Out of Africa
We arrived home Friday from a two week safari (Swahili: "journey") in East Africa. Here are some random facts and thoughts about the trip,
The air trip home took about 26 hours, from first takeoff to last landing, and was preceded by a full day of driving from Tarangire park in Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya. We were sort of wiped out by the time we got home.
We visited the following parks: In Kenya: Masai Mara, Lake Nakura, Lake Naivasha, and Amboselli. In Tanzania: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire. They were all wonderful. My favorite of all was Ngorongoro. The Ngorongoro Crater is an old volcanic caldera, about 10 miles across. Its floor is home to herds of wild animals who are, more or less, confined by the crater walls, though there is some migration in and out. It had the largest concentration of wildlife in the smallest area of any park we visited.
It's a good thing that these countries have such a good tourism industry. The tourism money supports the parks and reserves, and provides incentive to conserve the wildlife. Otherwise, the farmers would just keep expanding until there was nothing left but farms and ranches.
The three (rechargable) batteries and six 2GB memory cards I took for my camera turned out to be almost exactly right. I'm currently in the process of reviewing, culling, and postprocessing the 3049 photos I took.
This was the first major trip I've taken since I switched from film to digital cameras. My main camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 takes 8 Mpixel images, and has a 35-420 mm equivalent zoom with image stabilization. With an add-on 1.7X extender lens, it gave me an effective 800mm lens, which was perfect for birds. The image stabilization meant that i could shoot hand-held in bright daylight. My backup camera was a little Kodak V705 which has a 21mm equivalent wide-angle lens as well as a 35-135 zoom. It was the tool of choice for interiors and panoramas.
On past trips, I'd take about forty 36-exposure rolls of film for a two-week trip. This time I took just over three thousand exposures, about twice what I shot on film.
Although it looked ridiculously geeky when I got it for Christmas, my multi-pocketed photographer's vest turned out to be immensely practical. Travelling in open-top safari vehicles means you're constantly sitting down and standing up, and having batteries, memory cards, lenses, and filters immediately at hand was a great help. It also held sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars, Altoids, and sunglasses. With it, I didn't need to carry a separate camera bag. While the famous Tilley "VOMP" (Vest of Many Pockets) sells for about $300, mine was "Humvee" brand and cost under $50. Recommended.
The roads in Kenya - not just in the parks, but most everywhere - are terrible. Tanzania's are notably better. The story is that Kenya's previous government under president Daniel arap Moi was notably corrupt and didn't care for the roads. They say that it's been getting better since Moi was replaced in 2002, but it's got a long way to go. The safari vehicles - Nissan minivans in Kenya - are specially strengthened to endure the constant bumps, potholes and gullies they call roads.
We were a crew of nine, including
hbruton ,
mikespixie ,
mjbellinger , and
mjhall . We found ourselves to be well-suited for travelling together. After two weeks on the road, we're all still friends. Although the safari vehicles can hold up to eight, we always had two vehicles and split four-five, which was a lot more comfortable. The vehicles were modified Nissan vans in Kenya, and Toyota Land Cruisers in Tanzania. They all had pop-up tops that allowed us to stand up in the vehicles to view the animals. The higher vantage point was particularly appreciated when the grass was high. In general, the park rules did not permit us to leave the vehicles.
English is spoken commonly in both countries, although Swahili is the everyday language of most people. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of tribal groups who have their own languages as well. We had no language problems, and came home with a small knowledge of common Swahili words. Yes, "hakuna matata" does mean "no worries".
We saw four of the "Big Five" game animals - elephant, rhino, lion, and buffalo. We never saw the fifth - leopard. In addition we saw hippo, giraffe, zebra, warthog, Grant;s gazelle, Thompson's gazelle, waterbuck, topi, eland, dik dik, impala, wildebeest, crocodile, mongoose, hyrax, and many more.
hbruton logged over 250 kinds of birds.
Baby animals are cute. Even baby wildebeest are cute.
We were all well-innoculated. I had shots for polio and yellow fever. I've had hepatitis-A, so I didn't need that one. We all took malaria drugs, too. Bug repellent and sleeping under mosquito nets were the order of the day. The occasional problem with diarrhea cleared up quickly with Cipro and Immodium.
All of the people we met were very friendly. Of course, since we were on an escorted tour, all the people we met were either in the service industry or related business, like souvenir shops.
Sunrise over Mt. Killimanjaro is an unfogettable sight.
Lions have no shame. They don't care who's watching when they mate.
We took a hot-air balloon ride at dawn over the Masai Mara park. We flew anywhere from hundreds of feet above the ground to treetop level. Alas, there weren't many animals to be seen that morning. After we landed, we shared a champagne breakfast in the park. The pilot was a Frenchman who had been an archaeologist working in Iran. When the Shah was overthrown his business dried up, so he moved to Africa and took up ballooning. He makes a good living, and he loves his job. A lucky man, indeed.
We stayed in lodges, either in or just outside the parks we visited. These were very much like resort hotels. All meals were provided. Our only expenses were drinks, tips, and souvenirs. The lodges were usually in areas where there was no electric power, and used generators. In some of them, electricity was only available at certain times. Also, hot water was only available certain hours of the day. These were not major problems.
The lodge food varied between good and excellent. Some of the lodges offered local African dishes, in addition to European fare.
Although we were within a few degrees of the equator, we were usually about a mile above sea level, so temperatures were reasonable, in the 70's and 80's. Only on our last stop, at Tarangire Park in Tanzania, did the temperature hit 100 F in the afternoon.
The weather was almost all sunny and clear. It rained for about an hour while we were at the Lake Manyara lodge, just long enough to make a beautiful double rainbow over Lake Manyara and the park.
It was a great trip. I recommend East Africa as a destination to anyone who is interested in animals, landscapes, and photography.
The air trip home took about 26 hours, from first takeoff to last landing, and was preceded by a full day of driving from Tarangire park in Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya. We were sort of wiped out by the time we got home.
We visited the following parks: In Kenya: Masai Mara, Lake Nakura, Lake Naivasha, and Amboselli. In Tanzania: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire. They were all wonderful. My favorite of all was Ngorongoro. The Ngorongoro Crater is an old volcanic caldera, about 10 miles across. Its floor is home to herds of wild animals who are, more or less, confined by the crater walls, though there is some migration in and out. It had the largest concentration of wildlife in the smallest area of any park we visited.
It's a good thing that these countries have such a good tourism industry. The tourism money supports the parks and reserves, and provides incentive to conserve the wildlife. Otherwise, the farmers would just keep expanding until there was nothing left but farms and ranches.
The three (rechargable) batteries and six 2GB memory cards I took for my camera turned out to be almost exactly right. I'm currently in the process of reviewing, culling, and postprocessing the 3049 photos I took.
This was the first major trip I've taken since I switched from film to digital cameras. My main camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 takes 8 Mpixel images, and has a 35-420 mm equivalent zoom with image stabilization. With an add-on 1.7X extender lens, it gave me an effective 800mm lens, which was perfect for birds. The image stabilization meant that i could shoot hand-held in bright daylight. My backup camera was a little Kodak V705 which has a 21mm equivalent wide-angle lens as well as a 35-135 zoom. It was the tool of choice for interiors and panoramas.
On past trips, I'd take about forty 36-exposure rolls of film for a two-week trip. This time I took just over three thousand exposures, about twice what I shot on film.
Although it looked ridiculously geeky when I got it for Christmas, my multi-pocketed photographer's vest turned out to be immensely practical. Travelling in open-top safari vehicles means you're constantly sitting down and standing up, and having batteries, memory cards, lenses, and filters immediately at hand was a great help. It also held sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars, Altoids, and sunglasses. With it, I didn't need to carry a separate camera bag. While the famous Tilley "VOMP" (Vest of Many Pockets) sells for about $300, mine was "Humvee" brand and cost under $50. Recommended.
The roads in Kenya - not just in the parks, but most everywhere - are terrible. Tanzania's are notably better. The story is that Kenya's previous government under president Daniel arap Moi was notably corrupt and didn't care for the roads. They say that it's been getting better since Moi was replaced in 2002, but it's got a long way to go. The safari vehicles - Nissan minivans in Kenya - are specially strengthened to endure the constant bumps, potholes and gullies they call roads.
We were a crew of nine, including
hbruton ,
mikespixie ,
mjbellinger , and
mjhall . We found ourselves to be well-suited for travelling together. After two weeks on the road, we're all still friends. Although the safari vehicles can hold up to eight, we always had two vehicles and split four-five, which was a lot more comfortable. The vehicles were modified Nissan vans in Kenya, and Toyota Land Cruisers in Tanzania. They all had pop-up tops that allowed us to stand up in the vehicles to view the animals. The higher vantage point was particularly appreciated when the grass was high. In general, the park rules did not permit us to leave the vehicles.
English is spoken commonly in both countries, although Swahili is the everyday language of most people. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of tribal groups who have their own languages as well. We had no language problems, and came home with a small knowledge of common Swahili words. Yes, "hakuna matata" does mean "no worries".
We saw four of the "Big Five" game animals - elephant, rhino, lion, and buffalo. We never saw the fifth - leopard. In addition we saw hippo, giraffe, zebra, warthog, Grant;s gazelle, Thompson's gazelle, waterbuck, topi, eland, dik dik, impala, wildebeest, crocodile, mongoose, hyrax, and many more.
hbruton logged over 250 kinds of birds.
Baby animals are cute. Even baby wildebeest are cute.
We were all well-innoculated. I had shots for polio and yellow fever. I've had hepatitis-A, so I didn't need that one. We all took malaria drugs, too. Bug repellent and sleeping under mosquito nets were the order of the day. The occasional problem with diarrhea cleared up quickly with Cipro and Immodium.
All of the people we met were very friendly. Of course, since we were on an escorted tour, all the people we met were either in the service industry or related business, like souvenir shops.
Sunrise over Mt. Killimanjaro is an unfogettable sight.
Lions have no shame. They don't care who's watching when they mate.
We took a hot-air balloon ride at dawn over the Masai Mara park. We flew anywhere from hundreds of feet above the ground to treetop level. Alas, there weren't many animals to be seen that morning. After we landed, we shared a champagne breakfast in the park. The pilot was a Frenchman who had been an archaeologist working in Iran. When the Shah was overthrown his business dried up, so he moved to Africa and took up ballooning. He makes a good living, and he loves his job. A lucky man, indeed.
We stayed in lodges, either in or just outside the parks we visited. These were very much like resort hotels. All meals were provided. Our only expenses were drinks, tips, and souvenirs. The lodges were usually in areas where there was no electric power, and used generators. In some of them, electricity was only available at certain times. Also, hot water was only available certain hours of the day. These were not major problems.
The lodge food varied between good and excellent. Some of the lodges offered local African dishes, in addition to European fare.
Although we were within a few degrees of the equator, we were usually about a mile above sea level, so temperatures were reasonable, in the 70's and 80's. Only on our last stop, at Tarangire Park in Tanzania, did the temperature hit 100 F in the afternoon.
The weather was almost all sunny and clear. It rained for about an hour while we were at the Lake Manyara lodge, just long enough to make a beautiful double rainbow over Lake Manyara and the park.
It was a great trip. I recommend East Africa as a destination to anyone who is interested in animals, landscapes, and photography.