Africa 2005
The story behind the pictures

Simba
We followed the park rules for the most part, but we were definitely breaking them when we saw these lions. One basic rule is: you must stay on established roads at all times. On this particular drive we were off-road (several miles) following a river. Paulangelo saw these cats from a long distance (the man has superman vision) and we spent 45 minutes slowly approaching them. The lions were clearly upset with our approach and we'd have to stop the Landcruisers every 20 yards or so and kill the engines until they settled down again. At one point during the approach, the cats got up to leave so we immediately stopped the vehicles and sat in complete silence for about ten minutes. After a few minutes the lions apparently decided they liked the shade more than they disliked us, so they warily returned and plopped down. We had two more chances to get closer before they had had enough. This image is one of the last frames I took before the cats left us for good. The cat in the foreground is an adult lioness. There is another adult lioness with a young female and male lion in the background.

Lake Burungi Picnic
This lake is on the edge of the Tarangire National Park. It dries up completely during the dry season.

Chillin' in the tent
Anna and Jenny are hanging out in their tent after lunch. Dad charges in and takes a picture.

Another day, another killer sunset
George would end each afternoon drive with a great location to enjoy the setting African sun. Although the park rules are that you have to return to camp by dark (no headlights are allowed), we usually lingered until the last glow of dusk was fading before heading back to camp.

Vultures in the Baobab
I love the quality of the light in this picture. The relatively low resolution of the WEB picture doesn't really do justice to the 10 or 11 large birds perched in the tree.

African honey bees
This was an amazing mass of bees. The entire ball was probably eighteen inches in diameter. We couldn't see what they were massing around, there was probably a honeycomb in there somewhere, but to us it appeared to be solid bees. African bees are famous for their unfortunate influence on docile South American bees, creating the hybrid strain affectionately known as "killer bees". We were quite close to this nest (just below it in fact). We were careful not to piss them off, just a few clicks, and away we went thank you very much.

Lilac Breasted Roller
This beautiful bird is famous for the flashes of intense blues and lavenders it displays in flight. Most shots I've seen of this bird are when it is perched, and I have a dozen or so frames of this particular bird as it sat on the thorn bush seen at the lower left of this picture. After I had my "safety" shots, I asked Mike to clap his hands to launch the bird and I captured this frame just as the bird took flight.

Burned
The Serengeti eco system burns annually due to lightening strikes during the dry season. The Tanzania Parks department now institutes an annual controlled burn policy to keep too much dry grass "fuel" from building up at any one time. The grasslands recover very quickly after the first rains. We were in sections of the parks during the controlled burns. This was unpleasant because it created a lot of smoke. In fact, most of Tanzania is very hazy this time of year because of dust and smoke that is airborne during the dry season.

The campfire
After each afternoon drive we would return to camp for a shower and a drink (or two) around the campfire. This is one of my favorite parts of a camping Safari. It is a very special thing to enjoy the company of your fellow adventurers around a campfire while exchanging stories of the day's events. Most evenings we could hear the sounds of African wildlife all around us.

Out of my way...
Not too much to say about this image. We were parked by the Grumeti river watching crocs when this big fellow hauled out for a little sunbathing.

Today's special...
So we were baking in the sun in our Toyota Landcruiser in complete silence waiting for some croc action from our vantage point by the Grumeti river. After about 90 minutes of nothing much going on we left for lunch. We decided to return about an hour later and settled down to our scorching waiting game once again. There were hundreds (if not thousands) of wildebeests milling around close by, and we knew it would only be a matter of time until they came down to drink. Finally a young wildebeest ventured too close to the water's edge and was grabbed by a large croc. As the wildebeest was pulled into the water at least a dozen large crocodiles latched on. They all started spinning and literally tore the doomed wildebeest apart. This activity occurred about a hundred yards down river from us. We did get to see some ferocious croc behavior up close and personal when two of the predators swam upstream near to us. They were fighting over the remains of one of the wildebeest's hind quarters. This shot was taken from a series of pictures of the two crocs competing for the prize.

Yo man...
Okay, so the giraffe didn't really say that. Susie just loves giraffes and this picture (I think) captures what she likes about them. They just seem really laid back and, ahem, above it all.

Waiya and the reason...
These great young people are the reason Mom rallied and made another trip to Africa. Common sense said that she was getting along in years for this kind of strenuous trip, but she held her own, and Anna, James, and Jenny had an incredible trip. I'm sure they will never look at the world in quite the same way again. Thanks Mom, you rock! This photo was snapped at the dirt airstrip while we were waiting for the plane to take us back to Arusha and then home. The plane that picked us up, dropped off Sean Penn, Robin Wright and their kids, for a short stay in camp with Mike. I believe they used our tent!

Hard working safari guide?
George in a relaxed moment. We just watched the Imax move Serengeti. George had mentioned to us that he was part of that project, it was fun to see his name about seven times in the credits.

This actually smells worse...
What can I say, this place reeked to high heaven. There must have been 40 hippos crowed into one mud pool and I don't think the main ingredient was actually mud if you know what I mean. Factoid: Hippos kill more native Africans than any other large animal and Crocs are next. The moral, African rivers are very dangerous places.

Impalas mixing it up
We saw lots of impalas throughout the trip, but this group contained a pair that must have had issues with each other. I got this picture by just waiting for the intrusion of our arrival to become less important to them than what they were doing. These guys skirmished for about ten minutes in front of us. We saw a lot of animals with broken horns, which is a real handicap as they never grow back like antlers will.

Susie in another life
Even my lovely wife owns up to this. She is a picker!

Roughing it in the Serengeti
The tents were fabulous. Directly behind me is another section that contains a bathroom. We had showers every night! It takes George's twelve man crew about 12 solid hours to unload the trucks and set up camp. For the mathematically challenged, that is 144 man hours or about 3 1/2 work weeks for one person in western culture!

African Kingfisher
I was very lucky that this little guy stood still for me long enough to get this picture. This beautiful bird is actually misnamed as it does not eat fish but rather subsists on insects found along the rivers.

A bunch of 'beests
The density of the Wildebeests was staggering at times. The population of the Serengeti ecosystem is up to 1.7 million from 1.5 million just a few years ago. Even our seasoned guides were amazed at the numbers of animals we were encountering.

Black Mamba
There is a certain irony that the one time we encountered truly deadly wildlife under dangerous circumstances was poolside at the Serena Lodge. One of the staff saw that there was a snake that had taken up residence wrapped around a small tree in a raised stone planter next to the pool. The snake was just barely visible through the dense vegetation in the planter. The Serena Lodge staff member knew George and probably thought he might get a tip if he showed off his discovery to our group. As George and Mike crept closer for a look, it was impossible to tell for sure what kind of snake it was because only a few scales were showing through the planter vegetation. Based on what they could see, they decided it was a Forest Cobra. This is a very deadly snake and is best known for its ability to spit its venom and blind its victims. Because the snake had moved into a busy public area, and because Steve Irwin was nowhere around, George and the Lodge staff reluctantly agreed they had no option but to destroy the animal. After warning folks back, George, Mike, and several of the lodge staff collected a bunch of large rocks and took their positions. Mike was actually standing on a light stanchion built into the stone wall of the planter. On the count of three they all started pelting the snake with boulders. It was only then that they discovered that they were not up against a deadly, but relatively slow moving Cobra, but an absolutely lethal and "lightening quick" Black Mamba. The mamba charged in Mike's direction and was only a few feet away when Mike launched himself into the pool. Mike got out of the pool and chaos ensued as they tried to kill the snake which was now zipping around the large planter at high speed. Then, much to everyone's surprise, the snake left the planter and entered the pool! No one there knew that Mambas could swim! From there the snake made a hasty retreat into the woods and that was the last anyone saw of it. Click here for a link to more info about Mambas.

Relaxing
The tents had a nice shaded porch with chairs from which to enjoy the campsite. Every morning a basin of warm water was filled by the crew for Susie and I to wash our faces.

Roar
Sorry to burst the illusion, but this lion is not actually roaring. He's just smelling the air for interesting scents. I should of just let you believe he was roaring, huh?

Saddlebill Stork and Thompson Gazelle...
So there were these birds and Tommys milling about not being very photogenic. I took a few shots of the stork when something spooked one of the Tommys and the Saddlebill at the same time. That made for an interesting shot.

Another day, another sunset

Tembo
Tembo is Swahili for elephant. Elephants are really fun to watch. They are very smart and have a strong social order. The little ones cling to Mom, the teenagers run around all full of themselves, and the grownups maintain the order. Watching them never gets old. This shot and the next were of the same group right at dusk on one of our first game drives.

Tembo up close
I took a lot of elephant pictures. I had to restrain myself from putting more on the WEB site. I chose this one because we were very close and she was displaying some aggressive body language. In a higher resolution version of this image you can really see details in the texture of her hide.

Out for adventure
This was one of the first frames I took as we entered the first park. Bring on the adventure!

Another day, another sunset
This was one of the few drives when we didn't see any elephants. We did see other wildlife and the sunset wasn't bad (if a little hazy).

Caught in the act
The controlled burning probably caused an Ostrich to abandon her eggs. Flagrantly disregarding park rules, Paulangelo saved them from going to waste. The crew ate them and we admired the shells (which can support the standing weight of a full grown man without breaking).

Camping by the Baobab
These amazing trees are hollow. The inside (if you can find a way in) makes a convenient shelter. George said these trees are commonly used as one-man camps for game poachers.

Another day, another sunset

Steady...aim...click
Our mobile game-viewing platform.

Another day, another sunset

Enjoying the last rays
Of the day.

The lodges
The camps were the best, but the lodges weren't all bad.

Picnicking in the bush
The clothing is body armor from the bugs and the sun!

Are you looking at ME?
Don't mess we these guys. They will stomp you.

Trying to leave camp...
This shot was taken about 100 meters from our tents as we were leaving for a game drive. Imagine all of these animals milling around the camp at night. How cool is that?!

Tiny Tembo
Getting too close to an elephant  this young will get you in big trouble with Mom. A Landcruiser is no protection from an enraged full-grown elephant. No sudden moves please.