Discussion
To cheer you all up in this time of grey murky skies and damp cold I thought I'd share a few from a recent trip Mrs CVP and I did to Africa. It was our first ever visit to the continent and was not a specific photographic trip but was really just to get a very first feel for Africa.
We tried to cram a lot in a short time and decided on an overland truck type of holiday covering a small amount of Kenya, Uganda and then our personal high point, time with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
So here's a quick summary of some of the best we managed to grab (and yes it does contain some wildlife
)
Kenya
A very limited time in Kenya and even more limited time in the Masi Mara. However we were very lucky to see a cheetah and her young but unfortunately no leopard. I found myself amazed at the size of the skies here just incredible. Definitley going back on our own to spend more time doing exactly what we want here.
Uganda]
Overall for me Uganda was the low point of the trip. The decay in the fabric of society here is so engrained that I seriously quesiton whether they can ever dig themselves out of where the greedy have driven them. One exception here is the kids who are remarkably firendly and not always wanting a handout. First is nature showing how it should be done and then the kids, and yes, that is a chicken they are busy plucking.
Rwanda
The whole focus of the holiday here was to track the mountian gorillas. You only get to spend an hour in their company but it is one of the most amazing experiences to be right in amongst a gorilla family, an hour is simply not enough. As you are in the rainforest, light can be really bad and you're shooting at 800ASA for most of the time. If they come into a clearing you can get down to 400ASA, so the images will always be a bit noisy but the memories will never leave you.
Rwanda as a country really surprised me. There is a lot of money going in to try and buy off the guilt a lot of countries feel after doing so little during the genocide but the Rwandaan people really seem to help themselves. Going through the country virtually all the land is landscaped and growing something, especially tea and folk seem to be very industrious and hard working. They have not forgotten what went on in the genocide but they appear to be trying to forgive others and move on as a country, really quite inspiring.
So I leave you with two images, one of the youngster in the gorilla family we were with, and the other is as you'll guess a teenager, closer than 97% human I'd say
I can see why people fall in love with the continent and hopefully we'll carry on visiting for many years.
We tried to cram a lot in a short time and decided on an overland truck type of holiday covering a small amount of Kenya, Uganda and then our personal high point, time with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
So here's a quick summary of some of the best we managed to grab (and yes it does contain some wildlife
) Kenya
A very limited time in Kenya and even more limited time in the Masi Mara. However we were very lucky to see a cheetah and her young but unfortunately no leopard. I found myself amazed at the size of the skies here just incredible. Definitley going back on our own to spend more time doing exactly what we want here.
Uganda]
Overall for me Uganda was the low point of the trip. The decay in the fabric of society here is so engrained that I seriously quesiton whether they can ever dig themselves out of where the greedy have driven them. One exception here is the kids who are remarkably firendly and not always wanting a handout. First is nature showing how it should be done and then the kids, and yes, that is a chicken they are busy plucking.
Rwanda
The whole focus of the holiday here was to track the mountian gorillas. You only get to spend an hour in their company but it is one of the most amazing experiences to be right in amongst a gorilla family, an hour is simply not enough. As you are in the rainforest, light can be really bad and you're shooting at 800ASA for most of the time. If they come into a clearing you can get down to 400ASA, so the images will always be a bit noisy but the memories will never leave you.
Rwanda as a country really surprised me. There is a lot of money going in to try and buy off the guilt a lot of countries feel after doing so little during the genocide but the Rwandaan people really seem to help themselves. Going through the country virtually all the land is landscaped and growing something, especially tea and folk seem to be very industrious and hard working. They have not forgotten what went on in the genocide but they appear to be trying to forgive others and move on as a country, really quite inspiring.
So I leave you with two images, one of the youngster in the gorilla family we were with, and the other is as you'll guess a teenager, closer than 97% human I'd say
I can see why people fall in love with the continent and hopefully we'll carry on visiting for many years. Love the bird one with the boat in the background. Brilliant.
The expression on the 'teenager's' face is hilarious. I've got 2 here just like it !
My mum did the Kenya etc thing a few years ago and she had similar comments to yours when she got back. It's definitely on my wish list of places to visit before I snuff it !
The expression on the 'teenager's' face is hilarious. I've got 2 here just like it !
My mum did the Kenya etc thing a few years ago and she had similar comments to yours when she got back. It's definitely on my wish list of places to visit before I snuff it !
Great pictures, truely great. I did a similar overland trip last year and loved Uganda and Tanzania but was ashamed at Kenya, I guess it depends on the areas you visit. We were really lucky with the gorillas as our group were out in the sun all the time, though the 45 deg mountain slope was a bit of an issue! Having an adult gorilla knock you out of the way was quite some experience to! One of the girls on our trip had an infact come an sit down next to her and hold her arm for ages. She was speechless...
VxDuncan said:
Great pictures, truely great. I did a similar overland trip last year and loved Uganda and Tanzania but was ashamed at Kenya, I guess it depends on the areas you visit. We were really lucky with the gorillas as our group were out in the sun all the time, though the 45 deg mountain slope was a bit of an issue! Having an adult gorilla knock you out of the way was quite some experience to! One of the girls on our trip had an infact come an sit down next to her and hold her arm for ages. She was speechless...
Yes, the gorillas are mind expanding aren't they? The silverback male is just so big and powerful. During our visit he sloped off and then all we could hear was this really deep and loud grunting, none of the tourists twigged what was going on until the guide pushed aside some of the bamboo and you could see him and his no. 1 gal getting it on. All over in 5 mins or so but he was back on the case in half an hour with another female, sometimes it must be nice being the undisputed boss
My impressions were gathered from such a small exposure to all three countries they will not be representative of them as a whole. More trips are the only answer to get a more rounded view
I was totally amazed when Mrs CVP agreed to go on this trip as it was camping and camping is really not her style at all. However in the end we both really enjoyed it and it's a style of trip we'd do again. In the course of the trip she ended up getting up close and personal with a giraffe's tongue in Kenya, grabbed by a gorilla in Rwanda and having a face off with a baboon in Uganda
I know I'm a bit of a wildlife nut but to put things in more PH terms, for me the memories of the gorillas are as vivid as these;
1. Aged 13 or so the first time I went out with a family friend in his 400SE (what a brutal V8 machine that was),
2. Aged 18 or so sitting beside father CVP when he was giving his 911 some stick, listening to the howl of the flat 6
3. the one and only time I've been in a Lambo
It's amazing you have to go if at all possible.
Cheers
Chris
le gravy noire said:
I love that tree with the nice polarised sky and these willybeasts. Where are the rest? eh? eh?
you are one talented mofo.
you are one talented mofo.
I'll step aside now and give Mrs CVP all the credit she's due - the tree with the polariser is her work. She's entirely self taught and it's quite simply the best landscape either of us took. She's done a slightly different version as a sepia. I'm not convinced as I really like the clouds standing out against the blue sky in the original.
I'll take some credit for the Wildebeests though, that's mine. Taken in the Masi Mara just at the time they were turning round and heading back over towards the Serengetti (?sp) again.
Others all stored at Clicky here It's a mix of simple snapshots there to share with the other folk on the trip and some we really concentrated on.
Cheers for the compliment. With animals knowing the likely behaviour is 50% of the battle, 45% is luck of being in the right place at the right time (worked perfectly for the cheetah, bad for elephant as we were against the light) which leaves a small amount of room for the last bit, but as Gary Player said "the harder I practice the luckier I get".
Cheers
Chris
Excellent shots, I'm jaelous! I did a similar trip through Kenya and Tanzania, often camping in the game parks, in 2001 with Exodus. Sounds like your trip might have been exodus too? Likkewise I shudder at taking my wife on such a trip nowadays, I'd be pretty amazed if she liked it but she might!
I was lucky enough to see a perfectly posing leopard but not Cheetah
which was a shame as I love them. I only wish I had some of the better quality lenses and the DSLR I have now, some of my shots were marred by soft lenses and grainy film. I must go back!
I was lucky enough to see a perfectly posing leopard but not Cheetah
which was a shame as I love them. I only wish I had some of the better quality lenses and the DSLR I have now, some of my shots were marred by soft lenses and grainy film. I must go back!jwyatt said:
Excellent shots, I'm jaelous! I did a similar trip through Kenya and Tanzania, often camping in the game parks, in 2001 with Exodus. Sounds like your trip might have been exodus too? Likewise I shudder at taking my wife on such a trip nowadays, I'd be pretty amazed if she liked it but she might!
Yep, Exodus. We've used them in Europe quite a bit and they've never let us down, this was our first test of them in a more remote setting and they came through again. For instance after a lot of rain the big truck was getting stuck on what laughingly passes for the main road towards the Masi Mara in Kenya. One call to the local office by the leader and 45mins later we are all sitting in the back of two Landcruisers to get to the Masi Mara, job done mnimum fuss. One of the group had also travelled to India and Antarctica with them and he was very complimentary about their performance on those trips too. I'll certainly use them again.
jwyatt said:
I was lucky enough to see a perfectly posing leopard but not Cheetah which was a shame as I love them. I only wish I had some of the better quality lenses and the DSLR I have now, some of my shots were marred by soft lenses and grainy film. I must go back!
I so wished to see leopard, they are one of my all time favourites but we were so lucky with theat Cheetah which made up for an awful lot. In a way I do regret selling the 80-400 lens as that would have come in very handy as the 70-200 is a bit short of reach for some bits of safari but travelling light I could not take my monster lens. which was a shame as I love them. I only wish I had some of the better quality lenses and the DSLR I have now, some of my shots were marred by soft lenses and grainy film. I must go back!Chris
Have heard great things about exodus too. I went with Dragoman and can't say anything negative about them - the only thing I'd improve is that at times the trip was a little remote from what was actually going on -more contact with the locals in the villages etc would have been good.
Know what you mean about lenses my cheap sigma was a big let down, and one of the reasons for the change of gear. My photos are at www.pbase.com/duncan_c/africa2 if you are interested -though they are not a patch on yours...
Know what you mean about lenses my cheap sigma was a big let down, and one of the reasons for the change of gear. My photos are at www.pbase.com/duncan_c/africa2 if you are interested -though they are not a patch on yours...
VxDuncan said:
Have heard great things about exodus too. I went with Dragoman and can't say anything negative about them - the only thing I'd improve is that at times the trip was a little remote from what was actually going on -more contact with the locals in the villages etc would have been good.
Know what you mean about lenses my cheap sigma was a big let down, and one of the reasons for the change of gear. My photos are at www.pbase.com/duncan_c/africa2 if you are interested -though they are not a patch on yours...
Know what you mean about lenses my cheap sigma was a big let down, and one of the reasons for the change of gear. My photos are at www.pbase.com/duncan_c/africa2 if you are interested -though they are not a patch on yours...
Lovely gallery, looks like we went to so many of the same places, e.g. giraffe sanctuary near Nairobi, Lake Naivasha, Jinga, Kembu etc. Oh and the joys of flapping, I'd almost forgotten about that post dinner exercise
Love the lion scratching, we saw one doing the same thing. Funny as you never really expect them to behave just like an overgrown domestic moggy.
Agree about the remoteness sometimes, being on the back of the truck you can just trundle through the country but it does give you a bit more exposure than flying point a to b.
Cheers
Chris
While we are on the Exodus/cheap lens thing, my gallery from the trip in 2001 is here:
www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=153125
I was very new to anything but landscapes, and came away with a much better better understanding of what I needed! The basic Canon 75-300 IS lens was far too soft, digital would have been so handy as you take so many shots and need to change ISO all the time, and scanning 200 and 400 ISO negative film is nothing like as effective as scanning slides. I also spent my whole time with the lens on 300mm, I resolved to buy a 100-400L IS which I've still yet to do! If I go back, I will.
I was lucky with the leopard - it posed like that for seconds only, on my side of the truck, in really poor light. One time really good glass and a good DSLR would really have helped! I was sad to miss Cheetah - but for only a few days on safari we were pretty lucky to be fair! My Leopard shots and the best Lion ones (the three lions in the grass) show why a pro-spec lens is vital for this sort of thing, both would be wall-hangers otherwise!
www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=153125
I was very new to anything but landscapes, and came away with a much better better understanding of what I needed! The basic Canon 75-300 IS lens was far too soft, digital would have been so handy as you take so many shots and need to change ISO all the time, and scanning 200 and 400 ISO negative film is nothing like as effective as scanning slides. I also spent my whole time with the lens on 300mm, I resolved to buy a 100-400L IS which I've still yet to do! If I go back, I will.
I was lucky with the leopard - it posed like that for seconds only, on my side of the truck, in really poor light. One time really good glass and a good DSLR would really have helped! I was sad to miss Cheetah - but for only a few days on safari we were pretty lucky to be fair! My Leopard shots and the best Lion ones (the three lions in the grass) show why a pro-spec lens is vital for this sort of thing, both would be wall-hangers otherwise!
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