Tour impression Kenya now online

The dates for our successful tour to Kenya have been set! We stay one night in Nairobi on 20 September 2010, after which we are off for a full week of migration spectacles. You'll see gnoes and zebras in numbers you would not think possible. Easy prey for the lions and cheetah, which follow the huge herds wherever they go.

And this year we are taking it a step further: we are going camping in the middle of the Masai Mara! You won't get closer to the bush than this. But.... we do camping in style: a private mobile camp with a generator for our laptops and camera batteries, beds in our tents and private facilities. We do the safari Squiver style, which means one row of seats per participant. This guarantees you enough room to move around freely in the vehicle and that you get the best views possible.

We've just added a video impression of our Masai Mara Migration photo trip to Kenya on our website, as well as a description of the trip. You can download the day-to-day schedule or read a report of our 2009 tour on our weblog. Like most tours, the Masai Mara photo tour is hosted by Marsel van Oosten and Daniëlla Sibbing.

Special offer Japan because of 2 cancellations

Due to medical reasons, we have 2 cancellations on the Japan tour that starts 20 February 2010. Book now and get a 600 Euro last minute discount!

If you are interested in going to Japan, this is the time to make the booking! This customized tour normally costs 5100 Euro and has been arranged for a group of 9 guests in total. Due to 2 cancellations, these seats can be taken for only 4500 Euro per person. A discount of 600 Euro per person!
Download the day-to-day schedule at: www.squiver.com/Day-to-dayJAP2010.pdf and read all about this exciting tour, which starts on 20 February 2010, ending on 6 March 2010. This tour is customized and different from the schedule advertised on our website and in the PDF, with more emphasis on birds. We will spend one day less at the snowmonkeys and have an extra day in Rausu, to photograph eagles on the pack-ice more often. The tour includes 4 chartered boatcruises.

Winter is the perfect time to visit Japan. Its breathtaking, snow-covered landscapes are the perfect backdrop for us to photograph Japan’s unique wildlife. During this spectacular trip we will visit the famous snow monkeys, while they enjoy a hot steam bath in volcanic hot springs and play in the snow. We will travel to the northern island of Hokkaido (the Alaska of Japan), where we will photograph rare and beautiful red-crowned cranes while they perform their gracious winter dances, large flocks of whooper swans floating in misty lakes covered with ice and beautiful mountains in the background, and white-tailed and Steller’s sea eagles, as they sit on the pack ice that has drifted over from Siberia.



Be quick and take advantage of the special discount of 600 Euro per person! It is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fill out the booking form before 25 December 2009 to apply for this special offer. Only applicable for new bookings!

Marsel featured in Nikon ad National Geographic

Nikon's latest ad in National Geographic features one of Marsel's Japanese crane images. In the ad Marsel explains why he chose to shoot with Nikon, and why he still does. The original text is in Dutch, so here's a rough translation:

"I choose Nikon cameras because they are the most comfortable to handle. The ergonomics are truly unsurpassed. At Nikon they understand that nature photographers often have to work in extreme conditions. These Japanese cranes for instance I photographed in Japan at -23ºC. Every time I looked through the viewfinder and breathed, my breath immediately froze onto the camera, resulting in a thick layer of ice. Yet I did not have to change the battery a single time. And in Alaska I photographed brown bears in the pouring rain without any problems. As a professional you have to be able to blindly trust your equipment. I currently shoot with a Nikon D3 and Nikon D3X. I choose the D3 with its unprecedented low-noise sensor for fast action shots and low light situations, and I use the D3X for static subjects and landscapes. I love the flexibility of zoom lenses, and the quality of the Nikon zoom lenses is truly sublime: super sharp and fast. Especially in situations where I have to shoot handheld, Nikon's vibration reduction is highly effective and indispensable."

 

Marsel's bears in National Geographic

The December issue of National Geographic (Dutch edition) will feature three pages on Marsel's brown bear photographs from Finland. In the accompanying short interview Marsel talks about his personal visual style and photography in general. Most of the shots were taken on this year's Squiver Wild Brown Bears trip.

Ultimate Bears of Alaska trip starts 4 August 2010

We have set the date for our Ultimate Bears photo tour to Alaska. It will start on 4 August 2010 and consists of a full week of bear viewing! The price of this trip is 4995 USD and includes the round trip by float plane from Kodiak Island to Katmai, guided bear watching, guided fishing, kayaking, all meals, field instructions, image reviews and photo workshops.

We have two boats at our disposal, taking 5 guests per boat. This allows us to move freely around the bears and land our boat wherever we want, so we can all have a high quality experience in the field, without people blocking your way or being in view of your camera.  On our website you can find more information about this spectacular photo trip. You can also download the day-to-day schedule for our Ultimate Bears photo trip 2010, which gives you a good idea of what lies in store for you in Alaska. You can expect a week full of thrills and amazing photo opportunities!

Weblog launched!

Welcome to our new weblog, with all the news from our website and "new news" from the last 3 months. But do have a look at the older posts, because with the current lay-out all pictures that go with the articles are now in a large format. Have fun going through it and we hope to see you back often!

Marsel van Oosten & Daniëlla Sibbing

Only a few spaces left on the Japan tour

One of next year's Japan photo tours is already fully booked, but there are still a few openings for the first one, from 5-19 February 2010. On this spectacular 15 day roundtrip, we will visit Tokyo, the famous snow monkeys in steaming hot springs, the rare and endangered red-crowned cranes performing their graceful winter dances, white-tailed eagles, Steller's sea eagles on sea ice from Siberia, and whooper swans on misty lakes.

Audio Slideshow on Nikon World

Nikon World published an article with Marsel, in their Winter 2009 issue. Online you can read the article, view his images. But what's more unique: you can hear Marsel explain how he made the images! Watch and hear the audio slideshow, on the website of Nikon USA.

Book in stock, ready for orders

We just received a fresh supply of the Wild Romance book and are ready for orders. If you like to travel in Africa, love photo books and like to see the most amazing places with spectacular wildlife, then this is the book for you.

Wild Romance features 46 of Africa's most romantic safari lodges from six African countries and includes a free DVD. It is a large format hard cover coffee-table book with 296 pages. Each copy will be signed by both Marsel and Daniëlla. You can order our book here: www.squiver.com/WildRomance.html.

Osos, leones, lynces (Wildlife Workshop Spain)

Which is Spanish for bear, lion and lynx, but you knew that of course. ;) These are only three of over a hundred different animal species from five continents that live in the park we just visited. Despite the predictions, we were very lucky with the weather and got to spend a lot of time with the animals.

Each day we started with image reviews of previous day's results, and after breakfast we drove to the park where we stayed until after sunset. Favorite species were definitely the bears and the lynx, who were very cooperative and never disappointed. We were especially lucky to see two newborn bovines, minutes after they were born; a gaur calf and a watusi calf. The gaur is a large, dark-coated bovine animal from Asia. The biggest populations are found today in India. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the Cape buffalo, water buffalo. The watusi are a breed of cattle originally native to Africa. They have very large, distinctive horns that makes them very photogenic. We also got to practice our birds in flight technique with some spectacular birds of prey.

We had a really good time and were very happy to see the amazing progress everyone made during this workshop - we hope to show some of the best images shot by the particpants on this blog soon!

Marsel wins 1st Prize in European Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year has announced the winners of 2009's competition, and we are extremely proud that Marsel was awarded 1st place in the Mammals category for the winning entry Elephant at Victoria Falls. The image was shot in Zambia, Africa, and features an African elephant near the edge of Victoria Falls, a very rare sight. This spectacular photograph is available as a fine art print at various sizes. Please have a look at the Shop section on our website for sizes and prices.

And as if this weren't enough, Marsel was also Highly Commended in the Birds category for his image Swan Lake. This photo was shot in Japan and features a gaggle of whooper swans in an icy lake at sunset.

The Migration: The Greatest Show on Earth

We were pretty worried for this trip as Kenya faced the worst drought to hit the country in over a decade. The so-called "long rains" that usually fall in March and April failed this year, and some areas have now been in drought conditions for almost three years. No one knows why the drought has been so bad. Many attribute it to global warming, but others say it is simply part of the long-term weather cycle in East Africa.

Luckily, by the time our Squiver Phototrip started, so had the rain. On our first night in Nairobi we got some serious showers and we were all hoping the same was happening in the Masai Mara. On our flight to the Mara we didn't know what to expect - how many wildebeest would be there, if any?

The annual wildebeest migration happens from July-September between Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Thousands of wildebeest and zebras make the seasonal migration in search of food during this time, and predators such as lions take advantage of their movements. From July-August the wildebeest cross the Grumeti River in Tanzania on their way to Kenya.

When we flew over the Mara, we couldn't believe our eyes: there were wildebeest as far as our eyes could see, literally covering the landscape. It was a wonder we could land the plane without hitting some of them! The following days the weather was perfect; fresh in the morning, nice and warm during the day, and usually some showers in the afternoon. We could see the landscape getting greener and the wildebeest certainly enjoyed the fresh grass.

Obviously, we all wanted to see a crossing, which is actually easier said than done. It takes a lot of time, and luck, to see one. On several occasions we waited on the edge of the Mara river, sometimes watching thousands of wildebeest piling up on the other side, gathering courage to cross. But the Mara river is infested with huge Nile crocodiles, so it's understandable the wildebeest are a bit hesitant. And if one wildebeest gets spooked, they all run off. Patience is the key to success, and eventually we got to see a crossing from very close by. The water level was still low and there were no crocs in the water, which made it a lot easier for the wildebeest. Quite an impressive sight!

Of course wildebeest were not the only species we saw on this trip. We got some good lion sightings, lots of elephants and even a cheetah kill. Again, our patience paid off. We saw that the cheetah was watching a small group of gazelles from a distance, and decided to wait and see. The cheetah was just sitting and watching and didn't seem all that interested, the gazelles were pretty far away and the cheetah was not making any effort getting closer. But then it suddenly started to move towards the gazelles, first creeping, then trotting and then running at full speed. By the time the gazelles noticed what was happening, the cheetah was already half way there. One of the gazelles was still a young baby, and the cheetah tried to confuse it and separate if from its parents, an effective strategy. Moments after it took off, the cheetah caught the gazelle - it was all over before we knew it. Something we will not easily forget.

Another highlight was the balloon trip over the Masai Mara. It's already impressive to see so many wildebeest on the ground, but you don't realize the magnitude of this phenomenon until you see it from the air. Thousands of wildebeest forming long trails covering the landscape below, zebras and impalas running across the plains, and hippos and crocs in the rivers. Our pilot landed the balloon in the middle of the Masai Mara, after which we had a bush breakfast with a long line of wildebeest passing only a hundred meters away from us. The perfect end to a perfect morning.

Thanks to all participants for a wonderful trip, we hope to see you again!