The photo safari in Tanzania we had joined in October 2022 had left memorable and unforgettable impressions. It had been my first trip to Africa aside from a private tour in Namibia 24 years ago. This led to the spontaneous decision to repeat this trip again in 2023 with the same expedition leader and basically the same itinerary.
For extensive informations of the itinerary, locations, wildlife, photography etc. please read the description of the Safari 2022 that followed the same route.
While the group in 2022 consisted of 9 participants spread across 3 vehicles and drivers, there were only four of us in 2023, which made the safari even more effective than it already had been on the first trip. In consequence we had 2 safari vehicles, each with 2 photographers and the leader alternated.
The most noticeable difference, however, concerned the weather conditions and the state of the vegetation although seasonally there were only 3 weeks between the two trips and both actually took place in the dry season: The 2022 safari had been scheduled from October 20th to 29th. There was no rain at all, the environment was extremely dry and dusty, especially in the Ngorongoro Crater which had also affected the photographic equipment and required special precautions.
The 2023 trip took place from September 11th to 26th. The vegetation was surprisingly green and water was abundant everywhere, particularly in the Ngorongoro Crater, where there were several flood plains and swamps that attracted a wide variety of birds and mammals. In the Serengeti we experienced frequent short-term thunderstorms or heavy rain showers in the afternoon. Overall, the environment was significantly wetter and greener than in the previous year which in some places also led to a more frequent occurrence of mosquitoes and Tsetse flies, which hardly had appeared in 2022.
As far as the mammals and birds are concerned, there were of course a lot of similarities, overlaps and redundancies between the two trips to the identical areas, but also shifts and differences overall. Every safari is different,anyway.The biodiversity of birds seemed to me to be a little greater in 2023, but that could also be due to coincidence or just a snapshot. Among mammals, for example, there were only a few elephants at the Tarangire Siliale Swamp in 2023, whereas there were larger herds there in 2022. We also didn’t see any caracals or rhinos in 2023. On the other hand, the early morning encounter with a pride of lionesses with many cubs, some of which were carried in their mother’s mouth, was a very special moment and one of many highlights of the trip. The sighting of a Guereza Colobus mother in Arusha National Park holding her newborn baby was also a touching experience. And of course, the river crossings of the huge herds of wildebeest on the Mara River remain unforgettable as does the immense diversity of birds, the numerous hippos and buffalos in the flood plains of the Ngorongoro Crater.
Photography:
As for photographing wildlife, I had used the Canon EOS R3 adapted on the EF 600mm/f4 L IS v II USM (+ 1,4Ext III) and the EF 200-400mm/f4 L IS USM +1,4Ex mounted on the Canon EOS R5 which were the same combos I had brought for the first TZ safari in 2022. For more details and experiences please read the comments in the 2022 description. For landscapes, the Canon 5DsR with EF 24-70mm/f 2.8 L USM and EF 70-200mm/f 2.8 L USM II was used again. We also shot with the Canon EOS-1DX Mark III and Canon EOS 5D Mark IV on the EF 70-200mm and EF 100-400mm/f 4.5-5.6 L USM II.
However, the most important difference was the additional combo of the Canon EOS R7 with the RF 100-500mm/f4.5-7.1 L IS USM zoom that I had purchased before the trip. For a longer period, I had been hesitant to go for the R7 because of its shortcomings widely discussed in reviews and tests (i.e. potential rolling shutter and small buffer in full electronic burst mode, shutter shock in mechanical mode, different layout, lack of a grip etc.).Nevertheless, the camera turned out to be an excellent choice, especially for shooting birds given its very good AF tracking capabilities including animal-eye detection, the benefit of reach with the 32,5 MP APS-C sensor and particularily the great flexibility of that relatively light-weight combo – compared to the heavy and bulky set ups mentioned above. I’ve been happy with the image quality offering an impressive amount of detail with a very slight drop in low contrast areas and/or higher ISOs. For the most part, I used the camera between ISO 200 to 800, to keep the shutter speed in a good range given the high MP crop sensor and the max. aperture of f7.1 with the zoom @ 500mm. Of course, noise gets a bit higher at higher ISOs. But even ISOs of 1000-1600 aren’t a problem with today’s noise reduction tools such as Topaz or DxO PureRaw. Certainly, the R7 is not the camera I’d take in extremely low-light conditions, though. Rolling shutter and buffer size had not been an issue at all since I was using the camera in first curtain mechanical shutter mode. Video was pretty good, too, though the AF tracking in movie mode is not quite on the same level as for stills and not on par with the R3/R5 in this regard. Anyway,
in the end, almost 50% of my photographs were taken with the R7/RF 100-500mm combo and I had no regrets to leave my trusty 7D Mark II at home this time.
The final word:
The second safari, like the first one, was an unforgettable lifetime experience and perfectly organized. Once again it was difficult to make a selection from 16,000 photos and only partially cover the incredible diversity and beautiful moments, which has resulted in an extensive gallery with 235 images.
