Full at last!
January 29, 2008
Yesterday morning we woke to find that the river had risen by nearly 2 metres in the night! Throughout the day and last night it has continued to rise and is now full to bursting. Where the puku and impala were grazing just two days ago is now a vast expanse of open water.
Even the trees are partially submerged in places and our ebony grove is absolutely enchanting with hippos swimming between the trunks and spectacular bird life in the branches above. The transformation from the dry, dusty safari season is startling and it has been wonderful to witness it…..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Butterfly wing
January 24, 2008
This is a close up photograph of the beautiful Green-veined Emperor butterfly. My photography is still in macro mode at the moment as the river is too low to get around by boat.
There is still plenty game around with some nice big herds of elephant feeding fairly regularly in front of camp. The antelope disappear in the long grass though with often only the tips of their horns showing! I haven’t seen any lions for at least a month now although we do hear them most nights…..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Mating fire bugs
January 23, 2008
I’ve seen a lot of these guys around the camp recently (although this photo was taken a while back). They are also known as “cotton stainers” and are a major pest in the mfuwe area where there is a lot of cotton farming. They damage the seeds and transmit a fungus that stains the cotton yellow. They are pretty cool looking though!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Unidentified moth
January 21, 2008
The Luangwa river has unfortunately dropped right down again in the last week. We are still able to get around by boat but it is a little hair-raising as the river is stiff with hippos (when the water gets deeper they will move off into the tributaries). As a consequence I still haven’t been able to do much photography from the boat and have to stick to anything I can find in and around camp.
I have been using my macro lens quite a lot as there are plenty of interesting insects around at this time of year. This is just one of the beautiful moths that I haven’t seen before. It has some very distinct markings but I am unable to identify it from any of my books. So if anyone knows what it is please let me know.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Hippo show to premiere on Jan 20th
January 15, 2008
National Geographic TV were here in August last year to shoot a documentary with Dr Brady Barr. They brought with them a 200lb Kevlar hippo ’suit’! The purpose of this suit was to hopefully enable Dr Barr to get close enough to a hippo to obtain a sample of sweat (not actually sweat but a reddish secretion which preliminary research has suggested contains antiseptic as well as sunscreening and blocking properties.) Dr Barr’s programme hoped to conduct further research on this substance as well as to provide some entertaining TV.
I was contracted to shoot the stills for the show and it was a good laugh with plenty of action. For anyone who is interested the show will premiere in the USA on the National Geographic Channel on the 20th of January.
Photo copyright National Geographic TV.
Black headed Heron
January 5, 2008
First of all happy New Year to everyone and all the best for 2008. It was certainly the quietest Christmas and New Year’s that I have ever had - I quite liked it! The river has been filling up reluctantly and we have finally launched the boat and are able to get around at last. Yesterday I made a trip to our nearest town Mfuwe, which is about 2 hours boat ride away, and it was quite a shock to see people!
I am really looking forward to doing more photography from the boat and will start posting regularly again. The whole valley is now intensely and refreshingly green - quite a contrast to the usual dry and dusty scenery that most visitors witness. We are now into what the tour operators here call the Emerald Season - a very fitting description.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
