Laikipia Wilderness Camp - Wild Dog Photographic Safari with Albie Venter, March 2015

[wilddog]

This trip report has gone from strength to strength. You had so much time, and great photo opportunities, with the wilddogs. I know the LWC team were a bit concerned about their disappearing act when I was there but the dogs have clearly returned home.

 

Loved it all @@IamFisheye. Thanks

[Marks]

Gorgeous animals.

I like the use of the vehicle tires to frame a portrait of one of them - kind of a fun approach, even aside from the advantages of the low angle.

 

I can also never resist a group of elephants - you've provided me with several to admire.

[Atravelynn]

Your dog shots in post #18 are some of the best so far. Then to see Boris in the window is quite jarring. It almost looks like one of the wild dogs entered the vehicle.

 

How interesting the hyena was part of the wild dog pack for a time.

 

Great ele action too.

 

Your wife will never let you go alone again without her after all this.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Atravelynn

[IamFisheye]

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement, here's the latest instalment.

 

Drive 7 - Friday 13th March Afternoon

 

After a little post brunch siesta I sat outside the tent and updated my journal in the afternoon heat. I thought it was also a good time to perhaps get a decent picture of the bright yellow poison apples that were in fruit all over the area. This one was just to the right of our tent and I probably didn't even bother getting out of my seat to take this.

 

 

Albie’s photographic workshop today was on workflow. That thing you have to do on a computer to wring the best out of your images. So there were a few discussions on whether to shoot jpg or raw, pros and cons of both. Processing options, proprietary software that came with your camera vs the big 2 from Adobe (lightroom and photoshop) and their competitors. Plus the ethics of image manipulation when working with natural history.

 

After the workshop we indulged ourselves in yet more lovely cake and a cup or two of tea before heading off into the wilderness to see what the afternoon was going to bring us. Options were slightly different this afternoon. Albie had been wanting to do a stars and night sky shoot for a few days so the options were go with Steve to look for the dogs or go to a dam with Albie and get set up for the night shoot, the idea being that while waiting for the sun to go down there should be plenty of game coming down to the dam to drink.

 

As I’d come on a Wild Dog photo safari I stuck with Steve in the hope of catching up with the dogs that we had seen in the morning.

 

The signals were good and we headed in the general direction of where we had had our encounter in the morning. On the way we encountered a nice journey of giraffes and spent some time with them.

 

 

 

 

We also passed the same bustard in the same spot as we had seen it on the 1st drive. It wasn’t nesting but just appeared to have a favoured spot. Despite the distraction of the giraffes it wasn’t long before we caught up with the dogs. They were doing what this pack were good at, sleeping.

 

The location was excellent they were on one side of a dirt road raised up on a bank under a few trees and bushes. We pulled up on the other side of the road and watched them from the vehicle for about 30 minutes. Taking pot shots at whoever dared to move, raise their head or get up for a scratch.

 

 

 

 

The light started to change and it looked like the dogs might start to stir. Steve took the vehicle back down onto the road and four of us got out behind it on the raise roadside before he drove forward and looped round behind us.

 

 

It didn’t take too long for the curious pups to start to take an interest in the strange humans lying on the ground across the road. A few of them tentatively crossing the road to take a closer look.

 

 

While others took their time waking up, stretching, yawning, peeing really just getting ready to burn off some energy before the evening’s hunt began.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adults started to get up, move about and greet each other and some of the pups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While some of the other adults were just overwhelmed with the enthusiasm of the pups.

 

 

 

 

The pups were running up and down, around bushes and yelping like crazy while they played.

 

 

I just lay on the ground and watched the scene unravel it was brilliant. An experience I won’t forget.

 

It looked like the adults had settled down again and were just letting the pups get on with it while they kept an eye on us.

 

 

Then things changed again, the light dropped and the adults started to get up and move off. Steve swung the vehicle around and we climbed back in out of sight of the dogs who now moving at a reasonable pace. Hopefully there were starting to hunt. We followed

 

 

 

But something weird started to happen. It was as if the adults were putting the pups in charge of the hunt. Maybe it was something to do with them learning to fend for themselves it wasn’t clear. The adults hung to the rear of the group while the youngsters led the way. Then the adults came to a halt and eventually decided to rest up under another bush.

 

 

 

 

Leaving the pups to continue letting off steam. The light was almost gone at this stage and I pushed the camera up to it’s highest ISO just to get a few final just for the hell of it shots.

 

 

 

This lats one was taken at ISO 256,000 and heavily cleaned up in lightroom to remove the noise.

 

 

With the light gone and the dogs still not hunting it was decided that we should head back to camp for a spot of dinner.

[Marks]

That first yawning dog is superb, as are the shots of the pack beginning its hunting procession.

 

What did the workshop have to say about ethically manipulating images? Seems like that would be an interesting point!

[TonyQ]

@@IamFisheye

What a wonderful sighting - illustrated by excellent photos. I am amazed at how well ISO 256,000 comes out!

[pault]

Great shots of the dogs from that low perspective and yes ISO 256000. Hard to believe it is real. Colours look like shit (literally in places) but that has to be clearer than you could see with the naked eye, no? Wild dog safari Is delivering.

[Atravelynn]

"I also recall coming across an enormous fresh ball of elephant dung that I wish I had taken a picture of."

If that is the sole regret, it was a good trip.

 

The dogs just keep showing up and offering great group shots. I noted some aerial maneuvers by the energetic members.

 

256,000 - we are all shocked.

 

That wine bottle was really good luck for you!

[SafariChick]

Really enjoyed this trip report so far @IamFisheye ! Is there more? Hope so! LWC is a place high up on my list!

[IamFisheye]

Sorry for the short hiatus, here’s the next part of my report.

 

Drive 8 - Saturday 14th March Morning

 

Talk over the previous night’s dinner gave me the impression that the other vehicle hadn’t had much luck at the dam. There were a few game sightings but nothing as exciting as the dog encounter our vehicle had had. I have no idea if anyone got any decent star or night sky shots once the sun went down.

 

Today was our last full day and we headed out after breakfast to trek the dogs once again. Radio signals were weak and by the time we had picked up a trail and spotted some spore it became evident that the dogs had once again slipped across the bordering river and were now out of range. So we went off to explore the area and to see what we could find and maybe take a few shots of the other wildlife in the area.

 

The first thing we encountered were some young goat herders down at the river,

 

then a Rock Hyrax

 

and a group of boisterous impala bucks that got a little twitchy as we approached. Here’s a single male from the group

 

Then we met a small group of giraffe with a very dark male.

 

Further on we ran into a small family of elephants crossing the road

 

 

Then we headed towards the dam where Steve had collected his camera trap several days before. As we drove up towards the plateau we found a small herd of Grevvy’s and I finally got a few clear pictures of one of them.

 

 

 

The view from here was quite spectacular

 

Up at the damn there were a few spoonbills stabbing about in the green murky water for a morsel to eat

 

 

 

We drove on higher up onto the plateau where it leveled out and the temperature was noticeably cooler and the landscape strikingly different. The whole area was covered in whistling acacia about 1.5 meters high and all leaning in the same direction. It would be an usual place to photograph in the right light.

 

Unfortunately we didn’t stop for any pictures as we were heading to a known den of a couple of bat eared foxes. The foxes were under a bush when we spotted them and being the skittish creatures they are they were off like a shot as soon as they spotted us.

 

 

 

 

On our descent we stopped for coffee and muffins

 

 

and watched a lone motorcyclist on his commute to work

 

 

The trip back to camp was filled with a few sparse zebra, giraffe and elephant sightings.

 

We got back for brunch at 10:30 which we had on the rocks overlooking the river.

 

News from the other group was that they had found the three lions with a fresh kill but the lions had fled the kill as the vehicle approached and a hyena was taking its chances. They had also watched a leopard drag its kill up the bank on the other side of the river. We were going to check both out this afternoon after tea.

 

I enjoyed one of my favorite east african refreshments with my meal. A nice cold, long bottle of Stoney Tangawizi.

 

We ran into this spicy ginger beer on our 1st Safari in the Selou back in 2003 and it has been a staple whenever we find it. I think the east african bottled version is superior to the southern canned equivalent. It was made even more enjoyable by the spectacular view

 

 

Our last afternoon session with Albie was an appraisal session. My task during the afternoon was to then find a few decent shots and get them into a format where they could be loaded onto a mac. Not an easy task given the only RAW editing software I had was on my 7” tablet. So I did some basic conversions in camera on the few shots I had chosen and just left it at that.

 

The appraisal session was very good with some of the photographers too shy to show what they had taken and others chose a huge selection to wade through. It was good to see that different people had some very different ideas about what they wanted to catch on camera so we didn't see the same shots over and over again. One photographer chose to just show bird pictures.

 

I can't remember exactly what I showed but I'm pretty sure at least two shots from the previous day were in my selection.

 

The highlight for me from this session was seeing shots from events that I had missed such as the dog and elephant interaction mentioned in Drive 3. One of the ladies on my vehicle also got a really great shot of a dog chasing a dik dik. .

 

Drive 9 - Saturday 14th March Morning

 

After tea and cake we set off in search of the leopard leaving Boris at the camp enjoying the afternoon breeze

 

Along the river where we had driven in the morning there was a lone thick bush at the top of the steep river bank where the leopard had been seen dragging its kill that morning. It was impossible to tell from our side of the river whether it was still there or not. Steve and Albie crossed the river to take a closer look but there were no signs of any pug marks or drag marks on the ground. It was very windy and very plausible that the tracks had already been covered by sand.

 

Next we headed back in the opposite direction to see what was going on with the lions and their Kill. The lions retreated into the bush as soon as we showed up, they really are shy up here, and I only got a few glimpses as they slid out of view. The zebra caracas was still in the same place as it had been in the morning. Steve was pleased that they had managed to hang onto it and that it wasn't another Grevvy. We left the lions and drove on. Continuing the mornings theme of spotting the area’s other inhabitants.

 

Such as this flock of Guinea fowl.

 

We ran into another small herd of elephants crossing the road on their way back from an afternoon soak down at the river. We stopped and enjoyed their company for a while and one of the teenagers mock charged us to everyone's amusement.

 

 

 

We spotted a few Desert Roses in bloom so asked to pull over so we could take a closer look.

 

 

 

It was getting late and we were having dinner in the bush tonight. As we headed towards the dinner site we encountered a large journey of giraffes. The light was pretty special and we watched these gentle creatures walk around for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the evenings dining spot and stopped to watch the smoke from a distant bushfire against the background of the setting sun

 

 

The spot for dinner was on a small peninsular on the bend of the river and next to a small ravine. As we got closer we stopped on the opposite side of the river and watched the other group of guests move around the campfire. We were close to a number of large trees, a known Bushbaby habitat and waited for the dark to closed in . It didn’t take long for the fun to start with little black silhouettes jumping from one branch to another with Steve trying to pick them out with his torch light.

 

Dinner was being heated on the fire when we eventually made it to the site. Dinner was wonderful spicy barbecued pork ribs washed down with a few bottles of beer. After dinner some of the guests returned to camp, three of us however had opted to camp out for the night.

 

to be continued ….

[wilddog]

Camping out for the night................... looking forward to this section of your superb report.

[SSF556]

Great report and pictures...

 

In regards to getting out of the vehicles and laying on the ground....is this common practice at this camp or is that part of the photo camp?

Edited July 14, 2015 by SSF556

[Marks]

Some rather gorgeous landscapes.

Nice job capturing the foxes as they turned tail on you.

 

Getting a better look at Boris; what an interesting dog. It's as though his forelegs belong to an entirely different breed.

[madaboutcheetah]

LWC is a special place. Loved the experience last October - got lucky with the dogs that were denning in the ranch ..... Will have to return one day to get my Vulturine Guinea fowl pics. Thanks for writing this report!!!

[Atravelynn]

"Dik dik (aka Dog Food)"

Being a fan of those little antelope, I both am amused and outraged.

 

Your low angle dog shots are wonderful. How far away would you estimate?

 

When Boris appeared on my screen, I was startled for just a second because his coloring is so wild dog-ish.

[optig]

I loved all the photos.I'm so excited that I'll be going there in October as part of my second safari this year along with Saruni Samburu and Elsa's Kopje in Meru National Park. I was happy that you saw bat-eared fox because they have long been on my list of dream animals; needless to say, i hope to see them myself.

Edited July 19, 2015 by optig

[IamFisheye]

@@SSF556 - getting out with the pups is fairly common with this camp. I’ve seen recent pics of children down on the ground too.

 

@@Marks - Boris is a ridgeback cross, but not sure with what.

 

@@Atravelynn - Foot sniffing close at times (see picture 8 on Drive 3). I was mostly using a 70-200mm lens on a DX body (so 105mm-300mm) which was a bit too long at times.

[fictionauthor]

@@IamFisheye I am loving all of your wild dog photos and your details of their activity. Such a great report, I feel like I'm there. Thank you for this (and can't wait for the next installment).

 

Am surprised that you are outside the vehicle, on the ground - even for the elephants! This is unusual, isn't it?

[IamFisheye]

@@optig - you will enjoy Laikipia, I was in Meru in 2011 it's a fantastic NP. Very little traffic!

 

@@fictionauthor - Thanks. Walking is all part of the safari experience at Laikipia. It's not the 1st time I've done it, we had some really close encounters last year in Mana pools, Zimbabwe and I've also walked in Selous, Tanzania

[wilddog]

Hope @@IamFisheye will not mind me jumping in here

 

Laikipia is a concession rather than a national park so the rules are minimal and down to the person who runs it. In addition Steve Carey was originally from, and trained in, Zimbabwe and will, like most guides in Zimbabwe, have been involved in Walking Safaris all their lives most notably in Mana Pools. This would include sitting or lying near/within sight of the wildlife as well as bush walking.

 

You need to give it a try @@fictionauthor . It puts a totally different perspective on the whole experience and on your images.

 

What a coincidence, I too have walked in Selous in 2004 where I first met Doug Macdonald, who was guiding there for while. The rest is history

 

Looking forward to the fly camping bit of your report.

[optig]

@@fictionauthor, you will love walking because it puts a whole different perspective on the environment. I've walked in Mana Pools National Park, Ruaha National Park, South Luangwa National Park, Laikipia and even in the Maasai Mara. I have to admit that I was reluctant to try a walking safari but now I love it. I'll be walking exclusively this year for a whole week, both at North and South Luangwa National Park and at Laikipia.

You learn more about the environment in a holistic sense and although you'll see less wildlife, it gives you a whole different perspective.

[penolva]

Walking is a unique experience. Early one morning in the Selous in 2011, after a night camping with Beho Beho, we came across a pack of wild dogs waking up. They were surprised to see us! First of all they ran towards us as if to greet us then realising their mistake they started barking at us at the same time wagging their tails. In the golden morning light it was like waking up in heaven. My first safari in Africa! Pen

Edited July 21, 2015 by penolva

[IamFisheye]

@@optig we walked in Hwange last year with George Van Wyke, the last I heard he was guiding at Elsa's

[IamFisheye]

At long last the final parts of my trip report

 

Drive 9 - Saturday 14th March Night

 

The dining area was slowly converted into a boma with chairs and vehicles making up the boundary. Bed rolls were laid out around the fire at distant intervals.

We sat around the fire and talked for a while then after evening ablutions everyone hit the sack. Steve set himself in the far corner with his two sons plus guard dogs Boris and Buster and rifle. Mugambo was on the other side of the fire next to one of the vehicles with his spear.

 

It was fantastic laying on my back under the stars listening to the low grumbles and thrashing of foliage the elephants in the ravine below were making. We could hear hyena calling in the distance but nothing other than the few elephants was too close for comfort.

 

I drifted in and out of sleep only waking when my bladder nagged. The nights get chilly up here and perhaps three large beers before bedtime was not the best idea. I had to get up three or four times and slip through the boma to relieve myself behind one of the vehicles. Fortunately nothing was lurking to surprise me.

 

Sunday 15th March Morning

 

Morning came around all too quickly which meant apart from the irregular toilet breaks through the night I’d slept undisturbed for most of the night. When I looked around I found one of Steve’s Crocs by my pillow, I think Boris had bought it over in the night. I must have slept well if I didn’t hear a ridgeback drop a shoe next to my head in the night!

 

Around 6am at 1st light we had a cup of tea. Steve had heard dog calls in the night and we could now hear them coming from the ridge above us. Hopefully we would get a final sighting on our way back to camp.

 

We helped pack up the campsite and headed back. We found dog spore on the road but alas no other sign of the dogs. We stopped briefly to photograph an eagle, I managed one lousy shot before it flew off.

 

 

As we got closer to camp a female leopard, small and black, ran across the trek in front of the vehicle. Steve decided to stop and take a look. We walked into the bush guide, one of his sons, two dogs and three guests looking for the leopard. The impalas in the thicket were snorting like crazy, I think it was directed at us and not the leopard which was nowhere to be found. We followed the paw tracks but they ran out when the terrain changed.

 

Camping out on our last night turned out to be a logistical disaster. We were leaving camp for the airstrip at 8am. I had less than 90 minutes to shower, pack and eat breakfast. I skipped the shower!

 

We had our 2nd leopard sighting of the day at breakfast. Another small dark female leopard stalked between the rocks in front of camp. I had already packed my camera gear and only had my P&S to hand, there was no point in trying to get a shot at this range.

 

We signed guest books, swapped cards, left tips and said goodbye to the camp on time.

 

The ride back to the airstrip was as bumpy and dusty as the ride into camp. We stopped once for our last glimpse of a Grevvy’s Zebra at the side of the road.

 

 

We got to the airstrip in good time and even with the plane arriving earlier than scheduled there was long enough for a welcome coffee. I took the shot of the metal rhino that I didn’t take last time I was passing through in 2011.

 

 

The flight back to Nairobi was short and bumpy. Cars were waiting for the guests that were going to an airport hotel for the afternoon to wait for flights. I was spending an extra night in Nairobi at the Porini Tented Camp in the National Park so I said goodbye to the rest of the group. I had to wait a bit longer for my ride as the message that the plane was arriving early hadn’t got through to Game Watchers who were arranging the transfers and final part of the trip. No big deal.

 

A short drive to the main gate of the national park and I had to wait again for the ride into the park and to the camp. It was a sunday lunchtime, the main gate and visitors centre were very busy. I was starting to have 2nd thoughts over this additional night in the capital. I added the extra night as I’d heard good things about the park and wanted to check it out first hand. I was hoping to get one of those iconic shots of a rhino or giraffe with the city’s skyscrapers in the background.

 

Andrew/Andy my guide and driver picked me up at the gate and drove me down to the camp, about 20 minutes away. Sightings on the way into camp were promising, plenty of elland and gazelle.

 

I checked into camp where it transpired that I was the only person staying. It was low season and it also transpired that most people only use the camp as a stopover for flights out of wilson. Hardly anyone used the camp as a base for the park which is a real shame. Andrew turned out to be an excellent guide with intimate knowledge of the park, the advantage of staying in the park is you get to be out on drives in the park before the main gates open in the morning or close in the evening. So we had the whole place to myself. A real wilderness in the city, the camp also stuck me in the furthest tent from the main camp deep in the woods.

 

 

After a spot of lunch I had that long awaited shower and a short nap. Then it was up to the lounge for a spot of afternoon tea and biscuits before the afternoon game drive.

 

Drive 10 - Sunday 15th March Afternoon

 

First stop was at a small pond to admire the water fowl where there were some rather attractive cranes

 

 

Viewing was a little slow in the afternoon heat but the park was at least quiet which surprised me given the number of people we saw at the gate. Then something out the ordinary happened, we were driving along one of the larger sealed roads in order to move to the outer reaches of the park when I spotted a serval walking along the side of the road. This was my 1st serval in daylight, I managed to get a few good shots.

 

 

 

It didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence and we managed to spend about 15 minutes with it as it continued it search for prey and moved deeper into the bush. Eventually another vehicle came along we pointed the cat out and drove off.

 

The Sentinel Serval

 

 

 

Next stop another pond (with buildings in background) we was hoping that there maybe a few animals coming down to drink but nothing did.

 

 

The park has an impressive selection of plains game

 

 

Andrew stopped and spoke to a couple of rangers. There were rumours of lions in the area a couple of females with cubs. We drove off into the the area where they had last been seen. It was a little busy as the buzz of lions being around had obviously spread. As there is no off roading in the national park having a guide that knows the area extremely well is a real bonus. Andrew took some lesser used ‘back roads’ and then some other even fainter tracks to hone us in on the area the lionesses were last seen. No luck! Then as we backed up and started to move back to the area where the traffic was a collared lioness slipped out of the bush with a cub in her mouth.

 

 

 

she crossed the road and slid into the bush on the other side. Immediately Andrew backed up the vehicle to the junction we had just passed and took a turn down another road. The lioness came out of the bush and walked along the road in front of us.

 

 

before pausing and looking at us

 

 

and slipping into the bush on the other side of the road

 

 

We watched her slowly disappear into the bush and then drove back up to where we had first spotted her. This was one of the lions we were looking for and we were hoping that we would see her come back for another one of her cubs. We waited for a while but she didn't come back. We drove on.

 

Next we came across one of the sizable herds of buffalo in the park. They were straddling the road and we stopped bang in the middle of the herd. I managed to get a nice series of intimate closeups in very good evening light

 

 

 

 

Then it was White Rhino time, a mother and calf drifting into view

 

 

 

The light was fading and I didn’t manage to get my iconic photo of a rhino or giraffe with the city behind. I did get one of the city’s skyline

 

 

We saw our 1st black rhino of the day before the light faded

 

and then on our way back to camp ran into a nice group of giraffes on the road.

 

 

 

These were my 1st encounters with Masai giraffes

 

The light had all but gone and we were heading back down to the camp when a couple of hyena ran across the road. I managed a few very blurry shots with this being the best of the bunch

 

 

Then it was back to camp for a beer, a spot to eat and a very deserved sleep.

 

 

I hope to add my final day by the weekend ….

[Game Warden]

@@IamFisheye Very interested to hear a more detailed overview of camp. Thanks, Matt.