Kicheche Mara Camp

Safari’s are rarely gauged by photos, nor should they be. A bush nirvana can be achieved by many resolutions.

Flying to Kicheche from Brisbane is hardly a short break, regular contributor and multi alumni Bill and Babs Westbook will tell you that with over 100 Kicheche nights to their name, but meet their Queensland neighbours: the Pattearsons. A family of fourteen across three generations.

On Wednesday night, at the RGS in London, James Nampaso picked up the prestigious accolade of Best Safari Guide at the Wanderlust World Guide Awards 2019.

I have not been to Kenya for a dozen years and coming back always filled me with trepidation as I had great memories from the past, not just from wildlife but also the landscapes and not least because the desperate old romantic in me always yearned for the cinematography from Out of Africa.  

Meet Ian Jones, he books a miserly short stay but somehow strikes gold on every drive (not uncommon in Mara Conservancies) so it is with much loathing that Spot resorts to gauging by numerical value.   

There is little or no compassion in the animal world but this does not stop our emotional bonds with animals.  

Sandy coloured, in an impossible situation, everything against it, little chance of survival in this fertile outfield, pursued across the green by the gold adversary.  

It is one of the most fabled sights in nature yet the thunderous river crossings actually only make up a tiny fraction of the wildebeests and zebras long journey.