More of Amboseli’s Elephants
Amboseli National Park, Kenya
We saw many elephants in Tsavo East National Park and many in Masai Mara, but by far the most in Amboseli. The well watered marshes and old lake bed are lush grazing for elephants. Sony RX10iv in Program mode. Various focal lengths. Processed in Polarr and assembled in ImgPlay.
Topi under an African Sun
Topi are another big boned African antelope species. We found these in the Masai Mara reserve. They are generally found in groups of up to 14…a dominant buck and his haram and children. They “rest” in a characteristic pose, with their noses on the ground supporting their heads and horns. The light of Equatorial Africa is always amazing. Sony RX10iv at about 32mm and 600mm equivalents. Program mode. Processed in Polarr. Panel assembled in FrameMagic.
Eastern Black and White Colobus Monkey
I was surprised, and delighted, to find a large family group of Eastern Black and White Colobus Monkeys on the grounds of Elsamere Lodge where we stayed on Lake Naivasha, in the Rift Valley of Kenya. The field guides I had studied before leaving home show the primate at higher elevations and in much more dense forest. (The Colobus has a limited range in the Masai Mara, mostly around Siana Springs Camp…not anywhere near where we were going.) It is a beautiful creature. From what I can find on-line the Colobus at Elsamere are natural residents and have been living there for several generations at least. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.
Yard Turkeys
Yesterday’s day poem was about the turkeys who came wandering through the yard in the morning rain.
Carol came in in the middle of my Qi Gong
this morning, me still in my bare feet, tee-shirt
and pajama pants, and announced that there
were six turkeys in the back yard. I grabbed
my camera. Turns out it was a hen and five
well grown poults, looking for sustenance
among the fallen leaves under our trees in
steady rain…making a short cut, maybe,
across our yard. I got a few shots from the
open deck door before they disappeared up
the alley between our house and the house
next door…not an alley proper of course but
the narrow area between our house and the
hedge, full of strawberry plants and sunflowers.
Eventually they came out onto the front lawn
and I could stand in the front door and photo-
graph them as they passed under our little
apple trees. Carol had to leave right then or
be late for a funeral, so she went out, and
of course they all took wing, the poults high
into the pines across the road and the hen
sailing down the road and across to the
woods at eye-level…which was all she could
manage in her mature dignity. Such a treat.
Making the most of a rainy morning. I got
back to my Qi Gong and the turkeys went
looking for sustenance in someone else’s
yard, or maybe the marshy edge of the wood.
What more can I say? Sony RX10iv at 600mm and 200mm. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and assembled as a video slideshow in ImgPlay.
Bustards and Baboons
Another Encounter story from Kenya. Wait for it to load and then page through using the controls in the bar at the top or bottom of the panel. You can expand it to full sceeen by touching the icon in either bar.
Bustards-and-BaboonsTsavo East Lion Encounter
One of the most exciting encounters we have on our Kenya Safari. The PDF will take a moment to load. You can flip through it using the controls at the bottom or the top of the block.
Tsavo-East-Lions-1Ostrich Encounter
I am working on telling the story of my Kenyan Safari and have decided it is best told by “encounters”. Traveling in Kenya is hours of butt-busting, dusty, barely roads or road clogged with tractor-trailer trucks, mostly uncomfortable travel…interrupted by some of the most amazing wildlife encounters imaginable. This is the first small sample. To view it, tap or click the link and it should open as a pdf in your browser. It might take a few moments to load 🙂
Ostrich-Encounter-1-1Waterbuck
The Common Waterbuck is another of the very common antelope species in Kenya…especially in Tsavo East and West National Parks. Bucks are strongly built with impressive horns and females and young are on the cute side…so what is not to like? At Voi Safari Lodge they were often on inside of the fence with us, and in Tsavo East we saw many family groups and lone bucks. Sony RX10iv at mostly 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr. (Touch or click any image to view at full size.)
Cokes Hartebeest
In my opinion, one of the oddest looking of Africa’s antelope species, the Cokes Hartebeest. The close ups were taken at Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, and the full body shot at Tsavo East. It is a heavy-set animal, with high shoulders which make it look taller in the front than in the back. But it is that long face, with the horns set so high and close together, and the bulb of a nose that stand out for me. It is also among the most common and wide-spread of the African antelope species. We saw them in every park and reserve we visited in Kenya. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.
Vervet Monkey
The most common monkey of all of sub-Sahara Africa is the Black-faced Vervet. It seems to have an affinity for humans (or perhaps only for human food) and is very apt to be seen around camps and lodges. In South Africa when I visited they were a real problem at lodges…so bold that at least one person was assigned to monkey duty at each meal, otherwise they would have been up on the tables helping themselves whenever your attention wavered. Even with a guard they got away the occasion slice of fruit or toast. In Kenya they were much more shy…or perhaps not as hungry…or the camp staff have done a better job of training them to be unobtrusive. Only at one camp we visited for lunch were there any number of them…yet we saw large troops in the bush. These shots are from a lodge well within Tsavo East National Park. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.