I wanted to explore travel illustration a little further so I participated in a Skillshare Class with Esther Nariyoshi in illustrating a boarding pass! Unable to travel and with the British weather being drizzly, I often dream about being back in Kwazulu Natal. 13 years ago I flew to Durban (where my mum was born) to visit her side of the family. We went to Durban, Zululand and Umhlanga Rocks, where we stayed at Game Reserves, Hotels and my great uncle's farm.

After a busy and stressful stretch of work and school in Nairobi we love to drive up to Samburu National Park. We go to see the elephants, lions, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and Grevy’s zebra and bird life. The views are incredible and change from tree lined river banks, rocky outcrops and to grassland savannah with acacia trees. This map features Ololokwe – the Samburu Sacred mountain.

Growing up in Tanzania, I have fond memories of visiting our country’s various national parks and game reserves. My father used to fly bush planes such as Cessnas and Pipers from our home city of Dar-Es-Salaam to take us to the Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Selous Game Reserve. I vividly remember being in awe of witnessing the great wildebeest migration in the Serengeti and the snow atop Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tanzania’s wildlife and warm culture is a beautiful ode to the rich culture that is a mix of Bantu and Arabic influences also known as the Swahili Coast. I hope this map evokes a sense of exploration and curiosity in you. Karibu Tanzania!

A country steeped with ancient history

This is not a map but when I saw all your maps and gardens I was so inspired to draw our garden and share with you the layout of where we have fruit trees and food grown. We make our own compost and we have a veggie garden on the side of the house as well as herbs and chillies. There are actually more fruit trees than what I show here but it was difficult to draw all of them!

Just a few of the more than 500 species of birds to be found in the thrilling Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. This map was a huge challenge because the brightly colored birds sort of pre-empted my color palette. It was fun to try to balance between effective composition and there's-too-much-crap-on-that-map. Hope I balanced okay!

As a Canadian expat living in Cairo, Egypt, I wanted to give viewers a taste of what I think makes this wonderfully chaotic metropolis so unique. I have included both the notable historic landmarks and the obscure, culturally distinctive elements which give Cairo so much character.

The design of this map of Ancient Egypt, with illustrations placed in compartments around it, is roughly based on the style of Joan Blaeu. He was a 17th century Dutch cartographer. I tried to make my own modern version!

Then and now in my 'nayba wood' (neighbourhood)

Primates and the national parks you can find them in the South of Uganda. Including mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, grey cheeked mangabey, Ugandan red colobus, L'hoest's monkey, eastern black and white colobus, blue monkey, golden monkey, red tailed monkey, olive baboon, vervet monkey, potto, and bush babies. Parks: Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park. I used elements from a fabric collection I collected for Blend Fabrics.

One year ago today, I was in the middle of savanna, Masai Mara National Reserve, in Kenya. It was amazing to see all these wildlife from giant elephants to lion's prides to a strayed wild beast. There was so much to see, not only big animals, but also small insects and quirky plants! Can you find a tiny glowworm in the map? :)))))

A map of Downtown Johannesburg ,Gauteng South Africa

Map of buildings downtown johannesburg

map of maboneng

An illustration of the old town of Antananarivo. On the top of the hill, there is Rova, a palace complex with buildings that, despite the bad conditions, are stunning.