Earlier this year, I went to Yellowstone National Park and loved the animal watching experience there. Then one friend told me – in Yellowstone, it's people watching animals; but in Masai Mara, it's animals watching people. Now I understand what exactly she's talking about. There are just so many animals in East Africa. You are immersed in the world of wild life. My first safari experience in Masai Mara was simply amazing.
We didn't get to see all the big fives properly – we missed leopard and only saw two rhinos very remotely, like two moving black spots. We didn't see the migrating animals crossing the river either – we were almost able to see it when two stupid safari jeeps cut into the group of wildebeests that were lining on the river bank and waiting to cross – they got scared away, twice. Nevertheless, it's really fun to see many other interesting animals and how the food chain works in real life.
I am really surprised at how sophisticated East African hospitality industry grows. Despite their poverty, they have really good facilities and are very service oriented. They are environmentally concerned as well. The campsite we stayed at uses solar energy and I saw no liters in the park. It makes me wonder why China can't do the same. There are so many interesting and spectacular places in China but almost none of them are well conserved and very few are tastefully designed or well maintained. I guess it's not an economic issue, but a mentality one.
With a 70-200/f2.8 telescope lens, I had a great time photographing animals this time. But the biggest learning is to let go those you can get. So Steven and I both brought a Nikon D80. But I had a better telescope lens than he does. I was very keen on shooting everything we saw, while he was more relaxed as his lens can't make good photos for animals from a distance. For a little while, I wasn't entirely happy with our guide as he didn't listen to us to stop the car for taking photos. And Steven started to comment on my being too particular about photography but I thought it's just because he didn't have good lens to shoot. At some point, I realized that he was right about my being crazy with this photography thing. Then I started to relax as well. And it feels good to be able to let go when you can actually take control. It's OK not to have a camera at hand when there's strikingly beautiful scenery in front of you. You can just chill, enjoy it and have it printed in your memory.
We didn't get to see all the big fives properly – we missed leopard and only saw two rhinos very remotely, like two moving black spots. We didn't see the migrating animals crossing the river either – we were almost able to see it when two stupid safari jeeps cut into the group of wildebeests that were lining on the river bank and waiting to cross – they got scared away, twice. Nevertheless, it's really fun to see many other interesting animals and how the food chain works in real life.
I am really surprised at how sophisticated East African hospitality industry grows. Despite their poverty, they have really good facilities and are very service oriented. They are environmentally concerned as well. The campsite we stayed at uses solar energy and I saw no liters in the park. It makes me wonder why China can't do the same. There are so many interesting and spectacular places in China but almost none of them are well conserved and very few are tastefully designed or well maintained. I guess it's not an economic issue, but a mentality one.
With a 70-200/f2.8 telescope lens, I had a great time photographing animals this time. But the biggest learning is to let go those you can get. So Steven and I both brought a Nikon D80. But I had a better telescope lens than he does. I was very keen on shooting everything we saw, while he was more relaxed as his lens can't make good photos for animals from a distance. For a little while, I wasn't entirely happy with our guide as he didn't listen to us to stop the car for taking photos. And Steven started to comment on my being too particular about photography but I thought it's just because he didn't have good lens to shoot. At some point, I realized that he was right about my being crazy with this photography thing. Then I started to relax as well. And it feels good to be able to let go when you can actually take control. It's OK not to have a camera at hand when there's strikingly beautiful scenery in front of you. You can just chill, enjoy it and have it printed in your memory.
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A young adult male. He is not fully blown yet.
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Elephant mom and baby.
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The most photogenic wild life in the park.
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Vultures are the cleaners in the chain. They eat remains of predator's kills.
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Cheetas - she's sleepy and chill, didn't give a shit to curious tourists and cameras
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Baffallo and his friend..JPG)
Sunrise at the park gate.
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Sunset
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Our dirver/guide is very experienced - he knows exactly what the animals are going to do. Just before this crane was about to fly, he asked us to take photos.
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Balloon safari
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Lots of beautiful birds..JPG)
A baby giraffe - our driver's favorite animal
PS. For more photos, please go to my picasa album at http://picasaweb.google.com/dolma.tsering
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