Art of the Wild ~ Photography, Breath & Yoga at Enasoit
The only two vehicles on the conservancy. Every dust devil, herd, storm cloud and frost rains that week was ours alone to witness.
In the last week of October I spent six days at Enasoit, a 4,500-acre private conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau at the foot of Mount Kenya, guiding the photography on a retreat we called ART OF THE WILD. Hannah Wood led the breath & intuition work. Laura Bunting led the yoga and meditation. And oh & how all three turned out to be intrinsically interlinked.
A family of elephants crosses the Enasoit flats as cumulus builds over the hills, Laikipia, October 2026
Phones to mirrorless, and everything in between
Our group arrived with every level of kit, from phones to mirrorless bodies with lenses the length of your forearm. It didn’t matter one bit. Within a day or two the enthusiasm had turned magnetic, and the pictures moved from snapshots into something far more thoughtful — a real documentation of one week in northern Kenya. We witnessed dust devils, colour, first rains, cumulus clouds, connection, space, light, empathy… and a lot of humour.
A day on retreat
Rise before the sun. Kit & settings checked, and into the Land Cruisers while it was still dark.
Then the magical light of dawn. At times we found ourselves lying flat on the road beside the vehicles, shooting dirt to sky, framing zebras through golden grass. Getting low changes everything. The horizon drops away, the grass turns into a soft veil in the foreground, and suddenly the animal stands against the sky.
After a couple of hours we’d arrive at a rock to find Hannah mixing up a potion of cacao on a gas stove. And so began a powerful breathwork ceremony, giraffes walking the plains below us and elephants trumpeting somewhere behind.
A delicious bush breakfast. Horse riding or a massage. Then an editing session to carry us into the afternoon, where Laura would quiet the adrenalin with a peaceful yoga nidra before magic hour called us back into the vehicles.
We’d end each day by projecting our images on a big screen and chatting them through together. Watching someone’s eye sharpen from one evening to the next is one of my favourite things about teaching.
Dust, rain & a rhino next door
Northern Kenya gave us everything. A dust devil tore across the plain with a lone zebra trotting out ahead of it and an oryx -back ground. The first rains rolled in, and a Grant’s gazelle stood perfectly still beside an acacia while the world went soft around it. Cumulus stacked up over the hills as a family of elephants walked single file across the flats, the little ones tucked in between the big ones.
A plains zebra outruns a dust devil, Enasoit.
First rains, Laikipia, October 2026.
On the neighbouring Lolldaiga’s we spent time with an orphaned black rhino.
And one evening the Laikipia Maasai came to sing and dance with us. Eyes closed, beads catching the light, feet leaving the ground in that unmistakable jump. I shot most of it in black & white. The colour would only have got in the way.
Song and dance with the Laikipia Maasai.
What I took home
What struck me most was how complementary all three disciplines are. Breathwork, yoga, and photography all ask the same thing of you: consciously set an intention, slow down, and be present. In an incredibly wild & natural place, that turns out to be the whole trick. Somehow, in that intentional space, creativity and opportunity arrive willingly.
Thank you to Hannah and Laura for holding the space so beautifully, to the Enasoit team for looking after us, and to every guest who came with open eyes and good humour.
The Art of the Wild group, Enasoit.
Next ~ the Mara, January 2028
We’re taking ART OF THE WILD to the Masai Mara in JANUARY 2028. If you’d like to hear about it before anyone else, along with new stories from the field, sign up to my newsletter below. I’d love to have you along.
Mia
