Best places for wildlife photography in Kenya
Best places for wildlife photography in Kenya : Some of the most well-known wildlife in the world may be found in Kenya. Due to the amazing wildlife on show in this area, especially in Kenya, safaris (Kenya game drives) are well-known throughout East Africa. Even though the ‘Big Five’ are well-known, there is much more to see if you like to observe or capture wildlife. Kenya is the place to go if you want to see elephants, large cats, or a wide variety of birds.
Here are some of my favorites spots in Kenya for wildlife photography, listed in no particular order.
- Amboseli National Park.
I adore Amboseli, but elephants are favorite animals. Seeing the largest land animal in the world moving about in large groups in an open area is really unique. You may expect to encounter a lot of elephants because Amboseli has the largest population of animals in all of Kenya.
A plus is that, on a clear day, you can see and take pictures of the magnificent Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanzania may have it, but Kenya has the best view of it. It is impossible for you to refute this when Mount Kilimanjaro and elephants are both in the same frame.
While elephants are Amboseli’s most famous residents, the area is also home to lions, buffalos, cheetahs, zebras, and a large number of Egyptian geese.
- Nairobi National Park.
Nairobi National Park is the only park in a capital city in the entire world. If you’re interested in taking pictures of wildlife in Nairobi and its surroundings, this is a significant issue to take into account.
One of the things that makes Nairobi National Park so distinctive is the ease of being just a short drive from the city to take pictures of animals.
Along with buffalo, lions, leopards, black rhinos, zebras, ostriches, and baboons, it is also home to 400 or more bird species. It also presents the exceptional chance to capture giraffes with the city in the background.
If you want to see the big cats in action and catch some beautiful light to start and finish the day, some of the best times to visit the park are in the early mornings and late afternoons.
- Maasai Mara National Reserve.
With good reason, this is the most visited wildlife reserve on a Kenya safari. Maasai Mara has a distinctive habitat, with open plains and the renowned single acacia trees scattered across the vast Savanna area, and is home to the Great Wildebeest Migration, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Despite the fact that the reserve is a fantastic place to travel to all year round, it is considered that the ideal time to visit the Mara is from July to October when the wildebeest migration brings about a lot of safari activity. Predators are on the prowl and have access to enough food to keep them busy at this time.
The fabled five cheetah brothers, known as Tano Bora in Maa, who hunt together, are another rare occurrence in the Mara. The Mara also gives visitors the chance to take pictures of a wide variety of other animals, including vultures, lions, leopards, elephants, zebras, antelopes, hippo, and more.
The one thing that is always assured in the Mara with a good guide is a tonne of sightings and fantastic possibilities to photograph a tonne of wildlife.
- Samburu National Reserve.
The ‘Samburu Special Five’ the Somali ostrich, beisa Oryx, gerenuk antelope, Grevy’s zebra, and, my personal favorite, the reticulated giraffe live in the Samburu National Reserve, which is located in the northern section of Kenya.
The Samburu National Reserve is a fantastic site to see a variety of animals other than the conventional “Big Five.” In Samburu, big cats including lions, cheetahs, and leopards are also prevalent.
Elephants are also numerous, and on sweltering days you may take pictures of them drinking or taking a dip in the Ewaso Nyiro, one of Kenya’s biggest rivers. Nowhere else in the nation will you likely find a more varied concentration of species, in my opinion?
- Tsavo East and West National Parks.
Greater than the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the two Tsavo National Parks encompass Kenya’s greatest protected regions for wildlife.
The untamed nature, various open meadows, a large number of acacia trees, Shetani lava flow, lava rocks, and scrubs may all be found in these parks. The habitat of Tsavo will undoubtedly give you a fantastic opportunity to capture several creatures in a variety of settings.
You will be spoiled for choice in Tsavo, which is home to vast herds of elephants, rhinoceros, lions, leopards, hippos, crocodiles, cheetahs, and over 500 different species of birds.
- Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Ol Pejeta is a fantastic location to shoot the last two female northern white rhinos as well as learn more about the efforts being made to conserve them.
The world’s rhino population is extremely small, and it’s getting harder to keep them safe. However, conservation organizations like Ol Pejeta Conservancy are making every effort to support rhino conservation. I think that photography has a significant role in raising awareness of this.
Photographers can also locate around thirty southern white rhinos, chimpanzees, and African wild dogs, and elephants, lots of Grevy’s zebra, buffalo, lions, cheetahs, and leopards in addition to the two remaining female northern white rhinos.
They also provide activities like lion tracking, which allows you to get close to collared lions.
