Photography by Randy Hanna

Before I start sharing photos and stories from my Feb 2010 Safari, I wanted to address one question that I am often asked:  Why do you always use Thomson Safaris?  While they are one of the oldest and most established tour companies in Tanzania, specializing only in Tanzania, I only have to turn to the quality of their guides for the real reason.  Sure accidents will and can happen, but there really is no excuse for being careless and not knowing your surroundings.  The images below show a proper river crossing, even though we had to drive a little bit out of the way to find a safe crossing, and a not so proper river crossing.  Every time I see an accident like this, I am reminded just how lucky I am to always have some of the best guides in the business on my trips.  The guides of Thomson Safaris are trained to always put the safety of their clients first and game viewing second.  Nuff said and the photos below speak for themselves.

Tarangire River Crossing Thomson's Style

Nikon D3, 70-200VR @ 110mm,ISO 250,  f9 @ 1/1250 sec

River Crossing Done the Wrong Way

Photo by Lori Kruger

Cheers and Happy Photo’ing

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I’ve been back from an all NIKON safari for about two weeks and I must tell you – the memories remain fresh and sweet, and will for some time to come!   Over the years of travel I have come to expect the unexpected yet, these safaris never cease to put a smile on my face.  Although we battled a huge attack of Tsetse flies (due to the abnormal rains), all of the photographers brought home the ‘bacon’ as far as photographs were concerned.  Steve returned with very nice images of a leopard in a nearby tree and a pair of Cheetahs walking directly toward him while shooting from the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater.  Kathy and Roger were at the right time at the right place and photographed two female lions taking down a Cape Buffalo, a sight that the guides see once or twice every 20 years of guiding.   Of course, I was well out of position and missed the entire take-down, so I just did some cool landscapes with the Nikon 14-24 on the D3.  I am looking forward to processing them as b&w’s.

Electronic connectivity from the start, plagued us throughout the trip and as a result, I was unable to post any updates while in county, other than the 6 Feb post below.  Now that all have safely returned and the photos are starting to roll in, I will begin posting the results in a few days.  For me, I have started the process of wading thru more than 5,000 images taken across three camera bodies.  BTW, my 600VR toasted itself while making a sunrise shot of a large male lion perfectly posed on a hillside with wonderfull light, we we decended into the Crater.  Something about shooting a 600mm at 125/sec across a bean bag with very low light well; let’s just say it gives me a sinking feeling (we shall see as the power of photoshop goes about some serious sharpening of this image).

Special thanks to the entire safari enthusiasts on this trip including Kathy, Steve, Lori, Dave, Roger, Marla, and Ed.  Of course, the trip would not have been a success without the wonderful organization and support of Thomson Safaris and our expert guides, Kelio, John, and Mohammad.   Stay tuned for the photos as folks begin to return to their regular lives.

Cheers and happy photo’ing

Randy

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