Kenya and Tanzania have long been the ultimate wildlife destinations. Kenya made especially romantic thanks to Karen Blixen' "Out of Africa", a story that touches the heart of every romantic wildlifer.  It took us a long time to make our way to these incredible lands mainly due to the notorious stories of crowding at sightings and generally too many people active in protected areas. We finally made our way out there because of reports of a black leopard. We had spent a long time in the jungles of southern India trying to photograph this elusive felid without success. The alternative was the black cat that had recently been photographed in Laikipia in Kenya. The lure of this black cat was too much and we found our way out there to this unique landscape made more so by the inadvertent release of an invasive vegetal species- the prickly pear. 

When we started talking about where to move to, my first thought was Kenya: the climate, vegetation and diversity was so close to the situation to where I grew up, it was the most comfortable. Unfortunately, there were some very real concerns especially resulting from climate change: one could have a beautiful protected area with outstanding wildlife, but the moment the situation became precarious, the Maasia would move into the land and make sure their cattle were provided for, at the expense of wild animals. 

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Our first foray into Tanzania was during covid and it was an experience which must have been akin to what many early explorers experienced in the 80's. No people, no vehicles, and just us. This is probably also the reason why we haven't been back, especially seen social media is exploding with comments about bad behaviour of people not used to being around wild animals. 

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Zimbabwe was a revelation: we first visited part of a "once in a lifetime experience trip to Africa" in 2016, but of course, it pulled on our heart strings and we had no choice but to return.