Kenya http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-r706vt

Seychelles http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=kyzuq7

Kenya had just had recent rain before our arrival and we found a very green Tsavo. Most mornings were overcast and the sun didn't come out until afternoon. I included some video captures in the Kenya album (basically one whole day in the Aberdares when I forgot to bring my camera night drive cheetah, pangolin nose) so the image quality is pretty low. For those who like camp photos, I'm working on updating my camp album with additional photos of the places where we stayed plus some that we visited this trip including Acacia Camp at Swara Plains, Epiya Chapeyu in Tsavo East, and Sangare Camp at Sangare Ranch. Will be posting a link to those as soon as I get everything in order.

Holy %$&* a pangolin!
Nice shots, thanks for sharing
Regards,
Eric

Patty, thanks for sharing the great photos! Really enjoyed the birds, sights during nite drives and of course the "hard to find" mammals.
Dick

Wow, Patty! You're fast -- and putting me to shame with my 4-months-and-counting trip report...

Great photos, and so neat you got the private viewing deck. I love the mother and baby hippos, the adorable aardwolf, and that ridiculously cute baby cheetah. The pictures of him just about put me over the edge.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures this time!

Patty-
Great photos. That cheetah cub...too cute! And the pangolin sighting, and aardwolf.

Looks like you guys stayed at some really wonderful places.

And good to see photos of Zoe and Faryl, who I also got to meet and sit with during our "empty" flight from AMS to NBO.

Hi Patty and Mark

Congrats on the photos! Particularly enjoyed the ones that I don't see in Sth Africa, some of the birds and the antelope. Would love to get such a good close up of a bush baby! The tiny little cheetah was also too cute for words, I am hoping he/she makes it to adulthood!

I am amazed at how many places have dogs, unless these are places without predators!

Kind regards

Kaye

Thank you Patty for posting these great photos. Esp loved the cape buffalo, cheetah, elephant in the road, etc., etc. And the lodges/tented camps look fabulous!

Thanks for sharing. particularly liked the photos of the aardwolf and the fringe eared oryx. It looks like you had fun in the Aberdares !

Phil

Welcome back Patty and Mark!

Your pics. are wonderful - I can't wait to hear the stories behind them.
By the looks of things it appears that you had a great trip.
Loved the baby cheetah, pangolin (wow, so cool)and the beautiful locations.
Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed your pictures--wow, that pangolin is unusual looking and I am a sucker for the baby cheetah. I am also a landscape fan and you have many beautiful shots. It looks as if you found some terrific places to stay as well.

Thanks for posting.

just had a chance to look at the seychelles photos--those are great too.

I agree, great photos. Patty, in which parks did you see the pangolin and the aardwolf. Did you guide give any commentary on the frequency of sighting these two animals?

Thanks, Michael

Pangolin, Pangolin. Aardvark, Aardvark. Great. Loved the hippos out of water.

The Hilton did a great renovation of the Northholme Hotel. Doesn't look anything like when we visited. Appears "torn down" and began anew! It was nice then, absolutely lovely now. Just might consider a return visit.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

KayeN,
The photos of the dogs were from 2 places where we stayed that were on private property outside of parks. Both locations had few (but some) large predators. Pets aren't allowed within national parks.

Michael,
We saw both the pangolin and aardwolf on Lumo Sanctuary which is a community sanctuary outside and to the southeast of Tsavo West NP near Maktau gate. We had both our driver/guide, Julius, from Eastern & Southern and our Lumo ranger, Elvis, with us. Julius said it was the first time he's seen one and Elvis said he had seen one twice before (on Lumo). I forgot to ask how long he'd been working there so don't know what time span that's over but the place is a fairly new project. The camp opened in August 2004 and I'm not sure exactly when the sanctuary was formed. I don't recall asking about the frequency of aardwolf sightings and checked my notes and don't see that I wrote down anything. We've previously seen a pair of aardwolf in the Laikipia region of Kenya at night and in Shaba reserve we saw 3 young ones during the day, but I was too slow to get photos that time.

Sandi,
Do you have any pics of the Northolme's previous incarnation? I'm curious what it was like. Was it individual villas then?

Beautiful pictures Patty! That cheetah cub is too cute! The places you stayed looked very nice. Excellent sightings!
Mahalo!

Patty, thanks for all the Tsavo views! No coastal topi, but aardwolf and pangolin! Very interesting to see Swara Plains. And it also looks like I have to go to Aberdare NP. The cheetah cub is a bit too cute for his own good! I could have stolen him. I liked the bushbuck head inside the bush, all the hippos and the domestic animals.

Thanks Patty.

I have seen one aardwolf (at Savuti Camp), but not yet a pangolin. And since I don't have any safari plans through at least the end of 2009, its going to be a while before I do see one, and I'll need to safari vicariously through everyone's photos.

But, its not all bad -- I have lots of other good trips (up next is Easter Island in May), even to Africa, just not on safari.

Michael

I might have one room pic (35mm). As I recall the hotel was mostly one building, built on three levels (into the hill). We were on the lowest with terrace on the beach level facing into the bay. One of your pics shows the bay we faced; opposite of their private beach. Believe there were a few newer rooms separate from the main building; didn't see these. Hey, it was in '98, surprised I remember all.

Do remember the steep hill from the main road to the resort. Admittedly, when they have now is beautiful. Again, I might want to consider a return visit to SEZ.

Thanks for the additional comments!

Nyamera,
Yes, you have to go to the Aberdares. It's beautiful and always holds surprises around the corner! I'm still waiting to see a melanistic leopard and a bongo though. I'll have to keep going back. I thought for sure I'd see both this time since I forgot my camera but I guess I need to forget the video too for that to happen

I finished updating my camp album http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-cbpxy0

There are a lot of photos but I've tried to generally organize them by region and it goes Mara, Rift Valley (Baringo, Naivasha, Nakuru), Mt Kenya/Laikipia, Samburu/Shaba, Meru, Aberdares, Swara Plains, Tsavo and Amboseli.

Some of the photos may be outdated like Sweetwaters pre-Serena, Mbweha and Samburu Intrepids pre-renovation, but I hope it gives some idea of what these places are like.