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Kenya - February 2012 - Loisaba, Shaba, Tsavo East and West, Amboseli


Safaridude

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Love the reports and I'm always amazed at the wonderful photos taken by so many contributors here on ST. Makes me reluctant to post my own less than stellar efforts!

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Uh_oh busted

Fantastic report and the photos really provide a brilliant sense of place. I think that is what I always hope to achieve when I take photos anywhere.

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A good report and amazing photos!!!!

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Thoroughly enjoyable reading and lovely images.

 

Quote lamenting the degradation of Amboseli removed at request of poster. 

 

Couldn't agree more. After reading your description of present day Amboseli i looked from my computer screen up to a 36" x 24" enlargement of my first wildlife image taken in 1986... elephants in front of a lovely acacia woodland with Kili in the Background. Can't believe much of it is gone.

Edited by kittykat23uk
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Super LEEDS

Great report, Safaridude. Thanks for sharing.

 

I really love Tsavo.

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Safaridude

Thanks everyone.

 

Super Leeds, yes, Tsavo is special... somewhat of an acquired taste, isn't it?

 

With respect to Amboseli, the changes in ground water levels may have contributed (along with elephant damage) to the demise of the acacia forests. Aside from the acacia forests, I just remember expansive bushlands on the periphery of the park (mostly acacia and balanites bushes) where hundreds of impalas were found. I only saw this kind of habitat outside the park this time. I am not prepared to make definite conclusions on based on two trips 23 years apart, but there is certainly a lot of information out there on the changes at Amboseli.

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Another fantastic report, Safaridude. Your observations, along with .... and Geoff's and the other comments, links and videos on the Amboseli thread by AKR1, AP and others have really painted a multi-faceted picture of the park for those of us who don't know it yet.

 

Lynn had first aroused my curiosity about Shaba in her report. Your report has only made me 'curiouser'. Thank you for sharing - your words never fail to bring these beautiful places to life.

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Atravelynn

When James builds his own camp in the secret Tsavo location, I'll go! It is amazing you can stumble upon such abundance thatis not already well documented and known. Great Tsavo photos, especially the bat eared foxes.

 

Your description of Amboseli as a Kenya microcosm is insightful.

 

Great report and photos. You know just when to go to B&W. The ele and egret B&W is case in point. Happy planning the next one.

Edited by Atravelynn
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Atravelynn

Forgot to mention that martial eagle and the monitor shot. Excellent catch!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Inspired by your report I dragged my family off on a long drive to Lake Jipe and back from Kilaguni Lodge. It is indeed an impressive place but as you say really requires a local base to make the most of it.

We saw a number of good birds around Lake Jipe and about an hour north of Maktau gate we came across numerous pugmarks on the road which Ben our guide said were Wild Dogs. They appeared smaller than Hyena pugmarks without the banana shape to the side toes typical of Spotted hyena. They were numerous, had a triangular shaped pad with obvious claws and were clearly not cat prints. Sadly we did not see their owners though Ben did see Wild Dogs near this site in 2011 (he had some nice images to prove it).

 

We also visited Amboseli and Tsavo East. We were very fortunate to find a single male Hirola feeding with a few Kongoni on the silted-up Aruba dam one afternoon (14/07/12). Unfortunately the intense heat and the distance prevented me from getting good quality images .......but oh what a beast!!!

 

7602357306_739b3fb01d_o.jpg

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That's excellent, Rainbirder. Were there big herds of zebras around the lake this time? I am curious as to if I was simply very lucky to see such a huge congreation in February or if the congretation/migration is a regular thing aroud Lake Jipe.

 

Wild dogs are known to roam that area south of Maktau (and in the thick bush north of Maktau as well).

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Beautiful Hirola image. Can you add it to the Hirola thread?

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That's excellent, Rainbirder. Were there big herds of zebras around the lake this time? I am curious as to if I was simply very lucky to see such a huge congreation in February or if the congretation/migration is a regular thing aroud Lake Jipe.

 

Wild dogs are known to roam that area south of Maktau (and in the thick bush north of Maktau as well).

 

We were at Lake Jipe about 12 days ago. Zebra were present in the surrounding area but not in great numbers. Perhaps what you saw was a seasonal phenomenon; -but just in case don't forget to buy that lottery ticket! ;-)

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Beautiful Hirola image. Can you add it to the Hirola thread?

 

I have a few images of the same beast, I'll add them to the Hirola thread.

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And here is a photo of a "coastal topi" taken near Satao Camp. Topis never occurred naturally in Tsavo East, but some of them strayed from the coast and followed a trail of artificial water holes into Tsavo.

 

gallery_6003_645_14236.jpg

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Coastal Topi and Hirola on the same page. I missed this. Wonderful.

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