A sequel ..

My second Africa book is out! 

240 pages with large format pictures from the safari in the northern Serengeti in August where we watched the spectacular Great Migration. 

We stayed at two different camps: Olakira and Nomad Lamai Serengeti. Both are close to the Kogatende Airstrip, but in very different settings. Olakira is very basic and rustic, sturdy army tents with bucket showers, in the plains on the Mara river. The tents move twice a year with the migration.  Nomad Lamai is very different, very luxurious in solid huts, constructed unobtrusively hidden in the kopjes of the Lamai wedge with a wide view over the plains. A hard copy of my book graces the coffee table there in the lodge's lounge :)! 


The Great Migration - Northern Serengeti


As with the last book about Tarangire, you can browse the photographs for free. Clicking on the link above will take you to the Blurb-website, where you can preview all the pages in large format on your screen.

Enjoy!

Have a nice Christmas holiday -  see you next year! 

Tanzanian Safari : The Great Migration and a Crossing (II)

We had seen a safe crossing through the Mara river of a huge herd of wildebeest and zebra with thousands of animals on our first day in the area. 

Most people, however,  yearn for the more gruesome pictures of the crossings, that make it into the magazines and films: of crocodiles preying on a stumbling wildebeest in the water, of broken limbs and orphaned wildebeest babies. They try to glimpse some of nature's less happy moments and wonder why they come back to camp in the evening a little subdued  ... watching and hearing the real thing happening a few meters away is very different from looking at pictures in wildlife books and watching TV documentaries from the comfort of a sofa. 

Those crueller aspects of the Great Migration shone up unexpectedly one evening when we were having a nice relaxing sun downer on the river bank over the peacefully flowing river. Or so we thought ... 

Suddenly, I heard a loud "Mooh!", a splashing noise, saw something fly through the air. I ran back to the car to grab my camera which I had left behind as it was getting dark already, set focus on the far side of the river bank and watched the drama unfold. Most of the action was happening under water or in a wild misty spray with occasional gruesome images popping up like in a horror movie.

The following pictures are high-ISO and a bit noisy as I needed a fast shutter-speed.  

Several crocs fought about the wildebeest to tear it apart. Eating for them is an exercise in team work, as their teeth are not made for chewing but for tearing only. The bits are swallowed whole.

While tearing at the prey, crocs make a rolling motion called the "death roll" which you can see in the next pictures when their white bellies come up. They use this motion to twist off pieces because their jaws are not made for cutting and shearing. 

that's the stomach.

Another dramatic spectacle with a huge massacre of dead wildebeest we found the next day a bit downstream. 
Here wildebeest had tried to cross the river where the bank on the far side was too steep. They could not get back on land and many did not survive the stampede. The bodies were washed ashore where the river was shallow and they were creating a blockade, where a cloud of vultures was circling over. 

A furious hippo came along trying to push his way through the dead bodies. He had not realized what had happened and that all these animals were dead. He started to threaten showing his teeth and even took one whole wildebeest carcass in his huge mouth, shoving through the carnage and making way, obviously angry that his river was thus polluted. 

Out of my Way! 

A few days later heavy rainfall washed the river clean and all the debris down to Lake Victoria. Which by the way provides drinking water for all surrounding countries and - with the river Nile passing through - even up as far as Egypt. 
In spite of all these victims and their often quite stupid suicidal behaviour, wildebeest are a very successful animal species in numbers. Not many of their offspring are lost and their numbers in Serengeti exceed 1.3 mio animals.  

Here I have produced some abstracts from panning exercides inspired by timeless cave drawings.

Tanzanian Safari : The Great Migration and a Crossing (I)

The main attraction of a photo safari in Tanzania in August is witnessing the Great Migration and particularly a crossing of the Mara river. 
Huge herds of wildebeest and zebra gather along the banks of the river looking for a good spot to cross and feed on the other side where the grass is greener.
  

They follow their instincts and go north to Kenya and the Masai Mara. Wildebeest can "smell" the rain and will go where the rains provide for new soft and sweet green grasses. 

 their side stripes look like "fake" manes

The crossings are spectacular to watch. We had been waiting for several hours as we watched the herds gather from all directions. More and more wildebeest were joining the others in large treks.

 Panorama of the Mara river with wildebeest gathering on one side just before the crossing

Suddenly the first animal entered the water. Once a courageous beast starts to cross the river, the others will follow with loud "moohs", first in a very orderly fashion, then more chaotic as more and more animals try to join. 

riding  sidesaddle ?  someone tries to hitch a ride into the water... 

We made it! 

We watched several crossings and were glad to see that all animals made it over apparently with no broken limbs or crocodiles waiting in the water. 
They were busy elsewhere.

all quiet and well fed