Magical Kenya

There is a guide at Bush Camp that answers to 'mwalimu' (teacher) but perhaps should be known as 'mchawi' (magician). He also answers to Patrick Koriata and is as charming, funny, knowledgeable and perceptive as the very best of them.

In 2008 a single cheetah clambered up the gnarly weathered trunk of a single Boscia deep in the heart of Olare Conservancy. Kicheche Bush Camp was nascent then and this sort of sighting was a thrill as guides felt this was surely the arboreal preserve for leopards.

Meet Nancie Wight, Charles Wandero you know. Nancie is quite the Kicheche servant but even her back catalogue did not include tiny leopard cubs on granite.

Whatever the arena, whenever weighing up an adversary, there is much to contemplate: speed, size, number, hunger and risk. When it goes awry it can be disastrous but also spectacular.

For many months now Kicheche has been inundated with constant messages from people utterly thrilled to be back on 'home soil'. Some have counted down the days from many days out and most are not shy on expressing their emotions upon arrival.

Laura and Dan visited all three Mara Conservancies and were kind enough to showcase some images. These two may be close to having a plaque etched for them but they are utterly cognisant that it is the four legged fauna that are really the stars. I'll therefore let them do the talking, you pick your favourite.

Meet Renee Doyle. Finally, after too many years of incarceration she arrives 'home' .... her words: "Visiting Kicheche Bush Camp never short-changes - after 3 long years locked up in Australia, it was a thrill to be back visiting friends, two legged and four, getting a long-awaited bush fix!

There are countless ways to gauge a safari with no defining or burnished template. However, cats are rarely far from the top table. This week's Spot is curated from a burgeoning and brilliant portfolio from a favourite daughter of Kicheche: Charlotte Rhodes.