Thomson Safaris 2012-2013 Catalog is Out

The Thomson Safaris 2012-2013 catalog is out and available. Yours truly has the cover this year, which is photo of a female leopard who is relaxing after a rather sumptuous meal (impala). Yum Yum. If you are interested in joining me on a Tanzania photo safari or to any of my other destinations in Africa, my Africa photo safari schedule can be found on my main web site at andybiggs.com.

Back home from Africa

I just got home from my east African adventure, and I have tons to write about. I wasn’t able to update my blog from the field, primarily due to lack of time and lack of a decent internet connection. I spent time in Rwanda for mountain gorillas, and then split my time in Kenya’s Masai Mara between 3 different camps. I think I came home with some great photographs, however I won’t know for sure until I get some time to sort through them. Heck, I still have to sort through my images from Botswana from July!

A huge thank you goes out to those of you who traveled with me on these 2 safaris. I really do think that I have the best job on earth. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Safari Update from Rwanda - Day 3

Not much to write about today, primarily due to time constraints (and internet connectivity), but I thought I would quickly share a few images. All I can say is that my experience in Rwanda has been amazing. The people, the accommodations, the hospitality and above all else the mountain gorillas. Truly one of the best experiences I have had in all of my travels throughout Africa. Hiking in the Virunga Mountains with mountain gorillas is something that needs to be on everybody’s bucket list.

Charles the Silverback

Nikon D3x, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/500 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 1600

Charles the Silverback

Nikon D3x, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800

Safari Update from Rwanda - Day 2

Mother Gorilla and her Baby

Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 1600

Today we were up again at 5:15, packed up and headed out after breakfast. Both of our trekking groups drove to the same trailhead, which necessitated hiking for about 45 minutes across planted fields of potatoes. Once inside the park boundary, which consisted of a tall wall of volcanic rocks, my group only had about a 10 minute hike to reach our intended group of gorillas. I have to be honest in saying that the hike was fairly easy today, which made a few people quite happy. Most of my trekking group had been on a long, grueling hike the day before, so this trek was a relief.

Today’s time was spent with the Umubano family group, which is led by the silverback Charles. We affectionately referred to him as ‘Chuck’, as he was extremely comfortable with our presence and laid down for a nap only a few feet away from us.

We spent our hour with the the family group in one small location, and we were on even footing the entire time. Woohoo! I know this sounds funny, but yesterday was spent on a very steep incline, which was quite difficult to work with. Today we had clear view of the family, and enjoyed every second with clear views of most of the members.

I haven’t had time to process any images, and those that I have processed have been on my Macbook Pro with a shiny screen. Not optimal, for sure, but at least the images that I do post will give a good idea as to what we have seen.

Tomorrow we will have our last trek with the gorillas, and then we will stay the night in Kigali, before heading back to Kenya for the Masai Mara.

Safari update from Rwanda

Nikon D3x, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/400 @ f/4, ISO 800

We arrived in Rwanda yesterday morning, and after a nice lunch we drove a few hours to Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge in the Virunga Mountains. My group of travelers enjoyed the warm reception, and even more enjoyed the very comfortable accommodations. After our bags exploded from our journey from Kenya, we all met up for coctails on the verands, followed by an excellent dinner.

We woke up early this morning at around 5am with a knock on the door, followed by a pitcher of freshly brewed coffee. What a way to wake up! We ate a quick breakfast and made our way to the Parc National des Volcans headquarters, and there we met up with our trekking guides. We went through the necessary safety discussion, were allocated an intended gorilla group to hike to, and then drove to the trailhead.

Without getting into too much details, the trek was short but very very challenging. We mostly covered a very steep slope that was covered with stinging nettle, and had to work slowly but deliberately to the Sabyinyo group of gorillas. The Sabyinyo group is reported to have the largest silverback gorilla, named Guhonda, at roughly 220 kilos. That is some serious weight. We caught up with the group as they were feeding in the canopy, and we waited until they came down to move onto other feeding areas. The area we were in was lush with bamboo, and many of the gorillas could not be seen without significant intention.

After the gorillas came down, we did get our hour with them and I have to say that it was both magical and photographically rich. At one point Guhonda walked into our group of 8 photographers and brushed by one of my travelers as he passed through. There was much more going on than I can write about right now, but suffice to say that this is one of the richest safari experiences one can imagine. I only have had time to quickly crank out this 1 image that I have included in the blog post, and I know that I have at least 10 good images that I will be happy with from today. We have 3 days of trekking for gorillas, so more photo opportunities are ahead!