Okavango Delta – a wealth of wildlife and scenery in waterways and savanna.
Link to our Botswana Photography Safari
Okavango Delta – a wealth of wildlife and scenery in waterways and savanna.
Link to our Botswana Photography Safari
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The Chobe River is a special place for nature photographers and nature lovers. One side of the river is Botswana, the other side, Namibia. Beautiful birds are nesting along the both shorelines.
And the nest robbers go after the eggs.
The Southern Red Bishop searches the reeds for building materials.
He builds several nests for his home show and invites the female for a look.
Elephants love the water, where they drink, eat, cool off and play.
And sometimes their life ends in the river. Dozens of Nile Crocodiles feasted on this elephant for a day – and then for some reason, moved it about a half mile upstream during the night, and then cleaned up what remained.
And of course, the mighty Fish Eagle. Sometimes the call is the first sound of the morning.
Along the riverside, lions like to roam in and out of the trees, along the sandbars…
The river is loaded with hippos. Lots of action!
Link to our Botswana Photography Safari
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Botswana 2018 – First visitors in March – We arrived just as the lodges opened up for the season. Everything was green and full of life. And the photography from the river was outstanding. We had great angles and access to the action.
Not a sunset! Midday clouds with prisms – zoomed in tight with 500mm. NO saturation added.
© 2018 Diane Kelsay
A short plane ride later, the interior – also green and full of life.
Wild Dog – Looking cute? You should have seen the pack chasing an impala! I couldn’t believe how fast the impala ran and how high he jumped. (he won)
© 2018 Diane Kelsay
Join the fun on the next trip to Botswana, March 2021. Link to our Itinerary
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Post 4 – Weather has such and impact on landscapes. There is just no such thing as “bad weather”. It’s nice to have a variety, and we did.
We explored Arusha National Park for the first time in search of Colobus and Blue Monkeys.
This is our last post on this trip. We hope you will join us on one of our future trips to Tanzania. And if you are just starting the blog, please scroll down through posts 1-3. The first photo in post 1 I have in my head all the time. It’s my “go to” space when I need a boost. Following are some miscellaneous animal photos, some of them quite entertaining.
Don’t forget to look at our Tanzania Photography Safari web page!
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Post 3 – Having a leisurely time to photograph animals was a real treat. Sometimes you can see potential and you just have to wait – like a bird capturing a bug in its beak or a lion sitting on a limb in partial sunlight while you wait for that glow to come around to the eyes. And sometimes you have to be ready and respond fast – like a flamingo taking off, a hippo opening its mouth, or a zebra taking a dust bath (which only lasts seconds). Sometimes it’s fun to study and capture expressions and behavior.
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Post 2 – The Great Migration was in full swing. From our lodge at Lake Masek to the Central Serengeti, great numbers of wildebeest and their newborn babies paraded in lines and sometimes just covered the landscape.
Leopards haul their kill into trees. As we watched the mom and baby high up in the tree, the catch fell to the ground sending them down to collect it and haul it up again.
This time, the mom wedges the kill into the crotch of the tree – more secure. The little one goes right to it.
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Post 1 – In February and March of this year, we visited some new places, checked out some new lodges and had some incredible moments. We spent some time at our usual spots too and came back with some great experiences. Every visit to Tanzania presents different opportunities. This year was the most amazing migration ever, as you will see in future posts. And the elephants just posed perfectly under the baobab trees. We had our best ever cat moments – lions, cheetahs and leopards. This post is about the new baby lions and a really good mother (and she had her paws full). We watched in awe.
The mom had her cubs inside a hollow in some brush but they were determined to come out and play.
© 2017 Bob Harvey
Keep checking back. Next you will see how sibling cheetahs fight over who gets to carry the kill and a leopard mom also with her paws full.
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Post 2 –
It’s so much fun to watch the interaction between moms and babies. Sometimes we like to capture the relationship and sometimes it’s fun to just compose artistically.
The adult female lion left this bundle of cubs to endure a downpour. They changed positions and took turns getting pelted by the rain. They looked so miserable, no cover for miles.
Poor lion in back is getting drenched again as the other lion shakes off the water.
© 2015 Diane Kelsay
Continue below to Post 1
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Post 1 – Tanzania is a land of much excitement. Animals move about in search of food and water – some for a few miles, while others are on the great migration. Sometimes we waited for light, sometimes we waited for action. Many times we witnessed how the animals behaved in a variety of situations, which gave us opportunities for some special photography.
Leopards and rhinos, very difficult to find and this year we were lucky to get both at reasonable distances. It did take some patience, waiting for this leopard to get up and walk out of the shade, and only for a few seconds.
Cheetah brothers stalk a lost wildebeest baby, and then together jump into a charge.
© 2015 Diane Kelsay
Our group had a lot of fun learning this technique. It does take some practice. You must pan with the animal as you shoot at a slow shutter speed.
Join us in February 2017 for our next safari to Tanzania!
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In August we traveled to Botswana to explore the vastness of the Okavango Delta. After visiting the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides of Victoria Falls, we entered Botswana – gradually getting deeper and deeper into a largely uninhabited region of Africa.
Elephants
Botswana is the land where we can see elephants close by as they come to visit the water, take mud and dust baths, and interact with each other. It is fascinating to watch and photograph them as they go about their lives, sometimes oblivious to our presence.
From the deck of our lodge, we enjoy the dramatic colors of sunset, but the elephants come to drink into the night.
© 2013 Bob Harvey
Cats
Leopards and lions frequent this area. Most mornings there were leopard tracks spotted on the way to breakfast!
Leopard in a tree, waiting for the sun to go down so she can start her evening activities.
© 2013 Diane Kelsay
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