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The voice of the wildebeest mama

The voice of the wildebeest mama

Do animals show characteristics of human beings, like compassion, love, nurturing and protectiveness? How can mother animals recognize their young ones and how does a young wildebeest manage not to lose it’s mother, while there are thousands of other wildebeest around? The  calves need their mother's constant attention and therefore close contact is essential. The mother animal uses her four...

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Right time, right place for the calving in the Serengeti

Right time, right place for the calving in the Serengeti

Normally rain is not what you wish for, when you are on a holiday. But in our case it was more than welcome. The area where the wildebeest prefer to have their young, on the foot of the Ngorongoro Crater, had been unusually dry for the time of the year. Therefor the big herds had wandered off to the central Serengeti, to find permanent water sources. The calving had stopped, awaiting the rain....

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Skip the ladies program, climb Kilimanjaro!

Skip the ladies program, climb Kilimanjaro!

Last year, when we visited Amboseli, the Kilimanjaro was only a small, far away, snowy peak, barely showing itself among the clouds in the fading sunlight. Now we are seriously preparing ourselves to climb this nearly 6.000m volcanic giant, the highest mountain in Africa. The walk up there is supposed to be doable, even for a non-experienced climber, like myself. The hard part is the altitude...

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Back from the field office

Back from the field office

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...

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Don’t miss the golden hour on safari

Don’t miss the golden hour on safari

Beautiful light, the heat of the day is fading and the animals are finally beginning to show some action. Great time for picture-taking. If you are (un)lucky your safari operator has organized a fancy sundowner on a "safe" location, where you can get out of the vehicle. Away from all the action. If you are even more (un)lucky you have to be back in camp by sunset. Just in time to take a shower...

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The making of Tata&Squack, The Big Journey

The making of Tata&Squack, The Big Journey

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...

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Lucky to find the pangolin

Lucky to find the pangolin

For many Safari veterans the pangolin is a mystical animal. They are rare, secretive and difficult to spot. Unfortunately their numbers are decreasing even further because in China they are considered a delicacy and their scales are believed to have medicinal qualities. As they are nocturnal, they normally sleep, curled up in a ball, during daytime. Therefor we feel lucky for having seen one...

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Stay put in the buffalo fortress

Stay put in the buffalo fortress

Some guides will tell you, buffalos are not very intelligent and have a very bad memory. True or not, they seem to know how to put up a defense against predators. Of course they use their horns and a well placed kick can be deadly for a lion. But even before it comes to that, they have all kinds of defense tactics to protect themselves. This segment of a Phanhabs illustrations shows buffalos on...

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