 |
| The feature full Laikipia Landscape |
Over the
past two years I have been fortunate to spend some time in Laikipia’s Western
regions and have really come to like the area a lot. Except for hosting the big
five (reputedly
Kenya
second largest Elephant herd after Tsavo) its also home to a wide variety of
other unique wildlife. Sosian, the area where I work has no fences and are thus
open all the way to the
Sudan!
Add the fact that the total area encompasses more than a million hectares
easily places it firmly in the league of best wilderness areas in
Africa.
 |
| Endangered Grevy's Zebra |
 |
| Reticulated Giraffe |
A wide
variety of animals such as this Reticulated Giraffe and Grevy’s zebra are only
found in Northern Kenya. Only 3000 of these
animals are left in the wild and about 30 % are found in Laikipia.
 |
| Beisa Oryx in the mist |
A great albeit
unusual sighting of Beisa Oryx in dense mist on the plateaux.
 |
| As we were lying on the ground one of the wilddogs stalked us. In the end it was less than 10 metres away. |
A healthy
population of
Africa’s second most endangered
carnivore, African Wilddogs occur and play a very important role in
repopulating the region. I focussed a lot on these animals and have been very
fortunate to document their breeding cycle. On the last trip they were denning
and it was very special getting the first glimpses of the pups.
 |
| Nearly independent Striped Hyena pup. |
On the
topic of predators, except for all the big and small cats the very elusive
Striped Hyena are found and we were very fortunate to photograph these highly
evasive animals at a den.
 |
| Gabar Goshawk stretching |
For Birders
the variety is mind boggling as the northern species is well represented. More
to follow later.
Searching
out the reptiles and amphibians of an area adds another dimension to any safari
as it opens up a hidden but very interesting world.
 |
| Leopard Reed Frog, Hyperolius glandicolor (viridiflavius) |
 |
| Side Striped Chameleon |
I’ll leave
you with what guests David and Robin Reid had to say about a few days spent in
this remarkable place:
Robin and I are safely back in Hong Kong. We really enjoyed spending time with you.
Sosian was a real surprise in terms of the photographic opportunities. That
experience lying on the ground with an inquisitive wild dog less than 10 metres
away was really special. We are also still amazed to have been able to
photograph a striped hyena.We will definitely be back again next year in early
January.
