Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Kenya Safari - 2012 August

I was on the Eco Institute Kenya Safari (7 nights) Tour in August this year. It was a very interesting trip there to see the Animal Migration.

We visited 3 parks: Masai Mara, Amboseli and Lake Nakuru National Park. Here is one of the hotels where we stayed.


During migration, many dead animals die during the crossing - about 5%. Either from old age or stumbling or eating by crocodiles. Each year there are 2 million zebras and wild beasts crossing the river. However, each year there are 200,000 newborns, returning again next year. 


Successfully crossing the river!


One lucky (or in some respect unlucky) dude's wives .. 


An elephant crossing the road. 


Waiting to cross the River .. 


Land of death and survival


A little hesitant to cross the river .. 


Look! Crocodiles .. 


Buffalo herd with Mount Kilamanjero (Tanzania) in the background. At 5500m it is the world's highest mountain.


Lions, Giraffes, Cheetahs, Leopards
Up close and personal .. he's thinking food .. 





All the animals were very near us. I had a leopard walking under the rear of our truck, which really scared me. The truck is wide open and has no windows. The lion is about 20 metres away, but not elephants and buffalo. Africans are not afraid of lions or leopards, cheetah and other animals. They are scared of elephants and buffalo. That is why we are not too close to them, but about 30 metres away.

Cheetah are hard to find, but we saw them. Millions of wildebeests and many zebras migrate. Zebras eats upper grass and wildebeests eat down grass. Zebras cross the river first, then wildebeests follow. They are very scared to cross. They hesitate and hesitate .. turn back or run away to other crossings. We went to three crossings and the last one we saw them crossing, but that part had no crocodiles. When the first one crosses, everyone follows. Spectacular view. There were many animal carcasses. There were 8 crossings on the river and nobody knows how they find it every year. 


Animal migration is in Serengeti Grassland. 2/3 is in Tanzania on south and 1/3 in Kenya on the north. Migration is clockwise and cross to Kenya in August/September. The part in Kenya is called Masai Mara - 5 hour drive and 45 minutes flight from Nairobi. We took small airplane - 13 passengers both ways.




Friday, May 25, 2012

Odessa, Ukraine - 2012 May

This is the land mark of Odessa, Seaport in Black Sea of Ukraine. 192 steps and Mum did it up and down alright. Odessa is a rich town, but not much to see. Yalta is historical town, US, (President Roesvett  羅斯福) ,Uk (Churchchill) CCCP (Stalin) had a meeting here in February 1945, before Germany and Japan surrender. In this meeting, Stalin gained what he wanted. This is one of reasons we had Iron Curtain and communist controlled for so long.

The palace was built by the last Czar of Russia whose whole family was murdered by Communists/Bolsheviks.





Monday, May 21, 2012

Istanbul 2012 - May

After disembarking our cruise in Istanbul, we spent a week in Istanbul. 


We spent 5 hours visiting this mosque and also Sultanahmet Camil (Blue Mosque), Grand Bazaar. This photo I took with my new camera 5D mark 3, using ISO 12,800.  This mosque was built in 500 AD when it was the biggest building in the world.



We visited Topkapi Palace last week ..


and the Ayasofya Museum ..





Friday, May 4, 2012

Athens, Greece 2012 May

My wife and I are on our way to a 20 day cruise on Seabourn Quest in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea. We are now in Athens before boarding. Here we are at the Acropolis.  




Here is a photo of the Seabourne Quest docked in Rhodes