Kenya Safari 20th - 29th June. Samburu Nature Reserve

Another amazing safari, this one was in the afternoon, the big cats still hiding in the undergrowth, although the lion cub did pop out into the open. But Birds of Prey were quite obvious. Right at the beginning of the safari a Tawny Eagle was sat on a perch in the open and right at the end of the safari I noticed a Raptor in a bush, which turned out to be a Martial Eagle.

Kenya Safari 20th - 29th June. Samburu Nature Reserve

A selection of pictures from the early morning safari in Samburu, on the holiday, Samburu held the most variety of animals, the landscape was mountainous with scattered trees and bushes, which made it harder to spot big cats, more places to hide.

Kenya Safari 20th - 29th June. Samburu Nature Reserve

I approached this trip differently to other trips, usually I would have target species to photograph and would do a lot of research before we left, on this trip I decided to go with the flow and leave it all to chance, although I did mention to John our driver and guide that as well as the mammals, I liked Birds of Prey and if he wouldn't mind being on the lookout just in case! Apart from the Eagle, all the pictures were taken on the first afternoon's safari.

The next day was lucky for me on the very early morning safari I got lucky and I was met with a new phenomenon perched Raptors in Kenya are not quick to take flight, they almost pose! The Safari minibus parked right below a tall bush and sat in it was a Brown Snake Eagle, unfortunately the sun was right behind it though!

Kenya Safari 20th - 29th June. Samburu Nature Reserve

I was a little bit apprehensive going to Kenya, I have a big obsession for Raptors and was aware we would share a minibus for over a week with people we had never met before, it was unlikely they would share my obsession! I imagined at the start it would be OK to stop and photograph every bird of prey we saw (whilst everyone else would be primarily focused on seeing Africa's big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo) and by the end of the week, it would be "Here comes Eagle boy again"! A friend joked that if was like the TV programme "Coach Trip", I would be voted off first. But I was told by another Nature enthusiast that if you get chance to go to Africa you should go.

The first destination on the safari was Samburu nature reserve north of the capital Nairobi. The monkey above was photographed in the lodge compound, in fact we were told not to leave our front doors open, the rest of the pictures from our first safari, the afternoon we arrived at the reserve, it was amazing to see these animals in the wild for the first time.