View wildlife broadcasts via Periscope app

KENYA, Watamu: In a photograph taken by Make It Kenya 11 Decmeber 2015, a member of the Local Ocean Trust team records and documents a Hawksbill turtle, which had been accidently caught in a fisherman's net, before releasing it back into the ocean. The Local Ocean Trust and Watamu Turtle Watch work to protect both the future of sea turtles and the wider fragile marine environment along Kenya's Watamu stretch of coastline through nest-monitoring and protection of turtle nesting sites, practising a catch and release programme working closely with local fisherman who inadvertently catch sea turtles in the nets, and conservation education and awareness outreach with local communities. MAKE IT KENYA PHOTO / STUART PRICE.

Published Jan 6, 2016

Arts Writer

KENYA’S awesome wildlife is set to be showcased with two world firsts in a series of live web broadcasts using new state-of–the-art technology. #KenyaLive will enable people to witness the excitement of a night safari in the Mara, as well as Kenya’s coastal underwater treasures, as the action happens in real time.

Building on the success of #MaraLive, the world’s first live web broadcast of the great wildebeest migration, Make It Kenya has once again partnered with HerdTracker to use a combination of the most innovative filming technology, and Twitter’s Periscope app, to give people around the world unprecedented access to some of the most exciting and rare animal behaviours, with 50 live broadcasts over 11 days.

The broadcast team, led by safari hosts Carel Verhoef and Andre Van Kets of DiscoverAfrica.com and co-creaters of HerdTracker, will use cutting edge technology – including the new starlight camera; underwater live periscope and 360-degree video, to capture the exclusive content – available to viewers via their mobile phones, tablets or computers via Periscope and MakeItKenya. com.

The first of the live broadcasts will offer an unprecedented view of the lions in the Olare Motorogi and Naboisho Conservancies of the Maasai Mara, and what the conservancies have to offer: off-road game drives, fly camping, night game drive safaris as well as walking safaris. Viewers will be treated to a series of live night broadcasts – the very first of their kind.

The team behind the broadcast will be staying at the Olare Mara Kempinski Hotel, Asilia Africa’s Encounter Mara and Naboisho camps, as well as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Mahali Mzuri luxury safari camp. From January 14 to 18, the team will be in the coastal town of Watamu to host live broadcasts of the Watamu Turtle Watch project, including the world’s first live underwater broadcasts.

This particular project protects nesting sea turtles, rehabilitating sick and injured sea turtles before sending them back into their natural habitat. One special broadcast will even involve live footage captured via “TurtleCam”, using a GoPro strapped to a turtle’s back.

#KenyaLive will also demonstrate what Watamu has to offer as a holiday destination, with exclusive live broadcasts of some of the activities available, such as a dhow cruise, treetop yoga and kite surfing.

During the screenings some viewers may even be able to spot dolphins in the area during a live stand up paddleboard broadcast.

l To follow all the upcoming broadcasts: download the Periscope app and follow HerdTracker’s channel from today until January 18. Updates of the live broadcasts will also be posted to Make It Kenya’s Facebook and Twitter, and HerdTracker’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The HerdTracker platform allows people to track the migration in real time on a Google map throughout the year: discoverafrica. com/herdtracker