Hello all – here is my latest take. I’ll post some new photos on facebook shortly. Cheers, Moritz

Well, it’s official…I’m completely caught in the tornado that is the Kenyan tourism industry in high season…’round and ‘round I go….where it stops nobody knows. The wind that whips through the Mara every morning starts the spinning, and I usually don’t manage to get myself sorted out again until just before I wake up at some ungodly hour to do it all again.

Now, before I set off alarm bells with many of those reading this little note – in particular a) my parents, and b) Leap management – I should mention that this is not a bad thing. I came here to be fully

immersed in the experience, and did not want to have a easy, relaxing, glorified 3 month vacation. The satisfaction one gets when seeing off totally satisfied clients who have just had a once in a lifetime experience (and parted with thousands of dollars) is quiet something. Tears have been shed on more than one occasion, by those boarding the aircraft, ferrying them back to an urban life they seem happy to have left. Seeing such a reaction is truly rewarding, and satisfies the inner perfectionist in me who is not content unless absolutely every element of a clients’ experience is flawless.

The great Wilderbeast Migration!!

The highlight of the past few days was unquestionably spending quite a bit of time out in the middle of the Mara proper, away from camp. Not that camp isn’t absolutely the greatest place ever (because it is) but because we all need a change from time to time. The first rather unique experience was helping Keith Hellyer – a former Leaper whose family owns Muthaiga – set up a fly camp, or mobile camp. The site is an absolutely perfect spot on the banks of the Sand River, very much *à* la Out of Africa. Keith sited the client tent beneath the biggest fig tree the world has ever seen, and proceeded to lay out the rest of the camp in fairly short order. I mostly stayed to the side, and helped with a few things here and there. I also had

the opportunity on a couple of occasions to head out into the Mara to set up bush breakfasts, which sound simple, but are incredibly time consuming and demanding. However, clients love them, and they are in fact pretty neat. They involve loading up a truck the night before, driving out into the middle of nowhere, and then setting up a perfectly arranged elegant table, with linens, silver, china etc. complete with fruit platters, chef at an omelet station, and all the other components of a fine breakfast experience. All this just meters from any number of African game, while tucked into a calm forest oasis. Very nice.

This last stint in camp was led off by my epic return from Kisii, a medium sized town in the Western Highlands of Kenya – a prime tea growing area. In fact, I think they grow just about everything there – it’s the lushest region I’ve ever visited, and basically every square metre is used to grow something. I was there for a couple of days visiting my wife who is now working at a large hospital there, and used it as a nice break from the craziness of camp life. Also, in keeping with the agricultural nature of the area, I used it as a chance to buy quite a bit of fruit for the camp, which is almost impossible to acquire in the Mara. I met up with Ryne Saxe, whose Leap placement at Muthaiga overlaps somewhat with mine, as he happened to be in the same region at the same time – a pleasant coincidence. Unfortunately for him, he did not know what was in store – an epic, tooth shattering, stomache churning journey by matatu!!

Moritz and Ryne watching another beautiful African sunset!