Tanzania safari report - Day 7

Today we split into two groups: hot air ballooners and non ballooners. The ballooners were up at 4:45 for their second flight attempt. The day before we had to cancel our flight due to rains, so today was attempt #2. Sometimes the balloon company allows to to join without a fee, however on this occasion there were no available slots.

We headed down towards the Gol kopjes in search of cheetah and lion activity, as well as migratory herds of zebra and wildbeest. We certainly found all of the above.

The Gol kopjes are rock outcroppings out the southeastern plains of the Serengeti. The area has very short grass, which wildebeest love to eat. This grass is nutritionally high, so it will yield good milk for their newborn early in the year. There are also resident thompson gazelle, which means cheetah will not be far away.

We checked in at Naabi hill with the rangers there, then we were on our way. We spent the morning driving in and around the kopjes, and came across a lion sleeping on a nice rock and then a female cheetah in an open field. After some persistence, we arrived at a large kopje which appeared to have 3 female and 1 male lions. The male was splitting his time 'servicing' two of the females, and every 10 minutes was a Barry White moment with cameras clicking away. We sat for 2 hours watching the interaction between the lions, and as we were leaving to go have a picnic a second male lion came out of hiding to join into the action. It was a virtual orgy of lions, acting out in front of our vehicles. I took something like 18 exposures with my pano camera, which wasn't the easiest. With only 3 exposures per roll, I was chaning rolls quite often.

The afternnon brought more rains, and on ourt liesurely game drive we came in and out of the rain quite often. I am glad that it didn't rain at camp, because I was waiting for the camp staff to wash and dry my laundry.

The plains are so green right now, many roads are challenging and the wildlife spread out. We are having great photo ops nonetheless, and some stunning images are coming out of this group of travelers.

Tanzania safari report - Day 6

What a very very wet day. Some of us were up early for a drive to the hot air balloon launch site, and the minute we jumped in the Land Rover we had a wall of rain. We did drive to the site anyway, however after waiting for 45 minutes the pilot came over and told us the flight was called off due to the rain.

We headed back to camp and nearly got stuck every 5 minutes. A 30 minute drive quickly turned into 90. Ugh.

After lunch our luck turned around, and we had multiple leopard and lion sightings. Four lions in a tree here, two lions in the grass over there, a leopard in a tree there, etc etc. Excellent afternoon by any standard.

The rains are challenging from a driving standpoint, because there is mud everywhere. I am sure the local farmers are quite happy right now.

I am doing a Lightroom processing lecture tonight, and I will process raw files from some of the guests. One of the challenges from these safaris is processing through thousands and thousands of raw files. Which to select? Why? I like to help out as much as I can, as I have processed a few photos before. :-) I am shooting film and video on this safari, so I cannot show my own images from each day.

Tanzania safari report - day 5

Wow. What a day. Where do I begin? We left camp this morning, drove around the edge of Ngorongoro Crater and gradually lost elevation on our way to the Serengeti plains. We had some amazing giraffe sightings at the Malanja depression, as a family of 15 walked along side us for quite some time. Giraffe are my favorite animal to photograph, and this was one of those better sightings.

The acacias slowly turned into lush, green grasses as we passed Oldupai Gorge. There are tons of thompson gazelle and wildebeest as far as the eyes can see. We stopped for a herd of wildebeest to cross the road, and it took 30 minutes for them to cross the road one-by-one. Excellent video opportunity.

After Naabi Hill, we detoured off the main road towards vilima saba (7 hills). It is usually excellent territory for cheetahs, however today it was quite void of game. After getting close to Seronera, the central part of Serengeti NP, we came across a gorgeous female leopard crossing the road. She didn't stick around for long, but I am glad that my guests have already seen a leopard up close. Now I want one in a tree only a few feet away from my vehicle. :-)

We ended the day with 5 bat-eared foxes just outside of camp. Talk about playful and fearless. Typically they are very skiddish, however today was just the opposite. We have 4 giraffes here at camp, and we are taking photos from our tent porches. How lame, I know, but it has been a very long day. Tomorrow we are hot air ballooning, so we are up at 4:30. Time for bed. Until tomorrow.....

Tanzania safari report - day 4

Up at 5am, breakfast at 5:30 and off we went into crater at 5:59am. The gate opens at 6am, and the gate is just outside of camp. I prefer to camp at Ngorongoro because of a few reasons:

1) Fastest access to the crater floor. The lodges on the other side of the rim have a minimum of 45 minutes to drive around the rim and then down the descent road (which sucks). We are down in 10 minutes.

2) Privacy. 'Nuff said.

3) Sights and sounds of the bush. Yes, the lodges hear the same, but not from your insulated room!

4) I get to control the dining schedule. This means I get a warm meal at 5:30am, instead of 6am at best. If you are at a lodge, you are in the crater at 7am at best. Early bird gets the worm in my book.

Ok, back to our day today.

We arrived at the crater floor and quicly intercepted the majority of the pride that works an area we know very well. The pride has 12 lions, and we saw all but the large, dark-maned male. We had to shoot at ISO 6400 due to the low light, however we stayed until the light was ample and the lions moved up a hill and away. What a great way to start the day. The rest of the morning and afternoon were filled with plains game, and I took the opportunity to teach blurred panning shots. A heavy rain came around lunchtime, and we waited it out for a while near Ngoitokitok Springs.

The crater is green and lush these days, as the long rains seem to have arrived early. In a typical year it would start in mid March, however rains have been plentiful for at least the past month. Some sightings have been challenging due to the high grass, however there are enough opportunities that it hasn't been an issue. Serengeti may be a different story, but I doubt it.

We ended the day watching and photographing the same pride that we saw in the morning. Boy, were they active. With four young males that were about 2 years old, they were playing jumping all over each other. It was a very rich opportunity for some behavior shots. Oh, and I shot it all on video, but I did wish that I had my Nikon equipment with me. My only camera is a 6x24cm panorama film camera. I have shot 9 exposures so far (3 rolls of film). Crazy, I know.

Tanzania safari report - day 3

We left Tarangire National Park this morning, and drove across the Maasai Steppe and up to our camp on the Ngorongoro Crater rim. The weather was windy, chilly and slightly overcast. We ate a nice lunch at camp and then headed down into the crater for the afternoon.

Afternoons in Ngorongoro are typically much less active than the mornings, however today had some nice action in store for us. We saw a lioness stalk and run after a young wildebeest, which was quite the sight. Then we watched a large female hyaena pull a zebra carcass out from the water. And the end of the afternoon can only be described as the largest concentration of large bull elephants I have ever seen. I typically see between 10 and 20 bulls in the crater, but today there must have been 50 bulls within sight of each other. And most of these guys had *huge* tusks. My 2006 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year winning image was of a bull with acacia thorns in his mouth, and on that safari I didn't see many elephants in the crater. Today was insane.

We just finished a nice meal, and we will be up at 5am tomorrow. A full day in the crater is in store, and I hope that we run into the large lion pride that works the Munge River, as they are over 20 strong.

Time to close the tent flaps, as it is getting chilly right now. I hear our Maasai guide outside tending the fire, so he should be warm and comfy tonight.

Tanzania safari report day 1 - Tarangire

Today we woke up and left Arusha for the green grasses and flowing waters of Tarangire National Park. The park is a natural watering hole because of the winding Taangire River, which at the moment is flowing at a breakneck pace. Recent rains has caused the park to have plenty of water, and the grass here is quite tall. Wildlife sightings were quite good today, beginning with a lioness on a giraffe kill on the high plains that overlook the valley.

Tarangire is typically all about the elephants, and today did not disappoint. We ran into no less than 15 family units on our afternnon game drive, and all seemed to be moving down towards the flowing river in the afternoon heat. We even saw the very rare oryx, which is not a natural fit for this environment.

There were rain clouds surrounding us all afternnon, and signs of recent rains were abundant. Did we even have a dry season this year, or did the long rains arrive early? I think it will be interesting to drive by Lake Manyara in 2 days, as it was bone dry when I flew over the lake in October.

My guests are absolutely fantastic, and all really love our luxury camping accommodations. We were greeted by fresh juice, cold hand towels and big smiles by the Thomson Safaris camp staff. After a hot shower, I watched the sun set behind the Ngorongoro highlands to the west. Cold beer. Check. Camp fire. Check. It is great to be back in a country that I love so much.

Tomorrow will be a full day, for sure. Up a 5:30 and out of camp by 6:15. I hear a lion roaring to the north of Lake Burunge, so I know which direction I want to head in the morning.

What are you doing in March? How about a trip to Tanzania.

I got a really late start announcing my March 6, 2010 Tanzania safari, and as a result I still have some spots available for this photographic safari. Here are some bullet points:

Dates: March 6-18, 2010

Where: Tanzania

Parks visited: Serengeti National Park (2 camp locations), Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park

Tanzania, south of Kenya on the African continent's Indian Ocean coastline, lays claim to the title Home of the Safari, since the word itself is taken from the Swahili word that means "journey." While Tanzania's Kenyan neighbors may dispute that claim, there is no doubt that Tanzania offers one of the best environments in the world for an enriching wildlife experience. The country's game viewing opportunities are considered by many to be the best in Africa. Its game parks are populated with many of the world's most exotic creatures, including all of the "Big Five." Its lakes are huge and bountiful with fish. Its cities are relaxed and friendly. Yet, to a greater degree than is true of many of its neighbors, this sprawling county, the largest in East Africa, remains untouched by the vacationing hordes.

It's About Photography — Lots of it

This workshop will be very informal and fun. I will be shooting alongside you at all times. We will have discussion and assistance on specialized topics such as, for example, long lens technique, projection flash usage, action shooting, wildlife observation, field craft and east African animal behavior. Advanced techniques will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice.

This workshop is about shooting. Lots of shooting. There will be no classroom sessions, no lectures, no slide shows, and most importantly, no unnecessary egos. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.

Because of the unique location of this workshop, and the luxury accommodations, this workshop adventure is open to spouses as well as photographers. Even non-photographers will find the locales visited and the wildlife viewing opportunities to be thrilling. The cost for non-photographers is the same as for active participants.

For the complete schedule and more details, you can click on this link for more information.

Please email me at andybiggs@gmail.com if you have an interest in this safari. There are only a few spots left!

Back home from safari in Tanzania

After two weeks of excellent photography in the east African country of Tanzania, I am back home. I had 10 travelers with me, and I have to say that this was one heck of a group. We got up early each day, had some excellent experiences, took some great photographs, and above all else took the time to laugh until our bellies ached. Thank you to all who came on this unforgettable safari!!

I will be sure to post some photographs in the following days. My favorite images are almost all chimpanzee photographs from Mahale National Park, and all are high ISO images that require delicate processing. I will try my hands with the new Adobe Lightroom 3 beta application, but I may end up having to rely on my standard high ISO processing workflow with Photoshop CS4 and different plugins.

Time for a cup of coffee. It's early and I am jetlagged.