Greetings from Kenya
So for those of you wondering where in the world we are now, we are currently wrapping up our week long tour of Kenya for our upcoming AfroArt book. I must admit, this book is turning out to be pretty epic and we cannot WAIT to see it all together. We kicked things off in Europe and are now taking it to the motherland with a visit to Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. We were very lucky during our Kenya stay to have been hosted by an amazing travel agency, Bountiful Safaris. If you’re one of those millennial do-it-yourself travelers like me you’re probably used to the AirBNB/Uber/Taxi life when traveling. I typically find that travel agencies are a bit too cumbersome, pricey and not flexible enough for our needs. So I was thrilled to find that we were able to get amazing travel deals and the flexibility we needed through Bountiful Safaris. Their staff is amazing and were so accommodating to our needs. Here’s a quick recap of our Kenya tour…
After a (long) 20 hour flight, we arrived late in the evening and made a quick late night pizza run. Our visit was in Kenya’s winter so the weather was typically in the low 70s each day and low 60s in the evening. Coming from the south, this weather was great for us, but our Kenyan friends considered this blizzard weather! ha! Our friends were also not amused by our pizza choice, but it was actually great to us, lol! What more can you expect from a midnight pizza run? 🙂
We arrived at our hotel, the Azure Towers and were thrilled by our accommodations. The hotel had a nice restaurant, a free full buffet breakfast, lounge area, pool and more. We found that it had everything we needed and more (including little details like a universal outlet which made life a little easier.
Before even visiting Kenya, I knew that my very first stop needed to be one of the Maasai markets. Saying I was in heaven would be an understatement! There were so many amazing jewelry pieces, clothing and crafts that I had to restrain myself to not take everything there.
The next day we met with our amazing team here in Kenya to get ready for our big production for our AfroArt book. We can’t give away too many details but all I can say is that the shoot was indeed epic.
Who else gets to hang out with cows for their day job? 🙂
After the pressure of our main shoot was over, we decided to do a little safari exploration and shoot to see the other side of Kenya. Our little models were so happy to see the animals and for the safari tour. Do you guys remember Maya from our AfroArt series? The last time we photographed her, she was visiting LA but this time we got to photograph her in her own home town along with her BFF Hazel.
Bountiful Safaris arranged for a driver to pick us up and take us around to Nairobi National Park and the Giraffe Center in Nairobi. He was very knowledgeable and patient enough to allow us to shoot along the way.
I will admit, I’m usually not a safari type of girl, but after doing one I can’t go back to seeing animals “behind bars” at the zoo. Seeing them in their natural environment is SO much more exciting and amazing.
Afterwards, the girls literally twirled around Kenya in their beautiful custom made dresses by Alexandria Olivia. These two were showstoppers everywhere we went.
Our very first trip to Kenya was everything we had hoped and more. We are already trying to figure out our return plans so that we can visit again soon. For my friends in the US – yes, Kenya=Wakanda. 😉
Glasses: 
