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 machine. Topped with freshly foamed milk it is turned into the perfect latte for our coffee break(s). On safari the ritual and the ingredients are somewhat different. At first you have to find the perfect spot: scenic, shady and not too windy. Then you hope that all the necessary items have made it into the picnic bag at four o’clock in the morning. Mostly the choice of coffee is: from the thermos, instant, plunger or espresso cooker. Milk can be powdered or fresh, sometimes even frothed. Whatever you choose, it tastes great. The coffee moment is magic, because you are in the middle of a wide open plain, having a bush latte, accompanied by freshly baked cookies (or dutch stroopwafels). We are looking forward to our next safari!

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 tell you that the animals are there, but taking pictures takes a lot of luck, patience and hard work. The gorilla baby on the picture lives on a jungle slope at 2.700 m. To get there was quite an expedition. On the way there we were lucky to see a small family of bush elephants, a very rare sighting. I am glad Squack Evans is allowing us to use his pictures for this book, because as a guide he has more photo opportunities than we have on our holidays. So, for the coming years it will be work in progress on the Phanhabs jungle book…

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 and their behavior. This is how I became friends with an elephant named Edison. Every morning at sunrise we hopped into our jeep and welcomed the first rays of sunlight. After a few hours of driving, observing, writing and taking pictures, we had breakfast on the hood of the jeep. At lunchtime we downloaded our pictures in the camp. After tea we would leave for the second part of the day being another game drive, yet in a different setting, the evening light. At sundown we drove back to the Elephant Watch Camp to wash of the african dust under a bucket shower, with water warmed by the sun during the day. We enjoyed delicious meals under the clear sky at the Ewaso riverside. Sitting at the campfire we talked about possible plots, names and which “catch of the day” should be taken into the new adventure of Tata&Squack: the beauty of the leopard, the colorful bee-eater, the acacia trees with their hanging weaver nests. I was especially taken by the beautiful light of Africa, surprised that a dry savannah could have such a range of extraordinary colors, radiating silver, summer gold, purple-brown and lush green. I enjoyed the elegance of the animals in movement and color. No animal is coarse even the elephant you do not hear approach, they walk silently. Safari means journey and a journey it was. Africa touches the soul, it brings you back to your inner being, back to nature itself.

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 way, take pictures, download, backup, keyword, edit,… hard work, but we love it.

This trip we went to Amboseli, where we took pictures of elephant herds on the dried lakebed. We even got out of the car, to shoot from a lower angle. It makes your heart race, when the elephants do come close! In the Masai Mara we were lucky to see the migration of the wildebeest, just before they crossed the border into Tanzania, for ever following the rain. The last week was a “Big Cat Week” with Jonathan Scott and Warren Samuels. It was great to hear some of the inside stories about the different prides and to follow cats around, knowing beforehand, what they might be up to. We hope to put some pictures online soon!

Tata&Squack, The Big Journey will be published on the 1st of November 2011. The Big Journey is the first adventure of Tata&Squack. It tells the story of the Great Migration of the Wildebeest, one of the most  impressive events in the natural world. The photographs for the illustrations were taken over a period of 3 years by myself, my husband Willem and Squack Evans in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and in the Masai Mara in Kenya. We traveled with Squack a lot. He is a professional safari guide and taught us a lot about Africa. I am very proud, that he allowed us to use his name for one of the characters in the book.

On this photograph we were about to say goodbye to Africa again, after yet another great safari in the Serengeti. We had witnessed the calving season and took a lot of great pictures for the book. We nearly missed the plane which would take us back to Arusha. The rainy season in the Serengeti had begun, the roads were bad and we were afraid the plane would not be able to land due to fog. But we made it. Back home I started working on the book, Tata&Squack, The Big Journey, together with the author Elisabeth Visser …