africa » Traverse Earth

Safe Harbour

Africa, Travel, Zambia, Zimbabwe 11 Responses »

Jan 082012

I’ve called this photo Safe Harbour, but that’s probably debatable. It was taken the morning after our first night camping on the Lower Zambezi. The day before, after a few hours of paddling, we’d had a taste of the upcoming rainy season. Clouds loomed and bellowed across the sky. We saw rain falling in front of us and behind. It was also raining to our left, where the storm was coming from. Debate raged, while the wind picked up, as to whether or not it was heading directly at us or would pass just behind. Our Zimbabwean guide, called CB, quelled the debate. He was a soft-spoken individual, typical of the people we’d met during our time on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. He told us we’d be making camp an hour earlier than planned. The storm was heading straight for us and the strong winds increased our chance of capsizing. We began to paddle a bit harder than the previously relaxed pace of the day. The landing spot pictured above came into sight and CB gestured for us to head in. At this point, we experienced just how terrifying an angry hippo can be.

“Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!”

CB was suddenly animated and we spun around in our seats to see what was happening. The second-last canoe was moving faster than I knew a canoe could. I swear it was actually on a plane, the nose rising and falling with each paddle-stroke as it ploughed through the water. About five feet behind was a hippo, surging through the water with it’s head bobbing up and down with each forward thrust. We’d find out later that, apparently, one of the people in the last canoe struck what he thought was a rock with his paddle. As you can probably guess, it was a submerged hippopotamus – the creature second in line to the mosquito for causing the most deaths per year in Africa. The chase probably spanned about 15-20 feet or so, before the hippo calmed down, but it definitely gave us a taste of what we’d gotten ourselves into.

Once we reached land and pulled our canoes ashore, the rain set in. Most of us had rain jackets. Chris and I had lightweight rain jackets that didn’t shield you from the impact of the rain, and this was rain like I’ve never experienced. It was coming in sideways and the drops must have been the size of marbles. You could feel the impact of every single one. We were better off than George though, an Aussie we’d met back in Livingstone who decided to join us. He’d left his rain jacket on a bus a few months earlier and, not having any need for one in the dry season, hadn’t replace it. Four of us stood next to each other, with our backs to the onslaught, for him to hunker down in front of us and try to stay dry. It didn’t work very well. The rain didn’t take long to pass and we set about making camp.

It quickly became evident that this would be an interesting night. We were setting up on sand, amongst dried elephant and hippo dung. As it turned out, the grassy, muddy field behind us was a popular night-time feeding place for elephants and hippos. On top of this, it was hot. Keeping the fly sheet on the tent was not an option, so we slept with nothing but a mesh tent separating us from the outdoors.

A quick wave of our flashlights revealed the startling close glint of eyes in the darkness and we settled in for the night. Just prior to falling asleep I heard the trumpet of an elephant. It sounded like it was right outside the tent. I remembered CB’s advice that we would hear animals and they would sound far closer than they really were. With this in mind, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up a few times in the night, once to the sound of hyenas, another to the sound of lions, and repeated the mantra that they could be heard form a great distance away. I drifted off comfortably each time.

However, we had at least one very close encounter. In the morning, my tent mate Chris told me he’d woken up to the unmistakable thud of elephant dung hitting the ground. We’d become accustomed to this sound on our elephant-back safari a few days earlier. He said he actually felt the vibrations of it hitting the ground. Sure enough, we found a fresh deposit just outside our tent. I only wish he’d woken me up so I could try to shine a light outside and spot one. This might be why he didn’t wake me up.

As I mentioned this photo was taken in the morning, just before the sun came up. I’ve combined 7 exposures from -3 to +3 in Photomatix and then cleaned it up in Photoshop.

The Angel’s Armchair

Africa, Travel, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Zimbabwe 4 Responses »

Jan 072012

This is another shot from Victoria Falls. We came across this, the Angel’s Armchair, on the way to the Devil’s Pool. During higher water, when you can’t swim in the Devil’s Pool, people swim here. They jump off the rocks to get in. Water would be flowing down into it from above and then tumbling over the edge. In the distance you can see the bridge that joins Zambia and Zimbabwe. The river is the border.

This bridge is a bungee jumping site. When we went rafting we had one solo traveler join us who happened to be in the same hostel. The day after rafting, upon returning from our elephant back safari, we sat down for a beer. Two seconds later the guy we’d been rafting with the day before burst in. Now, this individual was pretty chilled out the day before when facing category five rapids. At this point though, he was jittery and speaking in rapid fire asking if we’d had a good day, what we’d done etc. and not waiting for an answer. He ended this delirious monologue with, “I need a beer. Anyone need a beer? I’m gonna get a beer.”

After he returned from the bar, still sporting his wild eyes and jittery demeanor, we managed to get out of him that he’d just been bungee jumping. He was definitely still buzzing and stayed that way for an hour or so. We left him at the bar to explore the curio market in Livingstone and returned an hour later. He was no longer there. Apparently, he’d hung around for another half hour then suddenly crashed and gone to bed. It was 3 in the afternoon. He reemerged at 10pm. I think he’d had a total adrenaline overload.

Speaking of rafting, if you click this image to go through to my portfolio, then click it again and select the “O” size you’ll be able to zoom in and see a group of people preparing to go rafting from the Zimbabwe side.

Dip on a Rebel Elephant

Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia, Zimbabwe 6 Responses »

Jan 052012

On my recent trip to Africa, each of the five of us had one thing we really wanted to do. Soniko’s one thing was an elephant ride. I didn’t find it that appealing until we got to Livingstone. Then, for some reason I decided it had to be done. So, off we went, along with Chris and Shannon. When we arrived the head guide told us that all but three people would be riding tandem. A man there with his two daughters was quick to jump on the opportunity to ride solo. He was quickly followed by Chris and Soniko. My slow reactions meant I had to share with Shannon. Nothing against Shannon, but having your own elephant would have been pretty cool.

In the end, this worked out in my favor. As it turned out one of the elephants allocated for Soniko and Chris didn’t feel like going for a walk that day. They don’t force these massive animals into anything. So, Soniko and Chris ended up sharing an elephant. I have many close-ups of this situation that I don’t think I’ll release to the world. It’s hard to look good when you’re riding tandem on an elephant with another dude.

Despite this, in a way they were lucky to get their elephant. As Shannon and I trundled along at a comfortable pace we heard a crack from behind us. Chris and Soniko’s elephant had just ripped a branch off a palm and was tearing away in the wrong direction – nimbly crushing the branch with ts trunk. Our driver (no idea what you call the guy steering the elephant) told us that their elephant tended to misbehave and preferred going where it pleased. It became clear they were in for the more exciting ride. The guides had taken the head elephant, along with the solo man’s two daughters, to bring Chris and Soniko back to the herd. This never really happened and gives rise to today’s photo.

About halfway through our trip all the other elephants did as their drivers told them and we all waded through ankle-deep water. That’s elephant ankle depth. As usual, Chris and Soniko’s elephant did its own thing. She had spotted a shortcut and there was nothing that could change her mind – she was going to swim across that river. This photo captures the moment as their driver is attempting to help Chris get his foot back in the stirrup. They’d had to lift their feet as high as they could to keep them out of the range of crocodiles.

This was a tricky photo to take and process. I shot three exposures hand-held. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it became more difficult due to two factors. First, I was on the back of a lumbering elephant. Second, the elephant was facing the wrong way, placing these guys over my right shoulder. To overcome these issues I zoomed out a little further to account for the bouncing camera and set a larger aperture than I’d have liked to speed up my shutter speed. I felt like I’d turned my upper body so far that my shoulders were perpendicular to my hips. It hurt, but going home without this picture was not an option.

In processing it quickly became clear that the pictures were far from aligned. I had to put faith in Photomatix’s auto align to fix this for me. It did a pretty good job except for the island on the left. This was completely blurred out. I wish I’d noticed the issue before my last check of the picture. Masking this area out didn’t look quite right, so I started from scratch. I actually used the selective ghosting tool in Photomatix to fix this. I also used this on the trees in the background, just to be safe, and of course the moving elephants.

Church in Progress

Jan 022012

An earlier post mentioned our attempt to go out with the fishermen. We didn’t manage it but on our walk back we heard singing coming from this building and realized it was a church. The entrance was via a steep muddy slope, and it was raining. The church was full of people singing and dancing. It turned out that they were practicing to film a DVD the next day in a garden just up lake Kivu’s shoreline from our hotel.

The next night we went down to the dock again so I could take some photos of the fishermen departing. Singing could be heard from the church once again and we found the choir practicing. We were greeted with the same friendliness as the night before, which we’d come to expect everywhere we went in Rwanda. This time I had my camera out and once it was spotted they asked if I’d like to take some photos. I’d noticed this vantage point the night before and went straight up the partially constructed stairs. The night before I’d have gotten very wet up here. I asked about the roof and it turns out that they’re in the process of expanding the church.

Between the fishermen singing their way in and out and the church’s bells in the morning followed by the songs of the choir there’s always some sound to be heard in this little area of Gisenyi.

January 2, 2012 Africa, Rwanda, Travel, Zambia 3 Responses »

Zambezi Reflections

Africa, Travel, Zambia, Zimbabwe 1 Response »

Jan 012012

On day four of our canoe safari on the Lower Zambezi most of our group was enjoying a lazy afternoon snoozing in the shade or fishing. For a few of us, boredom set in and we decided that it was time to go for a swim. It may seem like a simple activity, but when you’re surrounded by hippos and crocodiles you err on the side of caution. We had a chat with our guide who said that we’d be safe in the shallows of this sand bar on the opposite side of the river. So, we piled into the canoes and made our way upstream before cutting across to the island.

It all went smoothly until we got close to the island and realized that what we thought was a rock was a hippo. A hippo that seemed to enjoy disappearing underwater and popping up in a completely new location. Our three days of canoeing experience told us that as we moved into the shallows the hippo would head for deep water. Fortunately for us this is exactly what happened and we pulled our canoes ashore.

We knew that we could swim off the sandbar. What we didn’t ask was where off the sandbar. The area where we pulled our canoes ashore was deep and we knew we couldn’t swim there. Everybody began wandering around our private island looking for shallow water and I began looking for a photo. There was this small pool of water which lent itself nicely to catching a reflection of the mountains in the background. In order to maximize the amount of reflection I set my camera up as low as I could.

If you click on the image and open up a larger version you can see our campsite in the middle of the far bank. It was a great place to spend three nights. I’ll be posting the morning view from our tent soon.

Departing the Winery

Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, Travel 10 Responses »

Dec 292011

This is the driveway to the Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch. After two days of adrenaline, cage diving with great whites and going on a combat flight in a Huey Helicopter, it seemed a good idea to have a more relaxing day. Wine was the perfect solution. That being said we still decided that we had to stop off at Cheetah Outreach to become acquainted with a few big cats on the way to our first vineyard. We didn’t want the day to feel too safe. After enjoying a wine and chocolate pairing (mandated by Shannon’s exuberant cheer while hearing the options), which involved 6 or 7 wines and three chocolates, everyone was suitably mellow.

Not mellow enough, however, to prevent them heckling from the car as I set up for this photo. The reason for this one and only display of tensions at my photo taking was quite understandable. I spent so long setting up, and adjusting the positioning of my camera that we were too late for the game sampling lunch we had planned. Fortunately this disappointment was replaced by one of the great experiences of our trip – bobotie. It’s a South African dish made with minced beef, raisins and spices topped with an egg film. It looks like a cottage pie but that’s as far as the similarities go. It’s also served with mango chutney and bananas. I have no idea how anyone decided this combination was a good idea. When I’m next in South Africa this will be one of the meals I seek out.

In the end, I’m happy with this picture and my time-wasting resulted in a great meal, so it all worked out nicely.

Guys… I think we’ve been spotted.

Dec 282011

It sounds cliché, but there is little in the world that is anything like visiting the mountain gorillas. The whole experience leaves you feeling like you’ve somehow spent an hour in an alternate dimension. Two and a half weeks earlier I was sitting in my cubicle in Bermuda. Now, five days before returning to work I’m surrounded by 24 wild and endangered mountain gorillas. They go about their daily business, seemingly unperturbed by your presence. But then, without warning, one of them decides to lock eyes with you. They look at you in a way that makes it really feel that they are engaging with you. Ultimately, they make a quick assessment of their new visitors. Then, as sharply as they’d turned their attention to you they continue their daily activities: munching on bamboo, cuddling with the children, or, as in my friend Cameron’s case, laying down and snoozing right beside you. Incidentally, the gorilla snoozing next to Cameron was the big boss of the group – the toughest of three silverbacks. He decided to take his nap shortly after he’d charged Cameron, who could do nothing but stand his ground. I’m not sure Cameron had the same experience when locking eyes with this guy as I did with the subject of today’s photo. I wanted to capture the moment when the gorillas calmly lock eyes with you and hope I’ve succeeded in the below photo. Feel free to post a comment and let me know what you think.

We were lucky in that we got to visit the Susa group, which are apparently the descendants of the group of gorillas that Dian Fossey lived with. It’s also the largest group and hardest to get to. On our three-week journey through Africa everyone we met that had heard anything about gorilla tracking in Rwanda told us that this was the group to see. As such, I made a point of asking our guide to try to make this happen. Upon arrival at the headquarters you are assigned a group and don’t typically get to pick and choose. He returned my question by asking if we were fit because it is hard work. We assured him we were capable with a couple nervous sideways glances. He agreed to try to arrange this but couldn’t make any guarantees.

He was correct, the walk up was tough but really made the experience all the better. Rwanda is a beautiful country, lush and green everywhere. It seems like every inch of ground outside of the national parks is farmed. Our walk took three hours and was straight up the side of a volcano. The first half of this was through farmland planted with potatoes and flowers that looked like daisies. Our guides informed us that they’re used to make insect repellent. The second half was through thick vegetation with the man in front using a machete to widen the path. The hike was an experience in itself and I intend to share a few pictures from our ascent in the future. Of course, I also have lots of gorilla photos I’ll be spreading out over the months ahead.

I’m working on adding some additional pages to the site including photography and travel tips.

December 28, 2011 Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel 20 Responses »

On The Edge – Victoria Falls

Dec 272011

The Victoria Falls are incredible. My friends and I were inspired to plan our recent trip to Africa, which included Cape Town, Zambia and Rwanda by a viral e-mail we received showing pictures of people swimming in the Devil’s Pool at the top of the falls. In order to do this we needed to visit during the low water season. The benefit of going in this season extends beyond swimming in the Devil’s pool. As a result of the low water we were able to walk across the top of the falls – providing multiple photo opportunities. That being said I do feel a need to return at high water to get the full experience of the Mosi-oa-Tunya (the native name for the falls meaning “the smoke that thunders”).

The below picture was taken on my second visit to the falls and left me with a huge adrenaline rush. I’m not a big fan of heights, and certainly not the 108 meter drop I was facing here. Still I decided that I needed to lower myself down onto this outcropping of rock to photograph this portion of the falls, which I believe is called the angel falls. Once reaching the ledge I stayed seated, gradually edging closer and closer to the edge, sliding my camera, and tripod ahead of me. The most nerve racking part was taking my lens cap off, I had already dropped a lens cap at the top of the falls on my first visit. It rolled within a foot of the edge – a very tense moment for me. I would not have been allowed this leeway with the spot I was in here. In hindsight, I really should have taken off all my loose bits and secured them before moving out to the edge.

In the middle of the picture you can see the area called the boiling pot. I’ll be posting another picture of this area in the near future. It’s from just below this point in the river where rafting trips start, on the category 5 rapids of the middle Zambezi.

December 27, 2011 Africa, Travel, Victoria Falls, Waterfall, Zambia, Zimbabwe 4 Responses »

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