Amboseli—land of giants, where elephants roam with Mount Kilimanjaro towering in the background, this has always been one of my favourite places to visit as a photographer. I envisioned golden light, herds of elephants marching in dust clouds, and that iconic shot of a tusker with snow-capped peaks behind him. But nature had other plans. The rains had arrived early. The landscape, lush and glistening, was beautiful—but eerily quiet. The elephants? Nowhere in sight.

It had been quite a while since my friends and I were out camping, so this was a trip for us to remind ourselves of the good ol’ camping days and what to do and carry. The trip started off well, but late, and we were arriving at the park gate around 16:40 and clouds were beginning to gather. We quickly proceeded to make payments and checkout the campsite before heading out for a game drive.

Just as we were kicking off our game drive, eager to catch a glimpse of the wild, we heard this suspicious thud-thud-thud from outside the vehicle. We slowed down, only to discover the classic safari curveball—a puncture.

Now picture this: we're in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by who-knows-what, debating our next move. Do we channel our inner heroes, step out, and risk becoming a lion’s appetizer or an elephant’s accidental speed bump?

After some calls to the rangers (and a few nervous glances at the bushes), we got the all-clear. Tools out, tyre changed—while constantly looking over our shoulders like we were in a horror movie. Eventually, with adrenaline still pumping, we headed back to camp and decided we’d earned ourselves a solid dinner.

Camp was setup, and it was dinner and vibes into the night as we planned to redeem our time lost the following morning.

The next morning, after breakfast, we embarked on our game drive. We were fortunate enough to witness breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro throughout the day, while only encountering a few elephants.

One of the only elephants we saw on this trip.

As you can see, we had a great time with Mount Kilimanjaro. Afterward, we headed to camp for the evening as the sun began to set. The next morning, we woke up early and prepared for our second morning game drive before checking out. However, as we were about to leave, we discovered a second puncture. We couldn’t help but laugh and decided to cancel our game plans. We asked KWS for a rescue service to help us fix our tires. While the camp rangers came to fix our two damaged tires, we had a relaxed morning. We enjoyed breakfast, watched the sunrise over Kilimanjaro, and finally set up camp.

All in all, this was a fantastic trip. We may have missed out on seeing elephants, but we certainly got a great treat from Mount Kilimajaro. Now, it’s time to plan our next adventure. Thank you for indulging me in this. Please don’t forget to comment below and show some love.

See you in the next blog!

A Rainy Season Revelation

Reintroducing Myself