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Entries
2008
Poland - Krakow
South Africa - Aliwal and Umkomaas
South Africa - Drakensberg and Fugitives Drift
South Africa - False Bay and Cape Point
South Africa - Rocktail Bay
Swaziland - Mliliwane
Switzerland - Nufenen Pass
Archived Galleries from 2007
Antarctic Pensinsula
Antarctica - Falklands
Antarctica - South Georgia
Antarctica - Southern Ocean
Argentina - Tierra de Fuego
Botswana - Duba Plains
Botswana - Kings Pool
Botswana - Savuti
Canada - Churchill
Chile - Easter Island
Chile - Torres del Paine
Kenya - Baringo and Bogoria
Kenya - Nakuru
Kenya - Samburu
Madagascar - Andasibe
Madagascar - Anjajavy
Madagascar - Anjozorobe
Norway - Flatanger
Tanzania - Katavi
Tanzania - Loliondo
Tanzania - Mahale
Tanzania - Masai
Tanzania - Ruaha
Tanzania - Selous
Tanzania - Serengeti Central
Tanzania - Serengeti North
Tanzania - Tarangire
Tanzania - Zanzibar
Zambia - Zambezi
External links
Extraordinary Expeditions
Natural Habitat
Quark Expeditions
Sokwe Asilia
Wilderness Safaris
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Mliliwane Animal Sanctuary, Swaziland
En route to the Kruger I broke up the nearly 14 hour drive with a stop in the Mliliwane Animal Sanctuary in Swaziland near the capital of Mbabane. Set up in sixties as the pioneer conservation area for the country following the collapse of its wildlife population in the early 20th century, it is now a refuge for a large number of threatened species.
Unfortunately the weather did not play into my favour and it rained during most of my few hours there, but the main highlights was getting close to the normally very shy Blue Duiker and feeding the Greater Bushbabies in pouring rain.
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Rocktail Bay, KZN, South Africa
The next stop was more diving at the beautiful Roctail Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal, by the Mozambique border. Over the course of the two days we had a some great encounters with Green Sea Turtles and Bottlenose Dolphins underwater.
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Drakensberg and Fugitives Drift, South Africa
Before the next bit of diving up North it was time for a bit of R&R in the lovely Drakensberg Mountains and then a bit of a history lesson – tales of the 19th century Anglo-Zulu War, both the massive British defeat at Isandlwana and (on the same day) the heroic defence of Rorkes Drift.
Pointing the rental car north I headed for Champagne Castle, one of the loveliest spots in the Drakensberg and spent 3 relaxing days exploring on foot and by vehicle, and whilst the photography was nothing spectacular, I did thoroughly enjoy my time there – especially by a colony of Southern Masked Weavers and chasing a Greater Double-collared Sunbird around the gardens. It was then on to one of the apparent anomalies of my trip, staying at Fugitives Drift a couple of hundred miles east of the mountains, and being taught about a long-ago war. I had very little idea of what to expect, but it exceeded anything I could have imagined. More...
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Aliwal Shoal and Umkomaas, KZN, South Africa
Sharks - a primordial fear for many of us, myself included as this week began. But thanks to the excellent teaching of my
dive master Debbie Smith and 4 fantastic dives I am starting to see things differently, if still wary of the big monsters
(like the Great White). Over the course of the week, we went through some lectures and put that to practice by diving with
Raggedy-tooth Sharks (who look like real evil mothers but are not at all dangerous) and a whole tropp of Blacktips on the
most spectacular dive I have ever had.
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False Bay and Cape Point, South Africa
The first stop on my two-month trip was Simon's Town on False Bay, just an hour south of Cape Town on the road to Cape Point itself. The main item on the agenda was the fantastic predatory behavior of the Great White Sharks with the renowned people at Apex Predators, who amongst others were involved in the BBC documentary Planet Earth, very definitely the best nature and wild-life programme of all time.
I knew going in that it was the very tail end of the shark season and I was unlikely to see the spectacular action Chris records on his website, and I also knew that at that time of the year the weather was not likely to be kind. I was right on both counts. The first day dawned with by far the best weather I would see for the trip, the waters of False Bay absolutely placid...
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Coming Soon
In mid-September I am embarking on another massive trip, similar to last year. The first couple of months are again
Africa, with South Africa for 2 weeks of diving (including with sharks!) and two weeks in the Kruger and Drakensbergs, Zambia
and Malawi for two weeks of safari and then two weeks into the unknown of the Central African Rrepublic, Gabon and Sao Tome
and Principe. After tat it is onto New Mexico (Bosque del Apache and the surrounding areas), Namibia, Japan and Hokkaido,
and the harp seals in Gulf of the St Lawrence.
KEEP TUNED!
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Krakow, Poland
A long week-end spent in Polands ancient capital, exploring the old city and the surrounding area. Amongst my favourites was the beautiful Basilica of the Virgin Mary with its unusual asymetrical spires and luscious interior, the spectacular painting presented by St Florian Gate and the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
The mine is one of the major tourist draws and whilst going there might at first be considered to be the equivalent of being sent to the salt mines, the World Heritage Site is actually very interesting. More than 320m below the surface of the earth and over 300 km long, the mine includes a number of churches but most especially the so-called Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland. Carved entirely out of salt by three different...
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Nufenen Pass, Switzerland
In July of 2008 I chose to drive back from a family holiday in Tuscany via the mountains of Switzerland.
Firstly we stopped with some friends in the small village of Sessa in Ticino, very close to the lovely city of Lugano. Whilst staying there I noticed two families of Barn Swallows who had made nests in teh ceiling above the breakfast table. After questioning my friends I found that they had been there for generations and were relatively used to a human presence, so teh morning found me happily clicking away as the adults flitted back and forth to feed their ravenous young.
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Best of 2007 Travel Blog
The best images from my massive trip in 2007. From the magnificent sea eagles of Norway to the weird and wonderful moai of Easter Island, via Kenya, Tanzanai Madagascar, Botswana, northern Canada, Antarctica and Argentina
2007
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Easter Island
19 December 2007
The final stop in my 4-month odyssey was Easter Island or Rapa Nui (Big Rapa, so named by labourers from Rapa in the Bass Islands, but the locals also call it Te pito o te henua - The Navel of the World), amongst the most isolated inhabited islands in the world,
than 3600 kilometers and 5 hours from Santiago de Chile. Most famous for the hundreds of Moai (sometimes called Easter Island heads) that literally litter the desolate countryside, it proved to be an unforgettable and magical four days.
Quarried from compressed volcanic ash using only stone hand chisels there were more than 880 of the Moai scattered around the island, though the majority are still within the area of the one extinct volcano, Rano Raraku, from which they originated. The largest completed
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Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
13 December 2007
The last morning of my stay at the Explora Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park was one of the most spectacular I have ever experienced. After hiking for more than three days with little sunshine but lots of rain and constant wind such as I have nearly never before experienced, dawn broke with perfect stillness, the few grey clouds in evidence only lending the scene even more weight. My jaw dropped and I proceed to ramble very happily, shooting as if I was watching a lion kill in Africa. Simply staggeringly beautiful.
But that is not to say I did not enjoy the previous three days as we went on multi-hour hikes both morning and afternoon in search of the elusive puma, and elusive he remained as not a sighting did I get. But I did thoroughly enjoy the variety of creatures
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Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
8 December 2007
After the wonders of Antarctica, it was time for a bit of R&R and I headed into the heart of Tierra del Fuego to stay at the wonderfully relaxing Estancia Rivadavia. A working ranch run by Myrna, the latest in the family who has held homestead for more than 60 years. My days were spent exploring the majestic landscape on horseback (an angle from which I was not perfectly comfortable) and discussing all sorts of things with the most attractive guide I can remember in any location, whilst watching the wild horses run back and forth
But from a photographic point of view the definite highlight was on the ranch itself. As it is a working one, multiple gauchos work with the horses, training and exercising them, and amongst the techniques is one I had never seen, nor indeed ever heard of. As part
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Southern Ocean
5 December 2007
For many of the visitors to Antarctica the various sea days can become very boring, and during a 3-week trip via South Georgia this can be up to 10 days, but not for me. Much of my time was spent on deck, trying to get the perfect shot of the various magnificent seabirds, especially the Wandering Albatross with its 12-foot wing span. Unfortunately no perfect shots but a great deal of wonder. To the uninitiated the great Southern Ocean might well be a desert with very little evident life, but the truth is quite the obverse. A great variety of seabirds, primarily tube-noses, constantly flit across the wastes in search of food and we saw more than 10 different species, often hundreds of miles from the nearest land. Besides the majestic Wandering, the real highlight was early on when we found a locally rare Sooty Albatross who circled the ship for more than an hour.
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Antarctic Peninsula
5 December 2007
During my first visit three years ago I was astounded by the immense beauty of Antarctica so on this trip I was quite trepidatious, thinking that perhaps that I had over-estimated it and that this time I would be disappointed. Happily my worries were all for nothing and it was as good as I could have hoped. This time we came south from South Georgia and given the very calm seas we made an attempt to make a rare stop at Elephant Island but were unfortunately stymied by a dense fog which made any landing impossible.
Out first stop was at Half Moon Island which I visited under similarly snowy conditions on the previous voyage and spent some hours with the quirky Chinstrap Penguins and young Weddel Seal, before heading off to Deception Island, one of the most typical stops on any Antarctic itinerary. Despite this stop being not the most interesting, I did find the various
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South Georgia, UK Territory
28 November 2007
Finally! I had arrived at one of the centerpieces of my trip. South Georgia and its extraordinarily abundant wildlife and over the next three days, amidst some great weather, we managed to make seven landings.
The number one draw for many visitors of the British Overseas Territory are the massive colonies of King Penguins, spread alongst a number of the beaches on the east coast of the island, some of which such as Salisbury Plain have estimated populations of over 200,000 pairs. The sight of that many of the resplendent birds packed onto one beach is simply quite staggering, and was for me the main draw. I literally must have spent at least 12 hours hanging out with surfing, swimming, arguing, mating and arguing birds, and could easily have spent more..
As in many bird species (and counter to most mammals) the King chicks are not the most attractive, their dull brown down coats...
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Falkland Islands, UK Territory
22 November 2007
After my first trip to Antarctica with Quark Expeditions three years ago I had been itching to go back, most especially to South Georgia so this trip, also with Quark, was to be the centerpiece of my four-month odyssey. The first stop was the Falkland Islands, just 25 years after it sprang onto the international stage (essentially the last colonial war of the British Empire). After leaving Ushuaia and hitting a Force 8 (the remnants of a hurricane) we headed for West Falkland and two small rat-free islands, West Point and Carcass Island.
On the first beautiful day West Point Island had seen for weeks we had the great opportunity to visit at close quarters a colony of Black-browed Albatrosses, bizarrely intermingled with a big group of Rockhopper Penguins. None of the biologists we spoke with could think of another location where this was happening and indeed had no conclusive explanation for the phenomenon. I spent a very...
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Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
7 November 2007
After a brief sojourn in London and Toronto to visit my father I was on to the next main stop in my adventure – the Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba in the far north of Canada. The trip had been recommended to me by Conrad of Extraordinary Expeditions (who in fact helped organized the whole shebang) and booked with Natural Habitat, an excellent operator who specialize in ecotourism. I had been looking forward to this for quite a long time and in no way did it disappoint. During my 5 days in Churchill we saw at least 40 different bears (hard to count as we so many each day) and it was essentially divided into two parts – the official tour staying in the Tundra Lodge and theunofficial two days whilst in Churchill prowling around a dog farm prowling for bears.
The Tundra Lodge itself is run by Great White Bear Tours but Natural Habit appear to book it out for the whole season. It is akin to a very tall train with attached sleeper cars...
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Zambezi River, Zambia
23 October 2007
My last night in Africa was on the Zambian island resort of Sindabezi, a charming refuge on the Zambezi River only half an hour from Victoria Falls. After the dust of Botswana and given that it was also the hottest day during my whole stay, it was very refreshing to be on the water for a day, as we cruised the river looking for what wildlife we could find. The most fascinating aspect were the colony of White-fronted Bea-eaters in the clay sides of the river banks, constantly flitting about to catch dragonflies and other prey for their chicks who we could barely hear peeping in their holes. We also got a great portrait of a rare Sable Antelope standing on the Zimbabwean side of the river.
En route to the airport we stopped by Victoria Falls to give Brian and Julian a chance to view it and be mobbed by the multitudes of curio vendors.
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King's Pool, Linyanti Swamp, Botswana
22 October 2007
The third of the excellent Wilderness Safaris camps on our agenda, Kings Pool, is located within the same concession as Savuti but in an entirely different habitat of riverine forest on the banks of the Linyanti River. Elephants abound just as at Savuti but the main highlight was a Leopardess and her grown daughter. We came across the pair one afternoon in great light chewing on a Rock Python the mother had caught earlier in the day, and despite the heavy bush were able to follow them for more than an hour as the daughter tried to drag the massive snake away, all the while growling at her mother whenever she tried to get a piece of the kill that she had after all made. (Note that the snake appeared big to us at around 10-12 feet long but according to our guide Gift, Pythons can grow to over 30 feet long!!!) The next morning we found the daughter up on a branch chewing on the last vestiges of the snake, before calmly descending from the 12 foot high tree. She then espied a squirrel...
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Savuti, Linyanti Swamp, Botswana
20 October 2007
Onwards to the edge of the Chobe National Park, to the famous Savuti Channel and the Savuti Bush Camp, which offered possibly the best service of any of the camps I stayed in during the trip. They simply did everything they could to make our stay as memorable as possible – our guide Roger even managing for us stay one night in a hide in the bush, giving a taste as to how the original safaris were held (though Brian was a little bit concerned about the hyaenas that were circling the neighbouring water hole). The night was spent playing guitar and singing (badly) as various herds made their way in for a drink or two.
The main draw of Savuti are the huge herds of Elephants that congregate in the area during the dry season, the camp itself overlooking a water hole at which up to 40-50 of the giant beasts would stop and argue over a drink of water (a bit like some of the pubs...
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Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana
17 October 2007
Botswana was not on my original itinerary for Africa, having been there so many times before I wanted to try out some new places. But early in March I had been sitting in a London pub with a friend and he mentioned that he had always wanted to take his son on safari. So I said why not come with me and after coming up with a plan to convince the wife (which was slightly marred when during his pitch he forgot that his wifes birthday fell in the middle of the proposed trip…) we agreed that it would have to be Botswana, as for me it is simply the best place in Africa. It also goes to prove that some good things can come from a pub conversation…
So after rendezvousing with Brian and Julian at Joburg International we flew north to Maun and then onwards to the first of four camps, Duba Plains on the western edge of the Okavango Delta. I had always wanted to visit Duba as it is renowned for its spectacular Lion...
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Anjozorobe, Madagascar
12 October 2007
My last night in Madagascar was spent in the community park of Anjozorobe about 4 hours from Tana. Getting to the park was a chore in itself as the map and instructions that Willi had been given were completely incorrect and we spent more than a couple of hours in pitch darkness bumbling along on amongst the worst roads I have ever experienced. After nearly going over a couple of cliffs we finally managed to find the lodge and had a small supper before immediately crashing.
The net morning we went out on a walk in the newly opened park but saw basically nothing. The only wildlife we did manage to see were a pair of Parsons Chameleons within the confines of the lodges grounds. Though 1 day is never enough to properly gauge a location I was definitely disappointed. But not everywhere can be equally amazing.
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Anjajavy, Madagascar
11 October 2007
The second stop in Madagascar was the fabulous resort of Anjajavy, located in the remote north-west of the island. Located right on the Mozambique Channel it offers the perfect beach and water experience, including the opportunity to go deep-sea fishing or exploring the smaller islands. But for me the main draw was again the fantastic Lemurs
As the resort sits within its own special nature reserve I was able to wander around at will, including a fantastic night walk, and from deep within the bush to the confines of the camp itself (an area they call Eden) I was able to get up close and personal with both the Common Brown Lemurs and the dancing Coquerels Sifaka. Words can simply not describe their appeal. And unfortunately neither can my images. They must simply be experienced. From the amazing leaps from tree to tree (often with their young clinging to their bellies), to the apparent dancing of the magnificent Sifakas as they cross the few open spaces, from their...
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Andasibe, Madagascar
7 October 2007
After a brief overnight stay in Joburg and dinner with Conrad and Heidi, I was onwards to my next adventure stop – the magical island of Madagascar. Landing in Antananarivo (for obvious reasons shortened to Tana) I headed off with my guide/driver Willi (whose name is a story in itself – his christened name is Andre August but at the time he was born Willi Brandt was Premier of Germany and had just initiated his policy of Ostpolitik and was thus seen by Malagasies as some kind of hero. Hence the nickname!) to Andasibe Mantadia. Staying at the good Grace Lodge, over the next two days we visited the Mantadia National Park and the Perinet Special Reserve in search of the odd and beautiful animals that proliferate in Madagascar.
The main highlight were the gorgeous and immensely entertaining Lemurs. Within Perinet we saw saw 4 species...
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Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania
4 October 2007
The Selous Game Reserve is amongst the largest game reserves in the world, encompassing a land mass larger than Switzerland. But given that only 10% of it is set aside for photography (the rest is for hunting) I did not have the greatest expectations (especially in comparison to most of the parks I had just visited), fearing that much of the game would be skittish. I nevertheless wanted to visit, partially due to the reputation of the fantastic Sand River Selous Lodge. And disappoint it did not – in fact I would put it near the top of my list of best safari camps.
And as often happens, when you bring your expectations down they are often exceeded and the second morning with our guide Godwin (who amazingly enough was the half-brother of my guide Pendael at Chada Katavi!) was probably the best single drive of the trip so far. Leaving at sparrow fart (far earlier than all the other guests) we found a lioness...
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Ruaha National Park, Tanzania
1 October 2007
The next stop on the southern circuit was Mwagusi Camp in the Ruaha National Park, a massive unspoiled wilderness. A larger lodge than I have been used to it was nevertheless a great experience (and I have to admit they had the best breakfast dish – cinnamon buns to die for).
Ruaha is well known for its massive pride of lions – the one pride we saw numbered 19 individuals, including the smallest cubs I have ever seen at seven weeks old. This is nearly the earliest it is possible to see lion babies as the mother hides them until they are six weeks and then introduces them to the pride. We had searched for them for the three days we were there and it was only on the last morning just after dawn (with only an hour left on the vehicle before heading off to the airstrip) that we came across three of the pride members who quickly led us to the whole pride, including two massive males one of which was displaying some...
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Mahale Mountains Park, Tanzania
27 September 2007
During the heat of Katavi I had been day-dreaming about the clear and cool waters of Lake Tanganyika, and the first thing I did upon arriving at the simply lovely Greystoke Mahale camp was dive in and stay submerged for as long as possible. Luckily none of the local Hippos took me for an invading territorial male, and I luxuriated in the coolness of the water.
But for all the wonder of Lake Tanganyika, it is justifiably not the main draw of Mahale – that is left to the large family of Chimpanzees who over the years have become habituated to the human presence (due primarily to the arrival of Japanese scientists in the 1960s – without such habituation it would be practically impossible to see wild Chimpanzees, even for a second or two). But it is no zoo. The Chimps travel widely through the park and a great deal of walking often has to be done in order to get a sight of them. We were very lucky to be able...
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Katavi National Park, Tanzania
24 September 2007
After my frantic work of building the new PC I was on my way to two weeks in the south of Tanzania. First stop the classic bush camp Chada Katavi in Katavi National Park. Once getting on the plane (more about that below) I was introduced to the set of people I would spend much of the next fortnight with – Veronica and Miss Elizabeth from up Cheshire way, Edwina and David from somewhere else in the UK, and the Laughing Dentist, Dave and his wife Mary, from Saskatoon, Canada.
I had heard of Katavi from various friends in Botswana who recommended it as simply the best park in Tanzania and in general it did not disappoint. The tone was set on the way from the airfield as the driver (I had booked my own vehicle) asked if I wanted to stop by a buffalo kill that he and his previous guests had seen occur whilst on the way to the airfield that morning(!). This was my first taste...
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Zanzibar, Tanzania
17 September 2007
After two weeks in the bush it was time for some R&R and I headed off to Zanzibar and the fantastic Matemwe Bungalows to lounge around the pool and do a spot if diving.
Zanzibar is still a magical place, even with the tourist hordes descending upon it, and Matemwe, an hour north of Stone Town near the northern tip of the island, is a luxurious haven with cold beer, white sand and plenty of sunshine.
The first two days were spent diving near Mnemba Island (itself the site of an even more luxurious and exclusive min-resort) and although my underwater photography gear had not arrived (only landing in my room 12 hours before departure) I still had some great moments under the waves with Sea Turtles, forests of Eels and more fish than on nearly any previous dive.
I also had the...
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Masai Village of Ololosokowan, Tanzania
12 September 2007
The first evening of my stay in the Loliondo we headed off to the local Masai village of Ololosokowan, to which Sokwe Asilia pay for each guest who stays at Suyan. Not a tourist or “cultural” village (such as near the Mara or the Serengeti) it was a rare privilege to see how the local people lived. Even more so as they were at the tail-end of a six-month festival called Vonto which celebrates the current Masai Warriors becoming Elders, in order to allow the next generation to become Warriors in turn. As the Masai are careless with years, the event is held every 7-10 years in a purpose-built boma erected by the mothers of the Warriors – a structure that only last for the duration of the festival before being completely razed.
The afternoon we arrived proved lucky as nearly all the Warriors were present, having taken part in a big ceremony the previous evening. Initially they were nearly...
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Loliondo Controlled Area, Tanzania
14 September 2007
During my too-brief two days at Suyan with my Swiss-soon-to-be-Tanzanian guide Gian we explored the northwest of the Serengeti, parts of the Loliondo (a buffer area partially controlled by the Masai) and visited a Masai village (see next article). Despite a relative dearth of game in the area we had a fascinating encounter with some Vervet Monkey mothers and their young and then had tremendous luck to come upon a Lioness stalking a pair of Warthogs. Getting unbelievably low she got closer and closer until the Warthogs suddenly became nervous of our vehicle (odd given our distance away) and strolled straight into her path. Amazingly enough, she did not pounce when they were only a few yards away, and shortly she lost her chance. It was nevertheless fascinating to watch her hunt
But the main photographic opportunities came within the confines of Suyan camp itself. First we maniacally took...
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Nothern Serengeti, Tanzania
9 September 2007
The drive north from Olakira to Sayari Camp was quite interesting as we left the Serengeti by the Grumetti Gate and then drove north via a number of villages before re-entering the National Park. On the way to Sayari I already had the opportunity to see three more species – including two first, Oribi and Klipspringer.
The next three days were spent with Nicholas, an excellent Tanzanian-Greek guide who even took out the first row of seats in the vehicle so that I could more easily use the tripod. Sayari is located on the Mara River so the main draw at that time of year is the massive Wildebeast crossings, on their way to the greener grass of the Masai Mara in Kenya. But as in so many safaris, that which you most want to see often passes you by, and so it was in this case. Despite spending out time at the coalface we had no luck, just watching huge herds massing on the northern side of the Mara (the opposite of what would...
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Central Serengeti, Tanzania
8 September 2007
The next stop was one night in Seronera in the central part of the Serengeti National Park, an area I had visited 7 years previously and been dismayed by the sheer volume of vehicles at various sightings. Although this proved to be true once again (whilst sitting with for an hour with a leopard in a tree we were variously attended by 50-60 other cars), Seronera DID indulge me with some of her hidden jewels.
At the beginning of the trip I had drawn up a short list of the rare creatures that I hoped I might possibly espy. The list in rough ascending order of difficulty – cheetah cubs, caracal, serval, honey badger, striped hyena, aardwolf, aardvark and pangolin (the last four are purely nocturnal and basically impossible whilst the others are simply very very seldomly seen). My hope was that I could see 1-2 of the list over the course of two months...
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Tarangire National Park, Tanzania
5 September 2007
After staying at a fantastic little boutique hotel in Arusha called Onsea house (where I will stay twice over the next month) it was a short 15-minute flight south to Tarangire National Park. Greeted by my (first) guide Alex we made our way to the excellent Olivers Camp. Over the next 3 days with Alex and then Njano my Tanzania adventure began. I was immediately pleased to hear that as the camp was not so full it looked as if I could have a vehicle to myself for the duration of the stay (which proved to be true).
The main highlight was seeing a lion kill from start-to-finish. Early on the second morning we came two lions lounging in the bush. The young male began taking an interest in a small herd of zebras upwind who...
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Lake Bogoria and Lake Baringo, Kenya
2 September 2007
On the last full day of my Kenya trip we took in the Rift Valley lakes of Bogoria and Baringo, which
proved to be quite a treat. Bogoria was slightly less interesting, though I did get a chance to see
a group of Rock and Bush Hyrax fairly close. Hyraxes appear to be rodents but in fact, genetically
speaking, are the closest relative to the elephant!
Lake Baringo was fascinating as we stayed
at the very nice Roberts Camp
just on the edge of the overfull lake. Happily spent some time taking shots of water birds and crocodiles
before heading off a two-hour boat journey which gave me the opportunity to get close to some of the
fascinating wildlife.
In the evening I was treated to a hippo and croc show, as the local hippos
chose to use the camp as their disembarkation point for their night-time grazing sessions and a couple
of crocs came ashore not 30m from my tent. The hippos were a little more of a worry...
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Lake Nakuru National Reserve, Kenya
1 September 2007
After two nights in Samburu the plan had been to drive along the Lerochi Plateau to Lake Baringo but
given the recent weather and the general poorness of the roads on that stretch, my driver decided we
would reverse the schedule so we headed off on an eight-hour drive to Lake Nukuru.
The main
feature of Lake Nakuru is the nearly two million flamingoes (both Lesser and Greater) which have
made it their home, and my driver was very bemused to see me standing in gentle rain with my camera
on a tripod taking countless pictures. Though the light was very poor a good time was very much
had.
One of the standard features of all the driving was that we would stop...
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Samburu-Isiolo National Reserve, Kenya
31 August 2007
Miracles! The driver from Gametrackers who came to pick
me up in the morning for our seven hour drive to Samburu-Isiolo National Reserve, found the hotel and we
managed to leave on time. I discovered that I was to be the only guest for the 5-day safari, which I
found appealing as it would allow me to conduct the game drives themselves. But it turned out be a bit
of a mixed blessing as the driver and the cook spent nearly the whole time prattering away in Swahili and
I was left to my own devices. Not a bad thing in itself, but given that there was no electricity
(so no editing on the PC) and hardly another soul around, it was at times a bit much.
The drive
itself was uneventful, though my backside was more than just a little sore by the time we arrived into
the combined Samburu and Isiolo Game Reserves. Over the next 36 hours we puttered around happily in
the reserve. Though the light was generally...
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Nairobi, Kenya
29 August 2007
Finally! After six months of planning I was finally getting to Africa. But as if to chastise me for
my excitement, Africa decided she needed to re-teach me the cardinal virtues of the continent: patience
and forbearance.
I landed at Nairobi International late on Wednesday night and after some
searching found my driver who was to take me to the hotel, Ngong House. Given that the driver was
employed by the agency who had chosen the hotel, one would think he would have some idea of how to
find it. Alas no. He simply assumed the hotel was on the eponymous Ngong Road and when it simply
wasn’t he proceeded to stop at multiple bars, gas stations and even a meteorological station before
he admitted he was lost. If I hadn’t had a mobile phone and called the hotel numerous times to get
new directions, we would simply never have found it. But in the end, find it we did and I had an
excellent late dinner before collapsing in a sumptuous tree house.
The next morning was clear
and I enjoyed a refreshing breakfast at this quaint little hotel, nestled in the back hills of Nairobi,
not far from the farm where Karen Blixer wrote the famous Out of Africa.
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Flatanger, Norway
12 August 2007
The first stop on my five-month odyssey was to a remote part of central Norway - the county of Flatanger in Nord-Troendelag - where I had organized a trip through
Wildshots and Norway Nature.
The main purpose of the week was to photograph white-tailed sea eagles and thanks to our fantastic guide, Ole Martin Dahle, and fairly good weather we
had more excellent sightings than I could ever have expected. The main highlight was capturing eagles in flight as they descended to capture the mackerel that we had thrown out.
I also got a number of interesting shots of the various sea gulls in the area (the Herring Gull, the Greater Black-backed Gull and the Common Gull), especially when we found patches of dark water which allowed them to stand out spectacularly.
For the first time I also started experimenting with flash using a Better Beamer, and some...
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