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By Adam Bannister
The last two weeks have been a climatic rollercoaster. The temperatures in the middle of the days soared into the mid-30 degrees celsius. The days have been hot, the skies clear and the grasses dry.
For a short period, the Mara River was reduced to a narrow trickle, even threatening to stop flowing completely! With one little hop, you could literally jump over this iconic river.
Things were starting to get desperate.
And then about a week ago, the clouds started to build. You could feel the change in pressure, and you could hear the rumbling thunder to the north-east; a front gathering above Kileleoni Hill.
There is no greater feeling than when a drought breaks in Africa- the first proper rains after an extended period of heat. The scorched earth soaks it up and the animals are instantly rejuvenated. The smiles on peoples faces are even wider than normal, and there is a renewed energy in the air.
We are so fortunate, here in the Maasai Mara, to have received this rain. It is by no means enough, and we pray for more, but even these handful of consecutive days of showers have helped. Elsewhere in the country, the drought continues unabated and slowly strangles the landscape. As a country, whose prosperity is so connected with the rainfall, we can only hope that the rain carries on and spreads across the land.
This week, I decided to approach this blog slightly differently, at least from a photographic point of view. Along with the wonderful sequence of aerial images taken on an early morning flight, I didn't actually take any of these photographs whilst out on 'game drive'. Instead, I opted to take photos of animals and scenes that I saw on my short ten-minute drive to work.
Some afternoons I would just sit at the local watering hole. My trusty pair of Swarovskis in one hand, and a drink in the other, I would sit quietly, and see what animals would come to me. Waiting to see what little gems would reveal themselves. What a pleasant surprise it was.
I find it pretty special to think that I didn't take a single photograph in this blog more than 1km away from House in the Wild.