A very belated Happy New Year everyone. Apologies for the delay - I've got a several exciting 2013 posts coming very soon! Wanted to share some highlights of the year in an end-of-year collage.Actually, I've only included the second half of the year (1/2 / 2012 ?) since the blog was started in July. Looking through, I feel privileged to have had so many stunning opportunities to attempt to capture this variety of visual beauty. Click on the images to take you to the relevant posts from earlier this year. Unusually, photos are square-cropped here so not in original shape. Alternatively you can see the images in their normal form in the slideshow below. Comments / feedback welcome - just click on the "add comments" text at the bottom on this post. Slideshow of above photos. Hover over the photo and click "play".
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This breathtaking national park gains its name from the break in the cliffs, and the analogies continue - the devil's kitchen (hot and cold springs), the devil's shower (hot spring waterfalls) etc. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of visiting was that we were free to walk around, as KWS describes it "a walk on the wild side".
The harsh and dramatic scenery of the gorge has inspired much of the settings of Lion King, and Tomb Raider was shot in the gorge itself. A particular wildlife highlight was seeing some enormous birds encircling the skies: Rüppell's Vultures and Verreaux's Eagles. The former have about an 8 foot wingspan and fly over a hundred miles in order to find food in Maasai Mara and Nairobi, returning back to their nests in Hell's Gate. We were advised to take a guide as we had been warned about recent flash floods causing fatalities - the gorge can fill-up very quickly. Our Maasai guide entertained us while telling his story of a tribal boy who was more interested in nature and education than herding cows. After being outcast by his father, he grew up in an orphanage and upon reaching adulthood and coming of age he decided that he had to re-initiate himself into the society. The traditional ritual was that in order to prove his strength and bravery, he had to kill a lion. Armed with nothing more than a spear, he set-off with the men of his tribe on a week-long search for a lion. Once found, they circled it and our guide threw his spear before being given the go-ahead by the leader. Perhaps even less fortunate was the outcome - although the spear hit the lion it did not injure it and it attacked him. The rest of the group had to flee, leaving him injured but he was later helped back home (another week-long journey) and it took six months to recover using local herbal remedies. He was given honorary initiation back into the tribe in consideration of his ordeal, but he is still trying to accumulate a herd of cattle so that he can afford to pay a dowry and get married! Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm and 12-60mm lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera except for some of the small bird photos. which have been cropped. A few photos of out last dusks and dawns in Praslin, witnessing gorgeous sunsets and serious waves on fabulous beaches! A few photos have captions. Scenic flight moments (flying from Praslin back to Mahe) captured on the (slightly shaky) video below - but worth skipping through!
Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm and 70-300mm lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera. When we booked our taxi boat to Cousin, we were told it was only an 8 minute motorboat ride away. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the sea was a lot less calm a few mornings later and we had quite an adventure (and soaking) when boating our way through the rough choppy sea - luckily our boatman had a waterproof back and we'd brought extra large carrier bags for the camera bag! The journey actually took us about 45 minutes. To land on Cousin's fine beaches, you have to board a speedboat (in the sea) on which you are told to hold on tight - the boat is driven at full speed, cutting through the waves like a jet ski, onto the white sandy beach. Why? In order to reduce human imprint on the beach itself.
After disembarking, everyone is strongly advised to put insect repellent on, properly - there were dozens of Odomos tubes (indian insect repellent cream) provided. Will had also given us mosquito suits but we thought we'd brave it as Seychelles seemed moderately mosquito-free compared to the lake-town of Kisumu. In fact, I've never had to reapply the mosquito repellent every half hour like I did in Cousin's dense vegetation. Cousin Island is a stunning bird island, designated as a special reserve and it was bought by Birdlife International while managed by Nature Seychelles. With no development and totally reserved for conservation, Cousin Island has the highest density of lizards per hectare in the world (although it didn't seem like this!); it is home to 300,000 nesting seabirds, the longest millipede in the world and an important nesting site for Hawksbill turtles. We had never seen such a place teeming with wildlife, and even more so, birdlife. With no natural predators and only conservationists and visitors, the birds are completely unafraid of humans - we could walk right up to nesting chicks at the base of trees and they would barely bat an eyelid - they felt so safe and secure! We were extremely lucky to see one of the first nesting Hawksbill turtles of the year - photos below capture some of the wildlife we witnessed. Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera. A 30 minute ferry (catamaran) ride from Praslin took us to the picturesque, timeless oasis of La Digue - Seychelles' third largest inhabited island, home to 2000 people and less than 30 motor vehicles (mostly used for cargo / construction). A truly tropical Center Parcs, the main mode of transport are bicycles, widely available to rent. Interestingly, as we moved to the smaller islands, the locals found the larger islands "too busy"! Few people around the world would think Praslin, with its population of 5000, had too much hustle and bustle - but you'd find them in the sleepy island of La Digue, where ox-carts still operate!
Most photos have captions - click (or hover) to enlarge and read. Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm (mostly) and 70-300mm (tortoise, crab and hat photos) lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera. A day trip to Kakamega Forest, a "superb small slab of virgin tropical rainforest, home to a huge variety of
birds and animals" as described by Lonely Planet. It also has 40% of Kenya's butterfly population, about 330 species . Although we didn't experience the richness of birdlife due to being there mid day, we saw much diversity in butterflies and enjoyed the flora through the forest trails. The video gives an insight into the typical torrential downpours that occur regularly in the Kakamega rainforest. Luckily we were indoors! Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm and Minolta 70-210mm f4 lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera. Approximately 3 hours from Kisumu, involving some skilful off-road driving by my father-in-law, took us to the beautiful island of Rusinga. The Rusinga Island Lodge is a beautifully-set hotel and from there our guide Semekia took us on a (thrilling roller coaster-like) speed-boat ride to nearby smaller islands. We alighted at Takawiri, more specifically at an abandoned hotel known as Takawiri Island Lodge. The small island alone is home to more than 300 species of different birds, and the abundance of feathered diversity was indeed something special. There is certainly still a magical paradisiacal charm about the place, perhaps more so in its human desertedness. The return journey included a ferry trip from Mbita from which we were lucky to witness a nature's wonder of a flock of bright pink flamingos flying to and fro at dusk. Unfortunately I wasn't keen on taking out the big camera, but have uploaded a small shaky video, which does not do justice but hopefully gives an insight into the stunning event. As usual, photos have brief captions - click the photos to enlarge and read them. Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm and 70-300mm lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera, except the chasing kits an tree pitpit photos which have been cropped. Crescent Island is a fantastic sanctuary whereby you can freely roam with the wildlife. It is actually a peninsular on Lake Naivasha, and we enjoyed seeing the animals and birds up close before getting drenched in a thunderstorm, about half an hour away from the car park! Our guide helped us find (a little!) shelter under the acacia trees but the rain didn't damped our spirits, instead making our trip more memorable!
The highlight of our morning game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park was seeing an African rock python emerging from the water, surrounded by large birds (pelicans, maribou storks (the ugly ones!) and yellow-billed storks). The most surprising thing was that the birds, although weary, continued to taunt the huge snake and didn't just fly away. Perhaps they felt their safety in numbers, but our guide said that these birds are common prey for a python. Photos have brief captions - click the photos to enlarge and read them. Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera. Photos taken during visits to the Giraffe Centre and the Maasai Market (the Maasai are a large, nomadic East-African tribe) on the roof of the Westgate mall.
Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera. Must admit that I've back-dated this post considerably... (almost a month later) but the trip is still fresh in our memories! Sun, sea, sand, stunning sunrises, great company and a cheeky monkey!
Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm and 70-300mm lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera, except a little brightening of the night-time crabs. |
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