Safari Update – Day 9 (4 Oct 2013)

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Safari Update Day 9 (4 Oct 2013) Our Final Day
21 degrees C, clear skies

Today is our departure day from the Serengeti as we begin to wing our way toward home.  As we said our good byes to the camp staff everyone is starting to come to grips with the fact that we are leaving a magical area that has found a special place in our hearts.  Our final goodbyes to expert guides, that have been our eyes and ears for this trip were not without a couple of tears, at least for me, as I hugged them all like the brothers that we are.  Kileo, Casmire, Leonard, and Mustafa, I will miss you greatly and I can’t wait for our next adventure in February 2014.  During our charter flight back to Arusha, we were treated to another marvel of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro was showing off for all to see as clear as she could be.

The visual and emotional journeys that we have taken together over the past 9 days will be the foundation of stories that will be told for years to come along with outstanding photographs to share with family and friends.  The friendships we made will carry one for a long time as everyone talked of doing another safari together.  Serengeti Reunion  – you gotta love it.

As I said my farewells to everyone at the airport, I looked over my shoulder to see a classic African sunset lighting up Mount Kilimanjaro.  A wonderful reminder of just how blessed I am in getting to experience Africa in the way that I do.

Nikon D4, 70-200 f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 320, 1/320 sec at f/1

Thanks again to Alan, Rita, Jean, Bill, Harry, Raul, Tom, Donna, Nancy, and Ray. I sincerely looking forward to our paths crossing again. My best to all of you in your future travels.

Safari Update – Day 6 (1 Oct 2013)

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Safari Update Day 6 (1 Oct 2013)
19 degrees C
Sunrise 0600, clear skies

Today was our first full day in the central Serengeti and man did we hit a home run. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, and a horizon of huge thunderous clouds made for some wonderful landscapes toward the end of the day. It was an early return to camp resulting in a mad rush for showers and then it was off the the lounge tent for battery charging and story telling about the wonders of the day. Tomorrow will be our last push to our new and final camp in the northern Serengeti near the Mara River.

NOTE: Due the the remoteness of this camp, there will be no updates from the bush.

Cerval Cat,  Nikon D4, 200-400mm f/4.5 @ 400mm, ISO 320, 1/640 at f/6.

Cheers and happy photo’ing.  Blogging live from the Serengeti.

Safari Update Day 4 (29 Sept 2013) – Ngorongoro Crater

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Safari Update Day 4 (29 Sept 2013) – Ngorongoro Crater
16 degrees C rising to nearly 30
Sunrise at 615-ish, partly cloudy clearing mid-day

Today was all about the Crater. With great anticipation, we began our decent from 7450 feet to the Crater floor. We photographed lions mating, cerval cats, buffaloes, landscapes, and all that the Crater had to offer. The highlights just keep coming. Everyone is super pleased and looking forward to more adventures in the coming days.

Nikon D4, 200-400 f/4.5 @ 400, ISO 320, 1/200 sec at f/8.

Cheers and happy photo’ing.  Blogging live from the Serengeti.

Safari Day 2 (27 Sept 2013) – Tarangire National Park

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Morning temp 30 degrees C rising to 33 mid day
Partly cloudly to clearing in the afternoon, 3-4 knott winds

Today was a full day in the park. While our main focus was elephants in the elephant rich park, we were also treated two leopards and simply wonderful elephants, with many of them being up close and personal. Biggest treat was photographing them as they were leaving the swamp. Everyone is very happy and excited for our journey tomorrow as we move across the highlands and onward to the Ngorongoro Crater.

Nikon D3x, 200-400 f/4.5, @ 400mm, ISO 400, f/8.0 at 1/400 sec

Cheers and happy photo’ing.  Blogging live from Tanzania via ATT&T

Safari Update Day 2 – Tanzania

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20 May

Sunrise 0600

Temperature 54F

Early rise this morning as we had breakfast at 0530 in order to be at the gate by 0620 for the magical descent into the Ngorongoro Crater and what a magical treat it was. Heavy clouds had moved in over the night however, they had started clearing by the time we hit the bottom of the crater floor. Today we saw lots of wildebeests exhibiting rutting behavior typical of this time of the year. Although most of this was at a bit of a distance for our photography, it was wonderful to observe. Also at a distance were a number of Rhinos. We also observed and photographed some lions demonstrating their lazy day behavior, just laying around. At the start of the day, I took some landscape shots as well as at the end of the day just before we started up the hill to end our day. Shortly after our wonderful classic Tanzanian meal, the temperature really started to fall as the the clouds left us with clear skies. It will be a nice crisp cool sleep tonight. Today is another full day in the crater. Everyone is jammed with excitement in anticipation of what tomorrow will bring. Off to bed now for some needed sleep.

Cheers and live blogging from Tanzania

Setting Moon Over The Floor of the Ngorongoro Crater

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If someone told I had to make a choice about my most favorite place in Tanzania, I would be hard pressed to decided between the Serengeti Plains and the Ngorongoro Crater.  The image below was taken shortly after our descent into the floor of the crater.  With the sun about to peek over the rim, we pulled the trucks to the side of the road and watched the moon slip behind the opposite rim, while a mysterious layer of fog lay at the base of the west side of the rim.  This morning,  we were the only vehicles in the crater for the first hour or so and it was like we had the entire park to ourselves – the beauty of an early morning rise.   Shortly after the moon fell behind the rim, the sun was up and the beauty of the Crater floor unfolded before our eyes.

Nikon D3S, 70-200mm f/2.8, @ 200mm, ISO 2000, 1/100 sec at f/11.  This image was taken here.

Cheers and Happy Photo’ing

Fog Fall Over The Crater Rim

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Early morning in the Crater treated us to a wonderful light show as a huge cloud bank moved over the top of the crater rim and finally onto the lower elevations of the rim.  Although the photography was a bit slow in the crater, it was still enjoyable with Rhino sightings, huge male elephants and the grand landscapes that the Ngorongoro Crater has to offer.

Nikon D3s, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII at 200mm, ISO 500, f/9 @ 1/125 sec

This image was taken here (Google Earth required)

Cheers and happy photo’ing

2014 Photo Safari Schedule

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Safaris for 2014:
1. Rwanda – Gorillas in the Mist 1 Jan thru 8 Jan  DETAILS ARE POSTED HERE. Trip completed, full trip report in draft.
2. Tanzania – The Great Migration – Feb 15-25, 2014   TRIP IS FULL
3. Chile – Torres del Paine – March 2014,  Adventure Series Only*
4. Tanzania – The Great Rut – May 31 – June 10, 2014. Some openings remain.
5. Iceland – The Land of Fire and Ice – 10-19 Aug 2014 – DETAILS ARE POSTED HERE  Strictly limited to 8 participants, 4 openings.
6. Tanzania – Fall Migration – Sept 16-25, 2014 – DETAILS ARE POSTED HERE
7. Botswana – November 13-22, 2014 – DETAILS ARE POSTED HERE.

Looking forward to 2015:
Namibia – Landscapes of a Lifetime – April or May 2015- Details will be released in March of 2014.
Tanzania – The Great Rut
Tanzania – Fall Migration
Botswana – Adventure on the River
Lots More to Come So Stay Tuned.

*Adventure Series – Open only to previous clients and those who are willing to travel in conditions that require maximum flexibility as we explore new areas.

Parting shots from the Ngorongoro Crater

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After a brief lull in my photography, I’m back at posting some of the shots from my Feb 2009 Safari to Tanzania.  The Ngorongoro Crater is always a magical place for me.  With the rich diversity of wildlife confined to an area about 10 miles square, I am always surprised as to what I will see and the animal interactions.  So before moving on to the Serengeti, here are a few additional images from the crater and our camp site.  Photo credits:  Larry B – photos 1 & 5;   DeAnne B – photo 6;  Katherine H – photos 9 & 10.

Safari Update – Ngorongoro Crater

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Looking Back To…..Ngorongoro Crater

Attempts to update the blog were unsuccessful once we left the comforts of Gibbs Farm. So, now we’re back in the US and I’m posting those updates – belatedly – from the comforts of my home!

From Gibbs Farm we headed northwest to the 8th wonder of the world – Ngorongoro Crater.  This geologic feature is 185 square miles, 12 miles wide, and was once an active volcano likely higher than Mount Kilimanjaro.  Its collapse resulted in the world’s largest intact caldera that maintains its own wildlife and forms its own weather patterns.

We stop at the park entrance to get a briefing from one of our guides on the geologic history of the area; then we head up the long winding road to the crater rim.  We pause for an awe-inspiring look at the crater floor, spotting herds of Cape buffalo and watching as a rain storm drenches a distant part of the crater.  Soon we arrive at our next camp site, nestled in the canopy of the tall flat-top acacia trees that are found above 5,000 feet (the camp is 7,500 feet above sea level). The cool damp forest camp, a pleasant reprise from the heat of the day, seems like a tree house oasis. That afternoon and all of the next day we leave the cool forest to enter the world of the crater floor, observing numerous resident wildlife species. We witness the challenge of a new-borne gazelle as it tries to stand for the first time, admire from a distance an endangered black rhino and baby, watch as lion cubs playfully romp in the early morning sun, spot a cheetah on the prowl among a herd of gazelles, and laugh at the antics and unique galloping of the wildebeests. We also spot a family of hyenas eyeing its next meal, as well as a herd of elephants, numerous hippos, zebras, and too-many-to-count species of brilliantly-colored birds.  Our crew got a lot of great photos as evidenced by a few examples below.