Wild dogs and dagga boys in Laikipia

October 2016

Endless landscapes in Laikipia

Laikipia is one of our favorite areas in Kenya. It is located at 1,700-2,000 meter close to Mount Kenya. The area has a number of private farms where cattle and wildlife successfully co-exist. We like Laikipia for its endless landscapes, wildlife and the fact that due to the relatively low visitor numbers you often have exclusive sightings with great photo opportunities. Our first stop was at the lovely Ekorian’s Mugie Camp. It is situated in a savanna like landscape with big herds of buffalo. The second stop was Laikipia Wilderness Camp where we have been coming back to for years. An intimate camp with a true bush experience. Here you have good chances of seeing African wild dogs, one of our favorite animals. Only a few thousand of them are left in Africa and Laikipia is becoming kind of a hotpot for them. By sharing our photos of these amazing animals we hope to contribute to their protection. More pictures of this journey in the Laikipia Gallery down below. 

Big dagga boys

Mugie is home to big herds of buffalo. Taking good pictures of them is quite a challenge because of their dark faces. In these herds there were some big bulls, also nicknamed dagga boys, “dagga” being another word for mud. Obviously this bull had a proper mud wallow. As is often the case the presence of buffalos means that the lions are not far away, of which we had some great sightings at Mugie.

Close encounters with wild dogs

Following a pack of wild dogs is always exciting. Locating them is one thing, but keeping up with them when they are mobile and hunting is even more challenging. The real test is to take decent pictures of them in a nice setting with good light. You only manage to do so with the support of local guides that know the pack and the area intimately. One of the things we like to do, when circumstances allow, is to get out of the vehicle for low angle shots. As the dogs are very curious they will often come and check you out.

Elephants on the dam

This year the number of elephants visiting the water dams in the area was remarkable. On a daily basis we could witness a big parade of elephant herds coming to drink and play during the heat of the day. From a viewing platform it was great to observe how the breeding herds interacted with some big bulls moving in between the herds checking out the ladies. At one stage we counted more than one hundred elephants, we felt so privileged.

Have a look at twikga Stories…

The stories of Tanja Dekker Illustration and the twikga books, children’s books about the wilderness, with its diversity of animals, plants and landscapes…