As you all know we had a safari holiday in Africa (of course, safari is only in Africa) in August. To see the idea was to witness the migration of wildebeest, especially the crossing of Mara River and catch the action.
The aim was to wittnes the great migration of wildebeests crossing Mara River, which in reality is more massive than only a couple of dozens of wildebeests like this
I did my research that the crossing of the river by the wildebeest normally happens in the month of August; and the action was when thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of wildebeest jumping into the deep Mara River, and waiting in the river was crocodiles…. it should be an epic picture, or at least that was what I was hoping. I especially went a step further by joining a photography safari tour, so that my guide/professional photographer should be able to help me master my camera and maybe teach me how to set the camera to take good wildlife photography. Yes, by the end of the day, it’s the composition that counts and it’s me and the moment, not the instructor.
I chose David Lloyd, from David Lloyd Wildlife Photography as my tour guide, for two reasons:
- He is a Nikon person, who gave me pointers of how to set my Nikon camera for photographing wildlife.
- His base camp is just across the crossing point, so that we don’t have to travel further to get a good location to watch the epic migration.
- Extra bonus to the package was that he also offered the extra facility for post processing with Mac computers. Imagine, in the middle of the African jungle, they provide us with modern technology….
OK, camera’s set and ready and now what I need is to shoot the action, and we are staying just next to the crossing point of wildebeests and Zebras. We’ll not so much, as we cannot plan and predict the nature!
The grass are still plentifull for these animal to feed, no need to cross the river yet.
The whole week we were there, there were no crossing! the wildebeest were just busy grazing.
Grazing and munching and sometimes a visit to the river to drink.
Drinking is a common need, but what happens when the croc shows up from beneath?
This crossing point of the great migration of Wildebeest, if it’s happening as well as a fiesta for the crocodile, who lives inside the river
According to our Masai guide/driver, who drove our 4×4 car, these animals were following the rain. if the rain happens at the other side of the river, then they will cross the river. Unfortunately for us, the week we were there, it rained once only, and only on the last day and… If it happens on this end of the river, where the wildebeest were, not at the other end, thus it will take weeks before they will cross, as the grass was still edible for them. At least that was according to our guide who was born and raised in the area.
The good news is there are other attractions other than ugly wildebeests and pretty zebras, and as entertaining as well:
Two brothers and a sister of young adult cheetahs are looking for their pray – the best hunter among the cats, they are most productive of them all
This turns out to be the best attraction as there were no ‘great migration’ scene
And, the sunset was always gorgeous:
A typical sunset on safari… every afternoon.
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