Jambo, Jambo

The cheerful Tanzanian greeting of "Jambo" or better still "Jambo, Jambo" seems sadly out of place given recent events in Paris, and the continuing deterioration in the Middle East. This is meant to be a happy return to DeviantArt following my recent safari through some of the National Parks of Northern Tanzania. The irony is that Tanzania, a country of scores of different races, tribes, and cultures, is an African success story with more or less complete harmony between its inhabitants, and a developing economy that promises great things for its peoples in the next decades. The slight disharmony comes from - dare I say it - but you know already - Islamic fundamentalism - on the island of Zanzibar.

Anyway, we had a marvellous time on safari, and I shot several thousand photographs of wildlife from huge baobab trees to tiny birds and flowers, via elephants, lions, leopards, wildebeest and more and more... My intention is to post the best of these shots over the next few weeks, and I am starting with some animal portraits, mostly facial close-ups. All these images were obtained in the wild, and I have added a short description of where they were taken. Almost all the shots were taken using my Canon 5D Mark III camera fitted with a 100-4000 mm zoom lens, set almost always at 400 mm - the maximum. I used, again almost always, the continuous shooting mode of the camera (6 fps) with spot metering. Final selection of images has been based on best focus, and post-processing has employed careful sharpening, exposure tweaks, and often heavy cropping using Lightroom.

My first choice for an animal portrait may be thought unusual - the wildebeest, or the white-bearded gnu (connochaetes taurinus). The "white" beard is some what optimistic - just bearded would do! As I shall explain in a subsequent post, the wildebeest, several million of them, are at the centre of what makes the Serengeti unique - a huge, circular, North to South and back again, annual migration that shapes the land and ecology of the region. Arguably, the wildebeest is the most important creature in Tanzania! This particular image was captured in the Ngorongoro Carter, not the Serengeti, but I thought its slightly odd and enigmatic look fitted my message.





My second choice for an animal portrait may also appear a bit odd - the spotted hyena (crocuta crocuta)! Although physically resembling large dogs, hyenas belong to another animal family altogether. They are fearsome hunters and scavengers, not at all cowardly as often portrayed, and, especially when in a group, they are quite capable of taking prey away from lions and leopards. As scavengers their role in the bush is essential. Along with vultures and jackals, they keep the place clean and tidy of carcasses. In repose, as this hyena was (actually cooling its hind quarters in a puddle of water) hyenas appear much less terrifying, but make no mistake, they are deadly.




You cannot go far in Tarangire National Park, or indeed the Serengeti, without coming across elephants (loxodonta africana)- hundreds, even thousands of them. Beware the siren calls of environmentalists about the demise of elephants - not true - they are everywhere in Northern Tanzania. Photographing elephants is very easy - point your camera somewhere, press the shutter and an elephant will be n the frame somewhere. However, capturing something really interesting is another matter entirely. For most of the time, elephants wander along in family groups, grazing and browsing, occasionally pushing over a tree or having a dust bath. When roused, they may trumpet and stomp, and very, very occasionally may charge if they think their young are being threatened. Most of the time, placidity rules. This young female, however, gave us a bit of a trunk wagging!







Most popular with tourists and guides are the big cats. Here are three to round off this introductory Feature. A female leopard (panthera pardus) gazes from a vantage point in a tree, checking for prey, predators (lions and hyenas), and petty irritations like us. We were incredibly lucky on this safari to see nine different leopards, some of whom will feature in further Journals.





And, of course, lions (panthera leo)! I must confess to be just about "lioned out" after this trip as we saw so many. However, some of their activities require an X-certificate as a subsequent Journal will reveal. Sex, violence, binge eating, and hedonistic debauchery - it's all there, so be warned.


  



I hope you enjoyed this short introduction to wildlife on the plains, more coming soon.

David aka Okavanga