The Big Surprise that is Tendeno forest in Kericho County, western Kenya

Published: Satmag Nation media 15 Jan 2022 Above: Tinderet forest bordering Tendeno forest from Williomson Tea Estate near Nandi Hills. Courtesy Avnish Pandhal At the crack of dawn on the last day of 2021, the sun in the eastern sky bursts like a furnace of red-orange flames to begin its daily swoop over the earth. […]

Read More

Flaming Amboseli Bursting with Flamingos

Published Satmag Nation newspaper 29 May 2021 Above: Flamingos in Amboseli. Image by Denis Bouillon It’s a new dawn with climate change and Amboseli’s got a fresh look with flamingos everywhere under the gaze of Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak. The ubiquitous dust pans and spiralling dust devils are absent. Instead it’s lush and green with water […]

Read More

On The Heights of Elgon

Above: Mount Elgon. Copyright Maya Mangat Published: 2 February 2019 The grand massif dominates the western skyline around Kitale. Superlatives describe it as the oldest extinct volcano in East Africa dated at 24 million years ago – much older than the 19,340-foot tall, three-million-year old Kilimanjaro that is Africa’s tallest. With an eighty kilometre diameter, […]

Read More

Chasing After Shrews and Elephants in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest

Published 6 October 2018 Saturday magazine, Nation newspaper Above: Copyright Nobert Rottcher -Golden-rumped elephant shrew in Arabuko-Sokoke forest When friends in Malindi announced they were off to Arabuko-Sokoke forest I was on it – and for one sole reason – to look for the ‘only to be found here in the world’ animal, the Golden-rumped […]

Read More

More Hikes on Taita Hills

Part 2 of 2 Published Saturday magazine Nation media 20 January 2018 Above: The peak of IYale – second highest of Taita Hills Copyright Rupi Mangat Older than the age of dinosaurs these hills continue to fascinate nature lovers With a few more days in the hills with a mission to spot Taita apalis, our […]

Read More

Arusha and the Momella Lakes

Published Nation newspaper 16 December 2017 Above: Elephant at entrance of Lake Arusha Naional Park Copyright Rupi MangatArusha’s a fascinating city on the foothills of Mt Meru –Africa’s fifth highest mountain at (14,968 ft). A dormant volcano it’s a stunning backdrop to the city and a great mountain to explore.

Read More

New Market for the African Elephant

Published in The East African Nation media 7-13 October 2017 Laos in Southeast Asia, virtually unheard of in Africa is now the leading retailer in ivory, mostly sourced from recently poached elephants in Africa Laos is now the hot-spot for rich Chinese tourists to gamble and purchase things they can’t do so easily at home […]

Read More

Tarangire Treetops

Amidst the baobabs Published Saturday magazine, Nation newspaper 7 October 2017 Above: Elephant dwarfed by centuries-old baobab tree near Randilen Wildlife Management Area by Tarangire National Park, Tanzania Picture Galib Mangat There are few grand arrivals as memorable as this. Stopping at the gate of Randilen Wildlife Management Area that hosts the stunning Tarangire Treetops […]

Read More

United Against Wildlife Poisoning

The dire need for government to recognize the problem of poison Published in The East African-Nation Media 16-22 September 2017 It was in 2005 while researching for her doctorate on Mackinder’s Eagle Owls around Nyeri in Kenya’s central highlands that Darcy Ogada realized there was a problem at hand – that of poisoning. “I was […]

Read More

To Tanganyika

For the chimpanzees (sokwe mtu in Kiswahili) Published The East African Nation media 16-22 September 2017 Above: Playful young chimpanzee in Gombe National Park on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.  Copyright Rupi Mangat When l heard Dr Jane Goodall talk in Nairobi about her ground-breaking pioneering chimpanzee research in Gombe it became my mission to get […]

Read More