Rory Wood

In 2024, Rory was fortunate enough to spend a little under two weeks in Kenya hosting a group of clients who shared his passion for protecting wild places. The trip involved visiting Amboseli, the Maasai Mara, and Loisaba, and it partnered with a number of conservation organisations. It took the group behind the scenes of on-the-ground conservation efforts, with profits directly benefitting the partners. Rory was lucky to be part of a historic moment. The group was invited to clamber on top of a crate in the Loisaba Conservancy housing one of a total of twenty-one Eastern black rhino. The rhino was due to be translocated into the conservancy, marking the moment the sub-species returned to this part of the country for the first time in nearly fifty years. The crate opened, and out ran a beautiful female rhino into her new home, met by huge applause.

“One of the best experiences I have had on safari came in the northern Serengeti. We were driving slowly past a lone bull elephant marching proudly through the bush, with not a worry in the world. In the same moment, a large bird of prey swooped across, chasing a smaller bird. The smaller bird found safety in the legs of the elephant, out-manoeuvring the larger bird by hopping around the elephant’s legs as if they were tree trunks. The calm bull turned into a flailing mess, trumpeting and squirming as a creature a fraction of its size clearly gave it a spook. The moment was over within a split second. The birds took off in different directions and the bull elephant seemingly took a deep breath, regained his composure, and marched on.”