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Let's see your Tsavo photos...


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Posted

So who will start this topic off? We have a wealth of images spread out around ST, let us compile them here. Please include date, camera/lens info and other pertinent details. (If you have done a Tsavo trip report, please also include the link.)

 

Thanks, Matt.

  • 2 years later...
Posted

post-49296-0-86862900-1427550748_thumb.jpg

 

~ View of a typical red earth track in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya, looking to the south with the Ngulia Hills in the distance.

 

Photographed on 19 January, 2015 at 5:37 pm with a Sony RX1 R camera.

 

ISO 100, f/2.2, 1/800 sec., 35mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

 

Advance preparation for visiting Tsavo West was deficient in that I failed to register — ‘no me di cuenta’ — that it had a turbulent volcanic history in the not too distant geological past.

 

Views of igneous rocks, solidified lava fields and richly ferrous red earth tracks corrected my oversight.

 

That Tsavo West is situated beside the recently formed Chyulu Hills, and a vulture's flight away from Mt. Kilimanjaro, should have been evidence enough of its volcanic origins.

 

The striking color saturation of the red earth was an especially pleasing feature of many Tsavo West tracks, as shown here.

Posted

gallery_5741_1219_465598.jpg

Lugard Falls, Tsavo East, February 2008

 

gallery_5741_1219_143786.jpg

Ithumba, Tsavo East, June 2010

 

gallery_5741_1219_254530.jpg

Tsavo West, June 2010

 

I have two reports here and a few more on that other board.

 

http://safaritalk.net/topic/5480-the-kuku-that-didnt-kill-us-culinary-adventures-in-ithumba-other-tales

 

http://safaritalk.net/topic/3998-my-those-are-big-orphans-adventures-of-joyce-rod-mark-patty-in-kenya

Posted

~ Hi, @@Patty!

 

This is great!

Thanks for the Lugard Falls image. First I heard of it, so grateful to you for sharing it.

Thanks also for the links to your previous reports.

I'm looking forward to reading them.

Those giraffes with the mountains and vibrantly blue sky are splendid!

Makes one start thinking of a return...

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

Posted

Thanks for your nice comments, Tom! Tsavo is one the first parks we visited and we just fell in love.

Posted

~ @@Patty, you've triggered thoughts of Tsavo!

 

I definitely understand why you fell in love with it.

Your photos stir such pleasant memories of graceful mountains, red earth tracks, long vistas, birds everywhere and a sense of having tiptoed back in time.

I see you're from Carmel, so you live with natural beauty every day. Although now working in Beijing, I'm from Hanalei, Kauai, which has its own charms.

Yet we both responded to the unsullied loveliness of Tsavo.

Again, many thanks for your reply and the Tsavo photos.

Before heading off to bed, I'm looking forward to enjoying your previously posted reports.

Tom K.

Posted

Thanks again, Tom. Another one of our favorites is the Aberdares. We've only been in Carmel just over a year (finally escaping from LA after 26 years). Yes this area is truly breathtaking and so is Hanalei. That's quite a dramatic change from Hanalei to Beijing!

Posted

That's quite a dramatic change from Hanalei to Beijing!

 

~ You understand why I love ‘getaways’ to East Africa.

The change of scenery and the sense of freedom is a tonic to the soul.

Although I was in Kenya for two weeks in January — and owe a first-ever trip report — I'm returning for another brief ‘getaway’ in four weeks.

I'm racking up trip report debts!

Yet the beauty of Tsavo and other locations proves to be an irresistible lure to my camera lens.

Very glad to know that you've made a new home in Carmel — the personification of easygoing charm.

Posted

This image is from Tsavo East in September 1989. It was taken with a Canon Sure Shot ACE which was the worlds first camera with wireless remote control. I was exceptionally proud of said camera with its star trek like technology and it still sits quietly in a drawer at home waiting patiently for a role of film.

post-6053-0-46124100-1427836528_thumb.jpg

Posted

That should say roll of film!

Posted (edited)

@@Rainbirder & @@pault - some contributions?

 

Is that a funnel cloud we can see on the horizon, @Id1? Love the Mana avatar! Is that at Chikwenya?

Edited by Sangeeta
Posted

~ Hi, @@ld1!

 

Your Tsavo East image really shows the expanse. I've never yet been able to make such a fine image of landscape stretching out to the beyond.

How was traveling in Tsavo East in 1989? Comfortable and more or less like today?

Photos from safaris in past years are fascinating, showing continuity, reminding. I liked it — thanks!

Tom K.

Posted

@@Sangeeta I've had that photo for 25 years and never noticed that cloud! Yes, my avatar is from Chikwenya and MrR took the picture, which was right after I'd been scrabbling around in the dirt changing my memory card.

 

@@Tom Kellie Thanks, fine praise indeed! I've never really thought of the picture as "..a fine image of landscape stretching out beyond..." It is the view from Voi Lodge and I have to say it's my favourite African view. The spot gives a feeling of the whole of Africa laid out as far as the eye can see, not true of course, but it felt like that in 1989 and when I look at this photo I still get that feeling.

 

Travelling in 1989 was much as it is today really, no mobiles phone back then of course or internet but as I am mostly trying to escape these when I travel there isn't a lot of difference to today for me. I can still remember people smoking on the plane and being able to carry scissors on a flight!

 

Voi lodge was a little tired even back then, but I wasn't looking at the lodge really. The people were as warm and welcoming as I find them today. One striking thing I remember was meeting a gentlemen on the same trip who had lived out in Mombassa in the 1950s. We were in awe of seeing herds of elephants in families of 10-15 whilst he watched with a heavy heart as he recalled family groups of over 50 and at that point the swathes of plains game he remembered were severely depleted. I haven't been back to Tsavo since, but it will always hold a special spot in my heart as my first taste of safari. Somewhere buried on this forum are a few more snaps from this trip and I often wonder if the baby elephant I photographed is still around - I do hope so!

  • 1 month later...
Tom Kellie
Posted

 

@@Tom Kellie Thanks, fine praise indeed! I've never really thought of the picture as "..a fine image of landscape stretching out beyond..." It is the view from Voi Lodge and I have to say it's my favourite African view. The spot gives a feeling of the whole of Africa laid out as far as the eye can see, not true of course, but it felt like that in 1989 and when I look at this photo I still get that feeling.

 

Travelling in 1989 was much as it is today really, no mobiles phone back then of course or internet but as I am mostly trying to escape these when I travel there isn't a lot of difference to today for me. I can still remember people smoking on the plane and being able to carry scissors on a flight!

 

~ @ld1:

 

I also remember smoking on flights, unlimited juice and water bottles, meals served on china and tablecloths in coach class, and passengers who dressed up for the experience.

I liked your photo because for me it also gave the sense of Africa being laid out. The vastness of the landscape is appealing as a counterpoint to the encroachment of urban life on personal space.

I'm really glad that you posted it.

Tom K.

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