Having taken wonderful groups of photographers during 2011 so far to Antarctica, Patagonia, the Arctic, and East Africa, we're now entering a quiet period for the last few months of the year. We'll be putting up a bunch of photos (and links to galleries elsewhere) of images generated by our participants in these expeditions.
Meanwhile we are working on the details of our next African odysseys (in 2013) and our expeditions to the Galapagos and Easter Islands. Stand by for further updates!
]]>
Day 16 was a wonderful day of relaxation. We spent the day spread between working on our photographs of the trip (we had a big table set up under cover near the pool and overlooking the beach where we could work with our laptops while the tropical weather swung between bright sunshine and torrential rain) and just winding down. It was a great opportunity to review our experiences and creations of the preceding weeks.
The next morning we packed up, travelled back to the airport at Stone Town, got onto our Cessna Caravan (single-engined plane) for the flight over to Dar Es Salaam and from there split up for travel home (some people are continuing on to Europe, some are having stop-overs on the way home, and some of us are home in Australia already).
It was a great adventure, and I'd like to thank everyone for sharing it with me! Thank you to the new clients, and to the repeat adventurers! Before we'd even left Africa, discussions had already started about where the next adventure will be to (we're looking at another African photo odyssey for 2013, for example).
Stay tuned!
]]>
August 30, 2011
Today we left the hustle and bustle of Stone Town, and travelled north-east to a spice farm. We spent quite a long time on a guided exploration of the farm (we had the same local guide as our Stone Town city tour yesterday, so he was getting used to the crazy photographers stopping all the time to take photos!). By lunch time we'd arrived at Blue Bay Resort on the east coast of the island, our home for the next two days. Sprawled along the beach, and quite luxurious compared to some of the places we've stayed in, it will provide us a nice environment to relax and continue working on our images, putting off the eventual return to every-day life.
Having been treated to tours of actual Samburu and Maasai villages in Kenya, it was interesting to see the pool-side Maasai dances put on for the tourists after dinner!
August 29, 2011
Today we did "the tourist thing", starting the day with a guided walking tour. We covered much of the same areas we explored yesterday, but learnt a lot about the history and stories behind it. After lunch we had more time to explore the streets and to relax.
As expected, we're generating a lot less data away from the wildlife. In my own case, only several hundred exposures per day. Partly because we're in wind-down mode, but mainly because the lions aren't chasing the buffalo in front of us!
August 28, 2011
After fighting our way through the crowds and madness of Nairobi airport, we made it to Stone Town on the island of Zanzibar (Tanzania) by lunch time. After weeks out in the wilds, the manic pressure of town is a bit oppressive (e.g. almost everybody's got their hand out for a tip).
We're staying here for two nights, then moving out of town to "the countryside". In the afternoon we went for a stroll through the narrow lanes of the old city, and everyone was certainly getting excited at the opportunities!
This morning was taken up with a drive back to Nairobi where we farewelled Joseph and Charles, our trusty drivers and guides for the past 12 days. We get to wind down for the afternoon and evening, and re-pack our bags in preparation for our morning flight to the ancient spice island of Zanzibar!
Incidentally, one expedition participant took the opportunity to buy an extra 500 GB drive this afternoon. With the massive diversity of active wildlife we've been encountering, it's very easy to take over a thousand photos per day (for some of us this has meant >40 GB, especially when you mix in some video). Shooting landscapes and street scenes is usually a much "slower" process. Even after deleting the obvious crud at the end of a busy day, a lot of great images can be left over. I know I've generated almost 290 GB so far this trip, and while the peak shooting activity is probably over, we've got our Zanzibar adventure to come (and the person who bought the extra drive is just at the start of a round-the-world trip!). Keep in mind that to be safe, every file should be stored on at least two drives, so I've actually generated 580 GB of data so far.
Some of our participants on this trip have been surprised at how much data they've been generating, but I don't think anyone's thinking it's a waste! I've only been showing you a small number of my own shots so far: it's been a very productive trip for everyone.
Tomorrow, Tanzania!
]]>
August 26, 2011
Our last day exploring the Mara! Today we went back to the formula of morning and afternoon game drives, with some down-time in between. Mind you, during that time at camp we still had birds, Warthogs, Banded Mongooses, and Syke's Monkeys to photograph.
We finished our afternoon excursion with a lovely bush dinner out in the darkness beside the Mara River. Just our photographers and drivers, the caterers, and the wlidlife (oh, and armed guards!). The hippos calling from the river beside our table were a nice accompaniment. Not only was it a farewell to the wilds of Africa, but it was also a birthday dinner for one of our photographers!
August 25, 2011
Another long day in the field, with a fancy packed lunch. We saw our first Black Rhino today, although it was only a glancing view as it lay down into a stream bed.
By the way, all the images I've been posting here have titles which should appear if you hover your cursor over them. I hope you've been enjoying the show. Very soon we'll be departing the Mara, and heading to the island of Zanzibar (via Nairobi).
August 24, 2011
Today we travelled across the Masai Mara to our accommodation for the next three nights: Kichwa Tembo Camp. Of course we used the trip as another game drive, and some of us did another in the afternoon.
August 23, 2011
Today was a change of pace: so far every morning has involved a 6AM-ish start, with a game drive at the start and end of the day. Today we let people sleep in, and spent the middle part of the day in the field. We ate our packed lunches not far from the sleeping cheetahs.
