The photo topic of the week is Unusual… which could be taken in just about any imaginable direction. But I’m turning towards a stunning show mother nature put on while I was on safari.
While staying at Ngala in South Africa, we departed for our morning game drive under dark and drizzly skies, but with the promise of a clearing day ahead. Our route took us through a very open area, giving us a great vantage to both the east and west. To the east, the sun breaking through the clouds, the sky on fire with intense colour. Above us, rainfall. And to the west, the moon still visible and a double rainbow arcing across the sky. It was the first time I recall seeing a sunrise rainbow, and definitely the first I’ve seen on safari.
Mama and baby on the Amboseli Plains. Kenya, September 2016.A group of elephants moving through the Ol Kinyei Conservancy adjacent to the Mara Reserve. Kenya, 2016.Desert-adapted elephants grazing on devil’s thorn, which bloomed in abundance after a wetter than average rainy season in Namibia. April, 2017.
The photo challenge topic for the week is collage, and I was inspired to look through my recent photos to find collages created by mother nature.
I enjoy flying, especially when I have the opportunity to snap a few photos out the windows. The perspective provides a great opportunity to understand the landscape in a completely different way. The vast opens spaces become a collage of different shapes, textures, colours and tones when viewed from the air.
On route to the Skeleton Coast from Hoanib Camp. Undulating dunes, small trees, rocky hills and a small lake. I’m sure the water is long gone by now! Namibia, April 2017.The beauty of the Okavango Delta. The landscape is filled with small lakes and rivers, game trails and islands. Botswana, May, 2017.Flying over the Damaraland region on route from Hoanib to Ongava near Etosha. The landscape was varied with rolling hills, rocky outcrops and dry riverbeds. Namibia, April, 2017.
I am so excited to finally begin sharing some stories and photos from my recent adventure in Southern Africa! It’s taken quite a while to go through my catalogue of images and work out which ones are worthy of further review, but I am finally in a spot where I can begin the fun part of editing. I have decided to create posts highlighting some of the experiences at each of the areas I spent time in, and since starting at the beginning of the journey makes sense to my brain, that’s what I am going to do.
The first stop we had was at the Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, a beautiful and very remote location in north western Namibia. I had anticipated amazing landscapes, and the area delivered that and then some, but I honestly didn’t anticipate the abundance of wildlife that we saw. We were lucky to arrive in Africa after a wet season that had provided much more rain than expected, and even in the desert, there was water to be found and amazing pockets of lush greenery amongst the sand and the rocks.
The camp was absolutely beautiful, and we were thrilled when we were told our guide would be Chris, and then realized that we had met him during our previous trip to Namibia, in Damaraland. During 3 nights at the camp, we had the opportunity to take a day trip to the coast and see the dunes and the seal colony, we spent time with the desert adapted elephants and we saw one of the few desert lions on a giraffe kill (amongst lots of other things!).
I hope you enjoy these first images from my time in Namibia. There will definitely be more of them to share in the future.
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.
A sandstorm blowing through an area near the camp. The days we were there, we had foggy mornings (that cleared very quickly), heat that built throughout the day, and then windy afternoons which brought up sandstorms. It made for some surreal and beautiful photo conditions.Desert-adapted elephants graze on devil’s thorn; a plant in bountiful supply after the rain the region experienced.A steenbok pauses with some rather barren looking desert in the background. But despite appearances, even in these areas, there is a lot of life to be found.On an early morning drive, I spotted this wild cat in the drive river bed. Given how far we were away, I was rather impressed with my spotting abilities.A pair of oryx graze on devil’s thorn alongside the road.Due to the heavy rains prior to our arrival, the normal driving route to the coast was closed, and we ended up taking a 20 minute flight to get there instead of driving. The landscape from the air is absolutely stunning.A small part of the seal colony along the atlantic coast. The smell in the area was pretty overwhelming, so we were all taking photos through the closed windows of the vehicle.We stopped for a photo op at the top of a large dune; mist from the ocean can be seen in the distance. I’m pretty sure my Dad and Chris were discussing something to do with the engine or 4-wheel drive capabilities of the vehicle.The desert provided the clear skies and unobstructed views necessary to try a bit of astro photography. I didn’t return home with many more night sky images, as most of the camps were in lush places without a clear view to the sky.Elephants heading out of the riverbed after a drink and a mud bath.Morning drama on a game drive. After spending a half hour or so following lion tracks through the desert, our guide Chris spotted a giraffe acting rather odd, walking in circles around a clump of bushes. When we drove closer, we could see the drag marks into the bushes, and a lioness feeding on a baby giraffe. From the tracks surrounding the bushes, the mother giraffe had attempted to charge the lioness several times, but it was too late to be of an help to her baby, which we found out was only a few days old.It is easy to feel badly for the mother giraffe in this situation, but the lions in the desert are in rather dire circumstances, and I was thankful even to have the opportunity to see one, let alone one on a kill. Several desert lions were shot or poisoned by a farmer in the last year, in retaliation for livestock being taken. Human-wildlife conflict is a complex subject, but it is especially tough to hear about animals, who’s populations have already dwindled substantially, taking a hit like that.A lovely sunset from a hilltop sundowner drinks stop. The wind was gusting incredibly, but I managed to get this shot while holding a glass of wine in one hand, camera in the other, all while being pelted by blowing sand. A rather fun evening!
The skies here have been pretty dreary the last couple days, so I thought seeing a few African sunrises would perk me up.
Wishing everyone a great weekend ahead 🙂
Sunrise on the Masai Mara, Kenya. September, 2016.A misty sunrise in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. September 2016.A sunrise with giraffes on the Masai Mara.
I’m busily working behind the scenes trying to get my photos catalogued and rated so I can started the editing process. Good thing I still have a stock pile of edited images that I can share.
Today, some of my artistic impression images.
I hope you enjoy, and wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.
