Intrepid Journeys - Kenya (Peter Elliott)

It has been two weeks and I feel I have barely scratched the surface of Africa, and yet it has scratched beneath mine very successfully. The dichotomies bewilder me and defy my attempts to rationalise them and find a way for them to sit with me — the sheer profusion, colour and vibrancy of life, alongside the same death. The pollution and beauty, the care and hatred, the wealth and sheer grinding destitution, the staggering array of diseases. And everywhere the numbers of people needing and wanting hope, possibility, a future.

– From the second to last day of Peter Elliott's Kenyan travel diary

At Samburu, we drive straight into a magnificent herds of elephants, so close we can smell their breath and skin. One huge bull elephant is intrigued by us and turns towards the truck, the sides of which are open, and slowly moves forward. He keeps coming to within eight or ten feet when Nebert, the truck driver, realises what is happening, slams the truck into gear, thrashing the diesel into life. He explains the elephant can just reach in and take someone out of the truck with his trunk and there is no way to stop it happening.

– From day seven of Peter Elliott's Kenyan travel diary