The Zambezi Valley is formed by the Zambezi river which flows through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. The river with its many lagoons and channels covered in water hyacinths is a reliable source of water for the animals. The trees form an irresistible supply of dry-season browsing.

The current ecosystem in the Valley was formed after the building of the Kariba dam more than 65 years ago. The dam holds back the seasonal floods in Lake Kariba and has changed the course of the river and the former seasonal floodplains. Trees started to grow, which now form the famous winterthorn or albida forests.

The winterthorns have a so-called “reverse foliage cycle”, meaning that they shed their leaves in summer, and grow them again as winter approaches. They develop an abundance of highly nutritious pods, beloved by elephants in particular. They shake the trees and even stand on their hind legs to reach the pods. The forest creates a fairytale-like atmosphere, with golden light filtering through the canopy. The many fires in the nearby escarpment in combination with dust and moisture create the characteristic smokey blue haze in the forest. 

We have visited the two national parks on the opposite shores of the river before, but this was the first time that we visited Lower Zambezi in Zambia and Mana Pools in Zimbabwe in one trip. Although our camps were only 40 km apart it took us two days of international travel to hop across the Zambezi river.

Zoom out for animalscapes

The baroque forest with its blue haze, the arches, creepers and vines forms a magical setting for animalscape photography. The landscape surrounding the animals defines the story. The challenge is to capture the magic in a picture. You need to take a step back and zoom out, even though big lenses allow us to get close to an animal.

Animal kingdoms come and go

The boom and bust of animal kingdoms is part of nature. A few years back the wild dogs were ruling the forest of Lower Zambezi. A huge pack of more than 40 dogs was able to bring down buffalos. Since then the pack has split in three. Some are operating with a smaller group on the other side of the park, others are struggeling to reproduce or even survive. The lions and leopards are back in power, both trying to weaken each other whereever possible. Life is hard, even for the top A predators. The fittest surviver is king for as long as it lasts.

In May we visited the Okavango Delta in Botswana. This is one of the world’s largest inland deltas, where the Okavango River fans out into a network of channels, lagoons, and floodplains instead of emptying into the sea. Its formation goes back millions of years. Tectonic-plate movement and crustal adjustments of the earth created rivers flowing inland. These deposited the sand which forms the Kalahari Basin, a semi-arid region characterized by sandy soils and sparse vegetation.

The delta covers approximately 15,000 square kilometers during peak flooding, shrinking to around 6,000 square kilometers in the dry season. Its geographical setting, surrounded by desert, makes it a critical oasis for diverse wildlife. Nowadays the annual flood of the delta is caused by the rains in the catchment area along the Angola highlands and in the delta itself.

Water brings life to the delta as it fills the lagoons and spills over onto the river plains, creating a labyrinth of papyrus-fringed channels, lily-pad-dotted lagoons, and green termite islands. The animals take advantage of the abundance of plants and insects. The last area to be reached by the lakes is the Mababe depression, a wide open plain with marshy areas where huge herds of buffalo gather in the dry season starting in August.

Opportunity Hunters

For us it was unusual to watch lions hunt for hours during daytime. Usually you would find them sleeping in the shade, digesting the meal they had caught during the night before. Their time of plenty in this area is the dry season when the big buffalo herds come back to the marsh for water. In the green season there is more than enough food and water for the buffalo elsewhere and the remaining small herds are well fed and strong enough to defend themselves. Therefore the lions have to create opportunities or make do with the resident antelopes and warthogs. Burrows provide safety for the warthogs during the night, but during daytime they feed and suplete the menu of the lions. Meaning the lions have to work hard and stalk them in the high grass. Tough times for the resident lions.

Beautiful elusive leopards

Leopards are elusive, secretive cats. They decide to show themselves, or not. You can drive around for days, looking for them. You see their tracks, but not the cats. And suddenly they appear out of nowhere and pose. We were lucky to find a mum with two playful cubs, who decided to climb a beautiful leadwood tree. The following days were spent in frustration because they had vanished again.

Okavango Gallery

Water brings life to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It fills the lagoons and spills over onto the river plains, creating a labyrinth of papyrus-fringed channels, lily-pad-dotted lagoons and green termite islands. Beautiful abstract patterns, shapes and colors emerge in this abundance of life. Especially when you quietly move through the reeds in a traditional mocorro. More information on the world’s largest inland deltas in our Green Okavango travel report.

The pictures below were taken with the Hipstamatic app on my phone. The app uses software filters to make the images look as though they were taken with a vintage film camera. This makes the result quite random and there is no editing after the picture has been taken. For more of my Hipstamatic pictures have a look in the Hipstamatic portfolio or under the Hipstamatic topic.

Je bent nooit te oud om te leren

Wat, als ik een serieuze creatieve opleiding zou gaan doen, zodat ik mijn bedrijfskundige- en marketing kennis zou kunnen aanvullen? Ik zou dan eindelijk op de creatieve stoel kunnen gaan zitten. Bij Unilever had ik het liefst gewerkt aan creatieve trajecten, reclame, verpakkingen, webdesign, maar kreeg steeds te horen dat ik mij niet te veel moest bemoeien met het werk van de creatieven.

Ik besloot een portfolio te maken met mijn creatieve werk en leverde het in bij diverse kunstopleidingen in Hamburg. Uiteindelijk koos ik voor de Bildkunst Akademie, waar ik vier jaar lang een opleiding tot illustrator volgde. Op mijn 38ste zat ik ineens weer in de schoolbanken. Mijn jongste klasgenoot was 17 jaar. De jaren die volgden waren leerzaam, frustrerend en inspirerend. Ik had toen niet verwacht dat ik met mijn opgedane kennis kinderboeken zou gaan maken, een uitgeverij zou beginnen en websites zou gaan bouwen.

Inmiddels bestaat de uitgeverij niet meer en zijn we terug naar Nederland verhuisd. Het is goed zo. Ik ben blij dat ik toen uit de corporate ratrace ben gestapt en dat ik de creatieve afslag heb genomen. Het heeft ons leven verrijkt. Anders zouden we nu zeker niet in een huis wonen wat ik zelf ontworpen heb, beiden fotograferen en de verslagen van onze reizen op onze websites zetten. Bovendien was ik nooit bij Artiance beland waar ik nu weer mag stoeien met houtskool en acrylverf, iets waar ik thuis niet meer aan toe kom.

Kenya keeps amazing us. After numerous safaris we keep on discovering new things in this beautiful country. This time we started out looking for big tuskers. There are not many of these magnificent giants left. We were lucky to meet some of them near the Chyulu Hills and around Amboseli. After that we went towards Lake Natron. We took amazing pictures from several hides. During our last week we went to look for the Big Five in Laikipia for one of our nephews who had just turned eighteen.

Up close with Big Tuskers

Bull elephants live fairly solitary lives, away from their family groups. They might hang out in small bachelor groups. The really big tuskers often have askaris who stay close to them to learn from them and protect them. Sadly there are few really big tuskers left. Elephants in general are under pressure because they compete with humans for scarce resources as space, food and water. Therefore less elephants reach the age of 50. The remaining big tuskers die of old age. In some countries they are still hunted for their ivory.

Some of the old boys like to hang out near the Chyulu Hills where they are protected and monitored. This beautiful area with hills and open grasslands is too dry for the family groups, who need water in walking distance on a regular basis. They prefer the area around Amboseli National park at the base of Kilimanjaro. The big tuskers visit the area looking for females to reproduce.

We were able to photograph and observe these amazing creatures  not only from the safari vehicle but also from hides at artificial water holes which the big boys visit. These waterholes attract an abundance of wildlife, where the big boys are the dominant species. Zebras, giraffes, elands, they all drift in during the morning and wait their turn to drink. They then spend the afternoon in the shade of the vegetation. In the evening they move out again to the open planes to graze and to keep an eye on the ever present predators.

To hide or not to hide

Taking pictures of animals from an underground hide has a lot of advantages. You are on eye-level with them and can get very close because you are behind glass and they do not realize that you are watching them. It is even possible to take pictures of night time behavior. The pictures you get seem very dark, but once processed they appear to be real treasures.

We visited two hides along the Rift Valley, near Lake Magadi and Lake Natron with Shompole Mountain in the background. After short nights we went to explore the wildlife in these amazing landscapes.

Looking for the famous Big Five

The last week of our trip we spent on Loisaba, a private conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau. The aim was to find the Big Five for one or our nephews who had just turned 18. The landscape is stunning with its lush valleys and wide open plains set against the backdrop of Mount Kenya.

The abundance of wildlife made spotting the famous five, lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino possible. The rare black rhino has been reintroduced a few months ago. Besides that, rare species like Grevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe seem to find precious refuge in the area. On this ranch wildlife successfully coexist with cattle and mixed herds of livestock.

Seasons come and go in the Kalahari. Scorching hot summers are followed by bitterly cold winters. Severe droughts by times of plenty. Animals thrive or struggle depending on foodavailability, diseases and competition. Everything is interrelated.

The special thing about Tswalu is that a lot of these changes are documented and studied. Throughout the years we have met several scientists who are researching parts of this amazing ecosystem. They are hoping to learn more about how to preserve it and how extreme climate conditions might effect wildlife worldwide.

The effect of climate change on this arid area is immense. Changes in rainfall and temperatures affect the survival of its inhabitants and the whole ecosystem. Therefore studies of snakes and rodents as integral part of the foodchain are good indicators for the bigger picture.

The balance of power among the main predators seems to shift constantly. On our last visit a coalition of two cheetah brothers was often seen. They have passed away sadly. But the younger generation is taking over succesfully. We were able to follow a  mother and her cubs around and even walk with them.

The wild dogs are back again. We saw a very successful pack being reduced to just a few individuals in 2022. Now they are doing well again because they managed to reproduce and have successfully raised a litter of pups. We witnessed them kill a young oryx. Not a sighting for the faint hearted. But “eat or be eaten” is the only way to survive in this unforgiving environment. 

Tswalu Gallery

Due to “canine circumstances” this post is long overdue. More than a year ago, in February of 2023 we visited Torres del Paine. The emptiness and the endless landscapes with its mountains and glaciers in Chilean Patagonia awed us. Just like it did thirty years ago during our trip around the world.  The light and the colors seem to change constantly due to the ever changing weather. The strong wind creates impressive lenticular clouds, which look like massive spaceships. The vegetation and the wildlife are adapted to survive these harsh conditions.

We were able to catch a glimpse of the lives of the prime predator in this area, the puma. In North America they are called mountain lions or cougars. There their numbers are stable. Here in South America they are in decline. Although the Patagonia sheep farming boom from the late 19th century is history, most ranchers still see pumas as a threat to their livestock.

Back in the days every estancia had a leonero, a gaucho specialized in hunting pumas. Nowadays more and more ranchers aim to combine livestock, wildlife and tourism. Sadly the future of the puma seems to depend on private initiatives. This is one of the many human wildlife conflicts we have witnessed around the world. Governments seem to look away. Thankfully wildlife conservation and tourism sparke initiatives to change the negative perception of the local population and farmers. Nature reserves and parks have been created to act as sanctuaries for wildlife.

In Patagonia the main prey-animal of the puma is the guanaco. With the introduction of livestock towards the end of the 19th century the number of guanacos declined dramatically. This created a human wildlife conflict because the pumas started hunting sheep. Sheep replaced the local wildlife. For the puma their survival became a challenge.

Due to overgrazing of the land towards the second half of the 20th century life stock numbers began to decrease. In addition wool prices dropped dramatically due to the invention of synthetic fibers. This gave the puma a chance to recover. They now enjoy protection in some areas. But of course illegal hunting still occurs.

Due to the above cicumstances it has been historically difficult to observe the natural behaviour of the pumas of Patagonia and there are hardly any scientific studies. Thankfully this is starting to change since the establishment of Torres del Paine national park and private conservation initiatives like at Laguna Amarga and around Cierro Guido estancia.

Pumas are amazing cats. They are very resilient and blend in and adapt to many different habitats and extremely harsh conditions. Their name in the Quencha language means “powerful animal”. It was amazing to see them in the wild. They are very social and interact in family groups. They do not seem to hunt together (yet) but do share kills. We were able to take great pictures of their social behavior due to our amazing guide and tracker, Victor and Nana at Laguna Amarga. We had a great time and hope to be back!

Torres del Paine Gallery