Kenya Safari
Critturs from our first safari. We stayed at two camps: Saruni at Samburu for 3 nights, and Governors Il Moran in the Maasai Mara for 4. I took along some new and hefty camera gear to play with: EF100-400L 4.5-5.6 IS USM, EF70-200L 2.8 IS II USM, Gitzo GT2541. The lenses mounted on my 400D and 5D respectively, this gave an effective range of 70-640mm. It was not enough! If the keywords are less than totally accurate, please feel free to suggest corrections.
We spied two types of guineafowl - helmeted and vulturine. They hang around in large groups making gobbling noises like turkeys and are generally entertaining. They're also a favourite on every predator's menu.
We saw two of the three species of giraffe in Kenya. This reticulated giraffe has more clearly defined markings, while the other two are similar to each other except one wears socks. You can tell the males by the additional hard lumps on the tops of the horns that they use to bash each other with. One of the Samburu "special five".
A desert rose. The prettier it is, the drier the land is.
You can tell a grevy's zebra from the distinctive white belly. This is a male, go figure. Another of the Samburu "special five".
Notice the white band goes above the tail as distinct from the thomson's gazelle. The impala has what appears to be a black McDonald's "M" across the rear of the legs and tail.
The name (dik dik) has absolutely nothing to do with the angle of this photo...
We were trailing this leopard on its dik dik hunt for about half an hour. It paid no heed at all to the jeep, although I suspect the jeep may have impacted its success.
The animals paid little attention to the jeeps full of tourists. Thankfully, in Samburu, we had a jeep, a driver, and a guide all to ourselves.
Gerenuks are specially adapted to dry land, getting all the water they need from the tender leaves and fruit that they can reach from higher areas than most other antelope by standing up on their hind legs. Another of the "special five" of Samburu.
I can't remember what this is; any insights appreciated
If anyone can be more specific with the name, please let me know
This is the largest of the small cats, and very rare; the guides were very excited to see it and many people commented on the fact that we'd seen one. We were actually lucky enough to spot three during the week, two of them during the day, which is even more unusual.
Elephants drag their feet as they walk, which stirs up a wealth of insect life that the cattle egret can feast upon.
The hyaena is displaying to it's mate. They were excited by the proximity of the wildebeest kill.
These cheeky little inquisitive starlings are full of life and energy; very entertaining.
The mongooses had made their home in an old, disused termite mound.
Can you spot the second lizard?
This is a hippo's skull. What on earth could kill a hippo, you may well ask? Drought, apparently.
