Klaus Tiedge – Trip to Kenya

After a short stop-over in Nairobi I will be flying to Amboseli National Park with Safarilink where I will be residing at Tortilis Camp.

Tortilis Camp, the first of its kind, was the first “boutique eco-lodge” in Kenya.

It is located on the south western edge of the park, facing the mountain and is accessed from within the National Park. It overlooks its own private wildlife conservancy, Kitirua, 30,000 acres.

I am looking forward to experiencing the life at the camp first hand and to learn more about the Land&Life Foundation – one of Tortilis Conservation projects.

Amboseli is well known for its magnificent elephants. Over 1000 elephants call the Amboseli ecosystem their habitat, featuring some of the largest in Africa. Amboseli’s flat and dusty plains and dry lake beds provide amazing backdrops for dramatic and evocative images.

I am very excited to capture many encounters with Africa’s largest elephants here in their natural habitat.

Mastering to photograph a herd of elephants appearing in front of Africa’s most iconic scene, the snowy peak of Mount Kilimanjaro will be an absolute rewarding highlight, that I am hoping to capture as this is still missing in my Pride of Africa Collection.

After a week I will be heading to the Maasai Mara National Park and staying at Ngenche Camp which is a small and exclusive camp located in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, belonging to the Atua Enkop Africa group.

This camp is not fenced-in, giving the animals the right of way to use those trails which were exclusively theirs for centuries before arrival of the lodges and their guests.

This will be the ultimate bush experience and although I am already familiar with unfenced camps, it will be extraordinary, and I am already envisioning myself lying in bed and hearing lion’s roar and laughing hyena sounds close by.

With the Mara Ngenche Safari Camp being located between the Mara and Talek Rivers I am expecting to see hippos and crocodiles daily.

It will also be my base camp to photograph the abundance of diverse wildlife in the Mara plains. Many of my lion and cheetah photographs incurred / originate in this terrain that has become like a second home. I am curious what nature unfolds this time and which images will evolve.

My next stop, which will bring me up to the half way point of my trip to Kenya where I will be anticipating the arrival of my beloved family from Cape Town; my wife Sandra and our two kids who are joining me for the remainder of my trip. It will be the first time we will be spending time in Kenya together as a whole family. What an incredible adventure, filling me with pride to show our kids (age 9 and 11) the beauty of wild Africa.

We will be staying at Tipilikwani Camp located just 2km outside the Maasai Mara National Park which is also part of the Atua Enkop Africa Group. As a family we will be exploring the Maasai Mara. I can’t wait to show them the magnificent wildlife of the Mara and hopefully come close to some animals that I have been photographing on previous trips, in which they will know from the stories and pictures I have showed them. We will also be visiting the home of my friend and Maasai guide John and in which we will all be learning more about their culture and daily life.

Our final destination is at the Angama Mara, a truly remarkable owner-run safari lodge inspired by the Swahili word for ‘suspended in mid-air’. Angama is located high above the floor of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, overlooking Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Just an incredible location to be situated at.

I have had the privilege to meet one of the owners, Nicky Fitzgerald during my stay 2 years ago (thanks to @OpulentLivingTravel). You can feel Nicky’s love for her job and Angama in every corner and especially in the very dedicated team. We have kept in contact and I am truly humbled to be their guest again especially being able to share in this experience with my family.

I am excited to take more amazing photographs especially of lions, cheetahs and buffalo.  I can’t wait to explore old and new places in this terrain with my family and discover Africa’s beauty. Definitely a very special time ahead for all of us.

I will be keeping all my travel moments and adventures updated on our social media pages where you can follow our journey and will send you an update on my experience when I return.