The Road to Aberdares

The beauty about Onetouch Live is that its a great opportunity to explore, learn from a bunch of amazing guys and practically freeze to death or literally boil in extreme heat. On this very day the roads led us to Aberdares, I mean I figured this place is cold but not that cold ... boy were in for a surprise. I had always dreamed about going to Aberdares, so naturally I was stoked for this adventure.

As is custom for OTLive trips, we started off early and naturally we made our first stop at Kinale Forest. The aim was to be in Aberdares early to enjoy the sights. After shopping for the necessary things for the 2 nights we would be there ... It was time to start heading up the hills into the Aberdare ranges.

I chose to dabble in a bit of macro photography while there, the morning dew on the grass provided the perfect opportunity to do this. Decided to follow some bees as well 😬 ...

One of the many waterfalls in the Aberdare Ranges ...

I hope you enjoyed a few of the images I got to capture. 

See you in the next post.

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Dandora L.O.V.E

The moment I knew I was making a trip to Dandora automatically this jam began bumping in my head. I had to get into the right mood right?

Dandora is an eastern suburb in Nairobi, Kenya. It is part of the Embakasi division. Surrounding neighbourhoods include Kariobangi, Baba Dogo, Gitare Marigo and Korogocho. Dandora was established in 1977, with partial financing by the World Bank in order to offer a higher standard of housing.

Nairobi's principal dumping site is situated in Dandora. The dump is a sprawling dumpsite, over 30 acres, in the heart of the Nairobi slums of Korogocho, Baba Ndogo, Mathare and Dandora. It opened in 1975 with World Bank funds and was deemed full by 2001. It is interesting the amount of hustling that goes on in this place, just went to show that the resilient nature of humans can be quote something to marvel. Numerous businesses exist in the heart of the dumpsite, all owned by people seeking to make a living. Onetouch got a chance to tour a bit of the dumpsite some time back and here are a few shots. Hope you enjoy them.

While touring we were made to understand that the smoke that billows from beneath the trash is actually fires that never burn out, due to the numerous chemicals and mixture of things and trash that smokes billows even through the rains. The amazing thing about such places and visiting them is that the resilience and hard working nature of some people is quite astounding, despite the unforgiving environment yyou find thriving businesses right in the hub of this massive dumpsite.

To top it off is an image of my favourite meal :) Chapati.

Colour Wheel

Some weeks back I partnered with a friend and awesome make up artist Wakesho Nzano, working on a few themed photoshoots. For this particular shoot, we chose to dwell on colour and see how best to achieve this through bold makeup, hope you enjoy the images.

MUA: Wakesho Nzano || Model: Mutanu Malinda || Lights: Sweeney Onchiri

“Every form is a base for colour, every colour is the attribute of a form!””

— Victor Vasarely

““the Best colour in the Whole World is the ONE that looks GOOD on YOU.””

— Coco Chanel

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The Road to Maasai Mara

So I am sure we all know about the Maasai Mara (also known as Masai Mara). a large game reserve in Narok County, Kenya; contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania.

What better time to head down to the Mara than go during the Great Wildebeest Migration, which is rated as one of the world's most spectacular natural events. No where in the world is there a movement of animals as immense as the wildebeest migration, over two million animals migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the greener pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya during July through to October.

Driving will take you about 5-6 hours. Nairobi to Narok will take you about 2-2.5 hours, the road is absolutely beautiful and smooth. 

Leaving Narok to Sekenani Gate will take you about 2-3.5 hours depending on the vehicle you are travelling with. The road has really broken up and is NOT good at all while on the tar road. It has a lot of pot holes and special attention is needed. At the end of the tar road the road you drive on a dirt road. This has been graded but of course with time and the rains it is also not in good shape and quite rough and lots of dust.

“End? No, the journey doesn't end here..." J.R.R. Tolkien

There are numerous places to stay in the Mara it all depends on your preference and budget, but of course I would recommend you to stay at a camp  within the park for obvious reasons of course :) That way you ensure you have an early start to your game drives and retreat back to your camp at your own leisure without pressure to leave the park the time the gates close.

A typical morning in the Mara involves loads of hot air balloons up in the sky and big cats.

A nice spot for lunch

The main mission on this trip I made was to witness the migration which I must say was quite a sight to behold. If anything I learnt on this trip is, patience is a virtue when going to view the migration. After 3 failed attempts, just as we were about to give up we managed to view some wildebeest migrating.

Calm after the chaos

That had to be one of the most painstaking moments, these wildebeests crossing takes a lot of patience seeing as they keep coming close to the river then retreating back from time to time. 

One morning we were lucky enough to stumble upon this lioness eating a buffalo she had just killed. Her male partner, had already had his fill and was chilling on the sidelines as hyenas watched closely for them to be down to pounce in.

That is just a little snippet from my trip to the Mara of which I shall be visiting again very soon. Thank you or visiting this blog feel free to like & share and if you haven't subscribed ... please do so!