(Nomad: Day 1391),
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt,
I had an incredible experience recording lions the other day. Everything went really well; it actually happens way better than I would have imagined.
Ashraf the owner was really talented with the animals and helped me all the time I was there. He and his team knew exactly what to do and how to make the animals do different kinds of sounds. I was able to capture from very close with details and using my bat recorder that records up to 384 kHz. Also, each of the animals had a different timbre. There were fewer animals than I was expecting, but it was way enough to have something to record at all times. There were 4 males, 4 females, and 4 babies. It got incredibly rich and diversified materials. I am very happy with the outcome. The only challenge and downside was the wind, which sometimes picked up in the mics. The other thing was my bat recorder that did not work properly. Since it is the first time I am trying this config, I recorded with the short shotgun, and wide cardio, but also with this bat recorder (which records to 384kHz), but at some point, it stopped working and I did not notice it until I was back home. So I got half the sound in 96kHz and half in 384kHz. It was kind of an experiment and I don’t think it is a big deal, as I already got many great sounds, more than I was expecting. I will be more careful next time. The other thing is the solidity of my custom that went through a hard test. For this kind of recordings, I would have liked to make the kit more robust. In fact, at some moment the lions were playing with the mics and slapped them with their paws which cause some elements to get detached and fall on the ground. Hopefully, no real damage happened.
All in all, this was really a unique experience that I will surely remember.
Yesterday was more of a chill day, I stayed around my place, went to cafes, and did some sports.
I received my evisa for Kenya, I just need to de a pcr test before Sunday, and I am all set!
Today I will try to visit the more modern side of Cairo, with the district of Nasr, and New Cairo. I am curious to see these places even though there is almost nothing that would attract visitors to these places. Indeed, since I arrived in Egypt, I stayed almost only in old places, with narrow streets and crumbling infrastructures; thus I wish to see how modern Egypt looks like.
