Africa Day 12: travel

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!

Africa Day 11: Masai Mara

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!

 

 

Africa Day 10: Masai Mara

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).

 

 

Africa Day 9: Masai Mara

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.

 

Africa Day 8: Masai Mara

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.