Another lion shot – will post a few shots of the cheetahs we saw directly before this in a week or so. Enjoy!
Canon PowerShot A1000 | 24mm | f/5.6 | 1/400th | ISO80
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Category Archives: Travel
Down Under part II
We’ve just returned from a trip to Melbourne, Australia and Queenstown, New Zealand – with a one night excursion to Milford Sound. Will publish photos once we sort them and do some processing. Entire trip was highly recommended. We included a couple of wine tasting tours in both New Zealand and Australia, and a half day kayak in Milford Sound. Stay tuned.
Lion Sighting
On day two of our safari, right near the end when we were all tired and just before we pulled into the Seronera Lodge smack in the middle of the Serengeti, we spotted a group of lions. There must of been 10 or so safari trucks all lined up, jockeying for position so everyone could get good photos. We sat there for probably 30 minutes just watching the lions move about, stretch and get ready for their evening hunt.
There was a female lion with a smaller lion cub sitting in a tree. In a great moment, the cub got up, walked over to the female and sat down for a little grooming. It was an absolutely great moment and made the entire day. Afterwards, we went to the lodge (which we were all pleasantly surprised about the accomodations) and got to watch Spain play Chile and win 2-1.
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L | 425mm | f/5.0 | 1/250 | ISO200
Zebra Protection
I promise this is the last zebra pic, for now. One interesting behavior of zebras is that they stand in twos or threes in opposite directions. Because they are largely a plains or grassland animal, they don’t have other natural protections (like hills or mountainsides). So, to solve that problem and make sure they have eyes in all directions looking out for the likes of lions, hyenas, hunting dogs, leopards, or cheetahs so they don’t become dinner. Pretty ingenious if you ask me, don’t try to tell me that animals don’t learn!!!
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L | 105mm | f/5.6 | 1/160th | ISO100
Mama Zebra
I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks its sweet when baby animals feed from their mamas. It’s so sweet. They have no idea that for the rest of their lives they will be hunted by lions, hyenas, hunting dogs, leopards, and cheetahs until they are in a corner and become someone else’s dinner. It’s so sweet.
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L | 170mm | f/5.6 | 1/200th | ISO160
Zebras Everywhere
We spent four days on safari in Tanzania. We hired Kessey Brother Tours on the recommendation of a friend that hired Kessey Brothers to climb Mt. Kiliminjaro. Our tour was focused on Lake Manyara, Ngongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park, all in Tanzania. Our guide, Hillary (apparently in Africa, Hillary is a common man’s name, not a woman’s name…he made fun of our Secretary of State for having a man’s name…) drove us through all the parks and generally took care of us. He was an excellent guide, and if you hire Kessey Brothers, ask for Hillary.
One of the things I was most amazed about was the sheer number of animals. We went into the safari with the impression that we would drive for an hour, see a few animals, drive for another hour, see some more animals. Once we got into the conservation areas, there were more animals than we knew what to do with!! The number of zebras was astounding, and at this point, I wouldn’t fear for the extinction of the zebra.
Fun zebra fact of the day: gestation period for a zebra is between 12 and 13 months and the mother is the primary caretaker in the first year after birth. After the first year, the males group together and do an all-male bachelor group until approximately four years when the zebra is old enough to start its own family.
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L | 400mm | f/8.0 | 1/200th | ISO400
To the Serengeti
Last July, we took an amazing safari in Tanzania – mostly in the Serengeti. The road between the Arusha Airport and the Serengeti was about half paved and half gravel. The thing was, once you hit the gravel portion, it was just bumpy for the next two hours. Anyone who has made that drive can tell you how bad it can be. I was pretty thankful that we stopped just before the entrance to the park to have lunch and snap this photo. As you can see, it’s a whole lot of nothing-ness in the background, but this is what central Africa looks like. More to come of the safari!!
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon EF 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 | 35mm | f/7.1 | 1/200th | ISO100
7 days.
In 7 days I’ll once again be on a jet – this time headed back down under for a two week trip to Melbourne, Australia and Queenstown, NZ. Last time we went to Oz, we drove half way around the south island and only got to do a little wine tasting. This time – we have our adventures set out for us!!! I’ll be posting from the road and uploading some photos. Until then, you can have a few pictures from our Africa trip.
Canon Rebel XSi | Canon EF 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 | 35mm | f/7.1 | 1/200 | ISO100
Paul Rin Travel Photojournalism 