Niyam's African Adventure (August 2013)

[africapurohit]

Later that morning we headed to the Wogakuria Kopjes where we found eland, klipspringers and another photogenic Dark Chanting-Goshawk. The eland herd was led by a beautiful large bull but nothing compared to the illegal substance takers recently pictured on Safaritalk. On our way back to camp for lunch, the procession towards Crossing Point 4 had gathered huge momentum. Tens of thousands of wildebeest were moving with a purpose.

 

[twaffle]

Keeps on getting better and better. I'll be counting down to Serengeti soon!

[TonyQ]

The wildebeest picturres really create that sense of huge numbers

I like the close up of the stork!

[Safari Cal]

Great TR @@africapurohit, love the Secretary Bird sequence, it's top notch, and love your landscapes, especially the Mara River in the evening light. Bet you're glad you prioritised stills on this safari, you got some amazing shots. Really enjoying your TR and I reckon I you've inspired me to head south from Kenya into the Lamai wedge at some point in the future.

 

Can't wait for the next instalment.

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@twaffle and @@TonyQ - those wildebeests were gathering for a big finale!

 

@@Safari Cal I'm happy I prioritised stills. I didn't take a laptop with me, so I only got to start seeing the photos when I got home. Otherwise, I would have become obsessed with reviewing my photos every evening - but it was nice to come back from a gamedrive, dump the bags and spend that time with Niyam. Lamai Wedge is a photographer's paradise - you would love it.

[madaboutcheetah]

You got that Kilipspringer to pose for you!

[Sangeeta]

Looks like he got everyone to pose for him on this trip! Even the marabou obliged

 

Agree on the dragonesque Secretary birds. And now that you mention it, they really do have a habit of almost always walking away in the opposite direction. Wonderful sequence and the grand finale, after this build up, promises to be very exciting.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Sangeeta

[africapurohit]

@@madaboutcheetah, the real posing klipspringer is coming up later in this report.

 

@@Sangeeta I'm sure the marabou felt good about someone making it a photographic subject. The big finale was on Day 7 (the next day) but I still have to add the afternoon of Day 6 - so a little a longer to wait.....

[africapurohit]

After lunch, I wanted to head back to the Wogakuria Kopjes with two items on the agenda:

1. Locate the eland herd we saw before lunch and try to get close to them - if they were still amongst the Kopjes, the terrain would make this more difficult.
2. Locate the large baboon troop residing amongst the kopjes and again, try to get close to them - so far we hadn't had much luck with these baboons.

On our way to the kopjes, the waves of wildebeests heading towards Crossing Point 4 was gathering momentum - even the Kogatende airstrip was flooded! We soon caught up with the eland herd, which was much larger than we originally thought, but our attempts to get close were futile!

 

The red dirt track at the back is the airstip

Southern Ground Hornbill

Scratching an itch

Northern Anteater Chat - apart from the Serengeti, it is very rare to see this bird elsewhere in Tanzania

The Poser

Little Bee-eater

Waterbuck hiding amongst the kopjes

[africapurohit]

The Baboons of the Wogakuria Kopjes

Lonyoki caught the sight of baboons in a distant tree and on approach we saw many other members of the troop. We parked the vehicle near the tree and switched off the engine but quite a few members had already bolted. My aim was to photograph them relaxed and behaving naturally but they seemed quite tense. We planned to stay there, hoping they would eventually relax but then something quite strange happened. Niyam started talking in the vehicle and three members of the troop perked up and started to approach the vehicle - they were trying to figure out where that sound was coming from. I told Niyam to stand up and make himself visible to them and they seemed very intrigued. Soon other members, including the youngsters, returned to the tree and the troop started behaving as though we weren't there. It was great!

 

This large male seemed to enjoy the attention and even posed with his legs dangling either side of a branch

 

 

[africapurohit]

More baboons.........

 

 

As the evening approached, there was a dramatic change in light so I tried to track the mother with the baby.........

 

 

Edited December 3, 2013 by africapurohit

[africapurohit]

We had quite a dramatic light show as the sun started to set on the kopjes and I can not even find words to describe some of the cloud formations we witnessed!

 

[twaffle]

Well done on the baboons and that sky is magnificent. The light ...............

[TonyQ]

@@africapurohit

Beautiful light on the photos today - my favourite is the "poser" - lovely light in its eye

Great to get so close to the baboons - interesting another species reacting differently to a child?

Brilliant as the sun is going down

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@twaffle and @@TonyQ - the baboons' reaction to Niyam's voice was interesting. We also observed similar behaviour (regarding Niyam's voice) from the Sykes monkeys in Arusha National Park.

 

Between me and @@africawild there plenty of photos for this neglected thread: http://safaritalk.net/topic/11524-show-us-your-baboons/?hl=baboons

[Atravelynn]

Such animated creatures, those baboons. Nice capture of the little one.

[africapurohit]

Sorry for the pause. Day 7 was a bit crazy and I'm still trying to work out which photos I should include. I'll make a start soon.......

Edited December 10, 2013 by africapurohit

[africapurohit]

Sorry for the longer than expected delay. Writing this report for 3 months meant I had neglected other things that needed doing at home, so I have been catching up with those tasks. I hope to start on the last 4 days of the trip after Christmas. Wishing everyone a good Christmas and holiday season!

[Maki]

@@africapurohit - I saw a post and though it was an update ... No need to apologise though.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

And I look forward to the rest of your trip report.

[Atravelynn]

" I saw some framed masterpieces by @@twaffle gracing the canvas wall"

 

 

Very observant! How cool!

 

Great Ground Hornbill and what an odd sequence with the impala and "visitor." Niyam may find that shot humorous. Another oddity is the apparent band around the baby vervet. Of all your adorable shots of the baby vervet, the band is visible in only one shot. It does not appear to be vegetable matter, but something manmade. Strange, if I am seeing what I think I see and I hope not harmful.

 

Like the others I too feel a twinge of sadness leaving the Katavi part. Funny how that trip to the airstrip can produce what had been elusive during the entire stay. Did you ever find out why the 2 passengers were late, delaying your flight?

 

What an excellent and meticulous job you are doing. Outstanding photos!

 

On to the Serengeti....

Edited December 25, 2013 by Atravelynn

[pault]

@@africapurohit. Happy Christmas. You're still going? I said it was epic back in November, so what adjective do I use now? A titanic trip report?

 

Beautiful shots. Really taking advantage of that wonderful light you are. Having had almost none of that light for two weeks in Kenya (unbelievable!) I really appreciate it coming back to this report. I look forward to the finale in January. I feel another crossing coming. :-)

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@Maki, @@Atravelynn and @@pault - the photos for Day 7 have been processed (and some videos too), so I should be uploading this weekend.

 

pault this crossing was one of those safari moments that will stay with me forever, I doubt I will ever experience anything like it again. I really struggled to pick the photos and words to do it justice - this been the toughest section of my trip report......coming very soon!

[Kitsafari]

I saw an update, and quickly came to this page. but you're just keeping the suspense going, aren't you?! very much looking forward to read the next installment over the New year holiday!

[africapurohit]

On Day 7 Alex had left early (around 6am) with a group of three guests and headed straight towards crossing point 4 in anticipation of some action. Huge numbers of wildebeest that had gathered there the previous day and it seemed many more had made there way there during the night. Apparently, wildebeests don't like crossing rivers in the dark so the plan was to be there at first light. The great thing was that crossing point 4 was only 10 minutes away from our camp. We left at about 6:30am and the procession of animals was still continuing. On our way we had a very rare sighting of a Grant's gazelle - our first of only 4 sightings in northern Serengeti. Alex radioed to tell us that a crossing had started and then stopped, so we held back a bit, not wanting to disturb the next crossing. We were joined by another car from Serian Camp as we sat back and enjoyed this mass gathering - there must have been close to 200,000 - 300,000 animals!

 

Edited December 30, 2013 by africapurohit

[africapurohit]

Here's some short video clips of some of the gathering taken with the 5D Mark iii - best viewed in HD at 1080p

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQcSotDVjbM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glt3hUuLxQA