In July and September last year I made two trips to Kenya’s Masai Mara but at the beginning of each I spent several hours in the air shooting images from a light aircraft with the doors removed on one side. It is an activity I have been doing annually since 2006 and to put it mildly, it is extremely addictive. I have written about this before so I’ll skip the details but it is not until you have spent many hours flying low over the ground that you get a true appreciation of how incredibly diverse Kenya’s geography is. For a country of its size, it is surely unmatched in its environmental diversity. While there are abundant attractions on its short grass savannahs, its tropical rain forests and reefs, its high alpine meadows and glaciers (yes – on Mt.Kenya), it is the splendours of the Great Rift Valley that for me trump everything else at least when viewed from the air. And within the Rift Valley, it is the many soda lakes that are arguably its most beguiling of features.
These lakes are periodically home to hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of predominantly Lesser Flamingos with smaller numbers of Great Flamingos also in attendance. The environment in an around some of these lakes is oppressively hostile with furnace like temperatures and waters that are often so caustic as to cause severe skin burns to human flesh. Yet somehow, microscopic algae species manage to thrive and multiple in the carbonate and phosphate-rich waters and it is this aquatic plant that forms the staple food source of the flamingos.
The algae is often concentrated into enormous slicks and while usually green in colour, on occasion, more spectacular colours form. As we approached Lake Bogoria, I could tell from a distance that something unusual was going on with large swathes of the lake green in colour vs the usual blue and light brown waters (where rivers enter the lake – high rainfall levels have this year turned much of the lake a coffee colour). As we got closer, the green algae slicks took on a paint-like, ephemeral appearance.
Aerial view of algae slick on Lake Bogoria, Kenya, Canon 5D MK3, Canon 24-105mm f4 IS lens @105mm, handheld, 1/6,000 sec, f5.6, AV at 0, ISO 400
Algae slick, aerial shot, Lake Bogoria, Kenya, Canon 24-105mm f4 IS lens @58mm, 1/8,000th sec, f4, AV at 0, ISO 320
While flamingo numbers at Bogoria were well down on usual levels, there were still good numbers feeding on the algae.
Lesser Flamingos walking through and feeding on algae slick, aerial shot, Lake Bogoria, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens @70mm, handheld, 1/8,000th sec, f4, AV at -1, ISO 500
Heading north, we passed over lake Boringo before heading down the Seguta Valley with its spectacular ancient volcanic features. At the end of the valley lies a seasonal, soda lake, Lake Logipi which when filled with shallow water, is almost always home to huge congregations of flamingos. This year was no exception.
Thousands of Lesser Flamingos grouped tightly together, aerial shot, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens@200mm, handheld, 1/8,000th sec, f6.3, ISO 500, AV at -1
Unlike the green coloured algae that was visible on Lake Bogoria, the algae on Lake Logipi was an eye popping lime green interspersed with portions of pink.
Aerial image of Lesser Flamingos, algae slick and volcanic island, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 24-105mm f4 IS lens @32mm, handheld, 1/1,600th sec, f5.6, AV at -1/3, ISO500
Lesser Flamingos on shallow water lake beside algae slick, aerial shot, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens @75mm, handheld, 1/2,000th sec, f5.6, AV at -2/3, ISO 500
Aerial image of Lesser Flamingos walking through and flying by algae slick, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens @200mm, handheld, 1\1,000th sec, f5.6, AV at -2\3, ISO 500
Algae slick, aerial shot, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens @200mm, handheld, 1\2,000th sec, f5.6, AV at -1\3, ISO 500
Aerial image of Lesser Flamingos walking through algae slick, Lake Logipi, Kenya, Canon 1D MK4, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens @180mm, handheld, 1\1,250th sec, f5.6, AV at -1\3, ISO 500
In part two of this series, I’ll be showing the surreal patterns of crystallising salt formed by evaporation, on Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania. Stay tuned.
Christian Strebel
January 4, 2013
Dear Paul–
how impressive!
well done!
Christian / Yellow Wings
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Thx for all your help as always in making these images. Hopefully I will see you when i”m in Kenya in March.
Denise Ippolito
January 4, 2013
Paul, All are terrific. I still love the wall to wall Lesser Flamingos! I hope to get there someday.
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Thx Denise – I found your original comment which went straight to the spam folder. The spam filter obviously doesn’t like your other e-mail address!
JAMES MENJO
January 4, 2013
Fantastic Paul. I wish you good endevours in the year 2013.
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Thanks James. All the best for 2013.
Anne Owen
January 4, 2013
Fantastic, as always, Paul. Good shooting in 2013
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Hi Anne. From your facebook entries, seems like you did even more photography than me last year! BTW – you may have heard that Midway is now closed to visitors due to budget cut backs (which we have subsequently found out involved cutting just two people). So a good thing you got to go when you did. Have fun in 2013.
Gordon Lindsay
January 4, 2013
Great images as always Paul, I noticed all the Flamingoes seem to be facing the same way in the 4th shot (Lake Logipi) I can’t remember seeing this before?
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Hi Gordon. Sometimes it happens. We try not to fly too low to avoid disturbing the flamingos but often they will face away from the direction of the drone of the aircraft. Here they didn’t seem bothered by the aircraft.
Peter Allmendinger
January 5, 2013
Dear Paul
This pictures a very beautiful. Very impressiv.
Peter
Pilot Yellow Wings
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Thx Peter. Couldn’t have got these shots without your expert piloting. Hope to see you in March.
Adeline
January 5, 2013
Your images are absolutely fantastic, Paul. I just love going back over and over them again. Thanks so much for sharing!
Paul Mckenzie
January 5, 2013
Thx Adeline for your kind words!
Lina Zapata
January 9, 2013
wow!!!! Paul these pictures are amazing. My heart fills with wonder and gratitude as I see them.
Thanks so much for sharing, I can only imagine how it must feel to be on that plane.