Kangaroo Island through the lens

Cape du Couedic lighthouse, Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island following Tasmania and Melville Island. It is located 112 kilometers southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of the Gulf of St Vincent. The island is 150km long and a maximum of 57km wide. It is sparsely populated with around 4500 inhabitants. The main town is Kingscote and there are small populations at Penneshaw, American River and Parndana. Traditionally sheep grazing has been the key element in agriculture on the Island, however in recent times, more diverse crops, such as potatoes and canola have been introduced. Cattle farming has grown as well, with good quality beef cattle being grown in the higher rainfall areas. Tourism and fishing also play significant roles, with the island experiencing over 186,000 visitors per annum and some of the best southern rock lobster being sourced from the island's rugged south coast. It is one of South Australia’s most popular tourist destinations and tourism and fishing contribute significantly to the local economy. There are also around 30 wine growers. Much of the land has been cleared for farming but there are also large tracts of land in native vegetation. There are some excellent beaches on the island. Transport is via three major routes fanning out from Kingscote with two of these running almost parallel along the length of the island. Transport to the island is via ferry from Cape Jervis on the mainland to Penneshaw or by small plane from Adelaide Airport. There are several rental car companies on the island.

Kangaroo Island, Australia's third biggest

So is it worth taking the big lens across to do some wildlife photography? Yes it is because there is a good array of wildlife and not many people. We were only there for four night and  stayed two nights in cottages that were on the Southern Coast at Vivonne Bay and further along near Flinders Chase.This length of stay was not enough for a thorough investigation of the photographic opportunities available but if my viewpoint may encourage other photographers.

There are some excellent beaches on the island. Vivonne Bay, has been voted the best beach in Australia, which boasts many nice beaches. It is indeed a beautiful beach but I preferred the nearby Hanson Bay where the early morning sunshine kissing the dunes and turquoise waves surging to the beach were an uplifting sight. I was setting up my tripod and was passed by a surfcaster who deployed his rod a few hundred metres along the beach. Within 10 minutes he had landed a monster fish so packed up and went home to enjoy the local bounty.

Early sunlight and sea mist, Hanson Bay

Turquoise-coloured waves, Hanson Bay

The wildlife photography targets can be divided into several groups.

(1)  Marine mammals. Seal Bay on the southern coast hosts a breeding colony of Sea-lions. There are guided tours throughout the day going down onto the beach. It is best to go as early as possible before the majority of visitors arrive. The light is also better and the guides can be accommodating to photographers but you cannot linger too long on any subject. The beach runs essentially East-west so the sun is coming from one direction at right angles to the breaking waves. There is a boardwalk where long lenses can pick up the Seal-lions in the water. The younger sea-lions are very acrobatic in the breaking waves and could offer great action shots.

Sea-lion coming ashore, Seal Bay

Sea-lions; mother to calf greeting

Calf suckling from it's mother

Bull Sea-lion in the sand dune vegetation

Young Sea-lions riding inside the waves.

There are a number of New Zealand Fur Seals around Admiralty Arch. The viewpoints are restricted to the walkways however and are often looking down on the subjects.

Admiralty Arch

New Zealand Fur Seals basking on the rocks

(2)  Landscapes. The island offers a number of opportunities to shoot landscapes from the beautiful pristine beaches to the Remarkable Rocks which are a huge cluster of weather-sculptured granite boulders perched on a large granite dome that drops 75 metres to the sea. It is best to arrive at sunrise for more interesting lighting conditions and a lack of tourists.

Remarkable Rocks

Carved Granite rocks

Granite rocks like modern sculptures

(3)  Birds. Pelicans. The best place to get guaranteed shots of pelicans is at the afternoon feeding that takes place near the Kingscote jetty in at 5pm. The pelicans know the time and begin arriving before the distribution of fish. The operator asks for a donation to fund the enterprise. Some of the Australian pelicans were in breeding colours during my visit. Their large bills turn a mixture of colours and when these flap in the breeze it is like flying a multi-clooured advertising flag.

A squadron of Pelicans arrives

Portrait of an Australian Pelican

Bathing Australian Pelican

Australian Pelicans in breeding colors

I was on the island in early December and there were a number of the beautiful Fairy-wrens in their breeding colours. They are elusive and small but make very cute subjects. There are also a number of other small native birds that congregate around cultivated gardens for the nectar and insects. Around the coast and at Murray’s Lagoon there is a good array of aquatic birds. The occasional Osprey can be seen checking out the inshore waters for fish. There were a number of colourful parrots near both cottages where we stayed but were not lured in to feeders.

Variegated Fairy-wren (male)

Variegated Fairy-wren (female)

Superb Fairy-wren (male)

Scarlet Robin (male)

Osprey in flight.

Silvereye

(4). Other mammals. As the name of the island would suggest there are many Kangaroos on the island and at dusk and dawn they can be a hazard to drivers when the bound out of the bush lining the roads. 

An Echidna passed by our cottage at Vivonne Bay and we saw another at a second location. These hedgehog-like animal are sometimes known as  spiny ant eaters, but belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. There are four extant species, which, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of that order and are the only extant mammals that lay eggs. Although their diet consists largely of ants and termites, they are no more closely related to the true anteaters of the Americas than to any other placental mammal. They live in Australia and New Guinea. The echidnas are named after a monster in ancient Greek mythology.

Koalas can be easily observed at Flinders chase. Flinders Chase is one of Australia's largest National Parks, covering a massive 74,000 hectares, and it is considered to be one of South Australia's most significant parks due to its natural state, wildlife, and lack of introduced predators.

Kangaroo with a mature, and precocious, Joey

Oversized Joey, badly packaged.

Echidna

There is also an interesting collection of wildlife that can be viewed at different times of the year nestbuilding, breeding or raising young or being displayed to advantage; Tammar wallabies, Little Penguins, Glossy Black Cockatoos, Black Swans, Southern Right Whales, Cape Barren Geese and Platypus and even Wildflowers. 

 For additional information see; http://www.tourkangarooisland.com.au

 Graeme Guy, September 2012

Behind the 2012 Kenya/Tanzania Safari

The Great Migration in morning light. (click on image for full size)

This trip was to be my 5^th to the Dark continent (6^th if you count a day trip to Tangier) and this time I decided to go without medication for Malaria. I diced with more mosquitos in Penang Airport than I saw for the rest of the trip. Penang’s Airport is being refurbished and it was a total mess….I first felt like the rabbit in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and then –The Prisoner of Zenda’ while waiting for my flight to Singapore. When at Changi airport I had a few hours to wait but soon caught up with Nick and Dennis who would join me on the Emirates flight to Dubai. It was not a good flight, stuffed full, over-warm and aisles the dimensions of a 5 cent coin. Like many others you are sleep-deprived and off-loaded in the steamy hub for too many hours. The next leg to Nairobi was more laid-back and pleasant. We filled in Visa forms and after meeting our driver we encountered our first Nairobi traffic jam…….getting out of the airport carpark. We eventually made it to the Safari Club, which is a downtown, all-suite hotel that is comfortable although getting weary with age and low-level maintenance. It is however always good to get a horizontal sleep after modern airline, hub-centered transport.

The lounge in my Safari Club suite

The next morning after a good breakfast we were on our way to the Maasai Mara. We had met up with two other members of our team, Pok Zin and Vincent who had come via Qatar Airlines which hubs in Doha. We stopped briefly on a lookout over the Great Rift Valley and a punctured wheel on one of the vehicles was exchanged. Pok Zin was clearly feeling repressed in modern, arms-free Singapore when he nearly perforated a local while flexing his arm with a souvenir Maasai spear. More was to come. 
We had a break at Narok on the way, a normal watering-hole on the way to the Mara. 

Something new; Kenyan bikers

Organized chaos in a Kenyan Village. The building on the right is the Kenyan Institute of Management

The journey for about 5/8 of the way is on relatively good tarmac roads but as soon as the vehicles turn off towards the Mara and a good 3 hours yet to run the roads turn ugly. I have said before they look like an airstrip that has been subject to the full force of carpet-bombing raids. Bomber Harris would be proud if his aviators had inflicted such damage.

The escarpment on the edge of the Great Rift Valley

First casualty: a puncture after an hour on good roads.

It was with great relief that we reached the Ashil Bush Camp http://www.ashnilhotels.com/masaimara/index.asp on the banks of the Mara River. The Ashnil camp is permanent and surrounded by an electric fence.  It is well located and we saw a crossing of Wildebeest adjacent to the camp later the first afternoon. The tents were solid and the food in the large dining room was good. There were wireless internet connections available at a cost and altogether we were comfortable.

Finally the first camp

For the next four days we explored the area along the Mara River and were surrounded by hordes of Wildebeest. We had very good encounters with a female cheetah and her four cubs and a lioness with two impish cubs. We also located a pair of Bat-eared foxes and were able to get good shots of them. The mornings had clear skies and sweet light and we were happy.

Part of the great Wildebeest herd. The line continues on the horizon.

The Mara River, a hub of action

The Talek River

We then moved some distance away to the Mara Bush Camp (http://www.marabushcamp.com/en/), that was on the banks of a somewhat stagnant Olare Orok (I think the translation means 'stinks like hydrogen sulphide') River, which hosted a number of hippos that roamed through the camp at night. We were now in basic tents with no electricity. The tents however had been tastefully furnished and there were a number of nice decorative touches employing the work of local artists. My attentive houseboy was called Major. There was no running hot water but 20 litres of hot water was added to a canvas bag that was piped into a shower-head in the tent each evening for a welcome shower. A thermos of hot water was provided for face-washing or shaving. In the dark hours if you wanted to travel outside your tent you had to summon a spear-carrying Maasai warrior by ringing a cow-bell adjacent to the tent entrance. Electricity was available for laptops and battery recharging at a photographers tent. This was very nicely set up and a good idea because you could swap stories with photographers from other vehicles and learn where the action was. The food was excellent in the Mara Bush camp, which was exceedingly well run. This was mainly down to the manager, Sabine, a German lady who was friendly and passionate about Africa and eco-tourism. The world needs more Sabines. We did have lots of hippo noises and a nearby kill one night by a pride of lions that seemed to get closer to the camp each night we were there.

The inside of the Mara Bush camp tent.

The vanity unit in the Mara Bush Camp tent

The photographers tent, not an Apple advert.

Breakfast in the great outdoors

Breakfast on the go...alongside the Mara River    Photo courtesy of Dennis Ho  

From the delightful Mara Bush camp we caught a small plane to travel eventually to Tanzania and the Serengeti.  Our departure was delayed for an hour and this gave Pok Zin a chance to actually throw a serious Maasai spear. He used the wrong end initially and that had a mature, Maasai rolling around the long grass in uncontained mirth. Possibly a number of furtively observing lions were in the same state. It took three hops to get to the desired airport in Tanzania. First we had to fly to Wilson Airport in Nairobi to clear the Kenyan Immigration. I have flown into Nairobi on several occasions on a small plane and you fly over some large mansions and then the huge slum……..two worlds close together but far apart. From Nairobi we flew to Kilimanjaro airport and had glimpses of the famed mountain peaking through clouds.   Two more travellers/photographers joined us; Lip Kee, an obstetrician and gynecologist from Singapore and his anesthetist wife, Rachel. They were to go on to explore the Ngorongoro crater when we departed.

Off to Tanzania, via Nairobi

Approaching Nairobi.....the extensive slum area.

Our group was now split into three vehicles driven by Nickson, Paul and Frank who were employed by the Maasai Wanderings. company. http://www.maasaiwanderings.com/ They were excellent, professional drivers and guides and the vehicles were in excellent condition. The same company owned the two camps we stayed in.

We were ferried to our first camp in the famed Serengeti National Park, which was located at the base of a hill and was similar to the Mara Bush camp but more primitive. Both Nick and I had a boyhood dream to see the Serengeti after seeing the iconic film ' The Serengeti shall not die' made in 1959 by Bernhard Gryzimek. The camp was well run and the food was of a good quality, especially considering the conditions for its preparation. We were located in the central part of the Serengeti and there were no Wildebeest present in the area. 

The tents for our first Serengeti camp

The interior

The washroom

Shower time; the camp boys provide 20 liters of hot water

Vincent had his canvas disturbed one night.......the culprit....the most dangerous animal in Africa

There was good birdlife and we located a young female Leopard resting on a Kopje on our second day. There were interesting noises just outside the tent during the nights. Hyena and Buffalo were ever close and lion were calling in the vicinity.  A raking search by torch-light would reveal many green eyes in the dark......fortunately belonging to a herd of Impala. There was ample game near the hills and in green areas that had benefitted from regrowth following selective burning. Kopjes also provided an interesting ecosystem for a number of mammals including Klipspringers and the Yellow-spotted Hyrax….which look like fat guinea pigs but had amazing tree-climbing ability. We also had some good encounters with Banded and Dwarf Mongoose tribes.

One of many Kopjes

A Klipspringer resting in his domain

Yellow Spotted Hyrax warm up in the morning sun

Out final camp was to be a similar one (owned by the same company) in the Northern reaches of the Serengeti. The journey between the two camps was breath-taking. Expansive plains, rolling hills, lush pastures, poetic trees and large numbers of animals. Herds of elephants, large groups of Zebra, massive Cape Buffalo herds and many types of antelope and gazelles could be seen peacefully grazing.

Steve was the hard-working manager of the camp and his team worked well to make our time enjoyable. A devlish wind rattled our tents the first night and we wondered if we would end the night in the same location.

Camp 2 in the Serengeti complete with an intrepid explorer.

The interior of my tent.

Fording a creek

A failed ford.....or in this case, a Toyota

The weather was not ideal for photography in the next four days but we travelled in some beautiful countryside. One vehicle did a full day trip to the Mara River and saw a large contingent of Wildebeest poised to cross. True to form however there was collective procrastination and no wet bodies…..at least for that day.

When we were done with the Serengeti and the safari we caught a plane back to Kilamanjaro airport and thence to Wilson before spending another night in the Safari Club.

There was a shorter wait at Dubai followed for me by a longer period at Changi Airport before I arrived in Penang around midnight on a Thursday night.

It was a very good safari with excellent company from my companions. There were a few issues on the Kenyan leg with distracted drivers, inadequate vehicles, likely corrupt rangers and radios that did not work for a number of days. We were in two vehicles and were in contact with hand-held 5 watt walkie-talkie radios that helped relay information to each other.

We had great mornings on the Mara and fulfilled a lifetime dream by drinking in the magnificent beauty of the Serengeti.

From a photographic point of view; when analyzing such safaris I am convinced the Joe and Maryann McDonald model works very well, suppliers  are very compliant, Joe is very strict on drivers, a 5 vehicle network  fans the countryside for shooting opportunities and communicates to the others. If this mesh-work works well it greatly magnifies your chances of encountering that magic moment. 

Breakfast on the go......always with a good surrounding view to spot sneaky predators.

Dennis in the shooting position

Nick, was my shooting companion throughout the trip         

          Happy at the battlefront, Pok Zin and me.          Photo courtesy Dennis Ho

Approaching storm Maasai Mara (needs to be viewed full size...click on image)

The amazing Serengeti (click on image)

 

Serengeti Shall Not Die
Cover art for the 1992 VHS video release
Directed by	Bernhard Grzimek
Produced by	Bernhard Grzimek
Written by	Bernhard Grzimek
Narrated by	Bernhard Grzimek
Editing by	Klaus Dudenhöfer
Release date(s)	June 25, 1959
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Graeme Guy September 2012