escapewindow | Oct. 24th, 2012

Oct. 24th, 2012

In the morning, we left early to get to Olduvai Gorge before the heat, and because Louise Leakey had a plane to catch. We saw the original site and spent some time in the museum. I decided to start using my largely-ignored-til-now full-spectrum/infrared camera at this point, and was pretty happy with the results.

We entered Serengeti National Park and saw a pride of lions sleeping in the shade.

We stopped in Seronera for lunch, where there were hyrax waiting to eat any scraps we dropped. One of them peed in Marc's coffee as he cut my smuggled leftover birthday cake from the night before. :)

While photographing dwarf mongoose, I dropped my 5d2 and broke my 715nm infrared filter. I still had a 590nm infrared filter so I tried that for the rest of the trip, but I'm just not as into the results. The colors are gaudier and I don't have the chops to take advantage of the super color in photoshop. I have a new 715nm filter on its way.

We saw some lion cubs crossing the road with their mother, and watched the pride for a while.

When we heard of something exciting in the distance, we took off, full speed, and decided the hotel could wait a while. We sped along for a while until we realized we were heading right into a storm, and headed back to the hotel. (I later found we were trying for a leopard, which would have been our first.)

On the way to the hotel, we found an elephant in the road, drinking rainwater.

We checked into the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, again with the customary wet washcloth and fresh fruit juice welcome. The view outside our balcony was gorgeous, and included some monkeys on the balcony next door.

The rest of the photos are here.

Previously:

On Thursday, we took a quick morning safari before heading to the Seronera airstrip, where we took two Cessnas to northern Serengeti.

Our new vehicles were fully open on the sides but covered on top. I found it a bit more limiting for photography but managed to do pretty ok anyway.

We were greeted by the Mara river, and giraffes, and baby warthogs.

Sayari camp was beautiful, and welcoming, and we needed escorts to walk us to and from our tents at night, since animals regularly walked through camp.

We went back out, braving the rain.

We drove up to the Kenya border.

At some point, I took this photo, and when I got back I photoshopped it as best as I was able. I'm mixed. I think I'm going to stick with the subtler infrared filters and less photoshop.

At the end of the day, as we were hydroplaning a bit over muddy roads (dusty or muddy, nothing in between!) we caught sight of a leopard cub. Our first. At a great distance, in the dark.

The rest of the photos are here.

Previously:

We started early the next morning, and caught the leopard mum at their home rock.

(tight crop)

We saw wildebeest on the move.

Our driver got stuck twice: once in deep muddy ruts, and once as we were crossing a stream. That one required a rope, another car, and people leaning on the side of the car to keep it from rolling over into the water.

After a breakfast in the field, we got a lot of pictures of an old male lion lounging in the shade, then an entire pride of lions snoozing: one here, one there, four there, two there.

Then we saw a gathering of cars, and drove over post haste. Cheetahs.

The cubs followed their mom a distance as she stared at some distant gazelle? and I did everything I could to prepare to capture her running. It wasn't to be, however; we left before anything happened.

Still, I'm pretty stoked we saw 4 cheetahs. That's over 1% of the regional population.

We headed back for camp to rest for the afternoon, and planned to head back out in the evening for the second half of our perfect day.

The rest of the photos are here.

Previously:

Back at camp, a zebra baby and mum were eating grass and nursing just outside our tent. This was a good omen for the evening.

We started our evening safari in great spirits, wondering how we could possibly top the cheetah sighting earlier. (I secretly wanted to go back.)

Then we came across the newborn zebra, still wearing its afterbirth. The perfect finale to an amazing trip.

(The bright flashes are me getting worried about depth of field + focus, and stepping down the aperture.)

An ibis posed in the water for us afterwards.

Our final campfire, with drinks, and final dinner, were sentimental, with speeches. Tim, a National Geographic employee, had his photos running in a slideshow -- mine are unabashedly wildlife-centric; his actually told the story of the entire trip quite eloquently, giving me ideas for future trips.

This was the perfect day.

The rest of the photos are here.

Previously:

On Saturday morning we took a very quick game drive, staying close to camp. It was more of a farewell round than anything, a good close to the week. On the way to the airstrip it seemed like animal after animal came out to say goodbye.

We flew back to Arusha, where we visited a souvenir shop and art gallery. Then to a day room near the airport, where we showered and re-packed our luggage for the international flight home. And I managed to get rid of the rice in the sandbag that I really didn't use that much all trip.

I managed to steal some pictures of Arusha this time.

Some geeky camera and travel thoughts:

I love my new camera.
The 100-400mm isn't as sharp, or fast, or as sexy as a super telephoto prime. But it's faster to deploy, easier to carry, and less unwieldy in cramped quarters. Faster at grabbing difficult shots in limited time. At least until I get some practice time in with the big guns.
Next time, if I go on another more photo-oriented safari, I'm thinking a super telephoto prime, a mid-range telephoto zoom, and a wide lens like a 35mm f/1.4 for documenting the trip. And give IR another shot.
Here's a thought. Since I used vacuum sealed bags filled with air for padding, maybe I could protect my monopod with... water wings?
While I didn't use my sandbags much (plural; one stayed in my duffel all trip), I used the heck out of my tiny tabletop Manfrotto tripod. Maybe because I was going with a lighter long lens.
I used the heck out of the 2x extender too.
I kind of missed my 7D. With its 1.6 crop factor, my effective 800mm f/11 would have become an effective 1280mm f/11, which would have helped with the rhinos, leopards, and serval cat.
There wasn't any need for me to change money.
Laundry was super cheap at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (about a buck an item). And Sayari camp was all-inclusive.
I should have tried longer exposures and lower ISOs on the leopard cub.
I think I'm close, photography wise. Not yet good enough to be pro, but promising enough to think I can if I dedicate myself. Keep at it. And buy more gear ;-) ;-)

The rest of the photos are here.

Previously: