Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 7

Cloudy skies, temperature 68 rising to 79 after the hike. Altitude at the start of our hike was 7624 feet hiking up to 8136 feet where we made contact.

Today we trekked to visit the Kwintoga Group of mountain gorillas, which was expertly led by François and Edward – François was one of the original porters for Diane Fossy. At an age of 70, and with more than 30 years of service with the Volcanoes National Park, he is still going strong and provides an amazing look into gorilla behavior. Edward, also a seasoned ranger, has worked with National Geographic and was great at getting us into position. What a perfect team!

The Kwintoga Group, originally from Congo, consists of 22 individuals including 3 silverbacks (all brothers), and one baby less than 6 months old. Three years ago, the lead silverback died and a fight between the brothers finally determined the leader. We encountered the group having a leisurely time feeding and relaxing. The shooting conditions were challenging with heavy cloud cover. Our normal ISO was in the ranged from 2500 to 6400. I selected my D4 and a 70-200mm as my primary gear set. Although I had my D810 with me, I could not use it due to the low light conditions.

After we cleaned-up at the lodge, I took the group to the local farmers market for an authentic Rwandan farm-to-market experience. We’re looking forward to another great day trekking for mountain gorillas tomorrow.

‪#‎Rwanda ‪#‎Wildography ‪#‎WildographandSafaris ‪#‎EyesonAfrica ‪#‎VolcanoesNationalPark

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 6

Today was a travel day; we said good-bye to the wonderful Kyaninga Lodge and drove to the Kasese Airstrip for our flight to Kyanika, Uganda. From Kyanika, we drove to the border crossing and entered Rwanda for our next phase of our adventure – gorilla trekking.

Our flight was, for the most part, a low level flight (400-500 AGL) over some wonderful landscapes. Our flight took us over Lake George, and as we crossed the Equator, we were able to search for elephants, hippos, antelopes, and all things in or near the water, including fishermen. Next we flew over the Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake George with Lake Edward, and finally into the Ishasha Region, which is home to the Ugandan tree-climbing lions. We climbed to clear the mountains of the approaching Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and landed shortly afterwards at Kyanika. Passport control at the border and we headed for Mountain View Gorilla Lodge.

At the lodge we had the opportunity to watch a dance troupe performing original Rwanda dance. Before I knew it, one of my clients was dancing her heart out with the troupe! What a sight! Tomorrow is another early rise; luckily a classic African rainstorm put me to sleep with ease.

#Rwanda #Wildography #WildographyandSafaris #Uganda #Bwidi #EyesonAfrica 

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 5

Clear skies with afternoon temperatures mid 80s and humidity at 89%

Our last day with the chimpanzees proved to our most difficult trek, both physically and photographically. The chimps had moved on the other side of the swamp, and deeper into the forest than we had been before. This caused us to do a 'deep dive' hike into the forest with difficult photographic conditions using ISOs in the 6400 range as a normal starting point. Although fewer photographs were taken today, the day was not without excitement. Again we witnessed a number of long-lasting internal conflicts with lots of vocalization. At one point during the day, one of the troublemakers, Totie, ran directly through the line of porters! You should have seen the porters scatter; oh my, what at sight!

Totie, a 21-year old male, is well-known for having a hot temper and frequently charging observers; Totie is trying to climb the hierarchical leadership ladder, however he shows no respect to the alpha male or others in leadership chain. As a result, the rangers tell us that he has no friends within the community. There is a great deal of speculation about Totie becoming the next alpha male.... time will tell.

Tomorrow, we are off to Rwanda for the start of our gorilla trekking.
Blogging live from Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains
 

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 4

Overcast with afternoon clearing. 86F at noon, humidity 94%

Following the same schedule as yesterday, we started our day with a 0500 breakfast putting us at the Research HQ around 0630. After ranger and porter assignment, we were off for our second full day of chimpanzee trekking. The chimps were fairly close to our drop point making our trekking even more enjoyable, despite the somewhat wet conditions, which was good news!

Last night, a major weather front moved through the area dumping rain on the forest. As a result, all of the chimps were high up in the trees for the first part of the day making our photography efforts challenging. So we took some time to focus on managing the highlights and shadows when shooting in these difficult conditions.

As soon as the temperature increased, the chimps dropped to the ground and we had the remaining day filled with exciting and wonderful photographic opportunities. Numerous high-energy conflicts between members of the group generated a very vocal afternoon. It was unbelievable to be in their presence, especially as the calls intensified. At times we just put our cameras down to take it all in.

Blogging live from Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 3

We started our day with roll call at breakfast at 0500 for a 0530 departure. Following a drive to the Research Headquarters, we were assigned our ranger and porters. Within an hour, we had our first chimpanzee sighting and were off to the races.

Around mid-day we witnessed a very rare community fight – and I mean an all out brawl between just about everyone in the community. All in all, we had a very long and wonderful day with a community that was about 130 strong.

Blogging live from Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda. 

Shooting details: Nikon D4, 70-200mm @ 200mm, ISO 6400, 1/80 sec at f/4.0

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 2

Sunny at Kajjansi Airfield, heavy rain at Fort Portal. Reporting a ceiling of 3 feet and visibility of 1 foot, or maybe it was the other way around.

Obviously we had to wait for the weather to clear. About an hour or so later and we were off to Fort Portal. On final approach, I kept looking for the strip, and suddenly I understood why the pilot told me that they could only take off from Fort Portal with ½ fuel and no more than one passenger. Suddenly, there it was – 650 foot of ugly grass runway with a huge dip in the middle of the LZ. We made it down without so much of a bounce despite a quartering crosswind. It was a great landing; kudos to our pilot!

Finally we were off to the wonderful Kyaninga Lodge – set high atop a hill with a deep lake at its front door, this will be our home for the next 4 nights.

Blogging live from Uganda near the Rwenzori Mountains.

Primates Safari: Uganda & Rwanda - Day 1

Partly cloudy, 90F, humidity 80%, light breeze

The Primates Safari that I am leading for Eyes On Africa, has started.

With nearly two days of travel followed by a late arrival last night into Entebe and onward to Kampala, we soon found ourselves at the Lake Victoria Serena Hotel, our home for the next two nights. Today was a bit of R&R as we started our prep for our bush flight tomorrow that will take us deep into the jungle for the following 4 days. During the day, we hit the market for a bit of street photography. Judging by the reactions of the market folks, they seldom see the likes of us just wandering around the market with our cameras in had. At first the locals were very difficult to approach however, with a little bit of humor, lots of smiles and some serious clowning around, we soon had more photo ops than we could deal with. What kind and wonderful people they were and man, can they smile. The power of a smile still amazes me.

Heading to Uganda and Rwanda

It's that time of the year again when the chimps of Uganda and the gorillas of Rwanda are calling.  One of the wonderful things about these two countries is their people.  Overcoming adversity is putting it lightly for the people of Uganda and Rwanda still, they remain friendly, caring, open, and totally approachable.  While photos of chimps and gorillas will be flowing very soon, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite people shots from my 2014 photo safari into Rwanda.

This lady has her morning shopping goods on her head and is just a bit miffed because the bus just passed her by without stopping. 

For me, the photo is worth a million words due to the image on the bag and the fact that I am helping others 'see the world through my photography'.  I couldn'tt have ask for a better photo moment.

The Palouse Workshop for Muench is completed

Capture - Process - Print

Last week I finished up leading a Muench Workshop in the wonderful Palouse area of Washington with Andy Williams and Mike Brandt. We had 14 soles from all over the US and Canada. Glazers Camera and MOAB came over in force with large format printers allowing everyone to walk away with really nice prints. Hasselbald was there with tons of gear to loan out to the workshop participants - what a wonderful treat it was to have participants experience the medium format zone and what a success it was. If you missed this one, we will be back in 2016 for another round in the Palouse so check the workshop page on my website in a couple of weeks.

The Wonderful Palouse taken from the air with a Hasselbald H5D40 fitted with a 35-90mm and a 2 axis gyro stabilizer.

What some of my clients are saying about this workshop:

Marsha Kirschbaum — 5 star  As I go through the editing process at the recent Muench Palouse workshop, I am reminded not only of the wonderful sites we visited, but of the attentiveness of the workshop instructors, Randy Hanna, Andy Williams and Michael Brandt, and camaraderie of the workshop participants. The instructors really listened to our goals and gave out “assignments,” advice and critique accordingly to achieve those goals. I know that my photography will continue to improve as a result. Looking forward to the time I can take another one.

Joseph Wu Totally agree with Marsha - the Palouse workshop was terrific (5*). A beautiful location, but even better instruction and camaraderie. I really appreciated Randy asking us what our goals were at the beginning of the workshop and then helping us reach them. Andy gave several of us assignments which we all worked (or are working) on and is very underrated as an Lightroom instructor - be prepared to have your work honestly assessed, it makes you better! He tells you what you need to know to make your pictures sing. He was also attentive to our every need, from dietary restrictions to sudden health issues. Last, but not least, Michael Brandt knows the special locations of the Palouse like the back of his hand and was invaluable with composition. Only on one occasion (Steptoe Butte at sunset) did we ever have to compete with other photographers. Not having to drive/carpool to locations was a huge plus - it helped us all to get to know each other better. Having the folks from Glazer's and Moab was a huge addition as it was great to see our work printed almost immediately. Hasselblad's presence was also welcomed; even if many did not play with the H5D, the opportunity was there for everyone! From the beginner to the advanced photographer, I'd recommend the MW's Palouse workshop without reservation.

From The Crater to Gibb's Farm

Today we said farewell to our wonderful camp staff on the rim of the Crater and we began our journey to Gibbs Farm for our last night on our safari. We stopped on the way down at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area HQ for a quick refresher on a huge scale 3D topographical map. As I pointed our the highlights of our journey, it was a graphical reminder as to just how much distance we have covered on our adventure. At Gibbs Farm, I did a session on Lightroom and protecting your photos. As we sat on the veranda with wine in hand, I always like to go around the table letting the clients comments on their highlights of the trip. Some of the highlights for them included: The amount of wildlife, the landscapes, the elephants, the flamingos, and of course the lions. Last count, elephants and lions TNTC (to numerous to count), 3 leopards, 3 rhinos, hundreds of giraffes of all ages, a few million wildebeests, and zebras beyond counting.

Back at Gibb's Farm, I found myself in the bar teaching the guys how to make a Seattle Martini.  Rachel, the Chef, prepared a wonderful slow roasted lamb meal for us with all of the trimmings.  What a wonderful place to spend our last night in Africa.....simply lovely.

Blogging live from Gibb's Farm in Tanzania, Africa

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