Africa
Africa is home to just about all of the world's most magnificent animals. When people think of Africa, they usually think of lions, elephants, and rhinos. This entry in my African Stories will be about my safari on the Serengeti. There are a TON of pictures, so this will be broken up into several entries.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Road to the Serengeti
As we got off the paved road and began to drive on the dirt road towards the Serengeti, I was grateful for the comfortable seats of our safari vehicle. We must have drove on the dirt road for about 5 bumpy hours before we stopped for the night.
During that time we passed many different villages near the road. We stopped to eat lunch, these two Maasai women were gathering wood to bring back to their village. I could only imagine how strenuous it must be to gather and carry that wood on your back like that. So many things that we take advantage of back here in the US.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
As we were eating, more of the villagers came out to see us. I really love the different colors and patterns of the shukas that the Maasai wear. I bought 3 of them for myself and was given one as a gift.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
I have said it many times before, but the people of Tanzania are what makes it such a special place for me. I am a big bearded guy full of tattoos and back home people are either scared of me or just flat out ignore me, but the Maasai are the most welcoming and genuine people I have ever met. They welcomed me with open arms as one of them.
Animals on the Horizon
The first animal we saw was a giraffe. There were a couple of them off in the distance, but then we saw some walking right towards us. It is a pretty weird feeling to see one of these animals up close in their natural habitat just walking around doing its thing. It is almost like you don't really believe what you are seeing. The crazy thing is that these Maasai that live so far out here away from civilization see this every day, so this is a normal occurrence for them.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Soon we started seeing Zebras as we got closer to our destination for the night. We got to our hostel for the night shortly after and then prepared for a long day on the Serengeti.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Serengeti National Park
Before we could enter the park, we all had to get our passes for the two days we would spend inside. While we waited, I explored around outside of the entrance. I found some pretty sweet looking lizards hanging out on the walls of a building. Their colors were so awesome in the sun.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
After we crossed into the park, we had to drive for a while until we got to a clearing and then it was like a scene from The Lion King. It was just a massive plain and in the distance I saw a few giraffe walking up to a tree to grab a bite to eat. Then an ostrich came running up to the side of our truck.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
As we were driving, our driver stopped the vehicle and pointed up at one of the trees. At the top of the tree was a large vulture that was standing tall with his wings spread wide.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
He told us that the vulture had spotted a kill and was claiming ownership of it and warning the other vultures in the area by showing off his chest. The vulture must have stood there for about 30 seconds with his wings spread like that and was turning his body around, showing his chest to all the others that were nearby. Then he took off to go eat.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
If you look closely, you can see the head of another vulture poking up out of the tree, so most likely there is a nest there and the bird was going off the gather food for the babies. One of my favorite subjects to shoot in wildlife photography is birds in flight because of the challenge that it takes, so I had a great time tracking this vulture in the sky as it flew towards it meal.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
When I look at birds flying I always wonder if some of them fly around just for fun, like how some of us humans like to go on runs for fun. If I was a bird, I would probably go fly super high and then dive bomb down as fast as I could and then open my wings and glide back up.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
It started to get closer to lunch time, but then we got a call on the radio that some of the other vehicles had spotted some lions, so we rushed over to see them. When we got there we were a little surprised on what we found.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
At first the lion was just laying next to her, but then after a few minutes the mood must have gotten just right, so he hopped on and started going to town.
Lion sex doesn't last very long at all, and I was trying to make adjustments on my camera to my shutterspeed so that I could get a more crisp picture because he was moving pretty fast, but he finished a lot faster than I expected, so the next picture is a little blurry. You can tell she probably isn't too happy with his performance either.
Photo taken by me @derangedvisions
Once the lion was done he rolled over and went to sleep, then we headed out to get lunch. We had a long day in the sun ahead of us as we tried to find more of these amazing animals. The rest of the adventure will have to be for the next entry in my African Stories series.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my safari adventures. I hope you are looking forward to the next entry. If you are, make sure that you are following me so that you will know when the next one is out. If you liked this, upvotes and resteems are always appreciated. Thank you for stopping by, YOU ARE AWESOME!
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wow , very nice post and nice click , i like the new steemit logo with red blood vessels.... ;-)
@adityajainxds #thealliance
Thank you. I am glad you liked it. I made those steemit page breaks in photoshop using a lightning brush.
Fabulous photos and post
Thank you @tattoodjay. The safari was so awesome. I can't wait to go back with my family so my kids can experience it too.
I bet they will all love be it
I regret that in all my time in Africa I only ever spent one day on Safari
That is why you have to go back. What part of Africa were you in and where did you go on safari?
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Wow looked like an amazing trip. I would love to go and explore there.
It really was incredible. Africa is such an incredible place with so many diverse landscapes. The opportunities for photography are endless.
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awsum . I forgot about them red headed lizards . I hated them :)
Lol, why did you hate the lizards? They have feelings too. I thought they looked awesome.
just the red headed ones . they attack you then run away . they do look awesome
That would have been awesome to see them attack someone. I would have gotten some great pictures of that.
no what you would have gotten was me running away like a little girl
lol. That is what would have made it so awesome.
Holy moly, those pictures really are amazing. I love how you captured that last one with the lion... Roaring? Some really good timings in general, like the wing spread. Ooh! And the lizard.
The one with the women carrying all that wood as well. Really brings out the Maasai lifestyle. Enjoyed looking through it all.
Thank Eon. I am glad that you enjoyed them. If everyone in India starts sending me their BTC to exchange like we talked about, I will get you a ticket to Tanzania so you can go on a safari.
I was about to say, no one mentioned the last picture of the lions? LOL Perfect shot XD rarrrr
Lovely outing. Great shots of the wildlife. Lmao @ the lion commentary
Thank you @ulqu3. I am glad you enjoyed it. It was an amazing experience.
I Love lizards :D
Thanks for sharing these pictures on your wonderful adventure. I have to say, that last pic of the lions.. lol the finishing move? haha, money shot right there XD
Haha, sorry, just being silly.
If you were a bird, you would be on the discovery channel. As you would be the one bird with the most stunts lol.
lol, the lions were awesome. We were so far away from them too, so no one could really get any good pictures of them except for me because they all had either cell phones or point and shoot cameras and I had a monster lens on my camera. The lion probably though he had some privacy, little did he know...
Good cameras and good lenses are key for great pictures. But you capture more than just pictures.
Hello @derangedvisions! This is a great post full of beautiful photographs. Which kind of camera do you use? I felt like being in Africa myself. This is exactly the kind of post I am here to support! Keep it up! I also noticed from some of your comments that you are a big fighter against plagiarism! This is something I truly appreciate and I would like to say big THANK YOU
@photofriend - supporting original photography on Steemit and fight against plagiarism. [introduction]
Thank you @photofriend. For these photographs I was using my Canon 80D and switching between a Canon 24-105mm f/4 and a Tamron 150-600mm lens.
Thank you for the info! I think some Steemians would appreciate such information being included in your future posts.
Thank you again for your contribution to Steemit!
Good to know. I will probably start doing that so people could have an idea of my gear and how I shoot and maybe learn something while they are at it.
I think that this is exactly the expectable outcome of such action. By the way, your ostrich capture, is my favourite. I suspect that its body shape is what makes me love it so much! Well done!
Thank you.
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Great travel post, astonishing wildlife captures. Hopefully, more efforts against poaching, deforestation and other major threats will be made in Africa so that future generations will also have a chance to admire the incredible African biodiversity. Thanks for sharing these with us Wes.
Thank you @phortun. Tanzania and Kenya have come a long way with their efforts against poaching. I really hope that the animals and their habitat remain for future generations to enjoy.
Good to hear that. Some years ago, I wrote my university thesis on wildlife in Namibia and back then, the situation was not so good. Looks like they are starting to realize how important it is to care for and protect their nature :)
I can imagine how many pictures you took there! :) Great writeup. Love the earthy tones in your photos, and you made your own bloody divider?
Thank you. I took about 25,000 pictures while I was in Africa and have 6,400 of them that I kept. The dividers were made using lightning brushes in photoshop. It was fun making them.
Hiya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in today's TravelDigest #167
That is awesome! Thank you for sharing my story!
What an incredible adventure. Thank you for letting us enjoy the adventure too!
Thank you for taking the time to read it and I am glad you enjoyed it.