You can view the entire album at full size here

I took these pictures with the canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Prime lens. It brought up the colours of the Kenyan landscape, which I hope highlights the beauty of the surroundings I found myself in.

Out of Nairobi and beyond the Rift Valley you are on a bumpy dirt track road, you pass villages and children herding cattle who wave and smile and ask for sweets. Eventually you reach the village of Talek, the land of the Maasai and The Masai Mara National Reserve. We arrived during The Great Migration, which is the period of the year when the Wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti in Tanzania to cooler lands and to rain, in Kenya. The park was full of wildebeest, who had travelled hundreds of miles together, moving in great herds northwards, ultimately crossing the Mara river. We actually witnessed The Great Crossing, where the wildebeest and accompanying Zebras made the treacherous crossing together, hurriedly splashing past waiting crocodiles and other predators.

In the Masai Mara we stayed at Basecamp Explorer which is an award winning ‘sustainable -tourism’ safari camp, right on the edge of the Mara river and the park itself.

After spending a little time in Nairobi, we headed down to Lamu Island. UK government travel advice suggested against ‘all but essential travel’ to Lamu region and within 60km of the Somali border. In 2014 Al Shabaab had attacked and killed Kenyans living in villages in Lamu county. There had been one incident on Lamu island in 2011, a couple were kidnapped by a local and sold to Somali pirates. It hit the international press and had quite a damaging affect on the island. The residents need to see a boost in tourism for Lamu to really flourish again. On Lamu, it felt extremely peaceful if a little quiet. I hope that the British government can lift the travel warning and people start to revisit the area.

Lamu town’s intricate swahili architecture makes for enjoyable discoveries; of doorways, secret markets and hidden gems. We stayed at Kizingo, which is a wild eco resort on the edge of the island. We basically had our own beach, we could hear the sounds of the sea at night and woke to the sun rising at 6:30am. Because you are right on the equator, the sun rises and sets at the same time every day, it makes for amazing photography. The sunset is always swift, so you have to be quick. Staying in In Lamu, you feel like you are on the edge of the world, it is an unforgettable place to visit.