Those of you who like their daily cup(s) of the dark brew know about the coffee moment. Even on safari I would not want to miss it. Being out the whole day to get the perfect shot can be tiring. So a coffee stop now and then is more than welcome. At home we are quite picky about the coffee we drink. Freshly roasted beans are ground and brewed into a perfect espresso by a serious espresso...
We grew up in the Netherlands and moved to Germany in 2003. Together with our dog Duvel we now live in the picturesque Treppenviertel in Hamburg, along the river Elbe. Willem currently works at a ship-owning company. After a career in marketing, Tanja studied illustration design and started her own book publishing company, twikga, in 2010. We started traveling together in 1992, when we...
We have just returned from a trip to Tanzania and Rwanda, watching primates. The hikes were sometimes long and itchy, because of the vegetation, but we took some amazing pictures of jungle landscapes with chimpanzees, gorillas, and a lot of other animals. It will be a lot harder to fill the pages of this Phanhabs book, because the jungle hides it's inhabitants well. The tracks and the sounds...
On his blog Squack describes himself as a professional safari guide, photographer, bush boy and conservationist. Following the advice: "Find a job you love and you will never work another day in your life" Squack became a safari guide. With photographic opportunities literally around every corner when on safari an interest in photography was a natural path. He grew up in the bush, spending the...
When people look at my books, they ask me: "Where do you get your pictures, from the internet?" They are surprised to hear that my husband and I take all the pictures ourselves. For my illustrations, I need pictures of animals in all kinds of positions. You couldn't buy a picture of an elephant walking away, in bad light, from a stock agency. Normally wildlife photographers do not take that kind...
There is a first time for everything, like my safari with Tanja. We went to Samburu National Reserve in Kenya to work on our new book. On my first night in the bush, being brought to my tent by a Samburu warrior, I had my first encounter with an elephant. On my porch, only 10 meters from my bed, stood a big bull elephant. Pretty special if you take into account that we are researching elephants...
The next adventure of Tata&Squack will evolve around one of the most special animals on our planet, Africa's largest land mammal, the elephant. A wild animal that has been in Africa for a very long time, much longer than man has. Known for their social behavior and intelligence, the elephants live a family life. We worked on the new story in the Samburu National Reserve, where we observed and...
We just returned from a great safari to Kenya, where we gathered exciting new raw material for future books! "5.30, good morning, tea is ready", does not sound like holiday for many people. For us it does, but I also call it our field office. Get up early to catch the morning light. Beat the dust and bumpy roads. Be patient and wait for things to happen. Hope for animals to behave in a certain...
