Jump to content

Of Heresy, Old Friends and Near Misses


twaffle

Recommended Posts

madaboutcheetah

Twaffle, Looks like I have to plan Southern Serengeti after those amazing pictures of yours!!! Great stuff and love that cheetah walking next to the wildebeest.

 

I met a group at Mara Plains who came from Ubuntu and they saw the dogs too!!! Now you have to return! Pack of 26 i think i heard them mention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your pictures are just exceptional, Twaffle. Apart from the technical competence, its the framing and the compositions that differentiate you from mere amateurs like myself. Thanks for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hari, I am sad that I missed the dogs and it does become a focus for the future, indeed.

 

Thanks AKR, you are very generous with your comments but I consider myself a bit of a hack. Lots of work to go

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hilary, so sorry to read about your friends.

I'm way too late as usual, keep forgetting this site is here, and never see you on Fodors.

Great photos, of course! Adore the baby cheetah.

Looking forward to reading your report.

All the best

Dot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dot. I do look in on Fodors, just run out of time. Must finish this. :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Game Warden
keep forgetting this site is here

Blasphemy I tell you. Detention for Dot. 1 million lines. I will not forget Safaritalk.

 

BTW, what's Fodors?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

keep forgetting this site is here

Blasphemy I tell you. Detention for Dot. 1 million lines. I will not forget Safaritalk.

 

BTW, what's Fodors?

OMG, I'm so sorry!

I will not forget Safaritalk,I will not forget Safaritalk,I will not forget Safaritalk etc etc

I've book marked for this poor old brain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally finished my lines and looked at all the photos, Hilary they are amazing!

I've had to jam the "right button" so I cant steal any for my 'Stolen Photos" file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally finished my lines and looked at all the photos, Hilary they are amazing!

I've had to jam the "right button" so I cant steal any for my 'Stolen Photos" file.

 

 

Too funny .... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Atravelynn

That was a wild ride in the rain you took us on! That's as far as I've gotten. The massive clouds dwarfing the wildes is a great perspective. Nice job on the malachite flycatcher!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Lynn, I may even finish it one day but the motivation is lacking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Atravelynn

I may even finish it one day but the motivation is lacking.

 

 

You've done such an extensive, eloquent and informative report so far, you could just include your last couple of favorite shots and write The End. Then you won't have the task hanging over your head...and you can start investigating your next trip which appears will include the Kenya "Lake District."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lynn, I have missed your humorous wisdom sorely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Atravelynn

Been doing some trips in the US with my husband. Travel with one's spouse. What a concept!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shock, horror!!! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't say a word.... :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Super LEEDS

What, you mean you don't have to? :huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

I looove that one of the cheetah turning it's head to look back behind its body, the entire frame filled with nothing but cheetah, a fantastic image!

Kavey, that image won quite a high award in the International Loupe Awards late last year. Thought I should let you know what good taste you have!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That cheetah could be the complement shot for a "moving forward cheetah" from your recent trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I looove that one of the cheetah turning it's head to look back behind its body, the entire frame filled with nothing but cheetah, a fantastic image!

Kavey, that image won quite a high award in the International Loupe Awards late last year. Thought I should let you know what good taste you have!

 

<smug look>

:-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

This trip has always been tinged with sadness, no doubt due in part to Karen's death and although I fully intended to finish it at the time I lost the urge and had forgotten all about it.

 

However, like a ghost that drifted around waiting for peace, it finally surfaced one day demanding that I put it to rest.

 

At the time of the visit, Alex Walker had his camp set up in the far south of the Serengeti Plains, outside the park in the NCAA. It was an ideal location with access from the crater via a southern road through Kakessio or by plane that landed at Ndutu. We drove in and flew out. Game driving around Ndutu was easily achieved and we did this twice taking breakfast and lunch. The landscape driving unto Ndutu was very attractive passing through forested areas, past Maswa and into the prime Ndutu circuits. Whilst there was no traffic at all in the far south, Ndutu was fairly busy but with so many animals around it seemed to us to be very easy to avoid the crowded feeling.

 

These days Alex has a satellite camp a short distance away from the main camp site and it is an area that I'd like to visit one day.

 

At the time of my visit in 2012 there was only one other camp in the area, Asilia's Ubuntu camp. The location of Ubuntu camp has since moved. It was still a reasonable drive away from Serian and on our last full day on safari we set out to visit that area as wild dogs had been seen on a number of occasions. We didn't see them but camp guests saw them the following afternoon as I found out in an email from Alex the following week.

 

I have selected a small number of photos from that last day to give readers some idea what the area looked like. Empty, vast, wild, untamed all come to mind. I would imagine that when the migrating herds moved on, it would be desolate. When we were there it was green (ish) and covered in parts with vast herds of wildebeest. With no permanent standing water, the herds would move on very quickly once the rains stopped but we were experiencing showers most days and they were abundant. Some of the largest herds of eland were also encountered but very shy and skittish. The usual gazelles roamed with the wildebeest and we saw several golden jackals, the occasional hyaena and many birds of prey. It is apparently very good cheetah grounds but we only saw one which I think had more to do with the thick, high vegetation rather than a scarcity of the cats themselves. We were fortunate to see the one cat that we did as she was on a kill and chose to sit up to look around just as we were glancing in her direction.

 

To reach the area we drove through Kakessio through some quite interesting country with large kopjes, acacia with small herds of giraffe through to the flat, treeless plains beyond.

 

The following photos are from that drive. I'll try to post some photos from other drives which weren't described earlier to give a bigger picture of the Southern Serengeti area.

 

As far as wild, beautiful and dramatic landscapes go, this area is very special.

 

gallery_5545_572_53801.jpg

 

gallery_5545_572_250305.jpg

 

gallery_5545_572_21788.jpg

gallery_5545_572_160428.jpg

gallery_5545_572_264364.jpg

gallery_5545_572_105531.jpg

gallery_5545_572_14110.jpg

gallery_5545_572_191650.jpg

gallery_5545_572_191150.jpg

gallery_5545_572_64531.jpg

gallery_5545_572_20039.jpg

gallery_5545_572_100118.jpg

gallery_5545_572_292066.jpg

gallery_5545_572_154268.jpg

gallery_5545_572_80406.jpg

gallery_5545_572_205363.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@twaffle - so pleased you've revived this thread which I'd missed before.

 

One word after a quick look - superb!

 

I'm going to set aside some time tomorrow to savour it and enjoy it properly.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@twaffle

 

Thank you for the latest installment.

"...several golden jackals." I love these guys; any more pictures of them to share? Also, great shot of the open mouth (Bateleur?) eagle!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's wonderful @@twaffle - both the descriptive narration taking the reader with you and the superb photos.

 

Love them all but I find some of those landscapes particularly haunting and causing that old yearning for Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

PS. Still can't see that darned kudu! Am giving up looking now - there's mowing to be done around my place!

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy