The Road Not Taken

[twaffle]

[twaffle]

Sorry about the halo on the following image, I didn't realise that it was this bad until I'd posted it.

[madaboutcheetah]

Love that crossing image, @@twaffle ....... Sorry about that cheetah with the mange - I wish the Serengeti cheetah project can do something about it?

[twaffle]

Thanks Hari, I have hundreds of crossing photos of course and will post some more from the subsequent crossings we witnessed. We saw 4 and made the considered opinion to miss at least 3 others despite Squack being a little bit puzzled by that. They were going on relentlessly.

 

The mange cheetah seemed to be known to the local guides but I don't know if the Serengeti cheetah project take a proactive approach to the animals as far as these health issues are concerned. Squack was mentioning that he was passing on cheetah id info to the project so we shall see. Certainly not the cheetah hotspot compared to the area around Alex's southern camp which is the heaviest density I've ever come across.

[Soukous]

So great to see a black rhino. Lucky you.

[Safaridude]

Incredibly beautiful photos of the crossing.

[JohnR]

There is at least one upside to returning from Africa -- seeing @@twaffle's beautiful images.

Edited September 3, 2014 by JohnR

[Atravelynn]

Seeing the crossing on foot is a very special treat!

[twaffle]

Thanks for the comments, it is nice to know that people are still looking at the photos as I know I've posted a lot but they speak louder than words about what we saw.

[AKR1]

Incredibly beautiful photos of the crossing.

+2

[Sangeeta]

Such limpid and spare images, Hillary. I see nothing extraneous in your shots at all - everything just reduced to the bare essentials, a bit like that poem you started out with. That is such a beautiful, fluid, perfectly curved crossing.

[twaffle]

Sangeeta, that is probably the nicest thing anyone has said about my photography. Everything I've tried to do summed up so easily. So grateful, especially on these particularly difficult days.

[Kitsafari]

love that shot of the rhino in the centrestage among the wildebeests. how crowded it was, and yet so alone.

[Seniortraveller]

Thanks for using your talent for photography, to bring so much pleasure to so many. I am one of those people that was very anxious about writing a trip report, especially one without photos. In the end I felt that I had not had the skill to convey in words, the emotions and pictures I carry in my head. The smell of the bush, the open skies, the sounds, or lack of them, and not forgetting the anticipation of a wonderful sighting. Addictive or what?

 

Loved the dik dik.

[twaffle]

Thank you Seniortraveller and I understand completely the addictive qualities of being on safari, in the bush with everything that entails. Trip reports can be daunting but rewarding beasts.

[twaffle]

[twaffle]

[Kitsafari]

it's so painful to watch them cross, and listening to those stuck in the waters with a broken leg or limbs stuck in rocks, or a broken back as the one you saw. I still can hear them call for help even now.

 

but the calls of joy and satisfaction from those who survive the crossing soon drown out those they left behind.

 

thanks for sharing your sentiments. they bring back sad but ultimately happy memories.

[twaffle]

Thanks Kitsafari, I do agree.

[Zim Girl]

Some very powerful pictures there

Thought provoking, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

[Sangeeta]

Why, oh why don't at least some of those idiotic animals use the Lamai bridge?!

[twaffle]

Thanks Zim Girl.

 

Sangeeta, that would be too funny!

[SafariChick]

Continuing to love this report. Another vote for that first crossing photo as so simple and beautiful. I also love the ones focusing on the individuals that are exhausted but made it, and the babies waiting anxiously for their mothers. The injured and dead are so heartbreaking though. Someone really SHOULD build them some bridges!

[twaffle]

We need to remember that the crocodiles need to eat too!

[SafariChick]

@@twaffle you have a point there