A collection of my favourite moments from the world’s toughest rally held from 20th to 23rd March around Naivasha in Nakuru County.

Mzabibu Recce

I got to Naivasha a day before Shakedown to collect my photographer tabard and joined other photographers in a recce of the new Mzabibu Stage.

Shakedown at Sleeping Warrior

At the past four editions of WRC Safari Rally, Shakedown has been held at Loldia.

This was new.

This was amazing.

I got some of my favourite shots here.

Fesh fesh provided an incredible natural make up.

Images above by Joe Mburu https://www.instagram.com/josefmburu/

Image above by Alex Bryan https://www.instagram.com/alex_bryan___

SS2 Mzabibu 1

I decided to skip the City Hall flag off and SS1 Kasarani SS and remained in Naivasha for an easy start to the day and to capture SS2 Mzabibu.

During recce, we’d spotted a muddy section so we got there in time, positioned ourselves safely and strategically and waited for the cars.

SS3 Camp Moran

Being the longest and most unforgiving stage, Camp Moran made a memorable debut to the Safari Rally.

I shot here during the morning run of the stage.

I had placed my camera by the track and remotely triggered it from a safe distance for some of these shots.

A bit too close…

SS10 Kedong

I was 50-50 about shooting at Kedong.

When Camp Moran was red flagged because cars had gotten stuck, I decided to head to Kedong’s Miti Mbili Airport to capture some airtime.

With land owners fencing their plots, Kedong is no longer the wilderness it used to be. This year’s stage had been reduced from over 30kms in 2024 to around 15kms.

Miti Mbili still did what Miti Mbili does – provide amazing action and attract hundreds of spectators.

And when the drivers came through, they did not dissapoint.

SS12 Elementaita

We got caught up in the traffic leading to Sleeping Warrior Spectator Stage which meant we did not get to Elementaita before the 2-hour cut-off time for Media.

This meant we couldn’t get to the place I wanted to shoot from, and had to use an escape route to get to a different photo point.

It wasn’t what I wanted but I made the most out of it.

SS14 Sleeping Warrior

Shooting at Sleeping Warrior was a such a memorable experience. Not just for the shots captured, but meeting up with many other photographers and shooting together.

When we got to the stage, the Safety Marshall told us the roads were very wet during the morning loop. But now with the sun shining bright, the mud was drying up.

I said a quick prayer for rain and in about 20 minutes, the rains came down, providing the moments I was hoping to capture.

Hell’s Gate Traffic

I was one of the many people caught up in the traffic leading into Hell’s Gate National Park.

Transport at Kongoni

I decided to park my car by the roadside, walked for about a kilometre, got a ride in a personal vehicle of someone going to work at KenGen (sorry bro I don’t recall your name), took a boda ride then got a ride in a Canter to finally get to Kongoni where I wanted to shoot the cars leaving Hell’s Gate and others coming into Hell’s Gate from Loldia.

SS21 Hell’s Gate Wolf Power Stage

Getting to Hell’s Gate was another challenge.

I walked for quite a distance, got a ride in a van with rally spectators (thank you guys) and finally a ride in one of the security vehicles heading to Hell’s Gate for the awards ceremony.

One of my favourites from the finish line.

After the celebrations at the finish line, it was time to go home. But first, traffic!

Mwisho.