Show us your African rivers...

[Game Warden]

@@Sangeeta Cracking photo!

[Tom Kellie]

Ewaso Nyiro at Sunset

Photographed at 5:58 pm on 28 April, 2014 in Samburu National Reserve using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 200, 1/800 sec., f/4, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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We'd stopped to watch a crocodile at work on an impala carcass, with considerable thrashing and splashing.

Looking eastward up the languid Ewaso Nyiro river, the intensified early evening hues reminded me of what a privilege it is to see such beauty on safari.

[Tom Kellie]

A Bend in the Mara River with Crocodile

Photographed at 2:42 pm on 7 February, 2014 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 100, 1/2000 sec., f/2.8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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The Mara River flow was limpid and sluggish when we stopped to admire the contrast between glistening water surface, exposed stone and verdant vegetation.

A bonus was the peaceful presence of a resting Crocodylus niloticus, Nile Crocodile, the sole sunbather on a broad sandbar.

[Game Warden]

 

Well here's the most stunning iMfolozi in KZN...

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Game Warden

 

If this was photographed while on the Primitive Trail, I'm surprised that you all were so far above the river.

I'd mistakenly supposed that your route would have followed the river, in order to spot birds, reptiles and mammals there.

In any case a really nice, WIDE view. I had no idea that South Africa had rivers passing through forested areas like this.

Very happy to see it!

Tom K.

[Ndaro Teddy]

The Galana River, Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. Photo taken 25/02/2014 at 17:25. Hippos wallowing in the river with some duom palms seen in the back.

[KaingU Lodge]

Kafue (naturally):

Guides Kaley and Israel on a day without guests. They announced that they wanted to shoot a few rapids and so I stood, camera in hand waiting for some capsize fun, but Kaley is too good! Israel is also really getting into it (this is his first season with us):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

 

~ @@KaingU Lodge

 

Great action shot!

Tom K.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

Tana River from Kora National Park

Photographed at 1:18 pm on 25 January, 2015 in Kora National Park, Kenya, using a Sony RX1 R camera.

ISO 200, 1/1250 sec., f/8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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The Tana River is Kenya's longest river, easily seen from the air when flying towards Nairobi from the Middle East. In this image it carried a substantial volume of silt.

We'd crossed the river near Adamson's Falls from Meru National Park to Kora National Park, from which this photograph was made.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[KaingU Lodge]

The Kafue over the last 14 days. Good friends brought a drone this weekend past. They left me 5 GBs of amazing footage, so my day off tomorrow will be spent in the house. Stick something from 'The National' on the iPod dock, spin up the hard drive and settle in for a day of editing. About 17:00 break for a beer or two. Heaven!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sangeeta]

@@KaingU Lodge - that last image is spectacular!

[Tom Kellie]

Only a Trickle

~ Photographed on 23 July, 2015 at 9:14 am in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, with a Sony RX1 R camera.

ISO 100, f/11, 1/250 sec., 35mm focal length, handheld Automatic exposure.

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Not every African river is perpetually in full flood. In this case the Ewaso Nyiro River flowing between Samburu National Reserve and Buffalo Springs National Reserve was nearly dry.

That resulted in noticeable shifting wildlife dynamics. Crocodiles were nowhere to be seen. Elephants dug holes in the riverbed, drinking brackish water. Birds were scarce.

When I'd visited Samburu in January, 2015 it had been a similar situation. The water remnant was inadequate for the daily needs of the resident wildlife.

[Patty]

Ewaso Nyiro in Shaba, Kenya during a wet year

 

Galana in Tsavo East, Kenya during a dry year

 

Tiva in Tsavo East, Kenya during the same drought. We had no trouble crossing this one!

[Tom Kellie]

Galana in Tsavo East, Kenya during a dry year

 

~ @@Patty

 

That is one FANTASTIC photograph !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE the giraffes arrayed along the far bank!

Having never seen anything at all like that, it amazes me.

Dreamy...lovely Kenya...cool giraffes!

Thanks so much for posting this one...and the other two.

Tom K.

[Game Warden]

Camping alongside the iMfolizi River on the Primitive Trail earlier this year...

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Game Warden

 

That's an industrial-strength plunge pool...

Tom K.

[Game Warden]

@@Tom Kellie It needed to be after all that slogging through the bush we did...

[Patty]

@@Tom Kellie I hadn't seen anything like it before either. We were staying at Galdessa and went on one game drive but otherwise just stayed at camp watching the wildlife come to the river to drink. Elephants were all over the camp that time.

[KaingU Lodge]

Having a play around with HDR on a bit of an afternoon off a few days ago. The Kafue as usual....

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

Sand River, South Africa

Photographed at 6:02 pm on 1 October, 2015 in Leopard Hills, Sabi Sands, South Africa, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 200mm f/2.8L II telephoto lens.

ISO 640, 1/800 sec., f/2.8, 200mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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The Sand River bends this way and that, making its way through the lowveld in Sabi Sands. In places very open with far visibility, while elsewhere a small local stream.

Out of camera range but nearby were hippos, crocodiles, and an assortment of water birds. In the river water fish and turtles were easily observed.

Edited November 23, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[hubertj]

Okavango (Delta), from above

Photos was made during a flight with ultra-small 4-seater plane. The pilot was great, he was doing all he can to give us the best shots possible, by changing flight directions and tilting the wings in all possible angles (while still staying safe, of course). At the end we felt like we were on a roller-coaster ride - an amazing, unforgettable experience and fantastic sights. A flight over the Delta is a must if you are in the area, it gives you so much different perspective...

 

 

Elephants marching across marshes

 

Hippo mum with a calf, approaching big croc

Edited December 15, 2015 by hubertj

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@hubertj

 

As I've never visited the Okavango Delta, your lovely photographs are especially appreciated.

I especially like the aerial image of the resting crocodile approached by hippos.

Everything about that image is lovely.

Thank you for posting these.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

 

 

Murchison Falls has been on my mind of late.

 

Great images and helpful background information — Thanks!

 

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Mara River Below the Mara Serena with Hippos

Photographed on 3 February, 2016 at 8:49 am in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, with an EOS 1D X camera and a Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm f/2 ZE telephoto lens.

ISO 100, f/2, 1/3200 sec., 135mm focal length, manual focus, handheld Manual exposure.

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~ We'd had a dreamy passage through an ocean of grass with no other vehicles in sight and only a large bull elephant sighting. A forested hill loomed with the Mara Serena spread across the crest.

Parking beside the Mara River for lunch, the number of bird species stopping by was a pleasant surprise. The river itself, with hippos, was a soothing backdrop, cooling the air around us.

[Tom Kellie]

Side Branch of the Sand River

Photographed at 9:06 am on 22 January, 2016 at Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 200, 1/2000 sec., f/4, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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~ In times of drought, even the mightiest rivers recede, reaching the point where once surging torrents are little more than sluggish side branches with minnows and water-striders.

Such was the case with the Sand River, which was shallow enough for a house cat to wade through. Nonetheless, the setting was as lovely as ever, with summer's verdant foliage affording green shade.