Capturing the Moment

Everywhere we looked, including all around our camp, we could see migrating herds of zebra and wildebeest. All part of the Great Migration.   As our seven country safari has drawn to a close, I wanted to make a few posts that recap some of our favorite things. This will be some of our best animals encounters and photos. We traveled Kenya to Tanzania to Rwanda to South Africa to Botswana to Zimbabwe to Zambia. We recorded new species of animals until our final day at Vitoria Falls in Zambia. We had encounters with lions, so close to the vehicle, that we had to pull our cameras back inside. We had lions mating, crocodiles eating zebras, wildebeest swimming across the Mara river, and tiny baby lions as we flew overhead in a hot air balloon. We stayed in 1920's colonial historic camps, and luxurious mobile tents with bucket showers. We became part of the gorillas in the mist, while braving the deep mud. We survived tsetse flies in Lake Manyara, and an African spider bite. We got in the...

9 week old lion cubs I have been waiting a long time to be able to play with a baby lion, and finally I found my chance. We had a one day layover in Johannesburg in between scuba diving Reunion Island and flying to Cape Town. My last time through Joburg I saw a flyer for a place just outside of town called the Lion Park which had some interesting activities. Walking with a cheetah was one thing that caught my eye. So with that in mind we drove out to the Lion Park straight after flying in. It is about an hour from the airport. One shoelace down     When we got there I was quite pleased to see not only do they have lions and cheetahs but also a large pack of African wild dogs. Plus next to the Cheetah encounter you could also buy a lion cub encounter. Heidi and I had walked with lions before down in Zambia near Victoria Falls but those cubs were already 1.5yrs old and quite large. These cubs turned out to be about 9 weeks old and quite playful. In fact whi...

Geranuk Silhouette of a eagle Let the African safari begin! Last night we picked up my sister Lea, and Rebecca and Alison from the Nairobi International Airport. We said goodbye and good luck to Joe after transferring one more baseball4africa equipment bag hand carried over by Lea. Then the three girls, Jack, Jim, and myself all piled into a taxi van and jetted back to Acacia Camp for one more night before hitting the road for an all-out wildlife tour of Kenya.        We were able to see zebras, gazelles, and wildebeest on the night drive into Acacia camp as well as tree hyrax, bush babies, and a couple of genets that were expertly spotted way up in a tree by Rebecca. In the morning we had just enough time to eat a quick breakfast, introduce the girls to Eliot, the pain-in-the-ass two year old eland, load our stuff into our safari vehicle and head out. Male Lion framed by the bush Intimidation or just a yawn?     It was a ...

   A wilderness area surrounds the western point of the island of Oahu. To get to this point you either need an incredible 4X4 vehicle, or a solid pair of hiking shoes. Or in our case a bottle of water and some local slippas (flip flops.) This hike can be pretty hot so hats, sunscreen, and water are essential. The views and wildlife are worth a little bit of sweat. On our way to Ka'ena Point the winding trail follows the rugged coastline on one side and steep mountains on the other. Humpback whales swim offshore and it may be the best place on the island to spot the rare Hawaiian monk seal.   Once we neared the point we entered a wildlife sanctuary. A large swath of the coast has been fenced off to protect a vital breeding area for Laysan albatross ( Phoebastria immutabilis ) . These huge sea birds who can spend months at sea come to Ka'ena point to nest and raise their chicks. It was my mission to find and photograph a baby albatross. Mission completed! The fluf...