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The following report is taken from my daily posts on Facebook, where each day, throughout 2021, I've taken at least one new photo a day and posted it, usually with a write-up. This report will give you a great idea of what you can expect on one of our safaris.
October 28, 2021. Nairobi, Kenya, and I spent most of the day, when not meeting our new participants, sitting at a desk writing articles. Sadly, no presidential suite this time. Fortunately, our hotel has a small ornamental pond along one of the pathways where, on previous occasions, I’ve seen and photographed small treefrogs. Last evening, when we arrived at the hotel, I went looking and found none.
Today, just after noon, I went looking again and found a species of true frog (Rana, in this case, I think) sitting in the shade on top a lily pad. Using my 300mm with a 1.4X TC (effective focal length 0f 840mm) and TTL flash I got my shot of the day. If you know your frogs, this one looks remarkably like our North American Leopard Frog, and I bet could pass for one for those not expert in this. And that is a great example of parallel evolution, where related species, found in opposite ends of the earth, evolve to look similar to one another because of the selective pressures of their environment.
October 29, 2021.Wow, day 300, and this day marks the first day of our Kenya Photo Safari. I’m writing this in the common area in Elephant Bedroom Camp, in Samburu, in the short time I have before dinner. The ride here, leaving at 8 and arriving at 5, was an easy one … today the roads are good, in contrast to when we started where roads were often no more than car-swallowing ruts, literally, dusty, bumpy, and pure hell.
Driving north, we were depressed as we neared Samburu and saw countless goats and sheep in massive herds denuding the landscape. These same areas, when we started over 35 years ago, had herds of Zebra, bands of Giraffes, and multiple antelopes visible on the horizon. No more.
We stopped for a 2 hour lunch break at a special place where Black and White Colobus Monkeys are tame and fed by the staff. Everyone got shots, including me, for the shot of the day. And I’m worried about my laptop’s battery power, so as I download I’ll probably use the first image I can … with more to come tomorrow, or later, if I have the juice!
Our drive into Samburu was encouraging, as it was a straight drive in but nevertheless we had most of Samburu’s endemics, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, and Oryx. So tomorrow is promising!
October 30, 2021. Our first morning in Samburu and it was a good one. Shortly after we started the game drive we found a herd of African Elephants walking toward the riverine forest. Mothers and several calves made up the herd, with one very young Elephant that shadowed his mother’s legs, while another, older baby played with a sub-teenager. We had multiple opportunities for the Elephants to walk directly to us, and the shots were rewarding.
Later, one of the more beautiful of the desert songbirds, a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike, sang from an open perch, repeatedly, at full-frame distances, and often enough that I could switch from stills to video several times. A ram Gerenuk, the long-necked, slender antelope, fed at a shrub while standing upright, and, as I hoped, stepped backward, facing us while being away from the bush, giving the appearance of simply walking on two legs. Reticulated Giraffes, Desert Warthogs, Red-billed Hornbills, a Greater Kudu, Gray-headed Kingfisher … it was a diverse day of shooting in my vehicle, and when I spoke to Mary, she had many different highlights than mine, and you can draw the conclusion that there was a lot here to photograph.
PM. A very successful afternoon. We loaded at 3:30 and 7 minutes later we were driving. Our first subject was a Pigmy Falcon, that soon caught a lizard and proceeded to eat the entire thing, long tail and all, and permitted the closest approach I’ve ever had with this bird. We waited 15 minutes for it to fly out once it finished its meal, but the bird stayed put, and when we left, and drove by later, the bird was still perched – probably digesting the big meal. Mary had great luck with another cooperative hawk, a Pale-chanting Goshawk.
A small group of Elephants crossed the river and, upon climbing the bank, walked right between two of our vehicles – literally within a yard or so of either one.
Four Lions, not doing too much, and, at the end of the day a young female Leopard that sat on several rocks before finally, as the light faded, walked down to an Impala kill we hadn’t noticed. We didn’t have a window for shooting the feeding activity, but as we drove away in the evening gloom I saw that there was a very open spot, but other vehicles had blocked that access.
October 31, 2021. Shortly after sunrise we arrived at the site of yesterday’s Leopard, but the cat was gone and the kill was now just some scraps, exposed to birds and the sun. I suspect Striped Hyenas had stolen the kill and fed upon it in the open, at night. Soon afterwards, however, we heard of two more Leopards and we headed there. This was a mother and nearly full-grown cub, secure in a small clearing amidst salt brush where we had only glimpses. Their kill was nearby, at the top of an acacia tree, and while we waited the cub began to approach the tree several times but the movement of cars spooked the cat back into the brush. We waited, hoping that the tourist cars would eventually go elsewhere, but every 15 minutes or so another would arrive, resetting the clock. We left. Today was mostly a bird day. There were no Elephants in the river, the only source of water. We had, however, great White-throated Bee-eaters, an incredible portrait session with a huge adult Martial Eagle, and a juvenile, and a surprising number of Desert Warthogs with babies.
Nearly three months ago, in August, this park was over-run by Samburu herdsmen, and camels, goats, sheep, and cows, and the people and kids attending them, were everywhere. The guides said it was a discouraging sight. The herds are gone, but the landscape is moon-like in places, stripped bare of grasses that are, fortunately, just beginning to resprout with the beginning of the rains.
Despite this ruined landscape, it was a productive day of shooting for the species mentioned, but only a shadow of what this beautiful park once had.
PM. We headed back to the Leopard, informed that the mother Leopard was now visible in the tree where she had stored her kill. We arrived, the report was accurate, and we had some great shooting – the classic ‘leopard in a tree’ pose. After getting some shots, Mary headed up to the area where, yesterday, we had the young Leopard and she spotted the cat, lying on a rock, from about 250 yards away. At that distance, a cat lying on a rock merges quite well, but she saw the cat’s head, which seemed a bit different in color, and put up her binocs. We all got some nice shots out of that!
On the way to the Leopard, my vehicle stopped for the most cooperative pair of Red and Yellow Barbets, a colorful bird that often nests in termite mounds, which is its main diet. Mary’s vehicle had her best Gabar Goshawk, so … in addition to the Leopards, we had a diverse and productive afternoon.
November 1, 2021. Our last full day in Samburu began with a herd of African Elephants wading across the shallow, wide expanse of the Ewaso Ngiro River, just outside our camp. The light was still muted with the sun just crested the distant hills, and Elephants filed single file, their splashing barely audible in the still morning air.
The morning was backed with subjects, from another tame Pigmy Falcon, a cooperative, colorful Leopard Tortoise, a pup Bat-eared Fox, multiple birds, including Gray-headed Kingfishers, Von Der Decken’s Hornbills, Fort-tailed Flycatchers, and a superb shooting session with Little Bee-eaters where ProCapture caught the transfer of a fly from an adult to a full-grown fledgling, in a blink of the eye that I never saw! A Martial Eagle, methodically plucking the feathers of a Vulturine Guineafowl, was another first, and it was amazing how many feathers that guineafowl had. The eagle didn’t completely pluck the bird, once enough skin was revealed, but the pile of feathers was huge.
We followed a group of Lions that wove constantly through thickets along the river’s edge until, finally, the lead Lioness climbed atop a fallen tree, adopting a leopard’s pose, and in the dappled light the image resembled an oil painting. With the heat of mid-day building we headed home, but were stopped when another large herd of Elephants book-ended our game drive by, once again, crossing the river, this time with a tiny baby Elephant in tow.
PM. Mary’s favorite animal is the Elephant, but it isn’t mine. Normally I find Elephants less enchanting, and although interesting anatomically, … well, they just don’t move me like they do so many. And then, tonight, I shot 1,800+ images of Elephants, spending the entire afternoon game drive with a herd of 50 or so, with one baby that was about one month old. Newborns are completely uncoordinated with their trunks, which is quite comical to see, and tonight’s little baby was playing with sticks and attempting to break them off, signaling that there was some coordination developed. We spotted a young baby, and we were able to get in front of the herd, and the mother and calf, several times. And then, the magic happened. The mother fed on a bush close to the road while her baby and a one-year old engaged in a wrestling match. The baby, outmatched by 3 to 1, boldly jammed into the other, shoving back and forth, intertwining trunks, playing and wrestling with the best views of a youngster I’ve had in over 30 years of safaris.
That activity continued, and continued, but when the herd moved into the open plains, with a sky of cumulous clouds and low, angular light, I got back on to the radio and told everyone they had to return to the herds. Everyone arrived in time to be surrounded by adults and babies, with wrestling and feeding, until the herd crossed the last road and, as the sun set behind the hill, the light failed.
But we still had a ‘sundowner’, where our lodge had a fire and drinks and food, and a birthday cake for Jackie, one of our participants, and we drank and chatted as the last western light faded from the sky and, bathed by the golden glow of our campfire, we said goodbye to Samburu as we headed on to our next destination in Kenya.
November 2, 2021. We had a direct flight from Samburu to the Mara Conservancy, passing over the flooded Lake Nakuru in doing so. Lake Nakuru WAS famous for the incredible concentration of flamingos, but tectonic plate shifts, or something, has changed the hydrology and the lake has grown each year, flooding the game tracks that once crossed the dried mud flats and the main tracks that encircled the lake. With the fresh, high water, the Flamingos are gone.
35 or so years ago we stayed quite close to the camp we’re now using, but 10 years in, the small trading post grew in size and, in time, became a town. At that point, we shifted our camps to the interior of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and I had little hope for this area. As we started our afternoon game drive today we passed houses and fences, scattered for miles, and the area looked quite depressing. But the Conservancies that now lease the land from the local Masai have done an incredible job, coexisting with the Mara, and conserving game even in the face of cows and sheep.
And this evening was incredible. We started in a true tropical downpour, probably dropping 2 inches per hour, flooding the road and limiting visibility. When the rain finally let up to a drizzle, relatively speaking, we rolled up the canvan/plastic rain covers for the vehicle (we rolled them down too late for the rain, and most of us were soaked thoroughly, but our shooting started with a mother Cheetah with two 5 month old cubs, still with their white wooly coat but beginning to grow their distinctive spots. They fed on a Thompson’s Gazelle, harassed by a Black-backed Jackal that the female cub repeated chased, sometimes 50 yards or more. I was worried that at some point, beyond the sight of her mother, the Cheetah would change roles and grab the cub, which was just half the Jackal’s size. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
The meal was almost concluded when our guides spotted a lone, distant Spotted Hyena grab and take down a full-grown bull Gnu, probably grabbing it by the testicles to stop it. I think that’d work. We raced to the scene while the struggle was still on, with more Hyenas joining the first, as all of them tore into the struggling Gnu. I switched to video (I’ll post that tomorrow, hopefully, once everything gets downloaded, but the video will be ghastly), and gasped when I saw a Hyena rip out the guts of the Gnu, which then stood and bucked and tried horning its attackers. In less than an hour, virtually nothing was left of the carcass, just parts of the head and hide, and as we drove off I suspect that will be gone by morning. Obviously, this was a great start to our time in the Mara, and the Hyena/Gnu kill we’ve only seen one other time, 20 years ago!
November 3, 2021. Yesterday’s monsoon rains and cloudy skies had vanished overnight, but the black cotton soil on the game tracks was as slippery as ice. We headed to a Lion pride where several Lionesses lounged on small hillocks bordering a forest and cubs of various sizes chased one another, wrestled, or played with along branch. On our last visit to the Conservancies three years ago the Masai cows still wore cow bells, whose ringing carried great distances and, when heard, drove Lions to the cover of the forests. Cow bells are now banned, and herds within sight of the resting lions were now ignored.
Eventually the Lions retreated to the forest shade, but I wondered if that may have been through the lingering habit of simply making themselves scarce and invisible during the day when Masai herdsmen passed by with their cattle. Our next stop was for Leopards, and we found a female sitting upright along the edge of a croton bush thicket, with her 6 month old cub lying in the grass in full view. The two stayed for a time before moving into the brush where several of our vehicles had close encounters, and great shots. At one point the Leopardess started to cross a wide field, pausing and calling for her cub, who never left the brush. The mother eventually returned to the brush where, I presume, she rejoined with her baby.
Nile Monitors foraging far from water, a blue-headed Tree Agama, sparring Warthogs, and a Topi silhouetted against a threatening cumulous cloud sky, oh, and a sunrise with an acacia, completed our morning shoot.
At noon our safari guides joined us at the camp, replacing the camp drivers and their vehicles that we’ve used for the last two game drives. Their knowledge of the area was invaluable, and although we were happy to be with our guides again, I’ll miss my camp driver, Dennis, who did a really wonderful job.
PM. This evening, with intermittent rain, we headed back to the Lions. One of the young cubs was particularly feisty, the male cub going up against much larger cubs, rough-housing until, in some cases, the larger cub or cubs simply got up and walked away. The light grew progressively dimmer, but with high ISO or by shooting video we made the most of a wonderful situation.
Our guides had drinks packed for a sundowner, courtesy of our camp, but failed to tell us, and while the shooting was good, I was extremely annoyed not to have been told about an option for the group. I will be talking to them.
November 4, 2021. We left our camp in the Mara Conservancy and headed to our next destination, in the Mara Triangle. Game-driving along the way our route took us to locations we used to visit when we stayed at the Mara River Camp, places like Fig Tree Ridge, the Leopard Gorge, the Killing Field, Puff Adder Ridge. When Mara River Camp closed, we moved our operation deeper into the Mara Reserve where we were insulated from the presence of Masai, which were steadily degrading and denuding the land. Acacia woodlands had been cleared, and livestock was everywhere, and I had little hope for the future of the area outside the actual park. The Conservancies have changed all that, and now most of these areas are once again devoid of people and livestock, and the hillsides are once again sprouting acacia trees, although those trees are still mere saplings. The future does look brighter, although that future may be years away.
Distressingly, the game was minimal. As I passed our old landmarks I was sickened, as we were seeing mere relics of the past abundance of wildlife and bird life in those areas. How much damage occurred before the Conservancies took over is something I don’t know, and how much influence the migratory herds have on the sense of animal abundance may be another factor, but I was happy to enter the Mara Triangle where conservation has been observed throughout this period.
Our game drive, in the Conservancy, was productive, with misty landscapes and silhouetted Zebras, the Lion pride again, and a large herd of African Buffalo where I caught one with an Oxpecker perched on its nose. Shortly after lunch we had a rainstorm, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the Reserve has maintained its variety of game.
November 5, 2021. Not much sleep last night, as both Mary and I were up worrying, silent with our private concerns. Two days ago, and again last evening, Mary had bouts of dizziness and, last night, weird, uncontrolled eye movements, and both of us thought she might be having some delayed after effects of her head bang in Rwanda. One of our participants is a neurologist, and allayed our fears this morning --- dehydration can cause this, and today, on the drive, Mary was fine. But it was a terrible night of terrible scenarios.
The game drive today was quite diverse, with a tame Serval that captured a rat and walked with it towards our cameras. Later, a beautiful Pin-tailed Whydah, a bird with a long streaming black tail, perched cooperatively beside the game track, presenting the best shots I’ve ever had. Using ProCapture, when it flew, I got a series I was quite happy with. Lilac-breasted Rollers taking flight, White-faced Whistling Ducks in flight, and a wonderful experience with a stork ……
We drove up to three out-of-the-nest juvenile Saddle-billed Storks quite close to the road. Immatures are not especially attractive, but they were close and offered a nice portrait opportunity so we stopped. After a few minutes the juveniles started clacking and snapping at each other’s bills, then walked away from us to, we discovered, their mother walking across the swamp. The four joined up, the female regurgitated her meal of fish, and her chicks flapped in begging postures, snapping at her bill and giving us a show I’d never seen before with these Storks.
Further along the track a troop of Banded Mongoose rested on top of a termite mound, completely relaxed, which is somewhat rare for this species. At another location Baboons acted a bit strangely, running passed us and giving a different alarm bark, while Impala ran in the opposite direction, where the Baboons began their run. We investigated, seeing more antelope looking in one direction, and our driver/guide spotted a Lioness carrying something. That, it turned out, was a baby Impala, which the Lioness carried beneath a bush and licked and groomed it for several minutes while the lamb cried. Eventually, the motherly behavior stopped, and the Lioness started eating, without dispatching the lamb first. Fortunately, the lamb died soon afterwards.
Mary’s vehicle left the Lioness and while heading back to the lodge had a great Hippo, outside the water and yawning, giving them a great view. Elands, that I had stopped for before this, the largest antelope, walked off, later turned around and did great leaps across the game track, in front of Mary’s vehicle. Although we only had one lion this morning, we had an extremely productive and rewarding shoot.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s afternoon game drive was a slow one. A pair of sparring African Buffalo and close-up shots of a Water Thick-knee were the only shots, although we’d driven to the Tanzanian border for a pair of Lions that had been mating but were now separated and dead asleep.
PM. Dark clouds, and rain in many areas made the roads treacherous, and we confined ourselves to the main roads where, even then, in trying to do a U-turn, one of our vehicles got stuck. Baby Elephants, and two Black-headed Herons, one eating a huge rat and another a snake, were the shots of the afternoon, with vivid lightning strikes on the horizon frustrating our attempts to capture a bolt.
November 6, 2021. Concerned that the off-track roads would be impassable, we headed on one of the main roads in the hopes of finding a Black Rhino. We were successful, and while the tiny dots (the rhinos) eventually moved within 150 yards of the road they stopped short – we had anticipated they would go to the shelter of the forest but instead flopped down in the shade of an acacia tree.
Earlier, we had a wonderful encounter with a large herd of Elephants, most of whom were engaged in play. Young males intertwined their trunks as they batted heads, and several juveniles mounted one another, far too young for any mating.
Much of the morning was spent waiting for the browsing rhinos to come to us, so the shooting was a bit less varied, but ended with three Lionesses resting in a tree. A distant Impala eventually had all three climb down, with one stalking close and freezing, but the Impala spotted it, gave a few alarm snorts, approached closer for a better look, and then bounced off.
We finished the morning with a large group of large Crocodiles resting on the bank of the Mara River. At the Reserve gate there was a posting by the Mara Conservancy about the drop in numbers with various species of wildlife. I’ll say more about this later, but to give one extremely depressing example, Thompson’s Gazelles, which we used to see by the hundreds in herds, have, since 1977, declined by 95%. This species is the principle prey for Cheetahs, so imagine the impact there. Just a cheery note to pass on.
PM. A relatively rain-free afternoon game drive and we headed to where a Leopard had been reported, lying in a tree. Along the way we met another vehicle where the driver told us of another Leopard, closer, which we checked on first. We found the cat, but it was shy, and retreated into a lugga after just a few shots. We continued on to the other Leopard, which some of our participants saw (I didn’t), and in failing light we headed home. Good Ruppell’s Vultures and a Hyena den were the other evening highlights.
November 7, 2021. We left the Mara Triangle on a morning game drive, heading to the middle Mara and our last destination. Our morning was spent in the Triangle, and it was productive, with a Lion pride on a Gnu kill, although by the time most of us arrived only a Lioness and a black-maned male was still on the kill. However, Nubian and Ruppell’s Vultures, and Black-backed Jackals came in to scavenge, and the shooting was great. Common Zebras fighting, Imperial Eagles landing and taking off – the first time I’ve ever photographed this species, and, included in this post, last night’s Leopard. I’m writing this as we’re having dinner, so this must be brief.
PM. In the afternoon we had a good Gnu crossing at a small stream, with dust backlighted by the low sun. Vehicles on the side where the Gnus were coming from nearly ruined the crossing, but luckily, only two vehicles were present.
November 8, 2021.
Today, shortly after dawn we headed south of the Talek River where our camp/lodge is located, headed to the area where a Serval and two kittens are usually found. As we neared the area we saw several vehicles racing along a lugga where, yesterday, we had seen a Leopard. Closer to us, and heading in our direction, was a Cheetah, who repeatedly looked back over her shoulder, obviously fleeing something. Turns out it was a Leopard, which may have stolen her kill. She ran directly to us, and I got some wonderful shots of her bounding through the dew-covered grass, water flying like jewels as her paws slapped the earth. Our vehicle was the only one with her for several satisfying minutes while below us, as many as 15 vehicles drove, illegally, off-track, pursuing the Leopard. Eventually that cat must have offered few possibilities and vehicles started racing in our direction, roaring noisily towards the Cheetah.
We drove to the Serval, where the mother was near to the track, where we parked, hoping for a shot, and watched 15 vehicles off-track, much closer to the kittens. The Serval settled down and we drove off, finding another Serval where two vehicles, again off-track, were parked, one within about 20 feet of the Serval that moved, hunkered into a slink, from one bit of grassy cover to another. Had that vehicle backed off, and appropriately used the 500mm or 600mm lens that the photographer was using, the cat may have acted naturally. As it was, it stayed hunkered down and we headed home.
November 9, 2021. We headed north, hoping to avoid the madness of yesterday with the hordes of vehicles. We reached the eastern shore of the Mara River where several large Nile Crocodiles basked on the bank, most with their formidable jaws open wide. A Little Bee-eater repeatedly flew to a perch nearby, but distracted by attempting to video Crocodiles going into the water, I missed my flight shots and, in trying to do so, missed the Crocs as well! I was certainly off my game.
We ended the morning at a Lion kill, where several Lionesses and two cubs fed on a Buffalo, with Spotted Hyenas in the grass, presumably waiting. Seven Hyenas were there, but even when only one Lioness remained, with her two cubs, the Hyenas didn’t attempt to drive her off. Normally, that’s a given. Distressingly, although I did see 3 vultures pass by high overhead, none came down, and again, ‘normally,’ vultures would be gliding down to wait their turn. But the skies, essentially, were empty.
November 10, 2021. Yesterday’s afternoon game drive was slow. Mary and I, as per tradition, rode together for our last game drive, and we hunted for Leopards for the group. At the end of the day the group found a Black-backed Jackal den with pups now just miniatures of the adults. Two adults came in, and they were greeted enthusiastically by the pups who nuzzled and nipped at the parent’s mouth until food was regurgitated – the standard way canines feed their pups. Yummy.
Our last evening, however, was wonderful, with the lodge setting up a separate buffet, a cake, singing, and extremely moving speeches by our driver/guides who not only expressed their gratitude for our coming and supporting them, and their families, but also slamming home how vital tourism, and tourist support, is vital for so, so many. Many of these driver/guides, and many of the lodge staff, not only are making money for themselves but also are supporting extended families. The guides had worried that as Covid restrictions tanked the tourist market they wondered if they’d ever work again, and for many, there was no other source of income.
November 11, 2021. I’ve had the idea for this Photo of the Day since January 1, my fallback shot if I was desperate. I’m desperate. We’re on our way home, and had a flight delay of 8 hours, which did give us some chance to sleep, but no chance at any photos. So here’s my Photo Backpack, filled with gear as I carry it on the plane. And the contents, for those who shoot Sony, Nikon, or Canon, may astound you.
Inside is my 150-400mm w the built-in 1.25X TC, giving me the equivalent of 300-1000mm.
To avoid redundancy, double the rest of the focal lengths to get the true image equivalent. So …
300mm – my backup lens if our 150-400 would give out. Equivalent 600mm
40-150mm f2.8, Equivalent 80-300mm
12-100mm f4, Equivalent 24-200mm
7-14mm f2.8, Equivalent 14-28mm
3 camera bodies – M1X, and two OM D E Mark III
3 1.4X tele-converters
And in my laptop, a 100-400mm (Equivalent 100-800mm)
Obviously, traveling with this Olympus gear has made packing, flying, overhead space, a breeze. Try fitting all that in a standard photo backpack with any other system. Now, we’re heading home to the start of winter and the ‘easy’ shots of the past 6 weeks won’t be so easy. The challenge really begins.
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Last Update: December 10, 2021
2020 Trip Reports
Tanzania, Rwanda Kenya 2021
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 1
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 2
Tanzania Februray
Falkland Islands
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Jaguars and the Wildlife of the Pantanal 2019
The Amazon and Harpy Eagles - Scouting Trip 2019-
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The following report is taken from my daily posts on Facebook, where each day, throughout 2021, I've taken at least one new photo a day and posted it, usually with a write-up. This report will give you a great idea of what you can expect on one of our safaris.
October 28, 2021. Nairobi, Kenya, and I spent most of the day, when not meeting our new participants, sitting at a desk writing articles. Sadly, no presidential suite this time. Fortunately, our hotel has a small ornamental pond along one of the pathways where, on previous occasions, I’ve seen and photographed small treefrogs. Last evening, when we arrived at the hotel, I went looking and found none.
Today, just after noon, I went looking again and found a species of true frog (Rana, in this case, I think) sitting in the shade on top a lily pad. Using my 300mm with a 1.4X TC (effective focal length 0f 840mm) and TTL flash I got my shot of the day. If you know your frogs, this one looks remarkably like our North American Leopard Frog, and I bet could pass for one for those not expert in this. And that is a great example of parallel evolution, where related species, found in opposite ends of the earth, evolve to look similar to one another because of the selective pressures of their environment.
October 29, 2021.Wow, day 300, and this day marks the first day of our Kenya Photo Safari. I’m writing this in the common area in Elephant Bedroom Camp, in Samburu, in the short time I have before dinner. The ride here, leaving at 8 and arriving at 5, was an easy one … today the roads are good, in contrast to when we started where roads were often no more than car-swallowing ruts, literally, dusty, bumpy, and pure hell.
Driving north, we were depressed as we neared Samburu and saw countless goats and sheep in massive herds denuding the landscape. These same areas, when we started over 35 years ago, had herds of Zebra, bands of Giraffes, and multiple antelopes visible on the horizon. No more.
We stopped for a 2 hour lunch break at a special place where Black and White Colobus Monkeys are tame and fed by the staff. Everyone got shots, including me, for the shot of the day. And I’m worried about my laptop’s battery power, so as I download I’ll probably use the first image I can … with more to come tomorrow, or later, if I have the juice!
Our drive into Samburu was encouraging, as it was a straight drive in but nevertheless we had most of Samburu’s endemics, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, and Oryx. So tomorrow is promising!
October 30, 2021. Our first morning in Samburu and it was a good one. Shortly after we started the game drive we found a herd of African Elephants walking toward the riverine forest. Mothers and several calves made up the herd, with one very young Elephant that shadowed his mother’s legs, while another, older baby played with a sub-teenager. We had multiple opportunities for the Elephants to walk directly to us, and the shots were rewarding.
Later, one of the more beautiful of the desert songbirds, a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike, sang from an open perch, repeatedly, at full-frame distances, and often enough that I could switch from stills to video several times. A ram Gerenuk, the long-necked, slender antelope, fed at a shrub while standing upright, and, as I hoped, stepped backward, facing us while being away from the bush, giving the appearance of simply walking on two legs. Reticulated Giraffes, Desert Warthogs, Red-billed Hornbills, a Greater Kudu, Gray-headed Kingfisher … it was a diverse day of shooting in my vehicle, and when I spoke to Mary, she had many different highlights than mine, and you can draw the conclusion that there was a lot here to photograph.
PM. A very successful afternoon. We loaded at 3:30 and 7 minutes later we were driving. Our first subject was a Pigmy Falcon, that soon caught a lizard and proceeded to eat the entire thing, long tail and all, and permitted the closest approach I’ve ever had with this bird. We waited 15 minutes for it to fly out once it finished its meal, but the bird stayed put, and when we left, and drove by later, the bird was still perched – probably digesting the big meal. Mary had great luck with another cooperative hawk, a Pale-chanting Goshawk.
A small group of Elephants crossed the river and, upon climbing the bank, walked right between two of our vehicles – literally within a yard or so of either one.
Four Lions, not doing too much, and, at the end of the day a young female Leopard that sat on several rocks before finally, as the light faded, walked down to an Impala kill we hadn’t noticed. We didn’t have a window for shooting the feeding activity, but as we drove away in the evening gloom I saw that there was a very open spot, but other vehicles had blocked that access.
October 31, 2021. Shortly after sunrise we arrived at the site of yesterday’s Leopard, but the cat was gone and the kill was now just some scraps, exposed to birds and the sun. I suspect Striped Hyenas had stolen the kill and fed upon it in the open, at night. Soon afterwards, however, we heard of two more Leopards and we headed there. This was a mother and nearly full-grown cub, secure in a small clearing amidst salt brush where we had only glimpses. Their kill was nearby, at the top of an acacia tree, and while we waited the cub began to approach the tree several times but the movement of cars spooked the cat back into the brush. We waited, hoping that the tourist cars would eventually go elsewhere, but every 15 minutes or so another would arrive, resetting the clock. We left. Today was mostly a bird day. There were no Elephants in the river, the only source of water. We had, however, great White-throated Bee-eaters, an incredible portrait session with a huge adult Martial Eagle, and a juvenile, and a surprising number of Desert Warthogs with babies.
Nearly three months ago, in August, this park was over-run by Samburu herdsmen, and camels, goats, sheep, and cows, and the people and kids attending them, were everywhere. The guides said it was a discouraging sight. The herds are gone, but the landscape is moon-like in places, stripped bare of grasses that are, fortunately, just beginning to resprout with the beginning of the rains.
Despite this ruined landscape, it was a productive day of shooting for the species mentioned, but only a shadow of what this beautiful park once had.
PM. We headed back to the Leopard, informed that the mother Leopard was now visible in the tree where she had stored her kill. We arrived, the report was accurate, and we had some great shooting – the classic ‘leopard in a tree’ pose. After getting some shots, Mary headed up to the area where, yesterday, we had the young Leopard and she spotted the cat, lying on a rock, from about 250 yards away. At that distance, a cat lying on a rock merges quite well, but she saw the cat’s head, which seemed a bit different in color, and put up her binocs. We all got some nice shots out of that!
On the way to the Leopard, my vehicle stopped for the most cooperative pair of Red and Yellow Barbets, a colorful bird that often nests in termite mounds, which is its main diet. Mary’s vehicle had her best Gabar Goshawk, so … in addition to the Leopards, we had a diverse and productive afternoon.
November 1, 2021. Our last full day in Samburu began with a herd of African Elephants wading across the shallow, wide expanse of the Ewaso Ngiro River, just outside our camp. The light was still muted with the sun just crested the distant hills, and Elephants filed single file, their splashing barely audible in the still morning air.
The morning was backed with subjects, from another tame Pigmy Falcon, a cooperative, colorful Leopard Tortoise, a pup Bat-eared Fox, multiple birds, including Gray-headed Kingfishers, Von Der Decken’s Hornbills, Fort-tailed Flycatchers, and a superb shooting session with Little Bee-eaters where ProCapture caught the transfer of a fly from an adult to a full-grown fledgling, in a blink of the eye that I never saw! A Martial Eagle, methodically plucking the feathers of a Vulturine Guineafowl, was another first, and it was amazing how many feathers that guineafowl had. The eagle didn’t completely pluck the bird, once enough skin was revealed, but the pile of feathers was huge.
We followed a group of Lions that wove constantly through thickets along the river’s edge until, finally, the lead Lioness climbed atop a fallen tree, adopting a leopard’s pose, and in the dappled light the image resembled an oil painting. With the heat of mid-day building we headed home, but were stopped when another large herd of Elephants book-ended our game drive by, once again, crossing the river, this time with a tiny baby Elephant in tow.
PM. Mary’s favorite animal is the Elephant, but it isn’t mine. Normally I find Elephants less enchanting, and although interesting anatomically, … well, they just don’t move me like they do so many. And then, tonight, I shot 1,800+ images of Elephants, spending the entire afternoon game drive with a herd of 50 or so, with one baby that was about one month old. Newborns are completely uncoordinated with their trunks, which is quite comical to see, and tonight’s little baby was playing with sticks and attempting to break them off, signaling that there was some coordination developed. We spotted a young baby, and we were able to get in front of the herd, and the mother and calf, several times. And then, the magic happened. The mother fed on a bush close to the road while her baby and a one-year old engaged in a wrestling match. The baby, outmatched by 3 to 1, boldly jammed into the other, shoving back and forth, intertwining trunks, playing and wrestling with the best views of a youngster I’ve had in over 30 years of safaris.
That activity continued, and continued, but when the herd moved into the open plains, with a sky of cumulous clouds and low, angular light, I got back on to the radio and told everyone they had to return to the herds. Everyone arrived in time to be surrounded by adults and babies, with wrestling and feeding, until the herd crossed the last road and, as the sun set behind the hill, the light failed.
But we still had a ‘sundowner’, where our lodge had a fire and drinks and food, and a birthday cake for Jackie, one of our participants, and we drank and chatted as the last western light faded from the sky and, bathed by the golden glow of our campfire, we said goodbye to Samburu as we headed on to our next destination in Kenya.
November 2, 2021. We had a direct flight from Samburu to the Mara Conservancy, passing over the flooded Lake Nakuru in doing so. Lake Nakuru WAS famous for the incredible concentration of flamingos, but tectonic plate shifts, or something, has changed the hydrology and the lake has grown each year, flooding the game tracks that once crossed the dried mud flats and the main tracks that encircled the lake. With the fresh, high water, the Flamingos are gone.
35 or so years ago we stayed quite close to the camp we’re now using, but 10 years in, the small trading post grew in size and, in time, became a town. At that point, we shifted our camps to the interior of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and I had little hope for this area. As we started our afternoon game drive today we passed houses and fences, scattered for miles, and the area looked quite depressing. But the Conservancies that now lease the land from the local Masai have done an incredible job, coexisting with the Mara, and conserving game even in the face of cows and sheep.
And this evening was incredible. We started in a true tropical downpour, probably dropping 2 inches per hour, flooding the road and limiting visibility. When the rain finally let up to a drizzle, relatively speaking, we rolled up the canvan/plastic rain covers for the vehicle (we rolled them down too late for the rain, and most of us were soaked thoroughly, but our shooting started with a mother Cheetah with two 5 month old cubs, still with their white wooly coat but beginning to grow their distinctive spots. They fed on a Thompson’s Gazelle, harassed by a Black-backed Jackal that the female cub repeated chased, sometimes 50 yards or more. I was worried that at some point, beyond the sight of her mother, the Cheetah would change roles and grab the cub, which was just half the Jackal’s size. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
The meal was almost concluded when our guides spotted a lone, distant Spotted Hyena grab and take down a full-grown bull Gnu, probably grabbing it by the testicles to stop it. I think that’d work. We raced to the scene while the struggle was still on, with more Hyenas joining the first, as all of them tore into the struggling Gnu. I switched to video (I’ll post that tomorrow, hopefully, once everything gets downloaded, but the video will be ghastly), and gasped when I saw a Hyena rip out the guts of the Gnu, which then stood and bucked and tried horning its attackers. In less than an hour, virtually nothing was left of the carcass, just parts of the head and hide, and as we drove off I suspect that will be gone by morning. Obviously, this was a great start to our time in the Mara, and the Hyena/Gnu kill we’ve only seen one other time, 20 years ago!
November 3, 2021. Yesterday’s monsoon rains and cloudy skies had vanished overnight, but the black cotton soil on the game tracks was as slippery as ice. We headed to a Lion pride where several Lionesses lounged on small hillocks bordering a forest and cubs of various sizes chased one another, wrestled, or played with along branch. On our last visit to the Conservancies three years ago the Masai cows still wore cow bells, whose ringing carried great distances and, when heard, drove Lions to the cover of the forests. Cow bells are now banned, and herds within sight of the resting lions were now ignored.
Eventually the Lions retreated to the forest shade, but I wondered if that may have been through the lingering habit of simply making themselves scarce and invisible during the day when Masai herdsmen passed by with their cattle. Our next stop was for Leopards, and we found a female sitting upright along the edge of a croton bush thicket, with her 6 month old cub lying in the grass in full view. The two stayed for a time before moving into the brush where several of our vehicles had close encounters, and great shots. At one point the Leopardess started to cross a wide field, pausing and calling for her cub, who never left the brush. The mother eventually returned to the brush where, I presume, she rejoined with her baby.
Nile Monitors foraging far from water, a blue-headed Tree Agama, sparring Warthogs, and a Topi silhouetted against a threatening cumulous cloud sky, oh, and a sunrise with an acacia, completed our morning shoot.
At noon our safari guides joined us at the camp, replacing the camp drivers and their vehicles that we’ve used for the last two game drives. Their knowledge of the area was invaluable, and although we were happy to be with our guides again, I’ll miss my camp driver, Dennis, who did a really wonderful job.
PM. This evening, with intermittent rain, we headed back to the Lions. One of the young cubs was particularly feisty, the male cub going up against much larger cubs, rough-housing until, in some cases, the larger cub or cubs simply got up and walked away. The light grew progressively dimmer, but with high ISO or by shooting video we made the most of a wonderful situation.
Our guides had drinks packed for a sundowner, courtesy of our camp, but failed to tell us, and while the shooting was good, I was extremely annoyed not to have been told about an option for the group. I will be talking to them.
November 4, 2021. We left our camp in the Mara Conservancy and headed to our next destination, in the Mara Triangle. Game-driving along the way our route took us to locations we used to visit when we stayed at the Mara River Camp, places like Fig Tree Ridge, the Leopard Gorge, the Killing Field, Puff Adder Ridge. When Mara River Camp closed, we moved our operation deeper into the Mara Reserve where we were insulated from the presence of Masai, which were steadily degrading and denuding the land. Acacia woodlands had been cleared, and livestock was everywhere, and I had little hope for the future of the area outside the actual park. The Conservancies have changed all that, and now most of these areas are once again devoid of people and livestock, and the hillsides are once again sprouting acacia trees, although those trees are still mere saplings. The future does look brighter, although that future may be years away.
Distressingly, the game was minimal. As I passed our old landmarks I was sickened, as we were seeing mere relics of the past abundance of wildlife and bird life in those areas. How much damage occurred before the Conservancies took over is something I don’t know, and how much influence the migratory herds have on the sense of animal abundance may be another factor, but I was happy to enter the Mara Triangle where conservation has been observed throughout this period.
Our game drive, in the Conservancy, was productive, with misty landscapes and silhouetted Zebras, the Lion pride again, and a large herd of African Buffalo where I caught one with an Oxpecker perched on its nose. Shortly after lunch we had a rainstorm, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the Reserve has maintained its variety of game.
November 5, 2021. Not much sleep last night, as both Mary and I were up worrying, silent with our private concerns. Two days ago, and again last evening, Mary had bouts of dizziness and, last night, weird, uncontrolled eye movements, and both of us thought she might be having some delayed after effects of her head bang in Rwanda. One of our participants is a neurologist, and allayed our fears this morning --- dehydration can cause this, and today, on the drive, Mary was fine. But it was a terrible night of terrible scenarios.
The game drive today was quite diverse, with a tame Serval that captured a rat and walked with it towards our cameras. Later, a beautiful Pin-tailed Whydah, a bird with a long streaming black tail, perched cooperatively beside the game track, presenting the best shots I’ve ever had. Using ProCapture, when it flew, I got a series I was quite happy with. Lilac-breasted Rollers taking flight, White-faced Whistling Ducks in flight, and a wonderful experience with a stork ……
We drove up to three out-of-the-nest juvenile Saddle-billed Storks quite close to the road. Immatures are not especially attractive, but they were close and offered a nice portrait opportunity so we stopped. After a few minutes the juveniles started clacking and snapping at each other’s bills, then walked away from us to, we discovered, their mother walking across the swamp. The four joined up, the female regurgitated her meal of fish, and her chicks flapped in begging postures, snapping at her bill and giving us a show I’d never seen before with these Storks.
Further along the track a troop of Banded Mongoose rested on top of a termite mound, completely relaxed, which is somewhat rare for this species. At another location Baboons acted a bit strangely, running passed us and giving a different alarm bark, while Impala ran in the opposite direction, where the Baboons began their run. We investigated, seeing more antelope looking in one direction, and our driver/guide spotted a Lioness carrying something. That, it turned out, was a baby Impala, which the Lioness carried beneath a bush and licked and groomed it for several minutes while the lamb cried. Eventually, the motherly behavior stopped, and the Lioness started eating, without dispatching the lamb first. Fortunately, the lamb died soon afterwards.
Mary’s vehicle left the Lioness and while heading back to the lodge had a great Hippo, outside the water and yawning, giving them a great view. Elands, that I had stopped for before this, the largest antelope, walked off, later turned around and did great leaps across the game track, in front of Mary’s vehicle. Although we only had one lion this morning, we had an extremely productive and rewarding shoot.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s afternoon game drive was a slow one. A pair of sparring African Buffalo and close-up shots of a Water Thick-knee were the only shots, although we’d driven to the Tanzanian border for a pair of Lions that had been mating but were now separated and dead asleep.
PM. Dark clouds, and rain in many areas made the roads treacherous, and we confined ourselves to the main roads where, even then, in trying to do a U-turn, one of our vehicles got stuck. Baby Elephants, and two Black-headed Herons, one eating a huge rat and another a snake, were the shots of the afternoon, with vivid lightning strikes on the horizon frustrating our attempts to capture a bolt.
November 6, 2021. Concerned that the off-track roads would be impassable, we headed on one of the main roads in the hopes of finding a Black Rhino. We were successful, and while the tiny dots (the rhinos) eventually moved within 150 yards of the road they stopped short – we had anticipated they would go to the shelter of the forest but instead flopped down in the shade of an acacia tree.
Earlier, we had a wonderful encounter with a large herd of Elephants, most of whom were engaged in play. Young males intertwined their trunks as they batted heads, and several juveniles mounted one another, far too young for any mating.
Much of the morning was spent waiting for the browsing rhinos to come to us, so the shooting was a bit less varied, but ended with three Lionesses resting in a tree. A distant Impala eventually had all three climb down, with one stalking close and freezing, but the Impala spotted it, gave a few alarm snorts, approached closer for a better look, and then bounced off.
We finished the morning with a large group of large Crocodiles resting on the bank of the Mara River. At the Reserve gate there was a posting by the Mara Conservancy about the drop in numbers with various species of wildlife. I’ll say more about this later, but to give one extremely depressing example, Thompson’s Gazelles, which we used to see by the hundreds in herds, have, since 1977, declined by 95%. This species is the principle prey for Cheetahs, so imagine the impact there. Just a cheery note to pass on.
PM. A relatively rain-free afternoon game drive and we headed to where a Leopard had been reported, lying in a tree. Along the way we met another vehicle where the driver told us of another Leopard, closer, which we checked on first. We found the cat, but it was shy, and retreated into a lugga after just a few shots. We continued on to the other Leopard, which some of our participants saw (I didn’t), and in failing light we headed home. Good Ruppell’s Vultures and a Hyena den were the other evening highlights.
November 7, 2021. We left the Mara Triangle on a morning game drive, heading to the middle Mara and our last destination. Our morning was spent in the Triangle, and it was productive, with a Lion pride on a Gnu kill, although by the time most of us arrived only a Lioness and a black-maned male was still on the kill. However, Nubian and Ruppell’s Vultures, and Black-backed Jackals came in to scavenge, and the shooting was great. Common Zebras fighting, Imperial Eagles landing and taking off – the first time I’ve ever photographed this species, and, included in this post, last night’s Leopard. I’m writing this as we’re having dinner, so this must be brief.
PM. In the afternoon we had a good Gnu crossing at a small stream, with dust backlighted by the low sun. Vehicles on the side where the Gnus were coming from nearly ruined the crossing, but luckily, only two vehicles were present.
November 8, 2021.
Today, shortly after dawn we headed south of the Talek River where our camp/lodge is located, headed to the area where a Serval and two kittens are usually found. As we neared the area we saw several vehicles racing along a lugga where, yesterday, we had seen a Leopard. Closer to us, and heading in our direction, was a Cheetah, who repeatedly looked back over her shoulder, obviously fleeing something. Turns out it was a Leopard, which may have stolen her kill. She ran directly to us, and I got some wonderful shots of her bounding through the dew-covered grass, water flying like jewels as her paws slapped the earth. Our vehicle was the only one with her for several satisfying minutes while below us, as many as 15 vehicles drove, illegally, off-track, pursuing the Leopard. Eventually that cat must have offered few possibilities and vehicles started racing in our direction, roaring noisily towards the Cheetah.
We drove to the Serval, where the mother was near to the track, where we parked, hoping for a shot, and watched 15 vehicles off-track, much closer to the kittens. The Serval settled down and we drove off, finding another Serval where two vehicles, again off-track, were parked, one within about 20 feet of the Serval that moved, hunkered into a slink, from one bit of grassy cover to another. Had that vehicle backed off, and appropriately used the 500mm or 600mm lens that the photographer was using, the cat may have acted naturally. As it was, it stayed hunkered down and we headed home.
November 9, 2021. We headed north, hoping to avoid the madness of yesterday with the hordes of vehicles. We reached the eastern shore of the Mara River where several large Nile Crocodiles basked on the bank, most with their formidable jaws open wide. A Little Bee-eater repeatedly flew to a perch nearby, but distracted by attempting to video Crocodiles going into the water, I missed my flight shots and, in trying to do so, missed the Crocs as well! I was certainly off my game.
We ended the morning at a Lion kill, where several Lionesses and two cubs fed on a Buffalo, with Spotted Hyenas in the grass, presumably waiting. Seven Hyenas were there, but even when only one Lioness remained, with her two cubs, the Hyenas didn’t attempt to drive her off. Normally, that’s a given. Distressingly, although I did see 3 vultures pass by high overhead, none came down, and again, ‘normally,’ vultures would be gliding down to wait their turn. But the skies, essentially, were empty.
November 10, 2021. Yesterday’s afternoon game drive was slow. Mary and I, as per tradition, rode together for our last game drive, and we hunted for Leopards for the group. At the end of the day the group found a Black-backed Jackal den with pups now just miniatures of the adults. Two adults came in, and they were greeted enthusiastically by the pups who nuzzled and nipped at the parent’s mouth until food was regurgitated – the standard way canines feed their pups. Yummy.
Our last evening, however, was wonderful, with the lodge setting up a separate buffet, a cake, singing, and extremely moving speeches by our driver/guides who not only expressed their gratitude for our coming and supporting them, and their families, but also slamming home how vital tourism, and tourist support, is vital for so, so many. Many of these driver/guides, and many of the lodge staff, not only are making money for themselves but also are supporting extended families. The guides had worried that as Covid restrictions tanked the tourist market they wondered if they’d ever work again, and for many, there was no other source of income.
November 11, 2021. I’ve had the idea for this Photo of the Day since January 1, my fallback shot if I was desperate. I’m desperate. We’re on our way home, and had a flight delay of 8 hours, which did give us some chance to sleep, but no chance at any photos. So here’s my Photo Backpack, filled with gear as I carry it on the plane. And the contents, for those who shoot Sony, Nikon, or Canon, may astound you.
Inside is my 150-400mm w the built-in 1.25X TC, giving me the equivalent of 300-1000mm.
To avoid redundancy, double the rest of the focal lengths to get the true image equivalent. So …
300mm – my backup lens if our 150-400 would give out. Equivalent 600mm
40-150mm f2.8, Equivalent 80-300mm
12-100mm f4, Equivalent 24-200mm
7-14mm f2.8, Equivalent 14-28mm
3 camera bodies – M1X, and two OM D E Mark III
3 1.4X tele-converters
And in my laptop, a 100-400mm (Equivalent 100-800mm)
Obviously, traveling with this Olympus gear has made packing, flying, overhead space, a breeze. Try fitting all that in a standard photo backpack with any other system. Now, we’re heading home to the start of winter and the ‘easy’ shots of the past 6 weeks won’t be so easy. The challenge really begins.
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Last Update: December 10, 2021
2020 Trip Reports
Tanzania, Rwanda Kenya 2021
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 1
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 2
Tanzania Februray
Falkland Islands
2019 Trip Reports
South Africa 2019 Scouting Trip
Jaguars and the Wildlife of the Pantanal 2019
The Amazon and Harpy Eagles - Scouting Trip 2019-
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The following report is taken from my daily posts on Facebook, where each day, throughout 2021, I've taken at least one new photo a day and posted it, usually with a write-up. This report will give you a great idea of what you can expect on one of our safaris.
October 28, 2021. Nairobi, Kenya, and I spent most of the day, when not meeting our new participants, sitting at a desk writing articles. Sadly, no presidential suite this time. Fortunately, our hotel has a small ornamental pond along one of the pathways where, on previous occasions, I’ve seen and photographed small treefrogs. Last evening, when we arrived at the hotel, I went looking and found none.
Today, just after noon, I went looking again and found a species of true frog (Rana, in this case, I think) sitting in the shade on top a lily pad. Using my 300mm with a 1.4X TC (effective focal length 0f 840mm) and TTL flash I got my shot of the day. If you know your frogs, this one looks remarkably like our North American Leopard Frog, and I bet could pass for one for those not expert in this. And that is a great example of parallel evolution, where related species, found in opposite ends of the earth, evolve to look similar to one another because of the selective pressures of their environment.
October 29, 2021.Wow, day 300, and this day marks the first day of our Kenya Photo Safari. I’m writing this in the common area in Elephant Bedroom Camp, in Samburu, in the short time I have before dinner. The ride here, leaving at 8 and arriving at 5, was an easy one … today the roads are good, in contrast to when we started where roads were often no more than car-swallowing ruts, literally, dusty, bumpy, and pure hell.
Driving north, we were depressed as we neared Samburu and saw countless goats and sheep in massive herds denuding the landscape. These same areas, when we started over 35 years ago, had herds of Zebra, bands of Giraffes, and multiple antelopes visible on the horizon. No more.
We stopped for a 2 hour lunch break at a special place where Black and White Colobus Monkeys are tame and fed by the staff. Everyone got shots, including me, for the shot of the day. And I’m worried about my laptop’s battery power, so as I download I’ll probably use the first image I can … with more to come tomorrow, or later, if I have the juice!
Our drive into Samburu was encouraging, as it was a straight drive in but nevertheless we had most of Samburu’s endemics, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, and Oryx. So tomorrow is promising!
October 30, 2021. Our first morning in Samburu and it was a good one. Shortly after we started the game drive we found a herd of African Elephants walking toward the riverine forest. Mothers and several calves made up the herd, with one very young Elephant that shadowed his mother’s legs, while another, older baby played with a sub-teenager. We had multiple opportunities for the Elephants to walk directly to us, and the shots were rewarding.
Later, one of the more beautiful of the desert songbirds, a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike, sang from an open perch, repeatedly, at full-frame distances, and often enough that I could switch from stills to video several times. A ram Gerenuk, the long-necked, slender antelope, fed at a shrub while standing upright, and, as I hoped, stepped backward, facing us while being away from the bush, giving the appearance of simply walking on two legs. Reticulated Giraffes, Desert Warthogs, Red-billed Hornbills, a Greater Kudu, Gray-headed Kingfisher … it was a diverse day of shooting in my vehicle, and when I spoke to Mary, she had many different highlights than mine, and you can draw the conclusion that there was a lot here to photograph.
PM. A very successful afternoon. We loaded at 3:30 and 7 minutes later we were driving. Our first subject was a Pigmy Falcon, that soon caught a lizard and proceeded to eat the entire thing, long tail and all, and permitted the closest approach I’ve ever had with this bird. We waited 15 minutes for it to fly out once it finished its meal, but the bird stayed put, and when we left, and drove by later, the bird was still perched – probably digesting the big meal. Mary had great luck with another cooperative hawk, a Pale-chanting Goshawk.
A small group of Elephants crossed the river and, upon climbing the bank, walked right between two of our vehicles – literally within a yard or so of either one.
Four Lions, not doing too much, and, at the end of the day a young female Leopard that sat on several rocks before finally, as the light faded, walked down to an Impala kill we hadn’t noticed. We didn’t have a window for shooting the feeding activity, but as we drove away in the evening gloom I saw that there was a very open spot, but other vehicles had blocked that access.
October 31, 2021. Shortly after sunrise we arrived at the site of yesterday’s Leopard, but the cat was gone and the kill was now just some scraps, exposed to birds and the sun. I suspect Striped Hyenas had stolen the kill and fed upon it in the open, at night. Soon afterwards, however, we heard of two more Leopards and we headed there. This was a mother and nearly full-grown cub, secure in a small clearing amidst salt brush where we had only glimpses. Their kill was nearby, at the top of an acacia tree, and while we waited the cub began to approach the tree several times but the movement of cars spooked the cat back into the brush. We waited, hoping that the tourist cars would eventually go elsewhere, but every 15 minutes or so another would arrive, resetting the clock. We left. Today was mostly a bird day. There were no Elephants in the river, the only source of water. We had, however, great White-throated Bee-eaters, an incredible portrait session with a huge adult Martial Eagle, and a juvenile, and a surprising number of Desert Warthogs with babies.
Nearly three months ago, in August, this park was over-run by Samburu herdsmen, and camels, goats, sheep, and cows, and the people and kids attending them, were everywhere. The guides said it was a discouraging sight. The herds are gone, but the landscape is moon-like in places, stripped bare of grasses that are, fortunately, just beginning to resprout with the beginning of the rains.
Despite this ruined landscape, it was a productive day of shooting for the species mentioned, but only a shadow of what this beautiful park once had.
PM. We headed back to the Leopard, informed that the mother Leopard was now visible in the tree where she had stored her kill. We arrived, the report was accurate, and we had some great shooting – the classic ‘leopard in a tree’ pose. After getting some shots, Mary headed up to the area where, yesterday, we had the young Leopard and she spotted the cat, lying on a rock, from about 250 yards away. At that distance, a cat lying on a rock merges quite well, but she saw the cat’s head, which seemed a bit different in color, and put up her binocs. We all got some nice shots out of that!
On the way to the Leopard, my vehicle stopped for the most cooperative pair of Red and Yellow Barbets, a colorful bird that often nests in termite mounds, which is its main diet. Mary’s vehicle had her best Gabar Goshawk, so … in addition to the Leopards, we had a diverse and productive afternoon.
November 1, 2021. Our last full day in Samburu began with a herd of African Elephants wading across the shallow, wide expanse of the Ewaso Ngiro River, just outside our camp. The light was still muted with the sun just crested the distant hills, and Elephants filed single file, their splashing barely audible in the still morning air.
The morning was backed with subjects, from another tame Pigmy Falcon, a cooperative, colorful Leopard Tortoise, a pup Bat-eared Fox, multiple birds, including Gray-headed Kingfishers, Von Der Decken’s Hornbills, Fort-tailed Flycatchers, and a superb shooting session with Little Bee-eaters where ProCapture caught the transfer of a fly from an adult to a full-grown fledgling, in a blink of the eye that I never saw! A Martial Eagle, methodically plucking the feathers of a Vulturine Guineafowl, was another first, and it was amazing how many feathers that guineafowl had. The eagle didn’t completely pluck the bird, once enough skin was revealed, but the pile of feathers was huge.
We followed a group of Lions that wove constantly through thickets along the river’s edge until, finally, the lead Lioness climbed atop a fallen tree, adopting a leopard’s pose, and in the dappled light the image resembled an oil painting. With the heat of mid-day building we headed home, but were stopped when another large herd of Elephants book-ended our game drive by, once again, crossing the river, this time with a tiny baby Elephant in tow.
PM. Mary’s favorite animal is the Elephant, but it isn’t mine. Normally I find Elephants less enchanting, and although interesting anatomically, … well, they just don’t move me like they do so many. And then, tonight, I shot 1,800+ images of Elephants, spending the entire afternoon game drive with a herd of 50 or so, with one baby that was about one month old. Newborns are completely uncoordinated with their trunks, which is quite comical to see, and tonight’s little baby was playing with sticks and attempting to break them off, signaling that there was some coordination developed. We spotted a young baby, and we were able to get in front of the herd, and the mother and calf, several times. And then, the magic happened. The mother fed on a bush close to the road while her baby and a one-year old engaged in a wrestling match. The baby, outmatched by 3 to 1, boldly jammed into the other, shoving back and forth, intertwining trunks, playing and wrestling with the best views of a youngster I’ve had in over 30 years of safaris.
That activity continued, and continued, but when the herd moved into the open plains, with a sky of cumulous clouds and low, angular light, I got back on to the radio and told everyone they had to return to the herds. Everyone arrived in time to be surrounded by adults and babies, with wrestling and feeding, until the herd crossed the last road and, as the sun set behind the hill, the light failed.
But we still had a ‘sundowner’, where our lodge had a fire and drinks and food, and a birthday cake for Jackie, one of our participants, and we drank and chatted as the last western light faded from the sky and, bathed by the golden glow of our campfire, we said goodbye to Samburu as we headed on to our next destination in Kenya.
November 2, 2021. We had a direct flight from Samburu to the Mara Conservancy, passing over the flooded Lake Nakuru in doing so. Lake Nakuru WAS famous for the incredible concentration of flamingos, but tectonic plate shifts, or something, has changed the hydrology and the lake has grown each year, flooding the game tracks that once crossed the dried mud flats and the main tracks that encircled the lake. With the fresh, high water, the Flamingos are gone.
35 or so years ago we stayed quite close to the camp we’re now using, but 10 years in, the small trading post grew in size and, in time, became a town. At that point, we shifted our camps to the interior of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and I had little hope for this area. As we started our afternoon game drive today we passed houses and fences, scattered for miles, and the area looked quite depressing. But the Conservancies that now lease the land from the local Masai have done an incredible job, coexisting with the Mara, and conserving game even in the face of cows and sheep.
And this evening was incredible. We started in a true tropical downpour, probably dropping 2 inches per hour, flooding the road and limiting visibility. When the rain finally let up to a drizzle, relatively speaking, we rolled up the canvan/plastic rain covers for the vehicle (we rolled them down too late for the rain, and most of us were soaked thoroughly, but our shooting started with a mother Cheetah with two 5 month old cubs, still with their white wooly coat but beginning to grow their distinctive spots. They fed on a Thompson’s Gazelle, harassed by a Black-backed Jackal that the female cub repeated chased, sometimes 50 yards or more. I was worried that at some point, beyond the sight of her mother, the Cheetah would change roles and grab the cub, which was just half the Jackal’s size. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
The meal was almost concluded when our guides spotted a lone, distant Spotted Hyena grab and take down a full-grown bull Gnu, probably grabbing it by the testicles to stop it. I think that’d work. We raced to the scene while the struggle was still on, with more Hyenas joining the first, as all of them tore into the struggling Gnu. I switched to video (I’ll post that tomorrow, hopefully, once everything gets downloaded, but the video will be ghastly), and gasped when I saw a Hyena rip out the guts of the Gnu, which then stood and bucked and tried horning its attackers. In less than an hour, virtually nothing was left of the carcass, just parts of the head and hide, and as we drove off I suspect that will be gone by morning. Obviously, this was a great start to our time in the Mara, and the Hyena/Gnu kill we’ve only seen one other time, 20 years ago!
November 3, 2021. Yesterday’s monsoon rains and cloudy skies had vanished overnight, but the black cotton soil on the game tracks was as slippery as ice. We headed to a Lion pride where several Lionesses lounged on small hillocks bordering a forest and cubs of various sizes chased one another, wrestled, or played with along branch. On our last visit to the Conservancies three years ago the Masai cows still wore cow bells, whose ringing carried great distances and, when heard, drove Lions to the cover of the forests. Cow bells are now banned, and herds within sight of the resting lions were now ignored.
Eventually the Lions retreated to the forest shade, but I wondered if that may have been through the lingering habit of simply making themselves scarce and invisible during the day when Masai herdsmen passed by with their cattle. Our next stop was for Leopards, and we found a female sitting upright along the edge of a croton bush thicket, with her 6 month old cub lying in the grass in full view. The two stayed for a time before moving into the brush where several of our vehicles had close encounters, and great shots. At one point the Leopardess started to cross a wide field, pausing and calling for her cub, who never left the brush. The mother eventually returned to the brush where, I presume, she rejoined with her baby.
Nile Monitors foraging far from water, a blue-headed Tree Agama, sparring Warthogs, and a Topi silhouetted against a threatening cumulous cloud sky, oh, and a sunrise with an acacia, completed our morning shoot.
At noon our safari guides joined us at the camp, replacing the camp drivers and their vehicles that we’ve used for the last two game drives. Their knowledge of the area was invaluable, and although we were happy to be with our guides again, I’ll miss my camp driver, Dennis, who did a really wonderful job.
PM. This evening, with intermittent rain, we headed back to the Lions. One of the young cubs was particularly feisty, the male cub going up against much larger cubs, rough-housing until, in some cases, the larger cub or cubs simply got up and walked away. The light grew progressively dimmer, but with high ISO or by shooting video we made the most of a wonderful situation.
Our guides had drinks packed for a sundowner, courtesy of our camp, but failed to tell us, and while the shooting was good, I was extremely annoyed not to have been told about an option for the group. I will be talking to them.
November 4, 2021. We left our camp in the Mara Conservancy and headed to our next destination, in the Mara Triangle. Game-driving along the way our route took us to locations we used to visit when we stayed at the Mara River Camp, places like Fig Tree Ridge, the Leopard Gorge, the Killing Field, Puff Adder Ridge. When Mara River Camp closed, we moved our operation deeper into the Mara Reserve where we were insulated from the presence of Masai, which were steadily degrading and denuding the land. Acacia woodlands had been cleared, and livestock was everywhere, and I had little hope for the future of the area outside the actual park. The Conservancies have changed all that, and now most of these areas are once again devoid of people and livestock, and the hillsides are once again sprouting acacia trees, although those trees are still mere saplings. The future does look brighter, although that future may be years away.
Distressingly, the game was minimal. As I passed our old landmarks I was sickened, as we were seeing mere relics of the past abundance of wildlife and bird life in those areas. How much damage occurred before the Conservancies took over is something I don’t know, and how much influence the migratory herds have on the sense of animal abundance may be another factor, but I was happy to enter the Mara Triangle where conservation has been observed throughout this period.
Our game drive, in the Conservancy, was productive, with misty landscapes and silhouetted Zebras, the Lion pride again, and a large herd of African Buffalo where I caught one with an Oxpecker perched on its nose. Shortly after lunch we had a rainstorm, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the Reserve has maintained its variety of game.
November 5, 2021. Not much sleep last night, as both Mary and I were up worrying, silent with our private concerns. Two days ago, and again last evening, Mary had bouts of dizziness and, last night, weird, uncontrolled eye movements, and both of us thought she might be having some delayed after effects of her head bang in Rwanda. One of our participants is a neurologist, and allayed our fears this morning --- dehydration can cause this, and today, on the drive, Mary was fine. But it was a terrible night of terrible scenarios.
The game drive today was quite diverse, with a tame Serval that captured a rat and walked with it towards our cameras. Later, a beautiful Pin-tailed Whydah, a bird with a long streaming black tail, perched cooperatively beside the game track, presenting the best shots I’ve ever had. Using ProCapture, when it flew, I got a series I was quite happy with. Lilac-breasted Rollers taking flight, White-faced Whistling Ducks in flight, and a wonderful experience with a stork ……
We drove up to three out-of-the-nest juvenile Saddle-billed Storks quite close to the road. Immatures are not especially attractive, but they were close and offered a nice portrait opportunity so we stopped. After a few minutes the juveniles started clacking and snapping at each other’s bills, then walked away from us to, we discovered, their mother walking across the swamp. The four joined up, the female regurgitated her meal of fish, and her chicks flapped in begging postures, snapping at her bill and giving us a show I’d never seen before with these Storks.
Further along the track a troop of Banded Mongoose rested on top of a termite mound, completely relaxed, which is somewhat rare for this species. At another location Baboons acted a bit strangely, running passed us and giving a different alarm bark, while Impala ran in the opposite direction, where the Baboons began their run. We investigated, seeing more antelope looking in one direction, and our driver/guide spotted a Lioness carrying something. That, it turned out, was a baby Impala, which the Lioness carried beneath a bush and licked and groomed it for several minutes while the lamb cried. Eventually, the motherly behavior stopped, and the Lioness started eating, without dispatching the lamb first. Fortunately, the lamb died soon afterwards.
Mary’s vehicle left the Lioness and while heading back to the lodge had a great Hippo, outside the water and yawning, giving them a great view. Elands, that I had stopped for before this, the largest antelope, walked off, later turned around and did great leaps across the game track, in front of Mary’s vehicle. Although we only had one lion this morning, we had an extremely productive and rewarding shoot.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s afternoon game drive was a slow one. A pair of sparring African Buffalo and close-up shots of a Water Thick-knee were the only shots, although we’d driven to the Tanzanian border for a pair of Lions that had been mating but were now separated and dead asleep.
PM. Dark clouds, and rain in many areas made the roads treacherous, and we confined ourselves to the main roads where, even then, in trying to do a U-turn, one of our vehicles got stuck. Baby Elephants, and two Black-headed Herons, one eating a huge rat and another a snake, were the shots of the afternoon, with vivid lightning strikes on the horizon frustrating our attempts to capture a bolt.
November 6, 2021. Concerned that the off-track roads would be impassable, we headed on one of the main roads in the hopes of finding a Black Rhino. We were successful, and while the tiny dots (the rhinos) eventually moved within 150 yards of the road they stopped short – we had anticipated they would go to the shelter of the forest but instead flopped down in the shade of an acacia tree.
Earlier, we had a wonderful encounter with a large herd of Elephants, most of whom were engaged in play. Young males intertwined their trunks as they batted heads, and several juveniles mounted one another, far too young for any mating.
Much of the morning was spent waiting for the browsing rhinos to come to us, so the shooting was a bit less varied, but ended with three Lionesses resting in a tree. A distant Impala eventually had all three climb down, with one stalking close and freezing, but the Impala spotted it, gave a few alarm snorts, approached closer for a better look, and then bounced off.
We finished the morning with a large group of large Crocodiles resting on the bank of the Mara River. At the Reserve gate there was a posting by the Mara Conservancy about the drop in numbers with various species of wildlife. I’ll say more about this later, but to give one extremely depressing example, Thompson’s Gazelles, which we used to see by the hundreds in herds, have, since 1977, declined by 95%. This species is the principle prey for Cheetahs, so imagine the impact there. Just a cheery note to pass on.
PM. A relatively rain-free afternoon game drive and we headed to where a Leopard had been reported, lying in a tree. Along the way we met another vehicle where the driver told us of another Leopard, closer, which we checked on first. We found the cat, but it was shy, and retreated into a lugga after just a few shots. We continued on to the other Leopard, which some of our participants saw (I didn’t), and in failing light we headed home. Good Ruppell’s Vultures and a Hyena den were the other evening highlights.
November 7, 2021. We left the Mara Triangle on a morning game drive, heading to the middle Mara and our last destination. Our morning was spent in the Triangle, and it was productive, with a Lion pride on a Gnu kill, although by the time most of us arrived only a Lioness and a black-maned male was still on the kill. However, Nubian and Ruppell’s Vultures, and Black-backed Jackals came in to scavenge, and the shooting was great. Common Zebras fighting, Imperial Eagles landing and taking off – the first time I’ve ever photographed this species, and, included in this post, last night’s Leopard. I’m writing this as we’re having dinner, so this must be brief.
PM. In the afternoon we had a good Gnu crossing at a small stream, with dust backlighted by the low sun. Vehicles on the side where the Gnus were coming from nearly ruined the crossing, but luckily, only two vehicles were present.
November 8, 2021.
Today, shortly after dawn we headed south of the Talek River where our camp/lodge is located, headed to the area where a Serval and two kittens are usually found. As we neared the area we saw several vehicles racing along a lugga where, yesterday, we had seen a Leopard. Closer to us, and heading in our direction, was a Cheetah, who repeatedly looked back over her shoulder, obviously fleeing something. Turns out it was a Leopard, which may have stolen her kill. She ran directly to us, and I got some wonderful shots of her bounding through the dew-covered grass, water flying like jewels as her paws slapped the earth. Our vehicle was the only one with her for several satisfying minutes while below us, as many as 15 vehicles drove, illegally, off-track, pursuing the Leopard. Eventually that cat must have offered few possibilities and vehicles started racing in our direction, roaring noisily towards the Cheetah.
We drove to the Serval, where the mother was near to the track, where we parked, hoping for a shot, and watched 15 vehicles off-track, much closer to the kittens. The Serval settled down and we drove off, finding another Serval where two vehicles, again off-track, were parked, one within about 20 feet of the Serval that moved, hunkered into a slink, from one bit of grassy cover to another. Had that vehicle backed off, and appropriately used the 500mm or 600mm lens that the photographer was using, the cat may have acted naturally. As it was, it stayed hunkered down and we headed home.
November 9, 2021. We headed north, hoping to avoid the madness of yesterday with the hordes of vehicles. We reached the eastern shore of the Mara River where several large Nile Crocodiles basked on the bank, most with their formidable jaws open wide. A Little Bee-eater repeatedly flew to a perch nearby, but distracted by attempting to video Crocodiles going into the water, I missed my flight shots and, in trying to do so, missed the Crocs as well! I was certainly off my game.
We ended the morning at a Lion kill, where several Lionesses and two cubs fed on a Buffalo, with Spotted Hyenas in the grass, presumably waiting. Seven Hyenas were there, but even when only one Lioness remained, with her two cubs, the Hyenas didn’t attempt to drive her off. Normally, that’s a given. Distressingly, although I did see 3 vultures pass by high overhead, none came down, and again, ‘normally,’ vultures would be gliding down to wait their turn. But the skies, essentially, were empty.
November 10, 2021. Yesterday’s afternoon game drive was slow. Mary and I, as per tradition, rode together for our last game drive, and we hunted for Leopards for the group. At the end of the day the group found a Black-backed Jackal den with pups now just miniatures of the adults. Two adults came in, and they were greeted enthusiastically by the pups who nuzzled and nipped at the parent’s mouth until food was regurgitated – the standard way canines feed their pups. Yummy.
Our last evening, however, was wonderful, with the lodge setting up a separate buffet, a cake, singing, and extremely moving speeches by our driver/guides who not only expressed their gratitude for our coming and supporting them, and their families, but also slamming home how vital tourism, and tourist support, is vital for so, so many. Many of these driver/guides, and many of the lodge staff, not only are making money for themselves but also are supporting extended families. The guides had worried that as Covid restrictions tanked the tourist market they wondered if they’d ever work again, and for many, there was no other source of income.
November 11, 2021. I’ve had the idea for this Photo of the Day since January 1, my fallback shot if I was desperate. I’m desperate. We’re on our way home, and had a flight delay of 8 hours, which did give us some chance to sleep, but no chance at any photos. So here’s my Photo Backpack, filled with gear as I carry it on the plane. And the contents, for those who shoot Sony, Nikon, or Canon, may astound you.
Inside is my 150-400mm w the built-in 1.25X TC, giving me the equivalent of 300-1000mm.
To avoid redundancy, double the rest of the focal lengths to get the true image equivalent. So …
300mm – my backup lens if our 150-400 would give out. Equivalent 600mm
40-150mm f2.8, Equivalent 80-300mm
12-100mm f4, Equivalent 24-200mm
7-14mm f2.8, Equivalent 14-28mm
3 camera bodies – M1X, and two OM D E Mark III
3 1.4X tele-converters
And in my laptop, a 100-400mm (Equivalent 100-800mm)
Obviously, traveling with this Olympus gear has made packing, flying, overhead space, a breeze. Try fitting all that in a standard photo backpack with any other system. Now, we’re heading home to the start of winter and the ‘easy’ shots of the past 6 weeks won’t be so easy. The challenge really begins.
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Last Update: December 10, 2021
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Tanzania, Rwanda Kenya 2021
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 1
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The following report is taken from my daily posts on Facebook, where each day, throughout 2021, I've taken at least one new photo a day and posted it, usually with a write-up. This report will give you a great idea of what you can expect on one of our safaris.
October 28, 2021. Nairobi, Kenya, and I spent most of the day, when not meeting our new participants, sitting at a desk writing articles. Sadly, no presidential suite this time. Fortunately, our hotel has a small ornamental pond along one of the pathways where, on previous occasions, I’ve seen and photographed small treefrogs. Last evening, when we arrived at the hotel, I went looking and found none.
Today, just after noon, I went looking again and found a species of true frog (Rana, in this case, I think) sitting in the shade on top a lily pad. Using my 300mm with a 1.4X TC (effective focal length 0f 840mm) and TTL flash I got my shot of the day. If you know your frogs, this one looks remarkably like our North American Leopard Frog, and I bet could pass for one for those not expert in this. And that is a great example of parallel evolution, where related species, found in opposite ends of the earth, evolve to look similar to one another because of the selective pressures of their environment.
October 29, 2021.Wow, day 300, and this day marks the first day of our Kenya Photo Safari. I’m writing this in the common area in Elephant Bedroom Camp, in Samburu, in the short time I have before dinner. The ride here, leaving at 8 and arriving at 5, was an easy one … today the roads are good, in contrast to when we started where roads were often no more than car-swallowing ruts, literally, dusty, bumpy, and pure hell.
Driving north, we were depressed as we neared Samburu and saw countless goats and sheep in massive herds denuding the landscape. These same areas, when we started over 35 years ago, had herds of Zebra, bands of Giraffes, and multiple antelopes visible on the horizon. No more.
We stopped for a 2 hour lunch break at a special place where Black and White Colobus Monkeys are tame and fed by the staff. Everyone got shots, including me, for the shot of the day. And I’m worried about my laptop’s battery power, so as I download I’ll probably use the first image I can … with more to come tomorrow, or later, if I have the juice!
Our drive into Samburu was encouraging, as it was a straight drive in but nevertheless we had most of Samburu’s endemics, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, and Oryx. So tomorrow is promising!
October 30, 2021. Our first morning in Samburu and it was a good one. Shortly after we started the game drive we found a herd of African Elephants walking toward the riverine forest. Mothers and several calves made up the herd, with one very young Elephant that shadowed his mother’s legs, while another, older baby played with a sub-teenager. We had multiple opportunities for the Elephants to walk directly to us, and the shots were rewarding.
Later, one of the more beautiful of the desert songbirds, a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike, sang from an open perch, repeatedly, at full-frame distances, and often enough that I could switch from stills to video several times. A ram Gerenuk, the long-necked, slender antelope, fed at a shrub while standing upright, and, as I hoped, stepped backward, facing us while being away from the bush, giving the appearance of simply walking on two legs. Reticulated Giraffes, Desert Warthogs, Red-billed Hornbills, a Greater Kudu, Gray-headed Kingfisher … it was a diverse day of shooting in my vehicle, and when I spoke to Mary, she had many different highlights than mine, and you can draw the conclusion that there was a lot here to photograph.
PM. A very successful afternoon. We loaded at 3:30 and 7 minutes later we were driving. Our first subject was a Pigmy Falcon, that soon caught a lizard and proceeded to eat the entire thing, long tail and all, and permitted the closest approach I’ve ever had with this bird. We waited 15 minutes for it to fly out once it finished its meal, but the bird stayed put, and when we left, and drove by later, the bird was still perched – probably digesting the big meal. Mary had great luck with another cooperative hawk, a Pale-chanting Goshawk.
A small group of Elephants crossed the river and, upon climbing the bank, walked right between two of our vehicles – literally within a yard or so of either one.
Four Lions, not doing too much, and, at the end of the day a young female Leopard that sat on several rocks before finally, as the light faded, walked down to an Impala kill we hadn’t noticed. We didn’t have a window for shooting the feeding activity, but as we drove away in the evening gloom I saw that there was a very open spot, but other vehicles had blocked that access.
October 31, 2021. Shortly after sunrise we arrived at the site of yesterday’s Leopard, but the cat was gone and the kill was now just some scraps, exposed to birds and the sun. I suspect Striped Hyenas had stolen the kill and fed upon it in the open, at night. Soon afterwards, however, we heard of two more Leopards and we headed there. This was a mother and nearly full-grown cub, secure in a small clearing amidst salt brush where we had only glimpses. Their kill was nearby, at the top of an acacia tree, and while we waited the cub began to approach the tree several times but the movement of cars spooked the cat back into the brush. We waited, hoping that the tourist cars would eventually go elsewhere, but every 15 minutes or so another would arrive, resetting the clock. We left. Today was mostly a bird day. There were no Elephants in the river, the only source of water. We had, however, great White-throated Bee-eaters, an incredible portrait session with a huge adult Martial Eagle, and a juvenile, and a surprising number of Desert Warthogs with babies.
Nearly three months ago, in August, this park was over-run by Samburu herdsmen, and camels, goats, sheep, and cows, and the people and kids attending them, were everywhere. The guides said it was a discouraging sight. The herds are gone, but the landscape is moon-like in places, stripped bare of grasses that are, fortunately, just beginning to resprout with the beginning of the rains.
Despite this ruined landscape, it was a productive day of shooting for the species mentioned, but only a shadow of what this beautiful park once had.
PM. We headed back to the Leopard, informed that the mother Leopard was now visible in the tree where she had stored her kill. We arrived, the report was accurate, and we had some great shooting – the classic ‘leopard in a tree’ pose. After getting some shots, Mary headed up to the area where, yesterday, we had the young Leopard and she spotted the cat, lying on a rock, from about 250 yards away. At that distance, a cat lying on a rock merges quite well, but she saw the cat’s head, which seemed a bit different in color, and put up her binocs. We all got some nice shots out of that!
On the way to the Leopard, my vehicle stopped for the most cooperative pair of Red and Yellow Barbets, a colorful bird that often nests in termite mounds, which is its main diet. Mary’s vehicle had her best Gabar Goshawk, so … in addition to the Leopards, we had a diverse and productive afternoon.
November 1, 2021. Our last full day in Samburu began with a herd of African Elephants wading across the shallow, wide expanse of the Ewaso Ngiro River, just outside our camp. The light was still muted with the sun just crested the distant hills, and Elephants filed single file, their splashing barely audible in the still morning air.
The morning was backed with subjects, from another tame Pigmy Falcon, a cooperative, colorful Leopard Tortoise, a pup Bat-eared Fox, multiple birds, including Gray-headed Kingfishers, Von Der Decken’s Hornbills, Fort-tailed Flycatchers, and a superb shooting session with Little Bee-eaters where ProCapture caught the transfer of a fly from an adult to a full-grown fledgling, in a blink of the eye that I never saw! A Martial Eagle, methodically plucking the feathers of a Vulturine Guineafowl, was another first, and it was amazing how many feathers that guineafowl had. The eagle didn’t completely pluck the bird, once enough skin was revealed, but the pile of feathers was huge.
We followed a group of Lions that wove constantly through thickets along the river’s edge until, finally, the lead Lioness climbed atop a fallen tree, adopting a leopard’s pose, and in the dappled light the image resembled an oil painting. With the heat of mid-day building we headed home, but were stopped when another large herd of Elephants book-ended our game drive by, once again, crossing the river, this time with a tiny baby Elephant in tow.
PM. Mary’s favorite animal is the Elephant, but it isn’t mine. Normally I find Elephants less enchanting, and although interesting anatomically, … well, they just don’t move me like they do so many. And then, tonight, I shot 1,800+ images of Elephants, spending the entire afternoon game drive with a herd of 50 or so, with one baby that was about one month old. Newborns are completely uncoordinated with their trunks, which is quite comical to see, and tonight’s little baby was playing with sticks and attempting to break them off, signaling that there was some coordination developed. We spotted a young baby, and we were able to get in front of the herd, and the mother and calf, several times. And then, the magic happened. The mother fed on a bush close to the road while her baby and a one-year old engaged in a wrestling match. The baby, outmatched by 3 to 1, boldly jammed into the other, shoving back and forth, intertwining trunks, playing and wrestling with the best views of a youngster I’ve had in over 30 years of safaris.
That activity continued, and continued, but when the herd moved into the open plains, with a sky of cumulous clouds and low, angular light, I got back on to the radio and told everyone they had to return to the herds. Everyone arrived in time to be surrounded by adults and babies, with wrestling and feeding, until the herd crossed the last road and, as the sun set behind the hill, the light failed.
But we still had a ‘sundowner’, where our lodge had a fire and drinks and food, and a birthday cake for Jackie, one of our participants, and we drank and chatted as the last western light faded from the sky and, bathed by the golden glow of our campfire, we said goodbye to Samburu as we headed on to our next destination in Kenya.
November 2, 2021. We had a direct flight from Samburu to the Mara Conservancy, passing over the flooded Lake Nakuru in doing so. Lake Nakuru WAS famous for the incredible concentration of flamingos, but tectonic plate shifts, or something, has changed the hydrology and the lake has grown each year, flooding the game tracks that once crossed the dried mud flats and the main tracks that encircled the lake. With the fresh, high water, the Flamingos are gone.
35 or so years ago we stayed quite close to the camp we’re now using, but 10 years in, the small trading post grew in size and, in time, became a town. At that point, we shifted our camps to the interior of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and I had little hope for this area. As we started our afternoon game drive today we passed houses and fences, scattered for miles, and the area looked quite depressing. But the Conservancies that now lease the land from the local Masai have done an incredible job, coexisting with the Mara, and conserving game even in the face of cows and sheep.
And this evening was incredible. We started in a true tropical downpour, probably dropping 2 inches per hour, flooding the road and limiting visibility. When the rain finally let up to a drizzle, relatively speaking, we rolled up the canvan/plastic rain covers for the vehicle (we rolled them down too late for the rain, and most of us were soaked thoroughly, but our shooting started with a mother Cheetah with two 5 month old cubs, still with their white wooly coat but beginning to grow their distinctive spots. They fed on a Thompson’s Gazelle, harassed by a Black-backed Jackal that the female cub repeated chased, sometimes 50 yards or more. I was worried that at some point, beyond the sight of her mother, the Cheetah would change roles and grab the cub, which was just half the Jackal’s size. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
The meal was almost concluded when our guides spotted a lone, distant Spotted Hyena grab and take down a full-grown bull Gnu, probably grabbing it by the testicles to stop it. I think that’d work. We raced to the scene while the struggle was still on, with more Hyenas joining the first, as all of them tore into the struggling Gnu. I switched to video (I’ll post that tomorrow, hopefully, once everything gets downloaded, but the video will be ghastly), and gasped when I saw a Hyena rip out the guts of the Gnu, which then stood and bucked and tried horning its attackers. In less than an hour, virtually nothing was left of the carcass, just parts of the head and hide, and as we drove off I suspect that will be gone by morning. Obviously, this was a great start to our time in the Mara, and the Hyena/Gnu kill we’ve only seen one other time, 20 years ago!
November 3, 2021. Yesterday’s monsoon rains and cloudy skies had vanished overnight, but the black cotton soil on the game tracks was as slippery as ice. We headed to a Lion pride where several Lionesses lounged on small hillocks bordering a forest and cubs of various sizes chased one another, wrestled, or played with along branch. On our last visit to the Conservancies three years ago the Masai cows still wore cow bells, whose ringing carried great distances and, when heard, drove Lions to the cover of the forests. Cow bells are now banned, and herds within sight of the resting lions were now ignored.
Eventually the Lions retreated to the forest shade, but I wondered if that may have been through the lingering habit of simply making themselves scarce and invisible during the day when Masai herdsmen passed by with their cattle. Our next stop was for Leopards, and we found a female sitting upright along the edge of a croton bush thicket, with her 6 month old cub lying in the grass in full view. The two stayed for a time before moving into the brush where several of our vehicles had close encounters, and great shots. At one point the Leopardess started to cross a wide field, pausing and calling for her cub, who never left the brush. The mother eventually returned to the brush where, I presume, she rejoined with her baby.
Nile Monitors foraging far from water, a blue-headed Tree Agama, sparring Warthogs, and a Topi silhouetted against a threatening cumulous cloud sky, oh, and a sunrise with an acacia, completed our morning shoot.
At noon our safari guides joined us at the camp, replacing the camp drivers and their vehicles that we’ve used for the last two game drives. Their knowledge of the area was invaluable, and although we were happy to be with our guides again, I’ll miss my camp driver, Dennis, who did a really wonderful job.
PM. This evening, with intermittent rain, we headed back to the Lions. One of the young cubs was particularly feisty, the male cub going up against much larger cubs, rough-housing until, in some cases, the larger cub or cubs simply got up and walked away. The light grew progressively dimmer, but with high ISO or by shooting video we made the most of a wonderful situation.
Our guides had drinks packed for a sundowner, courtesy of our camp, but failed to tell us, and while the shooting was good, I was extremely annoyed not to have been told about an option for the group. I will be talking to them.
November 4, 2021. We left our camp in the Mara Conservancy and headed to our next destination, in the Mara Triangle. Game-driving along the way our route took us to locations we used to visit when we stayed at the Mara River Camp, places like Fig Tree Ridge, the Leopard Gorge, the Killing Field, Puff Adder Ridge. When Mara River Camp closed, we moved our operation deeper into the Mara Reserve where we were insulated from the presence of Masai, which were steadily degrading and denuding the land. Acacia woodlands had been cleared, and livestock was everywhere, and I had little hope for the future of the area outside the actual park. The Conservancies have changed all that, and now most of these areas are once again devoid of people and livestock, and the hillsides are once again sprouting acacia trees, although those trees are still mere saplings. The future does look brighter, although that future may be years away.
Distressingly, the game was minimal. As I passed our old landmarks I was sickened, as we were seeing mere relics of the past abundance of wildlife and bird life in those areas. How much damage occurred before the Conservancies took over is something I don’t know, and how much influence the migratory herds have on the sense of animal abundance may be another factor, but I was happy to enter the Mara Triangle where conservation has been observed throughout this period.
Our game drive, in the Conservancy, was productive, with misty landscapes and silhouetted Zebras, the Lion pride again, and a large herd of African Buffalo where I caught one with an Oxpecker perched on its nose. Shortly after lunch we had a rainstorm, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the Reserve has maintained its variety of game.
November 5, 2021. Not much sleep last night, as both Mary and I were up worrying, silent with our private concerns. Two days ago, and again last evening, Mary had bouts of dizziness and, last night, weird, uncontrolled eye movements, and both of us thought she might be having some delayed after effects of her head bang in Rwanda. One of our participants is a neurologist, and allayed our fears this morning --- dehydration can cause this, and today, on the drive, Mary was fine. But it was a terrible night of terrible scenarios.
The game drive today was quite diverse, with a tame Serval that captured a rat and walked with it towards our cameras. Later, a beautiful Pin-tailed Whydah, a bird with a long streaming black tail, perched cooperatively beside the game track, presenting the best shots I’ve ever had. Using ProCapture, when it flew, I got a series I was quite happy with. Lilac-breasted Rollers taking flight, White-faced Whistling Ducks in flight, and a wonderful experience with a stork ……
We drove up to three out-of-the-nest juvenile Saddle-billed Storks quite close to the road. Immatures are not especially attractive, but they were close and offered a nice portrait opportunity so we stopped. After a few minutes the juveniles started clacking and snapping at each other’s bills, then walked away from us to, we discovered, their mother walking across the swamp. The four joined up, the female regurgitated her meal of fish, and her chicks flapped in begging postures, snapping at her bill and giving us a show I’d never seen before with these Storks.
Further along the track a troop of Banded Mongoose rested on top of a termite mound, completely relaxed, which is somewhat rare for this species. At another location Baboons acted a bit strangely, running passed us and giving a different alarm bark, while Impala ran in the opposite direction, where the Baboons began their run. We investigated, seeing more antelope looking in one direction, and our driver/guide spotted a Lioness carrying something. That, it turned out, was a baby Impala, which the Lioness carried beneath a bush and licked and groomed it for several minutes while the lamb cried. Eventually, the motherly behavior stopped, and the Lioness started eating, without dispatching the lamb first. Fortunately, the lamb died soon afterwards.
Mary’s vehicle left the Lioness and while heading back to the lodge had a great Hippo, outside the water and yawning, giving them a great view. Elands, that I had stopped for before this, the largest antelope, walked off, later turned around and did great leaps across the game track, in front of Mary’s vehicle. Although we only had one lion this morning, we had an extremely productive and rewarding shoot.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s afternoon game drive was a slow one. A pair of sparring African Buffalo and close-up shots of a Water Thick-knee were the only shots, although we’d driven to the Tanzanian border for a pair of Lions that had been mating but were now separated and dead asleep.
PM. Dark clouds, and rain in many areas made the roads treacherous, and we confined ourselves to the main roads where, even then, in trying to do a U-turn, one of our vehicles got stuck. Baby Elephants, and two Black-headed Herons, one eating a huge rat and another a snake, were the shots of the afternoon, with vivid lightning strikes on the horizon frustrating our attempts to capture a bolt.
November 6, 2021. Concerned that the off-track roads would be impassable, we headed on one of the main roads in the hopes of finding a Black Rhino. We were successful, and while the tiny dots (the rhinos) eventually moved within 150 yards of the road they stopped short – we had anticipated they would go to the shelter of the forest but instead flopped down in the shade of an acacia tree.
Earlier, we had a wonderful encounter with a large herd of Elephants, most of whom were engaged in play. Young males intertwined their trunks as they batted heads, and several juveniles mounted one another, far too young for any mating.
Much of the morning was spent waiting for the browsing rhinos to come to us, so the shooting was a bit less varied, but ended with three Lionesses resting in a tree. A distant Impala eventually had all three climb down, with one stalking close and freezing, but the Impala spotted it, gave a few alarm snorts, approached closer for a better look, and then bounced off.
We finished the morning with a large group of large Crocodiles resting on the bank of the Mara River. At the Reserve gate there was a posting by the Mara Conservancy about the drop in numbers with various species of wildlife. I’ll say more about this later, but to give one extremely depressing example, Thompson’s Gazelles, which we used to see by the hundreds in herds, have, since 1977, declined by 95%. This species is the principle prey for Cheetahs, so imagine the impact there. Just a cheery note to pass on.
PM. A relatively rain-free afternoon game drive and we headed to where a Leopard had been reported, lying in a tree. Along the way we met another vehicle where the driver told us of another Leopard, closer, which we checked on first. We found the cat, but it was shy, and retreated into a lugga after just a few shots. We continued on to the other Leopard, which some of our participants saw (I didn’t), and in failing light we headed home. Good Ruppell’s Vultures and a Hyena den were the other evening highlights.
November 7, 2021. We left the Mara Triangle on a morning game drive, heading to the middle Mara and our last destination. Our morning was spent in the Triangle, and it was productive, with a Lion pride on a Gnu kill, although by the time most of us arrived only a Lioness and a black-maned male was still on the kill. However, Nubian and Ruppell’s Vultures, and Black-backed Jackals came in to scavenge, and the shooting was great. Common Zebras fighting, Imperial Eagles landing and taking off – the first time I’ve ever photographed this species, and, included in this post, last night’s Leopard. I’m writing this as we’re having dinner, so this must be brief.
PM. In the afternoon we had a good Gnu crossing at a small stream, with dust backlighted by the low sun. Vehicles on the side where the Gnus were coming from nearly ruined the crossing, but luckily, only two vehicles were present.
November 8, 2021.
Today, shortly after dawn we headed south of the Talek River where our camp/lodge is located, headed to the area where a Serval and two kittens are usually found. As we neared the area we saw several vehicles racing along a lugga where, yesterday, we had seen a Leopard. Closer to us, and heading in our direction, was a Cheetah, who repeatedly looked back over her shoulder, obviously fleeing something. Turns out it was a Leopard, which may have stolen her kill. She ran directly to us, and I got some wonderful shots of her bounding through the dew-covered grass, water flying like jewels as her paws slapped the earth. Our vehicle was the only one with her for several satisfying minutes while below us, as many as 15 vehicles drove, illegally, off-track, pursuing the Leopard. Eventually that cat must have offered few possibilities and vehicles started racing in our direction, roaring noisily towards the Cheetah.
We drove to the Serval, where the mother was near to the track, where we parked, hoping for a shot, and watched 15 vehicles off-track, much closer to the kittens. The Serval settled down and we drove off, finding another Serval where two vehicles, again off-track, were parked, one within about 20 feet of the Serval that moved, hunkered into a slink, from one bit of grassy cover to another. Had that vehicle backed off, and appropriately used the 500mm or 600mm lens that the photographer was using, the cat may have acted naturally. As it was, it stayed hunkered down and we headed home.
November 9, 2021. We headed north, hoping to avoid the madness of yesterday with the hordes of vehicles. We reached the eastern shore of the Mara River where several large Nile Crocodiles basked on the bank, most with their formidable jaws open wide. A Little Bee-eater repeatedly flew to a perch nearby, but distracted by attempting to video Crocodiles going into the water, I missed my flight shots and, in trying to do so, missed the Crocs as well! I was certainly off my game.
We ended the morning at a Lion kill, where several Lionesses and two cubs fed on a Buffalo, with Spotted Hyenas in the grass, presumably waiting. Seven Hyenas were there, but even when only one Lioness remained, with her two cubs, the Hyenas didn’t attempt to drive her off. Normally, that’s a given. Distressingly, although I did see 3 vultures pass by high overhead, none came down, and again, ‘normally,’ vultures would be gliding down to wait their turn. But the skies, essentially, were empty.
November 10, 2021. Yesterday’s afternoon game drive was slow. Mary and I, as per tradition, rode together for our last game drive, and we hunted for Leopards for the group. At the end of the day the group found a Black-backed Jackal den with pups now just miniatures of the adults. Two adults came in, and they were greeted enthusiastically by the pups who nuzzled and nipped at the parent’s mouth until food was regurgitated – the standard way canines feed their pups. Yummy.
Our last evening, however, was wonderful, with the lodge setting up a separate buffet, a cake, singing, and extremely moving speeches by our driver/guides who not only expressed their gratitude for our coming and supporting them, and their families, but also slamming home how vital tourism, and tourist support, is vital for so, so many. Many of these driver/guides, and many of the lodge staff, not only are making money for themselves but also are supporting extended families. The guides had worried that as Covid restrictions tanked the tourist market they wondered if they’d ever work again, and for many, there was no other source of income.
November 11, 2021. I’ve had the idea for this Photo of the Day since January 1, my fallback shot if I was desperate. I’m desperate. We’re on our way home, and had a flight delay of 8 hours, which did give us some chance to sleep, but no chance at any photos. So here’s my Photo Backpack, filled with gear as I carry it on the plane. And the contents, for those who shoot Sony, Nikon, or Canon, may astound you.
Inside is my 150-400mm w the built-in 1.25X TC, giving me the equivalent of 300-1000mm.
To avoid redundancy, double the rest of the focal lengths to get the true image equivalent. So …
300mm – my backup lens if our 150-400 would give out. Equivalent 600mm
40-150mm f2.8, Equivalent 80-300mm
12-100mm f4, Equivalent 24-200mm
7-14mm f2.8, Equivalent 14-28mm
3 camera bodies – M1X, and two OM D E Mark III
3 1.4X tele-converters
And in my laptop, a 100-400mm (Equivalent 100-800mm)
Obviously, traveling with this Olympus gear has made packing, flying, overhead space, a breeze. Try fitting all that in a standard photo backpack with any other system. Now, we’re heading home to the start of winter and the ‘easy’ shots of the past 6 weeks won’t be so easy. The challenge really begins.
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Last Update: December 10, 2021
2020 Trip Reports
Tanzania, Rwanda Kenya 2021
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 1
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 2
Tanzania Februray
Falkland Islands
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Jaguars and the Wildlife of the Pantanal 2019
The Amazon and Harpy Eagles - Scouting Trip 2019-
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The following report is taken from my daily posts on Facebook, where each day, throughout 2021, I've taken at least one new photo a day and posted it, usually with a write-up. This report will give you a great idea of what you can expect on one of our safaris.
October 28, 2021. Nairobi, Kenya, and I spent most of the day, when not meeting our new participants, sitting at a desk writing articles. Sadly, no presidential suite this time. Fortunately, our hotel has a small ornamental pond along one of the pathways where, on previous occasions, I’ve seen and photographed small treefrogs. Last evening, when we arrived at the hotel, I went looking and found none.
Today, just after noon, I went looking again and found a species of true frog (Rana, in this case, I think) sitting in the shade on top a lily pad. Using my 300mm with a 1.4X TC (effective focal length 0f 840mm) and TTL flash I got my shot of the day. If you know your frogs, this one looks remarkably like our North American Leopard Frog, and I bet could pass for one for those not expert in this. And that is a great example of parallel evolution, where related species, found in opposite ends of the earth, evolve to look similar to one another because of the selective pressures of their environment.
October 29, 2021.Wow, day 300, and this day marks the first day of our Kenya Photo Safari. I’m writing this in the common area in Elephant Bedroom Camp, in Samburu, in the short time I have before dinner. The ride here, leaving at 8 and arriving at 5, was an easy one … today the roads are good, in contrast to when we started where roads were often no more than car-swallowing ruts, literally, dusty, bumpy, and pure hell.
Driving north, we were depressed as we neared Samburu and saw countless goats and sheep in massive herds denuding the landscape. These same areas, when we started over 35 years ago, had herds of Zebra, bands of Giraffes, and multiple antelopes visible on the horizon. No more.
We stopped for a 2 hour lunch break at a special place where Black and White Colobus Monkeys are tame and fed by the staff. Everyone got shots, including me, for the shot of the day. And I’m worried about my laptop’s battery power, so as I download I’ll probably use the first image I can … with more to come tomorrow, or later, if I have the juice!
Our drive into Samburu was encouraging, as it was a straight drive in but nevertheless we had most of Samburu’s endemics, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, and Oryx. So tomorrow is promising!
October 30, 2021. Our first morning in Samburu and it was a good one. Shortly after we started the game drive we found a herd of African Elephants walking toward the riverine forest. Mothers and several calves made up the herd, with one very young Elephant that shadowed his mother’s legs, while another, older baby played with a sub-teenager. We had multiple opportunities for the Elephants to walk directly to us, and the shots were rewarding.
Later, one of the more beautiful of the desert songbirds, a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike, sang from an open perch, repeatedly, at full-frame distances, and often enough that I could switch from stills to video several times. A ram Gerenuk, the long-necked, slender antelope, fed at a shrub while standing upright, and, as I hoped, stepped backward, facing us while being away from the bush, giving the appearance of simply walking on two legs. Reticulated Giraffes, Desert Warthogs, Red-billed Hornbills, a Greater Kudu, Gray-headed Kingfisher … it was a diverse day of shooting in my vehicle, and when I spoke to Mary, she had many different highlights than mine, and you can draw the conclusion that there was a lot here to photograph.
PM. A very successful afternoon. We loaded at 3:30 and 7 minutes later we were driving. Our first subject was a Pigmy Falcon, that soon caught a lizard and proceeded to eat the entire thing, long tail and all, and permitted the closest approach I’ve ever had with this bird. We waited 15 minutes for it to fly out once it finished its meal, but the bird stayed put, and when we left, and drove by later, the bird was still perched – probably digesting the big meal. Mary had great luck with another cooperative hawk, a Pale-chanting Goshawk.
A small group of Elephants crossed the river and, upon climbing the bank, walked right between two of our vehicles – literally within a yard or so of either one.
Four Lions, not doing too much, and, at the end of the day a young female Leopard that sat on several rocks before finally, as the light faded, walked down to an Impala kill we hadn’t noticed. We didn’t have a window for shooting the feeding activity, but as we drove away in the evening gloom I saw that there was a very open spot, but other vehicles had blocked that access.
October 31, 2021. Shortly after sunrise we arrived at the site of yesterday’s Leopard, but the cat was gone and the kill was now just some scraps, exposed to birds and the sun. I suspect Striped Hyenas had stolen the kill and fed upon it in the open, at night. Soon afterwards, however, we heard of two more Leopards and we headed there. This was a mother and nearly full-grown cub, secure in a small clearing amidst salt brush where we had only glimpses. Their kill was nearby, at the top of an acacia tree, and while we waited the cub began to approach the tree several times but the movement of cars spooked the cat back into the brush. We waited, hoping that the tourist cars would eventually go elsewhere, but every 15 minutes or so another would arrive, resetting the clock. We left. Today was mostly a bird day. There were no Elephants in the river, the only source of water. We had, however, great White-throated Bee-eaters, an incredible portrait session with a huge adult Martial Eagle, and a juvenile, and a surprising number of Desert Warthogs with babies.
Nearly three months ago, in August, this park was over-run by Samburu herdsmen, and camels, goats, sheep, and cows, and the people and kids attending them, were everywhere. The guides said it was a discouraging sight. The herds are gone, but the landscape is moon-like in places, stripped bare of grasses that are, fortunately, just beginning to resprout with the beginning of the rains.
Despite this ruined landscape, it was a productive day of shooting for the species mentioned, but only a shadow of what this beautiful park once had.
PM. We headed back to the Leopard, informed that the mother Leopard was now visible in the tree where she had stored her kill. We arrived, the report was accurate, and we had some great shooting – the classic ‘leopard in a tree’ pose. After getting some shots, Mary headed up to the area where, yesterday, we had the young Leopard and she spotted the cat, lying on a rock, from about 250 yards away. At that distance, a cat lying on a rock merges quite well, but she saw the cat’s head, which seemed a bit different in color, and put up her binocs. We all got some nice shots out of that!
On the way to the Leopard, my vehicle stopped for the most cooperative pair of Red and Yellow Barbets, a colorful bird that often nests in termite mounds, which is its main diet. Mary’s vehicle had her best Gabar Goshawk, so … in addition to the Leopards, we had a diverse and productive afternoon.
November 1, 2021. Our last full day in Samburu began with a herd of African Elephants wading across the shallow, wide expanse of the Ewaso Ngiro River, just outside our camp. The light was still muted with the sun just crested the distant hills, and Elephants filed single file, their splashing barely audible in the still morning air.
The morning was backed with subjects, from another tame Pigmy Falcon, a cooperative, colorful Leopard Tortoise, a pup Bat-eared Fox, multiple birds, including Gray-headed Kingfishers, Von Der Decken’s Hornbills, Fort-tailed Flycatchers, and a superb shooting session with Little Bee-eaters where ProCapture caught the transfer of a fly from an adult to a full-grown fledgling, in a blink of the eye that I never saw! A Martial Eagle, methodically plucking the feathers of a Vulturine Guineafowl, was another first, and it was amazing how many feathers that guineafowl had. The eagle didn’t completely pluck the bird, once enough skin was revealed, but the pile of feathers was huge.
We followed a group of Lions that wove constantly through thickets along the river’s edge until, finally, the lead Lioness climbed atop a fallen tree, adopting a leopard’s pose, and in the dappled light the image resembled an oil painting. With the heat of mid-day building we headed home, but were stopped when another large herd of Elephants book-ended our game drive by, once again, crossing the river, this time with a tiny baby Elephant in tow.
PM. Mary’s favorite animal is the Elephant, but it isn’t mine. Normally I find Elephants less enchanting, and although interesting anatomically, … well, they just don’t move me like they do so many. And then, tonight, I shot 1,800+ images of Elephants, spending the entire afternoon game drive with a herd of 50 or so, with one baby that was about one month old. Newborns are completely uncoordinated with their trunks, which is quite comical to see, and tonight’s little baby was playing with sticks and attempting to break them off, signaling that there was some coordination developed. We spotted a young baby, and we were able to get in front of the herd, and the mother and calf, several times. And then, the magic happened. The mother fed on a bush close to the road while her baby and a one-year old engaged in a wrestling match. The baby, outmatched by 3 to 1, boldly jammed into the other, shoving back and forth, intertwining trunks, playing and wrestling with the best views of a youngster I’ve had in over 30 years of safaris.
That activity continued, and continued, but when the herd moved into the open plains, with a sky of cumulous clouds and low, angular light, I got back on to the radio and told everyone they had to return to the herds. Everyone arrived in time to be surrounded by adults and babies, with wrestling and feeding, until the herd crossed the last road and, as the sun set behind the hill, the light failed.
But we still had a ‘sundowner’, where our lodge had a fire and drinks and food, and a birthday cake for Jackie, one of our participants, and we drank and chatted as the last western light faded from the sky and, bathed by the golden glow of our campfire, we said goodbye to Samburu as we headed on to our next destination in Kenya.
November 2, 2021. We had a direct flight from Samburu to the Mara Conservancy, passing over the flooded Lake Nakuru in doing so. Lake Nakuru WAS famous for the incredible concentration of flamingos, but tectonic plate shifts, or something, has changed the hydrology and the lake has grown each year, flooding the game tracks that once crossed the dried mud flats and the main tracks that encircled the lake. With the fresh, high water, the Flamingos are gone.
35 or so years ago we stayed quite close to the camp we’re now using, but 10 years in, the small trading post grew in size and, in time, became a town. At that point, we shifted our camps to the interior of the Masai Mara Game Reserve, and I had little hope for this area. As we started our afternoon game drive today we passed houses and fences, scattered for miles, and the area looked quite depressing. But the Conservancies that now lease the land from the local Masai have done an incredible job, coexisting with the Mara, and conserving game even in the face of cows and sheep.
And this evening was incredible. We started in a true tropical downpour, probably dropping 2 inches per hour, flooding the road and limiting visibility. When the rain finally let up to a drizzle, relatively speaking, we rolled up the canvan/plastic rain covers for the vehicle (we rolled them down too late for the rain, and most of us were soaked thoroughly, but our shooting started with a mother Cheetah with two 5 month old cubs, still with their white wooly coat but beginning to grow their distinctive spots. They fed on a Thompson’s Gazelle, harassed by a Black-backed Jackal that the female cub repeated chased, sometimes 50 yards or more. I was worried that at some point, beyond the sight of her mother, the Cheetah would change roles and grab the cub, which was just half the Jackal’s size. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
The meal was almost concluded when our guides spotted a lone, distant Spotted Hyena grab and take down a full-grown bull Gnu, probably grabbing it by the testicles to stop it. I think that’d work. We raced to the scene while the struggle was still on, with more Hyenas joining the first, as all of them tore into the struggling Gnu. I switched to video (I’ll post that tomorrow, hopefully, once everything gets downloaded, but the video will be ghastly), and gasped when I saw a Hyena rip out the guts of the Gnu, which then stood and bucked and tried horning its attackers. In less than an hour, virtually nothing was left of the carcass, just parts of the head and hide, and as we drove off I suspect that will be gone by morning. Obviously, this was a great start to our time in the Mara, and the Hyena/Gnu kill we’ve only seen one other time, 20 years ago!
November 3, 2021. Yesterday’s monsoon rains and cloudy skies had vanished overnight, but the black cotton soil on the game tracks was as slippery as ice. We headed to a Lion pride where several Lionesses lounged on small hillocks bordering a forest and cubs of various sizes chased one another, wrestled, or played with along branch. On our last visit to the Conservancies three years ago the Masai cows still wore cow bells, whose ringing carried great distances and, when heard, drove Lions to the cover of the forests. Cow bells are now banned, and herds within sight of the resting lions were now ignored.
Eventually the Lions retreated to the forest shade, but I wondered if that may have been through the lingering habit of simply making themselves scarce and invisible during the day when Masai herdsmen passed by with their cattle. Our next stop was for Leopards, and we found a female sitting upright along the edge of a croton bush thicket, with her 6 month old cub lying in the grass in full view. The two stayed for a time before moving into the brush where several of our vehicles had close encounters, and great shots. At one point the Leopardess started to cross a wide field, pausing and calling for her cub, who never left the brush. The mother eventually returned to the brush where, I presume, she rejoined with her baby.
Nile Monitors foraging far from water, a blue-headed Tree Agama, sparring Warthogs, and a Topi silhouetted against a threatening cumulous cloud sky, oh, and a sunrise with an acacia, completed our morning shoot.
At noon our safari guides joined us at the camp, replacing the camp drivers and their vehicles that we’ve used for the last two game drives. Their knowledge of the area was invaluable, and although we were happy to be with our guides again, I’ll miss my camp driver, Dennis, who did a really wonderful job.
PM. This evening, with intermittent rain, we headed back to the Lions. One of the young cubs was particularly feisty, the male cub going up against much larger cubs, rough-housing until, in some cases, the larger cub or cubs simply got up and walked away. The light grew progressively dimmer, but with high ISO or by shooting video we made the most of a wonderful situation.
Our guides had drinks packed for a sundowner, courtesy of our camp, but failed to tell us, and while the shooting was good, I was extremely annoyed not to have been told about an option for the group. I will be talking to them.
November 4, 2021. We left our camp in the Mara Conservancy and headed to our next destination, in the Mara Triangle. Game-driving along the way our route took us to locations we used to visit when we stayed at the Mara River Camp, places like Fig Tree Ridge, the Leopard Gorge, the Killing Field, Puff Adder Ridge. When Mara River Camp closed, we moved our operation deeper into the Mara Reserve where we were insulated from the presence of Masai, which were steadily degrading and denuding the land. Acacia woodlands had been cleared, and livestock was everywhere, and I had little hope for the future of the area outside the actual park. The Conservancies have changed all that, and now most of these areas are once again devoid of people and livestock, and the hillsides are once again sprouting acacia trees, although those trees are still mere saplings. The future does look brighter, although that future may be years away.
Distressingly, the game was minimal. As I passed our old landmarks I was sickened, as we were seeing mere relics of the past abundance of wildlife and bird life in those areas. How much damage occurred before the Conservancies took over is something I don’t know, and how much influence the migratory herds have on the sense of animal abundance may be another factor, but I was happy to enter the Mara Triangle where conservation has been observed throughout this period.
Our game drive, in the Conservancy, was productive, with misty landscapes and silhouetted Zebras, the Lion pride again, and a large herd of African Buffalo where I caught one with an Oxpecker perched on its nose. Shortly after lunch we had a rainstorm, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the Reserve has maintained its variety of game.
November 5, 2021. Not much sleep last night, as both Mary and I were up worrying, silent with our private concerns. Two days ago, and again last evening, Mary had bouts of dizziness and, last night, weird, uncontrolled eye movements, and both of us thought she might be having some delayed after effects of her head bang in Rwanda. One of our participants is a neurologist, and allayed our fears this morning --- dehydration can cause this, and today, on the drive, Mary was fine. But it was a terrible night of terrible scenarios.
The game drive today was quite diverse, with a tame Serval that captured a rat and walked with it towards our cameras. Later, a beautiful Pin-tailed Whydah, a bird with a long streaming black tail, perched cooperatively beside the game track, presenting the best shots I’ve ever had. Using ProCapture, when it flew, I got a series I was quite happy with. Lilac-breasted Rollers taking flight, White-faced Whistling Ducks in flight, and a wonderful experience with a stork ……
We drove up to three out-of-the-nest juvenile Saddle-billed Storks quite close to the road. Immatures are not especially attractive, but they were close and offered a nice portrait opportunity so we stopped. After a few minutes the juveniles started clacking and snapping at each other’s bills, then walked away from us to, we discovered, their mother walking across the swamp. The four joined up, the female regurgitated her meal of fish, and her chicks flapped in begging postures, snapping at her bill and giving us a show I’d never seen before with these Storks.
Further along the track a troop of Banded Mongoose rested on top of a termite mound, completely relaxed, which is somewhat rare for this species. At another location Baboons acted a bit strangely, running passed us and giving a different alarm bark, while Impala ran in the opposite direction, where the Baboons began their run. We investigated, seeing more antelope looking in one direction, and our driver/guide spotted a Lioness carrying something. That, it turned out, was a baby Impala, which the Lioness carried beneath a bush and licked and groomed it for several minutes while the lamb cried. Eventually, the motherly behavior stopped, and the Lioness started eating, without dispatching the lamb first. Fortunately, the lamb died soon afterwards.
Mary’s vehicle left the Lioness and while heading back to the lodge had a great Hippo, outside the water and yawning, giving them a great view. Elands, that I had stopped for before this, the largest antelope, walked off, later turned around and did great leaps across the game track, in front of Mary’s vehicle. Although we only had one lion this morning, we had an extremely productive and rewarding shoot.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s afternoon game drive was a slow one. A pair of sparring African Buffalo and close-up shots of a Water Thick-knee were the only shots, although we’d driven to the Tanzanian border for a pair of Lions that had been mating but were now separated and dead asleep.
PM. Dark clouds, and rain in many areas made the roads treacherous, and we confined ourselves to the main roads where, even then, in trying to do a U-turn, one of our vehicles got stuck. Baby Elephants, and two Black-headed Herons, one eating a huge rat and another a snake, were the shots of the afternoon, with vivid lightning strikes on the horizon frustrating our attempts to capture a bolt.
November 6, 2021. Concerned that the off-track roads would be impassable, we headed on one of the main roads in the hopes of finding a Black Rhino. We were successful, and while the tiny dots (the rhinos) eventually moved within 150 yards of the road they stopped short – we had anticipated they would go to the shelter of the forest but instead flopped down in the shade of an acacia tree.
Earlier, we had a wonderful encounter with a large herd of Elephants, most of whom were engaged in play. Young males intertwined their trunks as they batted heads, and several juveniles mounted one another, far too young for any mating.
Much of the morning was spent waiting for the browsing rhinos to come to us, so the shooting was a bit less varied, but ended with three Lionesses resting in a tree. A distant Impala eventually had all three climb down, with one stalking close and freezing, but the Impala spotted it, gave a few alarm snorts, approached closer for a better look, and then bounced off.
We finished the morning with a large group of large Crocodiles resting on the bank of the Mara River. At the Reserve gate there was a posting by the Mara Conservancy about the drop in numbers with various species of wildlife. I’ll say more about this later, but to give one extremely depressing example, Thompson’s Gazelles, which we used to see by the hundreds in herds, have, since 1977, declined by 95%. This species is the principle prey for Cheetahs, so imagine the impact there. Just a cheery note to pass on.
PM. A relatively rain-free afternoon game drive and we headed to where a Leopard had been reported, lying in a tree. Along the way we met another vehicle where the driver told us of another Leopard, closer, which we checked on first. We found the cat, but it was shy, and retreated into a lugga after just a few shots. We continued on to the other Leopard, which some of our participants saw (I didn’t), and in failing light we headed home. Good Ruppell’s Vultures and a Hyena den were the other evening highlights.
November 7, 2021. We left the Mara Triangle on a morning game drive, heading to the middle Mara and our last destination. Our morning was spent in the Triangle, and it was productive, with a Lion pride on a Gnu kill, although by the time most of us arrived only a Lioness and a black-maned male was still on the kill. However, Nubian and Ruppell’s Vultures, and Black-backed Jackals came in to scavenge, and the shooting was great. Common Zebras fighting, Imperial Eagles landing and taking off – the first time I’ve ever photographed this species, and, included in this post, last night’s Leopard. I’m writing this as we’re having dinner, so this must be brief.
PM. In the afternoon we had a good Gnu crossing at a small stream, with dust backlighted by the low sun. Vehicles on the side where the Gnus were coming from nearly ruined the crossing, but luckily, only two vehicles were present.
November 8, 2021.
Today, shortly after dawn we headed south of the Talek River where our camp/lodge is located, headed to the area where a Serval and two kittens are usually found. As we neared the area we saw several vehicles racing along a lugga where, yesterday, we had seen a Leopard. Closer to us, and heading in our direction, was a Cheetah, who repeatedly looked back over her shoulder, obviously fleeing something. Turns out it was a Leopard, which may have stolen her kill. She ran directly to us, and I got some wonderful shots of her bounding through the dew-covered grass, water flying like jewels as her paws slapped the earth. Our vehicle was the only one with her for several satisfying minutes while below us, as many as 15 vehicles drove, illegally, off-track, pursuing the Leopard. Eventually that cat must have offered few possibilities and vehicles started racing in our direction, roaring noisily towards the Cheetah.
We drove to the Serval, where the mother was near to the track, where we parked, hoping for a shot, and watched 15 vehicles off-track, much closer to the kittens. The Serval settled down and we drove off, finding another Serval where two vehicles, again off-track, were parked, one within about 20 feet of the Serval that moved, hunkered into a slink, from one bit of grassy cover to another. Had that vehicle backed off, and appropriately used the 500mm or 600mm lens that the photographer was using, the cat may have acted naturally. As it was, it stayed hunkered down and we headed home.
November 9, 2021. We headed north, hoping to avoid the madness of yesterday with the hordes of vehicles. We reached the eastern shore of the Mara River where several large Nile Crocodiles basked on the bank, most with their formidable jaws open wide. A Little Bee-eater repeatedly flew to a perch nearby, but distracted by attempting to video Crocodiles going into the water, I missed my flight shots and, in trying to do so, missed the Crocs as well! I was certainly off my game.
We ended the morning at a Lion kill, where several Lionesses and two cubs fed on a Buffalo, with Spotted Hyenas in the grass, presumably waiting. Seven Hyenas were there, but even when only one Lioness remained, with her two cubs, the Hyenas didn’t attempt to drive her off. Normally, that’s a given. Distressingly, although I did see 3 vultures pass by high overhead, none came down, and again, ‘normally,’ vultures would be gliding down to wait their turn. But the skies, essentially, were empty.
November 10, 2021. Yesterday’s afternoon game drive was slow. Mary and I, as per tradition, rode together for our last game drive, and we hunted for Leopards for the group. At the end of the day the group found a Black-backed Jackal den with pups now just miniatures of the adults. Two adults came in, and they were greeted enthusiastically by the pups who nuzzled and nipped at the parent’s mouth until food was regurgitated – the standard way canines feed their pups. Yummy.
Our last evening, however, was wonderful, with the lodge setting up a separate buffet, a cake, singing, and extremely moving speeches by our driver/guides who not only expressed their gratitude for our coming and supporting them, and their families, but also slamming home how vital tourism, and tourist support, is vital for so, so many. Many of these driver/guides, and many of the lodge staff, not only are making money for themselves but also are supporting extended families. The guides had worried that as Covid restrictions tanked the tourist market they wondered if they’d ever work again, and for many, there was no other source of income.
November 11, 2021. I’ve had the idea for this Photo of the Day since January 1, my fallback shot if I was desperate. I’m desperate. We’re on our way home, and had a flight delay of 8 hours, which did give us some chance to sleep, but no chance at any photos. So here’s my Photo Backpack, filled with gear as I carry it on the plane. And the contents, for those who shoot Sony, Nikon, or Canon, may astound you.
Inside is my 150-400mm w the built-in 1.25X TC, giving me the equivalent of 300-1000mm.
To avoid redundancy, double the rest of the focal lengths to get the true image equivalent. So …
300mm – my backup lens if our 150-400 would give out. Equivalent 600mm
40-150mm f2.8, Equivalent 80-300mm
12-100mm f4, Equivalent 24-200mm
7-14mm f2.8, Equivalent 14-28mm
3 camera bodies – M1X, and two OM D E Mark III
3 1.4X tele-converters
And in my laptop, a 100-400mm (Equivalent 100-800mm)
Obviously, traveling with this Olympus gear has made packing, flying, overhead space, a breeze. Try fitting all that in a standard photo backpack with any other system. Now, we’re heading home to the start of winter and the ‘easy’ shots of the past 6 weeks won’t be so easy. The challenge really begins.
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Last Update: December 10, 2021
2020 Trip Reports
Tanzania, Rwanda Kenya 2021
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 1
Puma and the Wildlife of Chile Trip 2
Tanzania Februray
Falkland Islands
2019 Trip Reports
South Africa 2019 Scouting Trip
Jaguars and the Wildlife of the Pantanal 2019
The Amazon and Harpy Eagles - Scouting Trip 2019-
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