Ruaha and Zanzibar - September / October 2014

[michael-ibk]

Argh, by calling me a German you of course found the ultimate tease there! (Trust me, we're worse than England and Scotland.)

 

Well, you are "imitating" good light very well, remarkable. Which software are you using?

[FlyTraveler]

Argh, by calling me a German you of course found the ultimate tease there! (Trust me, we're worse than England and Scotland.)

 

Well, you are "imitating" good light very well, remarkable. Which software are you using?

 

 

Yes, in general I am aware about the reaction of the Austrians when called Germans, the same thing about Canadians and Americans (from the US), glad I found something even in the perfection

 

I am quite lazy to learn Adobe Photoshop, so I use DxO Optics Pro 6.2...

[Kitsafari]

I missed this report somehow until my husband alerted me to it. the pictures are so sharp and vivid. i'm at post #33 and that directional sable-kudu junction landmark is both funny and yet such a brilliant idea!

 

wow you had such a great bargain with accomodation and your willingness to try something new brought you a great guide in Alphonce. so pleased for you.

[Kitsafari]

beautiful brilliant lighting. i'm horrible with technology or software lingo... is the lighting actually like that or is it "imitated" (as mentioned above)?

[FlyTraveler]

beautiful brilliant lighting. i'm horrible with technology or software lingo... is the lighting actually like that or is it "imitated" (as mentioned above)?

 

Thanks very much for the good words! Taking the chance to go with unknown company worked very well this time, indeed.

 

Photos taken during the "golden hour" after sunrise and before sunset have naturally good light. What I meant by "imitating" good light was that during post processing I would play with different variables like exposure compensation, vibrancy and saturation of different colors for photos taken at noon time, for example until I get a result similar to good natural lighting. This way I don't bother with camera settings in terms of colors at all, just shoot RAW files, images must be in focus and well framed. The rest can be adjusted (including the horizon, I am terrible with the horizon) during post processing.

 

 

[TonyQ]

@@FlyTraveler

Lovely pictures of the giraffe, and especially the Zebra with foal.

[Sangeeta]

@@michael-ibk and @@FlyTraveler - I love Michael's humor too! I could not stop laughing when I read what he had to say about your territory marking details

[FlyTraveler]

@@michael-ibk and @@FlyTraveler - I love Michael's humor too! I could not stop laughing when I read what he had to say about your territory marking details

 

 

My details are not interesting at all... A friend of mine has a really spicy story about his urge for serious territory marking in the middle of the night while on a camping safari (dome tent with no toilet) with bunch of hyenas right in front of the tent...

Edited October 25, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

I would have to return to the beginning of this morning drive in order to post the scenery shots I have taken with my second camera. The time is during the golden hour, so the lighting is kind of real

This is close to Ruaha River, it's visible on the photo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This, I believe is Mdonya sand riverbed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[graceland]

Love your
REAL lighting photos;

as a total amateur I have no idea, nor desire to spend my time looking for lighting on line. However, I realize pro photographers do; and I appreciate and admire the results.

 

Seeing Ruaha again through your lens has been marvelous; I now can't decide - nor ever- which park is my fav. Oh my, would I love to return to Ruaha, Zim, and Bots all in one trip!

 

OH dear, and a skirt into Kenya for one or two of my fav. spots.

 

Where is my lottery ticket.

 

Thank goodness for Trip Reports!

[Kitsafari]

 

@@michael-ibk and @@FlyTraveler - I love Michael's humor too! I could not stop laughing when I read what he had to say about your territory marking details

 

 

My details are not interesting at all... A friend of mine has a really spicy story about his urge for serious territory marking in the middle of the night while on a camping safari (dome tent with no toilet) with bunch of hyenas right in front of the tent...

 

 

 

I want to hear THAT story too!!!

[Kitsafari]

beautiful pictures. Baobab always lends itself to pretty dramatic pictures. I love all those gnarled branches that look like multiple fingers dancing - and frozen in mid-air.

[FlyTraveler]

 

 

@@michael-ibk and @@FlyTraveler - I love Michael's humor too! I could not stop laughing when I read what he had to say about your territory marking details

 

 

My details are not interesting at all... A friend of mine has a really spicy story about his urge for serious territory marking in the middle of the night while on a camping safari (dome tent with no toilet) with bunch of hyenas right in front of the tent...

 

 

 

I want to hear THAT story too!!!

 

 

 

OK, I'll take the chance for ruining my reputation on safaritalk.net for good. Here it goes - that friend of mine (a male, this is an important aspect of the story) is on a camping safari in Serengeti. Special campsite, dome tent, toilet not very close, alone in the tent. In the middle of the night he wakes up with an urge to seriously mark territory. Unzips the tent and looks around - several pairs of eyes are looking at him from a very close distance - hyenas. He didn't feel comfortable to scream, because he would wake up the others, on the other hand the urge to go progressively becomes more serious. Very little time to think, the organ out, so at least the liquid part of the marking goes outside while the dropping goes into a plastic bag, which he's holding behind him, all this while standing !!

 

I guess this story makes me feel reluctant to sleep in a tent without a toilet in unfenced camp (campsite).

[Bush dog]

I love the shots on #109

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

 

Back to the TR. At this point of the drive we reached our target - the Mwagusi river area and saw two buffaloes, a sign that the big herd is not too far away:

 

 

A minute later we saw the big herd in the Mwagusi riverbed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sight was quite impressive, the biggest gathering of large mammals we have seen since we witnessed the Great Migration of the wildebeest and the zebras in Masai Mara last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the right flank of the herd started moving and it looked like the buffaloes were going to cross the riverbed:

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

I love the shots on #109

 

Thanks for the good words, @@Bush dog! You saying this means quite a lot...

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

 

The buffalo herd crossed the dry riverbed, offering a spectacular sighting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other side of the riverbed there was a lonely Saddle-billed stork, a bit too far for a good photo with my lens:

 

 

 

Impalas drinking water in the Mwagusi dry riverbed, using the holes in the sand dug by the elephants:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Your friend has remarkable body control.

 

Love those river bed pics, so very beautiful and scenic with the palm trees flanking it. The buffalo herd must have been an awesome sighting for you, did you count?

[FlyTraveler]

Your friend has remarkable body control.

 

Love those river bed pics, so very beautiful and scenic with the palm trees flanking it. The buffalo herd must have been an awesome sighting for you, did you count?

 

The area is very beautiful, indeed and quite different from the Ruaha river area (I mean specifically Ruaha River Drive) where there are no palm trees and the scenery is dominated by baobab, acacia and sausage trees. Didn't count the number of buffaloes in the herd, but the sighting looked very impressive for us. We did encounter the same herd at least two more times, perhaps three. I remember another great buffalo sighting in Timbavati, not as many animals, but very beautiful sighting. We even got charged by a cow there (protecting her calf).

 

 

Looking forward to seeing your Aberdares and Mara photos...

Edited October 26, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[africawild]

During our visit last year to Ruaha we were impressed by the size of the buffalo herds. I think we saw four different herds and two of them were huge, the biggest I've seen in eleven safaris.

 

I remember one morning that this herd started to cross in front of our vehicle in its way to the river and took them several minutes to pass from the first to the last buffalo !!

 

Paco

[Zim Girl]

@@FlyTraveler

 

Lovely pictures of the buffalo crossing the river. Very impressive.

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

 

Thank you @@Zim Girl, the sighting with the buffalo herd crossing the dry riverbed was beautiful, indeed.

 

 

On with our drive along Mwagusi dry riverbed. Alphonce suggested that we crossed the riverbed and looked for the buffalo on the other side.

 

 

Breeding herd of Elephants drinking water from holes they dug with their trunks in the sand of the Mwagusi dry riverbed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a little one facing the camera and hiding under the adults and another slightly older facing the opposite direction:

 

 

 

The little one facing us is on it's knees, while the one with it's back towards us is still standing:

 

 

 

Now both little elephants are on their knees:

Edited October 28, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

 

Still on the morning game drive. I would have to excuse myself for the number of elephant photos that I am posting, but I find them so adorable (the elephants, not the images) that it is hard to choose just a few.

Here is the same breeding herd as from the above post, drinking and interacting with one-another:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Oct. 01, 2014. Ruaha National Park, morning game drive.

 

 

Baboons with elephants in the background:

 

 

 

A crop of the above photo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and another crop:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[graceland]

You have captured Ruaha's stunning scenery so beautifully.

 

I also love watching the interaction of the elies. We spent more time than ever with them in Zim, and one can truly understand the emotional bond they have and how extremely smart and creative they are in obtaining food and water. And enjoying "elie " mud baths. Too many vehicles zip by them; but to sit and watch can be magical. Esp. with the little ones.

 

So now I want to return to Ruaha, Zim and Kenya. What to do. (sigh)