The soft rustle of feet on the sandy pathway enters your consciousness , a low voice in a thick African accent calls , “knock knock , 4 o’clock” …you answer and stir , the fristy morning air trying its best to keep you in your warm cocoon of bedding , the African dawn , not even a hint of grey yet coaxes you to your feet , a splash of frigid water and you are awake , quietly getting ready and slowly as you awaken fully the excitement of a new day starts to flow like energy into your body , a cup of coffee near a warm fire and then off to look for tracks , the sky reddening through the windshield , trackers bundled on the back their sharp eyes squinting in the cold …

As you drive out the expectation is tangible , who knows what will happen , but one thing is for sure …its gonna be an awesome sunrise !!!



Then at the end of the day , be it a day when you succeeded in putting your name to your most coveted trophy or a day that you will look back on as simply a day on an African safari ,full with the myriad of memories , the eagle that stooped in front of the truck , the buffalo herd with no mature bull , the impala rams jousting the smells of the dry African grass and the feel of her heat on your back …. The dry mouth and weary feet …

one thing is for sure ….Its gonna be an awesome sunset !!

here are some of my favorite African sunrises and sunsets …

Spectacular pics. Thanks.

Very nice!

A couple of my own favorites...

Limpopo Valley


Zambezi Valley


Round the campfire

quote:

Spectacular pics. Thanks.

why you so happy this morning ?

that impala one has to have a great story behind it ....!?

It was a camp pet and was always hanging out. I've had horses that liked camp fires but that was a first for me to see something like that ewe.

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Originally posted by ivan carter:

quote:

Spectacular pics. Thanks.

why you so happy this morning ?

Ivan,

Miracles do occur sometimes you know

Mzuri pumbarfu sana.

Which translates more or less to fan-fu**in'-tastic.

Great pics Ivan, thanks for brightening my day.

Superb! Simple superb.
Thanks for sharing.

Great photos, thanks for sharing.

quote:

Posted 17 November 2009 15:22 Hide Post

quote:
Spectacular pics. Thanks.


why you so happy this morning ?

Many thanks Ivan & Ann

Your killing me!

All of these are awesome! Thanks for sharing them with us!

Thanks for the pictures
you made my day.

In all the years I have spent in Africa, dawn and dusk are my favorite times.

I was based in Lokichoggio, Kenya, flying into the Sudan and living an a tented camp. This area up in Kenya's far Northern Territories is desert, like Arizona with cobras. The sunrises there were the most spectacular I've seen in a lifetime of world travel.

There is something about the day's beginning and end in many parts of Africa that is unequalled anywhere else.

I may never return, but the dawns and the dusks will remain with me forever.

Thanks for posting those spectacular photos. I particularly love the afterglow and the dusty palms. That is definitely one of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen.

Thanks, and good hunting.

Just fantastic great pix.

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Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

quote:

Spectacular pics. Thanks.

why you so happy this morning ?

Ivan,

Miracles do occur sometimes you know

You picking on old guys?

Just kidding, these pictures are wonderful, my favorite is the elephants, or the leopard, or the buff, or the.......................

Great pics. Great memories!!

Thanks!!

Great pictures! Thanks,

Bill

There is something in mankind's soul that is uplifted with the beauty of dawn and dusk. Anticipation of the day to come or contemplation of the day just finishing adds imeasurably to the scene.
Thanks for sharing these with us.

Von Gruff.

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

quote:

Spectacular pics. Thanks.

why you so happy this morning ?

I thought the same thing myself. Come on Will, be yourself. Acting nice will only confuse people here.

Great shots and words, Ivan.

Not Africa, but a few local shots of my own, as long as we're on sunrises.

quote:

Ivan,

Miracles do occur sometimes you know

CAMO ...nice pics man ....makes leaving the toasty nest bearable !!

Spectacular pictures. Thanks for sharing during a morning when it's -4 F outside.

Outstanding!

One day hopefully I will be able to experience that view of Africa in person.

Ben Britton

yes men , you are right , africa , the duck marsh and everywhere in between , its like we get a little reward for just getting up to look !!

Senuko - Save - Zim

Dawn:





Dusk:

Doma - Zim

Outstanding Ivan! One of this will surely reside on my desk top!

Brett

Great Photos!

I have to add mine, from my last full day in South Africa:

I first saw the tropics at age 16 with my father in Panama (he had been one of the pioneer engineers building the Canal) and I always have remembered that he told me that day and night were equal in the tropics. ( I was astonished in Panama to see that there was no twilight in the tropics. Thus, despite being on my first trip to Africa, I was not surprised when the African night descended -and loved the dawn of a new day.(I listened sometimes to the cough of a leopard {taught by my PH how to recognize} and always to a male lion's territorial roar) and could appreciate how critters and humans would welcome the daylight. The African night can be fearsome -and reminds us how it must have been for our ancestors a long ways back.

Speechless....

ivan carter

I forgot to add my sincere thanks for your beautiful photos. ( have to admit that I belong to a category of "photographers" that an old friend used to say that I should only have a camera that said "PHI" -Push Here Idiot! Again, I really enjoyed the photos - and envy the skill behind them. Fact.