In 2018 I visited Kenya and came back with a lot of photographs, too many… so many that it was a bit of a muntain to review them. So they were put on one side for many months. It was practically not until the end of 2019 that I started to review them.
There have been a few months of work in which I have deleted those that had no quality enough or those that I did not like and I also have identified all the photographed species. I have also rewrite the list of sighted species (the one I do during the trip) and I have added some photographed species that were not in the list. Sometimes the pace of the safari is so hectic that it is difficult to write it all down.
In the end, the list includes more than 40 mammals, 5 reptiles and around 200 species of birds that we identified.
Our travel started visiting Amboseli National Park, where it is possible to see large groups of elephants.
Then, we continued towards Masai Mara, where it is possible to see the great migration of the wildebeests, but we were not lucky, since they had already migrated and only a small group remained. They made a small attempt, but backed out. Of course, we could see a pair of lions mating and several cheetahs, among others.
After that, we visited a few lakes: Naivasha, Baringo and Bogoria, with a very different fauna: flamingos and other birds linked to this type of biotope.
In Samburu we were able to see a few specimens of the White Rhinoceros. And the guide told us that one that we saw further away was a Black Rhino … but he was in an area with very high grass and only a part of his back was visible … so I can’t confirm it, since I couldn’t see its head.
And at end of our tour, we spent a few days in Samburu and Buffalo Springs, where we could see several leopards, Grevi’s zebras, Oryx … and a lot more animals, as the Gerenuk below.
I hope you like the selection that I have prepared … there are many more, but these are the most representative.
See you in the next gallery!
I wish you a new year plenty of projects and dreams fulfilled. Happy 2019!!!
Dear all,
I’m glad to show you the Ecuador Gallery, where you’ll find a big amount of hummingbird photos as well as of other birds and animals we were able to photograph while we were there.
Near 1600 bird species can be seen at Ecuador. We only visited a small portion of the country and despite of the fact we saw so many birds, we were far away from the total figure.
The itinerary we did included:
Mindo, where we visited different places and stayed at different hotels: Yellow House, San Tadeo, Refugio Paz de las Aves and Las Cotingas, among others.
From this area it’s important to highlight the big amount of hummingbirds we were able to see, the antpittas and the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock that we saw and photographed at two places: at El Refugio Paz de las Aves and at Las Cotingas.
The area at the East of Papallacta Pass, where we also stayed at two places to visit a different biotope: Guango and San Isidro lodges.
Both places had a big number of hummingbird feeders and, due to that, we were able to photograph with no problem the species that surrounded them. In Guango Lodge we were able to enjoy the Sword-billed Hummingbird”, a hummingbird which bill is as big or even bigger than its body.
In San Isidro we were able to photograph their “jewel”, the San Isidro Owl (Strix sp.), which is being researched to determine if it is or not a subespecies of the “Black-banded Owl (Strix huhula).
Then we moved a bit backwards (we were forced to modify a bit the original route we would like to do to accommodate it to the availability of the 2 lodges above), till Bellavista (near Mindo), were we stayed at the Tandayapa Bird Lodge, where there are different kind of feeders so the different birds visit them and they can be easily be photographied.
Last but not least, we went to the Cuyabeno Reserve, where we stayed at Caiman Lodge.
We saw some primates, the amazon dolphin and an important number of birds there.
Luis, our guide, demonstrated he was a wise indigenous man and an amazing expert in the area.
See you soon!
Now you can visit the Uganda Photo Gallery, with photos of the different especies we saw, some of them in danger, like the White Rhyno, some other endemic ones, like the Red-throated Bee-eater (Merops bulocki), The Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) and the White and black casqued Hornbill (Bycanistes brevis), and not to forget about the Mountain Gorillas and the Chimps.
In Uganda you can see more than 1.000 bird especies. We saw around 350, but unfortunately it was not possible to take photos to all of them, only a small number of them, as the distance and the light conditions of the leafy places prevented us from doing so.
Our itinerary included the following places:
I wish you like the photos that I have selected to create this gallery.
I’m looking forward to the next travel…
The Bornean Orangutan is originary from this island. It lives in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Bornean lowlands, as well as mountainous areas up to 1.500 metres above sea level.
The Bornean Orangutan is the third-heaviest living primate after the two species of gorilla, and the largest truly arboreal animal alive today. In wild, males weigh an average of 75 kg (ranging from 50 to 100 Kg.), and 1,2 to 1,4 meters long. Females average 38,5 Kg., ranging from 30 to 50 Kg,. And 1-1,2 meters long. While in captivity they use to grow considerably overweight.
The Bornean Orangutan has a distinctive body, with so long arms, which can be up to 1,5 meters. Its fur is reddish and both its hands and feet are prehensiles.
Their diet is composed of over 400 types of food, including figs, seeds, bird eggs, flowers, honey and insects, among others. They get the necessary quantities of water from both fruit and from tree holes.
Females, which reach maturity between 6 to 11 years do not give birth for the first time till they are 14-15 years old. The youngs stay some years with the mother who teach them all they need to survive, then they go their own.
Bornean Orangutans are in danger according to the IUCN red list and are included within the appendix 1 from CITES. It is estimated that only 54.500 live in the wild.
Their main threats are the fires (habitat destruction), hunting and illegal traffic of youngs as pets at the black market.
Dear all,
After thinking a lot about it, I have finished the photo selection for a new theme gallery and it is the time to show it to you: it’s the “Birds” gallery.
At the “Birds” gallery you’ll find some photos taken during short travels or one-day trips, which are not included into the galleries dedicated to the “places”.
Some of them have been included in previous posts, so you maybe remember them, however most of them weren’t published till now.
The photos from this gallery were taken at the following places:
You can leave your comments into the form below.
Many thanks for taking the time to have a look at them. I wish you enjoy them.
See you soon!
Esther
