I photographed this cheetah cub in Kenya’s Olare Motorogi Conservancy just north of the Maasai Mara Reserve.

I’ve become a big fan of these Kenyan conservancies which I knew nothing about until last spring.  The conservancies are lands owned by Masai, which were used exclusively for ranching/farming and are now being allowed to revert back to natural conditions.  Safari companies lease these lands from the Masai people at rents equal to or more than what the Masai would make ranching and farming them.  Plus, the Masai people are hired to staff virtually 100% of the safari camps and the safari companies provide other benefits, such as assistance in education and health care.  The whole objective is to slow the increasing conversion of Africa’s wild lands to agriculture due to expanding populations.

To a wildlife photographer like me, the conservancies offer some important advantages compared to places like the Maasai Mara Reserve and Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania.  First, there are strict limits on how many visitors can be in each conservancy at any time.  Second, there is no rule against driving off-road to photograph like there is in the Reserve and in Serengeti.  Third, I came to photograph the big cats and I saw and photographed many, many more big cats in the Ol Kinyei and Olare Motorogi Conservancies in 2022 than I did in the Serengeti in 2018.

The conservancies are the only bright spot in the relentless push to ranch/farm more wild lands.  If you are thinking of going on a safari in Kenya, please use a safari company that is involved in the movement to create more conservancies.  Wild lands are being lost every day.  There is a lot of information on the internet about the conservancies, including who the safari companies are that operate camps in them.  I used Gamewatchers Safaris.