safari
How to plan a Safari Itinerary distance wise
12/08/13 18:25 Filed in: Photographic Safari Tips
We all became pretty good in planning our holidays through the Internet, creating our own itineraries and doing the bookings for the accommodations and flights ourselves.
When it comes to Africa this approach can go wrong. Recently somebody wanted a second opinion on a self-created itinerary for a South Africa holiday and the plan looked like that:
2 days Kruger Park safari
1 day Garden Route incl. drive to Cape Town
4 days Cape Town
1 day Victoria Falls (Zambia)
1 day Sun City (about 2 hours drive from Johannesburg)
They put all highlights into a 10 days itinerary including all driving. And this is just not working. The drive from Johannesburg to Kruger Park is about 6 hours and the drive from the Garden Route to Cape Town takes even longer.
The distances in Africa are often underestimated and guests get disappointed when booking such an itinerary and ending up only driving instead of enjoying the sights.
Take a close look at the distances you are going to cover when you plan a safari, wildlife photography trip or an incentive. It might sound so easy with all you want to see in a short trip, but it might be only stress when actually travelling. How can you experience wildlife areas when you are only there for one day?
Happy travelling!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
What is the Best Time for Safari in South Africa
08/08/13 17:52 Filed in: Photographic Safari Tips
This question is often asked when guests inquire for safaris in South Africa and there is no standard answer to it. It depends what you would like to see and experience.
Wildlife sightings and therefore wildlife photography is the easiest in winter, which is June, July and August. It is not raining in winter and the bush is dry. The animals gather around waterholes and that makes it easier to find them. Also the grass is low in winter and the animals can be easier seen and photographed. The colors are earthy colors with beautiful brown and red tints. But there is a little but; it is cold in the morning and evening with comforting warm temperatures during the day.
Summer is the lush time of the year with high temperatures and all rich green colors. The grass is high and there is plenty of water. It is more difficult to find the animals and also to see them in the grass, but it is so lovely green. Especially when planning a winter escape, the South African summer is ideal. For the photography summer offers just different photo opportunities. The colors are bright and the light is often softer.
Both seasons are great. Maybe just try them all.
Happy snapping!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
On Photo Safari: Shoes
03/08/13 11:10 Filed in: Photographic Safari
You might think what a silly topic, only women can be concerned about shoes, but its not silly at all. The right choice of shoes for your photographic safari, wildlife photography course or team building safari is very important.
It can be very tempting to wear flip-flops or sandals on safari, because its war or even hot, but this is not a good idea. When you are on game drives or bush walks always wear closed shoes. You can cut yourself of sharp grass or step into an insect that bites. When you are in the lodge and you walk on walkways open shoes are just fine, at least when its warm.
Check before you go how the weather will be and have for closed shoes a pair of sneakers or walking shoes with you and for in the lodge something easy and comfortable.
Happy photo travelling!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
5Top Questions of Photographers before going on Safari
02/08/13 11:05 Filed in: Photographic Safari
Travelling to new destinations is always exciting from the photography point of view and even more to a complete new continent like Africa. Guest that go on photographic safaris, wildlife photography courses and team building photo safaris often think about the same questions before departing on their trip. And here are the top 5 of them
Do I need to bring a tripod?
This question usually arises while packing the bags and struggling with the luggage allowances. The answer is it depends, but in general it is not necessary. A monopod or beanbag are more practical and lighter for transport.
What zoom lens should I bring?
When shooting with a full frame camera at least a 400mm zoom lens is recommended. For DX format a 300mm lens is good. It will be multiplied with 1.5 and give even a slightly bigger zoom.
Do I need a wide-angle lens?
The zoom lens is more important, but it is great to have a wide-angle lens when photographing landscapes like in Namibia and on the Great Plains in Kenya and Tanzania. It depends very much on the destination.
Do I need a flash?
In general no. The flash usually does not travel far enough to have any affect, because the animal is too far away. It is also not nice for the animals to get flashed. And at night the rangers work with spotlights to shine on the animals (only animals that get not a blinding effect from the light).
Is a camera bag better than a backpack?
For transport a backpack is more practical, but on the game vehicle a camera bag is more convenient. It stands better in the vehicle and allows a more practical access to the equipment.
Ready to go on photo safari?
Enjoy travelling! Happy snapping!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Why planning a safari budget can be tricky
31/07/13 08:58 Filed in: Photographic Safari
Planning a holiday is usually very simple. You go to the internet and search for the places you want to visit and a whole list of hotels, flights and rental cars will roll out. You check the accommodations online and book what you like. The flight is also easily booked and it is all done. You can find plenty of matching options for your budget.
Booking safaris is a bit different. Yes, you can have a budget and find matching safari packages, but not just like having a budget for hotel accommodation in Barcelona. For example you want to visit the Great Migration in the Masai Mara and the budget should be USD 150 per day. This is pretty much impossible. The park fee for the Masai Mara is already USD 80 per person per day, then the accommodation, food and beverages (you cannot just go to a supermarket in the bush) and transportation to the Mara and for the game drives. It is not working.
Do not plan a safari like a city trip or usual camping trip. A safari budget needs to include all expenses up front, before you go there. When you plan a city trip you look at a budget for the flight and hotel. Then you go there and you start spending money. When you go on safari everything is already paid. You have no more expenses while being on safari and there are also not shopping malls. The only thing can be beverages, but that is a choice you also make in advance.
The budget to plan with seems to be higher at first sight, but it is what it actually will cost you. With other trips it is usually not the end of spending when the hotel and flight are booked.
Keep that in mind and don’t get a fright when a budget seems to be high. At the end it might be cheaper than other holidays. The same applies to wildlife photography courses and team building safaris. Realize that it includes already all.
Happy travelling!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Departure Roulette: Safari Destinations
29/07/13 19:43 Filed in: Photographic Safari
Have you heard about “Departure Roulette” from Heineken? They have a stand at an airport, asking people to press a red button and a departure board starts running. The destination it stops on is the one the people are going to, right away, that’s the commitment they have to make before pressing the button. See how it works in this video.
What would you do? Would you go? Lets do a little destination roulette right here. The destinations on the board are:
- photographic safari in South Africa
- safari in Namibia
- walking safari in Kruger Park
- wildlife photography course Masai Mara
- team building safari in Botswana
- canoe trail on the Zambezi in Zimbabwe
- or “just” Cape Town
Would you go immediately, if one of those would turn up on your departure roulette?
Happy playing!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
On Photo Safari: Self-Drive or Transfers
20/07/13 09:31 Filed in: Photographic Safari
When planning a photographic safari, wildlife photography course or team building photographic safari, guests often misjudge road travel in Africa, resulting in the wrong choice of transfer.
Driving in Africa is different and even in South Africa with very good roads, driving means dealing with animals on the road, people walking on the road (also on free ways), no street lights, potholes and more challenging situations. One always needs to be alert and anticipating, which can be hard to do when just getting off an intercontinental flight. Driving then long distances can be dangerous, not to mention the often misunderstanding how long a drive would be. A distance of 200 km can be a long drive, longer than for example in Western Europe (without traffic jam).
To avoid complications and to have a nice trip, ask people who know the area and the road conditions before you make decisions. Rather choose a small aircraft flight or an organized transfer to make sure you have a great trip.
Keep it easy and safe your energy for the photography.
Happy travelling!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
How to Prepare for a Team Building Photographic Safari
09/05/13 06:49 Filed in: Team Building | Photographic Safari
You made the choice of a team building photographic safari and the entire team is looking forward to it in excitement of being out on a fantastic safari destination with great wildlife sightings. To make sure your experience becomes what you wish it to be, talk to the presenter of the team building about your expectations. What is the purpose of the team building? Do you want to have a fun event with wildlife photography course or are there specific things you want to achieve with the team building or is the purpose a relaxed safari to recharge and recalibrate or is it a bit of all? Reflecting about that in advance will make your team building an even greater success than just going and seeing what happens. Your assigned presenter will help you with that to make sure you get the most benefit out of the event.
Besides that, also talk about practical things like expected weather, what to wear and what to bring and your team building will be only fantastic.
Ready to go? Have fun!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 20 and 21
06/01/13 17:20 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
Day 20
Our last full day in the bush and we went back to the waterhole from yesterday. When we arrived the waterhole was empty and that means in times of drought that there must be cats around. And yes, when we got close we saw them. Two male lion were lying at the waterhole. We took a closer look and found out that they weren’t well. One of them was limping and he looked very dehydrated, skinny and his belly looked like a balloon. The other one didn’t look injured but very skinny too. Paul told me that they are brothers and we made the conclusion that one got injured and his brother stayed with him and shared the pain and struggle. It was very touching to watch them and very sad too. When the sun came out they tried to get some shade under a skinny tree about 100 meters away. It took them forever to get there and I was afraid they wouldn’t be alive for long anymore.
When we came back to the camp that morning we had visitors for lunch. A breeding herd of elephants was resting about 50 meters away from our tents under the trees. This was awesome. They allowed us to be so close to them and to share the site. It felt magical.
In the afternoon I wanted to go back to look for the two lions. They were still there under the tree and after a while they started moving again towards thicker bush, probably to find some food. It was very impressing how they carried on trying to survive and how the brothers stayed together. And it was also very sad to watch them and to feel their pain.
Day 21 – The Final Day of a Most Amazing Photographic Safari
We had to go back to Nairobi. On one hand we looked forward to sleep in a bed, having a shower and being at home. On the other hand we had become a good team and we would miss each other and the bush. Anyway, we had to go and Paul drove furiously fast to get quickly back. He also wanted to be with his relative in the hospital and Alex and me wanted to relax, it was after all a Sunday afternoon.
Asante sana.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 19
30/12/12 18:03 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
Unfortunately the bats had left behind quite a mess in the bathrooms and it was really a shame that nobody had thought about nets to keep them out. The facilities were really nice, except the other visitors. I found out later that every morning people are coming to clean the whole place and it’s fine until the bats come back. Nobody seemed to be bothered by it.
Tsavo East is well known for the elephants and we went out to find some. It was very dry and then the best thing to do is going to a waterhole. According to Paul there was a big dam where we could find plenty of animals. When we got there the dam was dry. Even Paul was surprised. He had never seen the dam dry. Not far away was another smaller waterhole and there the elephants were. It actually didn’t look much like a waterhole, more like a mud-hole, but the animals seamed happy with it. The elephants were standing in the mud, enjoying cooling down. Zebra, warthog, jackals and ostrich carefully tried to sip water from the mud. We stayed for hours.
In the afternoon we cruised through another part of the park and also there were plenty of elephants. Beautiful red colored elephants, from the red soil in the park.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Photo Safaris and Africa Travel Catalog
Safari Story: Leoaprd Teens and a Stressed Mom
29/12/12 18:02 Filed in: Safari Story
We had planned to stay the whole day out, with packed breakfast and the lodge would bring us lunch later. We were on a photo safari in the Sabi Sand in Kruger National Park in South Africa, the heaven for leopard photography lovers.
Staying the whole day out in the bush has the advantage that you can stay with the animal when you eventually found it and follow it the entire day. We had found a female leopard. She had two pretty “old” cubs of about 18 months old, two boys, still staying with her. Usually the cubs have to live on their own by this age, but the boys seemed to enjoy their mother’s care and were in no rush to live on their own and do all the hunting themselves. The mother is a good hunter and also this morning she had a kill hoisted in a tree. But there was no sign of the boys. After she had fed on the kill for a while she started calling for the boys. No response. She started walking away from the tree looking and calling for the boys. The calling is a gentle sound, heard by the cubs and telling them mom is calling and expecting response. But nothing. The mother kept going and calling and after about one hour doing so, she seemed to have enough. Now she was really calling, a loud, strong leopard call that made clear she will take no nonsense anymore. And suddenly one of the boys popped up, just a few bushes away from her approaching her in apologies and trying to sooth her anger. After a moment of accepting the cubs attempts to make it up again, they wandered off to the tree with the kill.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Photo Safari Essentials eGuide
Safari Story: Leoaprd Teens and a Stressed Mom
29/12/12 18:02 Filed in: Safari Story
We had planned to stay the whole day out, with packed breakfast and the lodge would bring us lunch later. We were on a photo safari in the Sabi Sand in Kruger National Park in South Africa, the heaven for leopard photography lovers.
Staying the whole day out in the bush has the advantage that you can stay with the animal when you eventually found it and follow it the entire day. We had found a female leopard. She had two pretty “old” cubs of about 18 months old, two boys, still staying with her. Usually the cubs have to live on their own by this age, but the boys seemed to enjoy their mother’s care and were in no rush to live on their own and do all the hunting themselves. The mother is a good hunter and also this morning she had a kill hoisted in a tree. But there was no sign of the boys. After she had fed on the kill for a while she started calling for the boys. No response. She started walking away from the tree looking and calling for the boys. The calling is a gentle sound, heard by the cubs and telling them mom is calling and expecting response. But nothing. The mother kept going and calling and after about one hour doing so, she seemed to have enough. Now she was really calling, a loud, strong leopard call that made clear she will take no nonsense anymore. And suddenly one of the boys popped up, just a few bushes away from her approaching her in apologies and trying to sooth her anger. After a moment of accepting the cubs attempts to make it up again, they wandered off to the tree with the kill.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Photo Safari Essentials eGuide
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 17 and 18
23/12/12 19:39 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
Day 17
We decided to have a quite day with our game drives and also a long rest around lunch. It was just so hot. It felt like being roasted on lave stone and at the same time it was so beautiful, so irresistible beautiful that one takes it all just to be there.
Day 18
We left the campsite at 8.15 a.m. and headed to the main gate of Tsavo West Mtito Andei to hit the road to Mombasa.
It was a short drive to Voi where we did some groceries and I got myself some chocolate and a stroll through the market place. The main gate of Tsavo East was just outside Voi and the campsite Ndololo just 20 minutes from the gate. We arrived there before lunch and pitched camp.
When we were about to have lunch a troop of baboons was lining up to get our food. I encouraged Alex to make a statement with the catapult to make clear who is the boss. He would be the one staying in camp when we are out and they would make life for him very hard if he wouldn’t do something right now. He went after them and they got the message.
Tsavo East is huge and doesn’t have many roads. It felt to me like a paradise for the animals, because they can live their lives unbothered by vehicles if they want, yet we had great sightings too. The first afternoon we spotted already lionesses, actually quite close to the camp, on their way to hunt. It was a good start.
When we got back to the camp I wanted to take advantage of the good facilities of the campsite and went off to have a shower. It was almost dark and when I entered the shower I saw them, bats everywhere. I didn’t feel comfortable and hurried up to get away form them quickly.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Safari Story: Warthogs in the Camp
22/12/12 13:54 Filed in: Safari Story
They are lovely creatures these warthogs, the wild boars of the bush. They always look funny when they run with their tails up as soon as you stop the vehicle. Do you know why they are always running with their tails up? When warthogs run through the bush or high grass they close their eyes not to get branches and grass in their eyes, but when they close their eyes they don’t have enough skin anymore and their tail goes up. …. Well it’s an African tale, but one wouldn’t be surprised, if it would be true with these funny animals.
They would actually be great pets and in some bush camps they are living right in the middle of all the guests, but claim their ground, if you come to close. And so they do at Kichwa Tembo in the Masai Mara. A whole family lives in the camp where they feel safe close to humans. But don’t be mistaken, they are wild animals and you cannot touch them neither approach them, they are very particular about their personal space. Yet there is nothing nicer than getting out of the tent in the morning and the first thing you see in front of your tent is a warthog family enjoying the morning sun of a brand new wonderful day in the bush.
So, when you see somewhere excellent warthog photographs, the photographer might have had the opportunity to photograph them just in front of his/her tent. That makes the photographs still great photographs only there is no exciting adventure of spotting them attached.
Happy warthog encounter!
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 14
02/12/12 07:02 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
It was a clear morning. The wind had died and the Mount Kilimanjaro was beautifully visible. We went out to the little mountain/hill, serving as a viewpoint to photograph the Kilimanjaro. It was awesome and I enjoyed the serenity of that moment. A clear, calm morning in this majestic landscape, it was splendid. After a while we carried on with our game vehicle and followed for the rest of the morning the animals from swamp to swamp.
At lunch time the wind was back. 1.45 p.m. a rainstorm, 2 p.m. again a sandstorm, 2.15 p.m. sun and hot. This carried on for the whole afternoon rest time and there was no place without dust. At 4 p.m. I stopped practicing accepting and started thinking again. We need to change that. I got out of my tent and talked to Paul an Alex. We need to move the tents behind the bushes. They looked at me in unbelief but did move the tents, mine first still skeptical. But soon they were happy we did it. It worked!
4.30 p.m. we wanted to leave for the game drive but the battery was flat. With the help of a couple of Masai we got the car going and left the camp. Just around the corner on a smaller swamp was an elephant baby lying on the ground and two adults were standing next to it, watching and not moving. I thought the baby was dead and felt sad for them, but then arrived an elephant bull and the two adult females woke up the baby. It had been very deep asleep and needed some time to get up. I felt relieved.
The sand storms carried on that night, but we had a good sleep behind the bushes … until the mongoose came, shouting at each other and turning the whole place upside down.
Never a boring moment in the bush.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Safari Story: Skimmer Male being Naughty
01/12/12 07:00 Filed in: Safari Story
Duba Plains is an island in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, famous for its lion and buffalo encounters. Over years the “Duba Boys”, two lion brothers, were the dominant males of the local pride, but times got difficult when a buffalo killed one of the brothers. That meant for the remaining brother that he had to control the entire territory by himself and this was a difficult task. Male lion walk the borders of their territory to make sure there are no intruders to maintain their authority. But when the territory is a bit big for one male lion the intruders can slip through. And that is what “Skimmer Boy” from the neighboring island did.
We found him one day mating with one of Duba Boy’s females. He didn’t get to that point easily, like his face showed. There was obviously a heavy fight between the two male lion, which the intruder won. He was at last happily mating with the female for days. That was definitely a sign that change was coming upon the pride, the remaining Duba Boy was not strong enough to control the territory without his brother and Skimmer Boy had made his move.
Let’s hope that the situation was cleared before the new cubs were born. Otherwise the naughty move of Skimmer Boy might be not so smart for the newborn cubs. Male lion do not accept cubs of another male and kill them.
Being a lion is not an easy life, although we might think that when seeing them snoozing for the whole day.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories: On Safari in Africa - Day 13
25/11/12 20:03 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
Amboseli was very dusty, windy, flat and breathtaking beautiful. It looked like a moon landscape with craters of swamp where the animals meet and enjoy a day at the pool while it’s hot, dusty and windy around. The wind and the dust were challenging. The dust was everywhere. When I was lying on my mattress in the tent I had to close my eyes because of the dust coming in. It felt very much like Lawrence of Arabia. Alex and Paul took it like the Masai did and the animals, they accepted. I watched and learned.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 12
18/11/12 13:51 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration | Safari Story
I was awake and just about to get up when I heard a scream and another one and another one. What was it? A bird? When I got to the main house I heard that somebody saw a leopard next to my tent killing a duiker. I was excited. This was spectacular and I would have loved to see the leopard. We were all standing on the veranda with binoculars trying to find the leopard. Nothing. Suddenly while sitting at the table chatting, Richard (the manager) said, I can see him. We all jumped up. I got my camera and only with the big lens I could see “him”. The leopard turned out to be a cheetah and a female, just up the hill behind my tent, feeding on the kill. What a start of the day.
At 8 a.m. I met Paul and Alex at the gate. They managed to get us a new vehicle and new tents. Nonetheless we decided to go straight to Amboseli and to skip Mount Kenya and Aberdare. The first part of the drive would bring us back around Mount Kenya to Nairobi and from there down to the border with Tanzania. We drove back to Nairobi through Meru. It was very different from the other side of the mountain, lush and tropical with many plantations and colorful villages. Everything went well and we arrived in Nairobi at noon, had a stop at a supermarket, our packed lunch along the road and carried on towards the border, 251 km to Arusha and it was 2 p.m. at Ngong junction. One hour later we had a flat tyre, at 4.55 p.m. we arrived at Amboseli Gate and at 5.45 p.m. at the campsite. What a drive, but we were glad we did it. From now on we wouldn’t have to drive far anymore, except the way back to Nairobi, but that would be at the very end.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Safari Story: Serengeti Flooded
17/11/12 16:01 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration | Safari Story
It was November 2006 and the time of the short rains in Tanzania, normally not the time photographers want to visit the Serengeti, but I thought it would be great to see the savannah during rains and to shoot with the soft light.
At arrival in Arusha it was announced that our safari flight to Klein’s Camp in the Northern Serengeti would have a delay and would not be able to land at Klein’s. There had been too much rain and the airstrip’s soil was to soft for a plane to land. After a while a solution was found. We would fly to Seronera in the middle of the Serengeti and from there carry on by 4x4.
During our flight over the Serengeti we got a pretty good impression what was going on. The Grumeti River was full and the plains were flooded. The often-dry Great Plains were wetlands. From Seronera airstrip we carried on in our 4x4 Landcruiser, heading north towards the Kenyan border where Klein’s Camp is situated. The road we were driving on was still all right, although we had to be careful with the patches of black cotton soil, a tricky soil that looks dry and the moment you drive on it, its like driving on wet soap. After driving for a while we got a call via the radio that another vehicle from Klein’s got stuck and if we could help pulling them out. Their position was quite close and we headed to them to help. The vehicle had dug itself deeply into the black cotton soil and we had to be very carefully to not get stuck as well. The guests were standing next to the vehicle with a desperate look in their eyes, but it was soon clear that we couldn’t pull them out. We would get stuck too. So all the guests got in our vehicle and we carried on. The guys would find a solution for the vehicle later, at least the guests were off the road and on-route back to the camp.
In order to get to Klein’s Camp one has to cross the river. When we arrived at the river it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to drive through it, definitely not with all the people on it. We had to drive to a little pedestrian bridge, get out and walk with our luggage over the tiny bridge to reach the vehicle that was waiting for us on the other side. Masai people were awaiting us on the other side, dressed traditionally and with spear and with a big UMBRELLA! It was such a funny sight to see the brave Masai warriors with an umbrella to shelter from the rain.
Well, we finally arrived at the camp and our driver proved to be brave and a good driver as well. He drove through river with the empty vehicle and everything was fine.
We were the last guests arriving at Klein’s Camp for several months. They closed the camp after we had left. The short rains turned out to be very long rains and the camp was only reopened in August of the following year. Nature has always the last word, not matter what humans want.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
Travel Memories 2008: On Safari in Africa - Day 11
11/11/12 15:42 Filed in: Travel & Inspiration
I obviously needed it so much, a relaxed day at Lewa Downs with a nice and dry room, a shower and everything just working. So, happily I went out on the game drive with my guide form Lewa and it was really fun. He made a Swahili lesson from the game drive and it was lovely.
Twende …Let’s go. My guide Joel was serious about teaching me Swahili. We started cruising on Lewa in the morning twilight when the rolling hills of Lewa are bluish and mysterious, an awesome light for magical shots. All together it was a very nice day and we saw twiga…giraffe, punda…zebra and pumba mingi … many warthogs and eventually simba … lion with ntoto ya simba … lion cubs.
Learned some Swahili now?
Lala Salama… Sleep well.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com
The New Yorker's Wild Dogs
12/11/12 15:39 Filed in: Photography & Art
There seems to be no place in the world without dogs. Even in the bush everything is dropped when wild dogs are spotted and the game vehicles race to the sighting. They are so rarely seen and they are endangered in many areas, that seeing them is a very exciting experience.
Spotting dogs in big cities is not quite a rare sighting and dogs in general are an essential part of our lives. They seem to help us with all sorts of things, even with writing. The New Yorker just released the The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs by Maria Popova with dog themed pieces of literature. Interested? Be careful, its about dogs and only about dogs, as Malcolm Gladwell says in the foreword:
“A few words about you. You bought this book: several hundred pages on dogs. You are, in other words, as unhealthily involved in the emotional life of dogs as the rest of us. Have you wondered why you bought it? One possible answer is that you see the subject of man’s affection for dogs as a way of examining all sorts of broader issues. Is it the case of a simple thing revealing a great many complex truths? We do a lot of this at The New Yorker. To be honest: I do a lot of this at The New Yorker — always going on and on about how A is just a metaphor for B, and blah, blah, blah. But let’s be clear. You didn’t really buy this boo because of some grand metaphor. Dogs are not about something else. Dogs are about dogs.”
Well, I think dogs are more than dogs, even in the bush and the excitement of so many savvy bush people and guests can’t be wrong, they are something special. When you see a pack of wild dogs on the go, how they interact and how they hunt, it’s really something special.
Keep being inspired by dogs and photograph every now and then your own dog. They are great subjects for awesome photography.
Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com