Edgar Thissen's photostream  

www.edgarthissen.nl

I haven't been uploading shots from my dogs for quite some time... but they are still there ;-)
These friends are amazing and they make my life so much more complete. Therefore, 2012 is starting off with my beloved girls! Have a wonderful day.

watch SNOET here

www.edgarthissen.nl

I haven't been uploading shots from my dogs for quite some time... but they are still there ;-)
These friends are amazing and they make my life so much more complete. Therefore, 2012 is starting off with my beloved girls! Have a wonderful day.

watch SIMBA here

Wishing you the a wonderful year full of happiness, good health and lots of creativity.
Happy New Year my friends!

*This picture was taken last month in Yala NP, Sri Lanka. Although it doesn't look very spectacular it does show a tusker which is a rarity in the park.

www.edgarthissen.nl

www.edgarthissen.nl

To celebrate my 50th (!) birthday we booked a short trip to Sri Lanka, where we stayed in a bungalow located at the beach. One night we witnessed baby tortoises who had just hatched from their eggs. An amazing experience, especially when we were asked to release them in the ocean...

Within this holiday we found - even shorter - time to visit Yala National Park. A beautiful park rich of wildlife and birds. It's well known for its (relatively) huge population of leopards and in one and a half day safari we had 3 sightings! Unfortunately I was not able to take descent shots because it was either too far away or we saw just a short glimpse of them. Nevertheless, I was lucky to 'have' them for my birthday ;-)

The above picture is taken @ Yala NP.
Have a nice week!

One of the best wildlife experiences was visiting the apes in Uganda. Watching (and smelling) both the Mountain Gorillas and the Chimpanzees in their natural habitat is something you won't forget for the rest of your life...

Here we visited the Kyambura Gorge, located at the border of Queen Elizabeth National Park and known for its population of chimps. With a guide we walked into the steep gorge in search for these chimpanzees. I think we walked for about an hour on the small trails when suddenly the guide asked us to stop and be very quiet. In the distance we saw a group of seven male chimpanzees! They were taking a rest and eating some fruit.
(It's common that first a group of male chimps will explore the forest in search for food. After they have been eating, they go back to the females and kids to show them the places where they can have their lunch).

Slowly we continued the hike and approached the chimps pretty close. It was an amazing sight and I felt my heart beating in my throat! We sat down and were told to stay quiet and not to block the trail. We enjoyed this beautiful group and were able to take some shots. After about 30 minutes the group leader started to walk towards us, followed by the other members. They also walked on the same trail and passed me within a distance of just a few inches! In a way they look rather small, but when they pass that close they appear to be huge!
We followed the group for some time and saw them climbing in the trees on search for food. We stayed another 20 minutes to watch them before we went back to the entrance again...

www.edgarthissen.nl