helpful Maasai had surrounded her with rocks to alert drivers and make them drive around

This panorama shows a typical part of the landscape as well as several of the animals normally found in the Mara ecosystem

A group of Mara Giraffes gathered out in the open of the savannah

We come across a hippo grazing on land just as we’re heading back towards camp. The only times I’ve seen this before have been early in the morning while they’re on their way back to their pools and rivers where they normally spend the days. But this one seemed to be unbothered by both the strong sunlight and our presence. It was already almost noon and the light was hard and unpleasing.

Normally the hippos will have returned to the safety and sun protection of the pools and rivers by morning, but this guy was still out and about

This Hippo posed for us for a long time, and didn’t seem concerned about our presence at all. Too bad it was nearly noon and the light was the worst possible

Returning to Porini Lion for lunch, we spotted this secretary bird hunting wasps.

Just outside the Porini Lion camp on our way back for lunch, we saw this Secretary bird hunting wasps and other insects as well as reptiles

Returning late to the camp, we only had time to unload the gear and relax a short while before lunch. Afterwards some took the opportunity to relax a bit in the share and read a book, while some of us had a look around for something to photograph. A little after 16:00 we headed out for the evening game drive.

Leaving the camp, I took this shot of the camp and the surroundings. As an eco camp it has a very modest footprint in the surrounding nature.

An overview of the southern part of Olare Motorogi conservancy with the tents of Porini Lion sticking up along the creek. I think it’s Porini Lion, anyway…

In my visits to Kenya I haven’t really had a good opportunity to photograph the shy serval cat. Well, I guess I didn’t this time either, but at least we found one in its den, and you can sort of make out its face, so I’m putting it in here

This is the closest I’ve gotten to a shot of the seclusive Serval so far…

As the day was coming to an end and the sun was coming down low, we came across two young cheetah males, known as the Ololo brothers. From what I remember, these were new to the territory and were looking for females. We decided to follow them. If we were lucky they’d go hunting, and even if they didn’t cheetahs in sunset are still pretty awesome. I’ll let the shots do the talking from here on…

We caught up with the Ololo brothers in the afternoon. Seems they were waiting for the air to cool before continuing their patrol

One of the Ololo brothers bathed in early sunset light

As the sun sets, the brothers get moving, apparently tracking the scent of a female

Tree tracks

As they’re tracking the scent of a female, the brothers are also leaving their own scent marks, establishing themselves in this new territory

Cheetah posing in the warm sunset light

Wind weathered tree

Cheetah watching the sunset

The last rays of light

As the sun sets below the hills, there’s not really enough light to do any more shooting and we start packing away our cameras when Big John points us to a ridge just to the side of the last light. “Maybe you could shoot those in silhouette if I drive forward a bit?” he asks. Turns out there’s a group of Thomson’s gazelles and Impalas going amok on a nearby hill, doing wild jumps and chasing each other. It’s perfect!

John places the car perfectly so the antelopes are between us and the illuminated sky, and I get one of my favorite shots from the day. The advantage of having guides that’s also photographers and that guide many of the professional photographers visiting the area!

Thomson’s gazelle burning off some energy on the ridge before nightfall

Impala buck silhouette

It was a long and exhausting day so as we head back to the camp I think everyone looks forward to a nice shower before dinner, and then sleep.

This was our last night in Samburu, so we had agreed to pack up and check out from the camp before our morning drive, and then head straight to the airstrip afterwards instead of returning to the camp first. Unfortunately the clouds had returned this morning, so the light was really not great for photography.

Panoramic view over Samburu as the sun rises behind the clouds

Also, it seems like elephants were once again the order of the day, with large groups of them around, but very little other wildlife in the center of the reserve.

Two young elephants playfighting

However, as we head towards the airstrip we come across a rather large group of Oryx. We also find a herd of Grévys zebra and some Desert warthogs, but Joshua is concerned about cutting it too close for the flight to Masai Mara, so we don’t get to spend a lot of time photographing.

An Oryx getting the full treatment with three red-billed oxpeckers grooming it

Two red-billed oxpeckers dealing with the Oryx’ pesky earwax problem

We get to the Kalama airstrip without any delays, so have ample time to enjoy the packed breakfast the nice staff at Larsens Camp had sent with us. On the way to the airstrip the skies started clearing up, and as we waited for the plane I got a good view of a mountain north of the reserve. When I was here for the first time in 2012 one of the guides who was Samburu told me the locals considered it a sacred mountain, and that the women in the tribes would carry milk and blood to the mountain at the end of the dry season to make sure the spirits gave them a good rain season. Personally, I just think it’s a great looking cliffside

From the Kalama airstrip you can see this mountain to the north. The Samburu in the area considered it sacred

Next to the airstrip you can see this sign/rock. Honestly, I have no idea what it’s trying to tell me. But they do have elephants, I’ll give them that!

Sign block next to the Kalama airstrip. I have no idea what’s going on in the illustration…

At 8:45 the plane from AirKenya arrives, perfectly timed for our 09:00 connection to the Masai Mara. This is why flying between locations in Kenya is so great, with road traffic (and in some areas the roads) you never know what you’ll encounter, but the plane connections usually run like clockwork. Being a strip of dirt in the bush though, you never know what awaits at the actual landing strip. Sometimes the planes need to do a flyover first to scare off any wildlife on the landing strip. In this case there was just a family of Desert warthogs politely watching from the side of the landing strip

A family of desert warthogs watch as a scheduled plane arrives at the Kalama airstrip in Samburu

We’re the only passengers on this flight, so there’s no trouble finding good seats But once again I regret not remembering to pick up a bottle of water in the back of the plane before finding my seat on AirKenya flights

As we take off and hear southwest towards Mara, we get a great last view of the part of the reserve we’ve been using. It’s not quite visible, but our camp should be in the middle of the frame or so.

View of the area of Samburu we normally cover on our drives, as seen from the air. Larsens camp and Ewaso N’giro river in the center

The flight takes a little over an hour, and in that time we cross over the rift valley, passing right above Nakuru. The landscape changes dramatically during this trip, and by the time we reach the Masai Mara it’s all mostly flat and green below us.

The green fields of the Masai Mara

As far as dirt airstrips are concerned, the one at Ol Kiombo is as professional as it gets, with a souvenir shop, a parking lot and an actual toilet!

Approaching the Ol Kiombo airstrip in Masai Mara

A few minutes after arrival the car with our guides from Porini Lion camp arrive. I was really anxious to find out who we would spend the next few days with, as I had requested that we either get “Big” John Siololo, Jared (Gerard? I never quite figured it out), or Jackson Sayialel since I had these as guides on my previous trips and knew they were not only superb guides but also understood our interests as photographers. Our booking agent Sally at Gamewatchers had relayed our wishes to the camp manager, but couldn’t make any promises. It was a great surprise to see that as the Land Cruiser arrived, we had not only got one of our wishes, but two as Big John had Jared with him in the car. It was great to meet both again, we had talked a lot during my two previous trips with Wildphoto.

As we make our way to the Porini Lion camp, I’m reminded why I love this place. John and Jared immediately begin mentioning that there’s lions with a kill that they spotted on the way to the airstrip and that we should check out, as well as a cheetah, and, and…

Just outside the airstrip, we stop for the first photo opportunity. A Grey crested crane, the noble national bird of Uganda, on a nest.

Placed in the middle of a small marsh, this nest sticking up in the middle don’t seem all that safe, but hopefully the Grey crested crane knows what it’s doing

We also come across a group of hyenas, but a couple are radio marked, so I don’t take many shots of them. Shortly after we come across the two lionesses with a full grown Wildebeest kill. They seem to be the only two around, and the fact that they take turns on eating and keeping watch indicate that they are not close to the rest of their pride.

Lioness with a fresh wildebeest kill her and another lioness just hunted down

Lioness with a fresh wildebeest kill. Getting to the tasty bits

Lioness eating a wildebeest

BW portrait of a hungry lioness

As we move on towards the camp we also find a young giraffe eating from the incredibly thorny Whistling thorn. It’s hard to imagine the skill and adaption that goes into making a living from leaves on such a plant. We also find a cheetah relaxing under a bush. The clock just ticks over 12:00 and high noon doesn’t allow for the most breathtaking shots so we continue to the camp.

Young Masai giraffe grazing on the VERY thorny Whistling thorn acacia tree

Cheetah enjoying the shade of a bush at high noon

In Porini Lion we’re received by the camp manager Jimmy who gives us a quick brief about the aspects of staying in the camp. I had asked for tents in the shade, because from previous experience I knew the tents out in the sun could get very hot in the daytime. So we moved into tents 2 and 3, which are next to some large trees that provided nice shade. One of the youngest leopard cubs in the Olare Motorogi conservacy was born just meters from tent 3 the year before

After a nice lunch weather is against us again and an aggressive shower catches up with us as we rest. We discuss whether to drop the evening drive but decide to head out anyway. As we get into the car, the rain has subsided to a drizzle and things are lightening up a bit. Just a few hundred meters north of the camp, we find parts of a pride of lions seeking protection from the rain the bushes. At least it provides some cover for the cubs. The adults look pretty wet, and being cats, not very happy at all.

Somehow you rarely find a happy looking cat in the rain. This is also true for this magnificent male lion

Lioness in the rain. Not amused

After a while we move on northwards, and not many hundred meters away find an old acquaintance of mine – the magnificent leopard Fig. Like the Narasha did for cheetahs, this leopard has given me some of the best photo opportunities for her species on every visit.

Leopard with Thomson’s gazelle catch

Fig the leopard with a fresh Thomson’s gazelle kill. She had brought it up in a tree next to the Olare Orok river, just north of Porini Lion camp

Fig the leopard eating its kill. No, I don’t know why it starts with the stomach either

Leopard with Thomson’s gazelle catch

The resident leopard in Olare Orok conservancy, Fig.

After some time up in the tree eating innards and smearing crap all over her food, she decides to come down, right next to our car and clean up a bit. Not only is she obviously very wet from the rain, but she’s also been eating all the most disgusting pieces on her catch.

Fig the leopard licking rainwater off her fur

Fur maintenance in the rain.

Leopard Fig treating herself to a pedicure

Obviously there’s not a lot of light with the dense rainclouds above us, and as the sun starts to set it gets even darker. We spend the last hour of the day with another group of lions, including a lioness with cubs.

Mating lions having a rest

This lioness was less than 50 meters from two males and a couple of other females. With her two cubs with her, she was keeping a close eye on the males

Wet cats don’t look pleased at all

It was obvious nursing two young predators with developing teeth can be quite a painful activity

Lionwatching as the sun sets

As the sun sets we head back to the camp for dinner and a bucket shower

Once again we head out of camp just before sunrise, racing to find a suitable foreground subject for the golden light of sunrise. This morning looks a lot more promising, with a lighter cloud cover that seems to diminish as we make our way through the reserve.

Clouds clearing as the sun rises over Samburu. The characteristic Doum palm in the foreground.

We don’t find any Oryx in time for that first flush of warm light, but we do find a Secretary bird in an Acacia tree. We stop to see if we can’t make something of the opportunity. I have some shots from earlier I’m really happy with, so I decide to try to go for silhouettes, since these birds have such a characteristic shape and interesting behavior. Secretary birds don’t seem all that comfortable in the tops of Acacia trees (well, they’re trees with 5cm long thorns, who can blame them?), and tend to change positions now and then. As they do, they seem uncertain about their own ability to keep balance, so they often spread out the wings to help with the balance.

Silhouette of a Secretary bird in the top of an acacia thorn tree against the sunrise.

After giving us some nice poses, the Secretary bird takes off, and we continue to scout for subjects. Shortly after we come across a small group of Oryx. We haven’t seen many of them on this trip, so I’m happy we came across some while the light was still fairly good.

An Oryx enjoying the leaves of a bush in a meadow of flowers. As the sun rises behind him the meadow is bathed in golden light.

One of the nice things about travelling a bit later in the season than the more standard august-september, is the first (short) rain season will have passed, and the landscapes are so much more lush and green. And in some places like this, flowers will cover the ground, which really adds something to the pics, I think.

Also, this is the time that many grazing animals and birds schedule the arrival of their young for, so there’s much more activity and interesting behavior to see. For birds, this can include courting:

Two Ring-necked doves acting like turtledoves in a tree in Samburu.

After a few days of showers and windy, chilly nights, it seems it wasn’t just us photographers that appreciated the warm morning sunlight.

A lioness obviously enjoys the first warmth of the sun in the morning. Her cubs are sleeping in the bushes nearby and she’s obviously enjoying some peace and quiet in the morning.

Samburu is home to a large number of weaver species. There are heaps of nests hanging from practically every tree in the reserve. We were lucky enough to come across a Vitelline masked weaver who was busy both showing off a newly constructed nest, as well as building a new one from scratch. He had been considerate enough to do both in a tree fairly close to the path.

After a pretty good morning drive we arrive back in camp for breakfast, and then spend the rest of the morning relaxing, and shooting the Vervet monkeys in the camp. Even the pool *almost* gets used before lunch

It’s rough conditions out there in the bush, I tell you. It’s a battle for existance. The Ewaso Ngiri river flows past the camp in the background.

Larsens Camp certainly qualify as a luxury camp in most ways, and the food is no exception. Considering that we were the only 3 guests they had for the 3 nights we were there, the selection on the menu seems excessive

In the afternoon we head out once again for the evening drive. I know the guides in these places see a lot of weird things on the job, but some never seem to get used to seeing us hauling heavy camera bags in and out of the cars 4 times a day

Guide Joshua looking in disbelief at the amount of stuff we’re hauling in and out of his Landcruiser for every drive.

This time we head eastward along the north bank of the river, past the Elephant Bedroom camp. We pass some Ostriches, and even more Elephants.

A group of young Ostriches.

The beautiful Lilac-breasted Roller poses in the top of a dead tree. No doubt one of the most beautiful birds of east Africa.

I didn’t think it would be possible, but with all the elephants in the area, I was almost starting to get a bit blasé with regard to them. Almost like you start not noticing the Wildebeest in the Mara after you passed a few thousand. But then as we stopped by two large Elephants that seemed to be calmly grazing beside each other, away from other groups, things changed quickly.

Two Elephant bulls in a fight.

Equally matched elephant bulls can have standoff/fights that lasts for several days. In this case it was seemingly over within half an hour.

Elephant bulls going head to head in a clearing in Samburu.

When two large Elephants get in a fight on the dusty sandbanks of the river, the dust clouds they kick up can be seen from far away.

There’s something unreal about being so close to two multi-ton animals with tusks that collide into each other. There’s a lot of force in play, a lot impact. The shots above are all shot with a 70-200mm lens, sometimes as short as 105mm, so we were not far away. Not that they cared…

Black and white portrait of a battleworn Elephant male.

Samburu (the north of Kenya) has some distinct subspecies of well known African animals that aren’t exactly like the ones you find in southern regions of the country. I’ve already mentioned the reticulated giraffe, which has a different pattern than its southern “mara” cousin. The Zebras are also noticeably different, with the Grévys Zebra being larger and more horselike than its mara cousin. It also has denser stripes, and the stripes don’t go all the way down to under its belly. We came across a group of these with one “mara” zebra that had teamed up with them. Joshua didn’t seem to have any idea how it made it here and why there was only one either.

Samburu is normally home to herds of Grévys Zebras, a distinct subspecies of Zebras. Here a lone “Mara” Zebra has joined them.

A pair of Grévys Zebras. Notice the denser stripes and how the stripes don’t go all the way down and under the belly like on “Mara” Zebras.

When we returned to camp, the staff surprised us with having set up the dinner table on the scouting platform overlooking the reserve. Of course since we’re always late back to the camp by the time we were ready for dinner, it was pitch dark, but it was still magical hearing the sounds all around us. Also, thanks to the lights we had probably a hundred species of beetles and moths on the table to observe

The reason I included Samburu in our travel route is really threefold. It’s a great place to see the magnificent Oryx antelopes, it’s known for its many elephants, and the previous times I was there it was a bird paradise. One of the big ambitions for this visit was to see if we could find Oryx or one of the characteristic species of Samburu in sunrise light.

Samburu is a National Reserve, and like many Reserves and Parks in Kenya, visitors are not allowed to leave the camps until sunrise and must be back around sunset. I believe the reason for this is to remove the risk of tourists getting in the way of the silent battle that exists between rangers and poachers. Therefore we head out of Larsens camp as soon as we’re allowed, right around 06:00. The skies are unfortunately clouded, and the wonderful golden African sunrise light eludes us except for brief glimpses.

During a cloudy morning we only get a glimpse of the sunrise over Samburu

Unfortunately we didn’t find any animals to shoot against the glimpses of sunrise.

While the number of elephants were overwhelming and nothing like anything I had seen on my previous visits, some of the other wildlife was more elusive than before. Finding any Oryx proved to be very difficult, and even Grévys zebras were more scarce. I can only speculate, but I suppose the number of elephants had driven some of the other animals to other parts of the area.

The vulturine guineafowl might not have the fancy helmet of its relative, but it certainly has the most striking plumage

While there were less birdlife in the reserve than on my previous visits, Samburu still has a wide range of birds, including many species not normally seen in the more open areas of the Mara. Thanks to all the weavers, almost every tree is decorated with large numbers of weaver nests.

A white-headed buffalo weaver next to a nest

This ring-necked dove was very hard to spot on a distance, as it sat completely still as a n extension of the dead tree

This red-billed hornbill was trying to impress a female by showing her how much mud he could fit in his beak. Males use mud to seal the female inside hollow trees where she looks after the eggs

Normally you can see animals being groomed by oxpeckers without reacting at all, or at least not displaying any signs of discomfort. I always wondered about this since I would expect the claws to hurt when the oxpeckers hang on to the skin on the sides of the animals bodies. It seems this might be a tolerance the animals develop over time, since we saw a group of impala calves that were obviously not comfortable with the oxpeckers climbing on them.

The Impala calf is obviously not used to being attended to by oxpeckers, but it seems the pests and parasites are still more uncomfortable than the cleaning bird

We came across a group of Dwarf mongoose among the rocks up in the hillside. Unfortunately most of them were gone before I could get any shots of the family

While some of Samburus characteristic species had evaded us, the reticulated giraffes were still around. They have a very distinctive pattern compared to the more common “mara” giraffe. While we were observing a few of them, suddenly a young elephant cub came running towards them with ears out to the sides and trunk spinning around. Most of the giraffes seemed to ignore it, but one reluctantly trotted away from it. It really seemed more like it was playing along rather than being scared away. I suppose if this was a common way for the cubs to interact with the other species, this could explain why some of the smaller animals avoided the areas with a lot of elephants.

As we were photographing these giraffes, suddenly an elephant cub came running in trying to see how tall animals he could scare. Only one of the three trotted away, which seemed more like playing along than anything else

As the morning progressed the clouds grew bigger and darker, so we decided to head back to the camp for breakfast. We just made it back before intense showers started.

The weather on our second day was shifting, with some sudden intense showers and a little sunshine

Thankfully rains in Africa pass as suddenly as they arrive, so shortly after breakfast we could walk around the camp and get to know the grounds before the afternoon drive.

By the pool area there’s a basic fence separating the wilderness from the sunbeds (Larsens camp is a fenced camp). The resident vervet monkeys always had a patrol watching us to see if an opportunity to steal something arose, no doubt while another group were checking if we had forgotten to zip up our tents

A young Vervet monkey posing on a fence post next to the camps pool

You can never have too many baby monkey shots

This young Vervet monkey decided to take a break from watching us for anything to steal so he could do some pedicure

While Larsens camp is a fenced camp, the tents are all along the river, a few meters from the riverbank. You can fence out the hyenas, but you can’t fence out the river animals.

A fairly large Nile crocodile on the opposite bank from the camp. You could see them on the opposite side now and then, but they seem to rarely come out of the water on the camp side

The grounds of the camp are great. Not only does the canopy of trees create a very pleasant temperature and light, but there’s lots of interesting birds and small animals within the camps. On a previous visit a magnificent Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl was spotted on a drive and caused quite a lot of excitement. This time we had a pair in the tree above my tent

This pair of Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls were sitting in a tree right above my tent inside Larsens camp. You could easily spend a whole day shooting birds just inside of Larsens camp, it’s so full of beautiful species

Grey-headed kingfisher perched on a branch right next to the “Lobby” tent inside Larsens camp

After lunch and a nap I sat outside my tent and watched elephants walk by or stop to have a bite to eat right across the river.

Two large elephants grazing on a bush just opposite the river from my tent. I think I took this sitting on the porch outside my tent

In the afternoon we headed out for another drive. The skies were still somewhat cloudy but at least it wasn’t raining.

Another Yellow-Necked Spurfowl, this time on a dead tree calling for a mate or to scare off competitors

One of my favorite things about Samburu was always the variety and number of raptors. This time there was less, but one of my absolute favorites was still a regular sight. The Secretary bird is such a graceful and beautiful bird, despite its size.

The magnificent Secretary bird stretching its wings before takeoff

Young male Impalas that don’t have their own hareem often form bachelor groups where they spend the days practicing their fighting skills so they’re ready for the day they get a chance to challenge a buck with his own hareem

Sun setting over the Ewaso Ngiri river

Ewaso Ngiri just as the sun has set and the blue hues are taking over from the yellows and reds

Steve picked us up at 6:30 in the morning to drive us to Wilson airport for our flight to Samburu, so the night was pretty short. I managed to squeeze in a nice breakfast though, which was as nice as at Ole Sereni. The only thing that was missing was the view over the Nairobi National Park from the breakfast table

Around 08:00 we’re all checked in and our luggage is taken care of. By taken care of I mean weighed, tagged and put in a trolley out on the tarmac outside of the terminal building. Since this also include our camera bags, we decide to have some coffee and tea in the café that has a nice view of our stuff. Both Safarilink and Air Kenya have a 15kg total baggage limit pr person, so if you’re travelling with any heavy camera gear, you really need to consider booking a “baggage seat” which will increase your allowed limit by another ~75kg.
About a quarter past 9 we took off our in the Air Kenya Cessna Caravan 208b (same model that I’ve previously flown with through Safarilink and Yellow Wings).

There was really no noticable difference between the airlines, except for one thing. It might seem like a silly thing, but as a European in east Africa you really need to make sure you’re drinking water all the time. It’s not a big problem, since there’s water bottles provided everywhere, but the airlines seem to have different practices. While Safarilink make sure there’s always a bottle tucked in the seat pocket in front of you, Air Kenya pilots announced there were water bottles in the back of the plane. After you had made your way through the narrow corridor and seated yourself in front… You don’t really want to make your way back there once the plane is taxiing to the runway.

Seen from a plane taking off from Wilson airport, Nairobi National Park and the thick of Nairobi city is separated by a fence.

Taking off from Wilson has always fascinated me. The airport is located at the very border between the actual city of Nairobi, and the wilderness of Nairobi National Park. As your plane takes off you can see this incredibly sharp division between two different worlds. I wish I could imagine this happening somewhere like in Norway – putting a fence right next to the Opera house in Oslo and say “on the other side of this fence we’re going to let wolves and bears roam free”. Yeah, right. But we sure are good at telling Africa how to run their conservation and not to let herders kill predators in defense of their livestock.

Patches of small farming plots seen from a plane heading north from Nairobi

The plane trip goes northeast from Nairobi, making a single stop at Lewa, a sanctuary for rhinos.

Organised farmlands outside of Nanyuki

As we approach Samburu the view below us changes drastically. No more fertile farmlands, but all the more reddish sand and low acacia and shrubbery vegetation. Also, the landscape gets somewhat less flat and scattered with hills.

View of Samburu with the Oryx airstrip in the foreground and the Ewaso Ngiro river in the background.

We land on schedule at the Kalama air strip around 10:20. Joshua from Larsens Camp is already waiting for us, so we unpack the essential camera gear and stuff the rest in the back of the Land Cruiser and get going. This is Kenya; if you make it off the airstrip without finding something exotic to shoot, it’s a slow day. Always have a camera ready!

Joshua’s been guiding me on all my 3 visits to Samburu, and while he’s rather the quiet type, he knows the area very well and drives safely.

As we make our way to the camp, we pass a variety of wildlife including a herd of zebras. But the big difference I’m noticing is the number of elephants. There’s small and large groups of elephants everywhere! Unfortunately by the time we reach the center of the park, it’s high noon, and right under the equator on a sunny day it’s not really possible to get good pics out of it. But here goes anyway.

Elephants splashing mud over themselves to protect against the sun and bugs. The red mud gives the Samburu elephants their distinct red appearance

As long as food is plentiful, young elephants seem to have a fairly careless existance. A lot of time is spent playing.

Young elephant running

Despite the magnificently versatile trunk, elephants still struggle with getting rid of parasites and bugs

Once we arrive in camp we’re greeted in the usual warm way, and while the welcome drink is always welcome, the hot and damp washcloth for face and hands is an extra welcome touch. After the welcome briefing we’re shown to our tents and since we’re the only guests there the grounds aren’t exactly crowded with people. While it’s nice with some activity around the camp, and obviously vital to the people employed in the camps, from a purely selfish perspective it wasn’t all bad. Due to the cost of reserving sole use of a vehicle in Larsens Camp, we had taken a chance on not booking one but obviously got the 4×4 to ourselves anyway.

After lunch we look around the camp, and on a dark tree stump next to our tents we find some agamas in the nice dappled light under the tree canopy covering most of the camp.

Male Common agama climbing a treestump outside our tents

Female Common agama on a treestump in Larsens camp

Even sitting in front of my tent after lunch I see elephants walking along the bank on the opposite side of the river. They truly are everywhere.

View from the “porch” of my tent at Larsens camp in Samburu

We head out again around 16 for the evening game drive. Weather is good, maybe a little too good for photography, and the light doesn’t really go soft until well after 17, less than an hour before sunset.

The Kori bustard is the largest flying bird native to Africa, and it might be the heaviest bird capable of flight. Like here, it spends most of its time looking for food on the ground, mostly insects.

Gerenuks are unique among antelopes in that they can stand on their hind legs to reach leaves too high for other antelopes to eat. Combined with their very long neck, they are then in competition only with giraffes and elephants for food.

Recent rains left plenty of mudpools like this around the Samburu reserve, and the large number of elephants were making good use of these to renew their sun and parasite protection. The only problem was getting out afterwards…

In November 2014, I saw far more elephants in Samburu than I had seen the previous years. They were so many they seemed to group in herds larger than the usual families

Red elephant in the red light of the setting sun. Tried desaturating some. But you can’t really tell.

Pygmy Falcon in an acacia tree. These small falcons prey on insects, small reptiles and mammals, and don’t seem to upset nearby birds as much as other raptors. They will nest in the nests of white-headed buffalo weavers

The yellow necked spurfowl will find the highest point it can easily get to, like this termite mound or a tree branch, and then sound its characteristic and very loud calls.

Male lion eating an oryx calf. At first I thought this was a young male due to his odd looking mane. But I was told by Joshua that this is how the male lions look in the area around Samburu. One theory is the generally hotter temperatures make a large mane impractical or even dangerous, so they adapted. Side note: A prey left out in that heat for 24hrs does NOT smell good!

When we return to camp after sunset, the staff had decided to offer fully personalized service to their only guests, and our dinner was served on the “porch” outside my tent. It was a nice touch.

Overloaded with cameragear, computergear, safarigear, and any other gear you can think of, we amazingly made it past check-in and gate on our way to KL1140 for Amsterdam. As I pass the boarding desk at the gate on my way down the tunnel to the Embraer, I hear the woman behind the desk offer to check in my camera roller bag “at no extra cost”. I pretend to not hear her and hurry on. Turns out the Monday morning plane is pretty full of commuters. Note to self: Next time leave on Fridays as before. The flight is smooth and we land in Amsterdam in time for sunrise.

Watching the sun rise before we land in Amsterdam on the way to Nairobi

Once we arrive in Amsterdam we have a pretty comfortable 1:40 minutes before the next flight, but the KL0565 for Nairobi departs at the other end of Schiphol and one passport control away, so the net time extra is not all that much. Once on board the 747-400 we can relax and try to make the next 10 hours pass as quickly at possible. The plane lands as scheduled around 20:15 local time (18:15 CET).

After an exhausting hour (!) in immigration queue we gathered up our luggage and headed out where we were met by Steve and Peter (I think). Due to the long delay in immigration, they had nearly given up on waiting for us

Steve took us to EKA hotel which is located right next to Ole Sereni which I’ve stayed at before. While the weather when we came out of the airport was warm and pleasant, on the short drive to the hotel we drove through several proper african showers. I have to say the EKA Hotel was a pleasant overnight location. It’s a modern and inviting looking hotel, with at least as nice rooms as the Ole Sereni, and we got them at a better price.

As I went to bed I hoped the weather would improve soon…