Photo of the Day

Saguaro and Galiuros Range, Arizona. April 2009

Nikon D3x, 24-70mm f/2.8, 1/20 sec @ f/8, ISO 100

Photo of the Day

Saguaro, Mount Lemmon, Arizona. April 2009

Alpa TC, Phase One P45+ digital back, Rodenstock APO Sironar HR 180mm

Okavango Flood update - March 20, 2009

The following chart shows the levels of the 2009 Okavango flood waters. Map Ives, Wilderness Safaris' Chief Ecologist, sums up the flood so far... interesting stuff!

It is that time of year when the data is coming in thick and fast from hydrologists throughout southern Africa regarding the state of flows in our rivers, and the environmental and social effects of those flows. This includes data from the water authorities in Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia outlining the scenarios for the Kunene, Zambezi, Kwando, Kavango and Kuito rivers (The last two combine to form the Okavango River upstream of the delta proper).

There have been a number of reports in the news media which may have created a negative impression of the “flooding”, which indeed has affected a small number of people on a localized basis, but in fact has a positive effect on the ecology of the natural areas into which they flow.

Due to a combination of higher than normal Indian Ocean temperatures, a low pressure system centred over central Botswana and a southward movement of the moist Congo Air Boundary, the late summer rains have been well above average. This has been particularly so over the 16 Degrees South latitude in a band across the African Continent and which, fortuitously, include the catchments of some of the great rivers of south central Africa mentioned in the first paragraph. During the first two weeks of March, this band received about 120% above average rainfall, followed by localized but heavy falls along the Zambia/Angola border region as well as over the Okavango Delta itself.

All of this has resulted in river flows that are above average as measured over the last 70 years. This is not unusual in the long term, as flows such as these have been recorded before, and in fact are well placed into data sets that show a pattern of wet and dry cycles over the entire catchment area. However, in the short term, this has resulted in flows that have not been seen in the Zambezi and Okavango Rivers since 1963.

These effects of this increased runoff on downstream environments will vary tremendously between those felt by people who have moved into low lying areas during the “dry” years, and those felt by the natural environments such as the Okavango, Savute/Chobe and Zambezi environments. Extremely high levels of water have inundated parts of the panhandle area of the Okavango, the area between the Chobe and the Zambezi, and floodplains along all these rivers. However, it must be stressed that no lives have been lost and so called flooding has only occurred in areas that have historically been floodplains. People have been assisted with evacuation to temporary shelter on higher ground nearby, where they will probably only stay for about 8 to 10 weeks before the waters subside.

Lower down the Okavango River and into the delta itself, the effects will be fantastic, as large grassland areas and floodplains which have not been inundated for many years and even decades, become flooded, and a complete recharge of groundwater takes place. Islands which have been dehydrated through no ground water flows, will now rejuvenate and distal lakes such as Ngami and Mababe will fill. These two terminal sinks along with a major increase in flows down the Boteti create wide ranging habitats for many, many waterfowl and mammal species. Linked to the Mababe Lake and fed from the Linyanti/Kwando system the Savute Channel can be expected to have a major increase in flows, which may well result in the re-establishment of the famed Savute Marsh at the terminal end of the channel. The availability of so much water over a large area will have extremely beneficial effects on the distribution of the region’s high elephant numbers.

Most, if not all of the camps in the Okavango are situated on islands and higher ground with many being on lifted walkways and stilts. There should be little if any, effect on the camps themselves, although some camps may have to adjust the road networks somewhat since many were located during those dry years. This is in fact a natural phenomenon which only happens very occasionally in the wet and dry cycle as mentioned, and is a grand opportunity to see the rivers and deltas of the region in all their glory.

After nearly 30 years of low flows, interspersed with occasional average flows, we now have a near record inflow, the effects of which are too many to innumerate here, but suffice to say are hugely important to the biodiversity of the Okavango and the region in general.

Those of us who have lived and worked here for many years have waited for a year so special as this, come and join us, it will happen only once in a lifetime.

Map Ives
Wilderness Safaris Botswana
26th March, 2009.

The chart below shows data as of March 20, 2009.

Human and Lion interaction

This guys is NUTS.

Gura Gear Kiboko is out of stock (for the moment)

Wow. What a great opening out of the gate. I launched Gura Gear in early November 2008, and in a short four months I completely sold out of my first production run of the Kiboko camera bag. I did not anticipate this much demand, but it illustrates just how thirsty the market is for a paradigm-shifting type of product. As mentioned earlier, I started thinking about the problem of overweight camera bags back in early 2005, and it took a few years for me to bring the proper product to market. Thank you to everyone who has supported my efforts, and if you purchased a bag I just want to say a huge THANK YOU for your business.

I will have the Kiboko bag back in stock in a few months, and you can always grab your spot in the ordering system so a bag will make it to your doorstep as soon as I get them back in stock.

I often hear questions like 'are you going to make this kind of product' or 'are you coming out with any new products soon', and even though I cannot directly answer the questions with my plans, I will say that I am working hard to solve common problems for traveling photographers. If you think you have an idea, by all means contact me with your thoughts. I may already be working on such an idea, or I may not have heard or thought of it. If you are tired of seeing the same old types of products hit the market, well so am I. Contact me if you want to vent!

Workflow Friday

Jason Moore has a wonderful blog, with postings from many well known photographers. I was recently asked to participate in his Workflow Friday series of posts, and I chose to walk through a typical series of layers one on of my black and white images of a leopard in a tree.

Click on the image below to read the entire entry.

Photo of the Day

Texas Bluebonnets in the Hill Country, outside of Willow City. April 2004

Canon 10D, 16-35mm, .8sec @ f/16, ISO 100

Spring is just about here, and I thought I would pull an image from my archive from 5 years ago. When we used to live in Austin, we would head out every weekend in the springtime, looking for wildflower pockets within a 100 mile radius of our home. 2004 was an exceptional year for wildflowers in Texas, and it is looking like 2009 will be good but only in certain areas. I am looking forward to getting out in the next few weeks to take some photos of the kids in the flowers. If you have never been to Texas in the springtime for wildflowers, you owe it to yourself to come bring your camera for a few days. Make Austin your home base, and make sure to eat some great BBQ (it is beef here in Texas) and take in some excellent live music.

Rhino Rescue on National Geographic Channel

White Rhino, near Mombo Camp, September 2008

Canon 1DsMKIII, 400mm f/4 DO IS, 1/5 sec @ f/29, ISO 50

If you receive the National Geographic Channel on television, you owe it to yourself to watch Dereck and Beverly Joubert's Rhino Rescue. It is a great film that explains the current rhino conservation efforts at Mombo on Chief's Island in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. For more information, click here to read more on the National Geographic website.