My South African Photo Safari

Lawrence

Senior Member
Allow me an introduction:
About a year ago I decided to arrange a Photo Safari to South Africa. The plan was to arrange a "New Zealanders Only" group to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to view some real wild animals in their natural habitat.
In the end there were 10 of us that went - all from the same camera club.
The focus of the safari was to see Big Cats at real close quarters. The "Big Cats" are defined as Lions and Leopards. Cheetahs are 'small' cats and because of the vast territory that they traverse the chances of seeing them are not so good. However we would take Cheetah and any other animals as New Zealand does not have much by way of wild life.
In this thread I will post some of my photos for you all to enjoy.
It will be a gradual process as I go about processing the hundreds of photos I captured in the 5 days of safari.
I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.
The itinerary was to arrive 2 days earlier than the start of the safari and use those two days to get over any jet-lag issues and to generally acclimatise. We all met at OR Tambo International on the morning of the 26th August and set off in one vehicle for our 2 night stop over before the safari proper. It was a leisurely 8 hour drive with lunch stops and the odd photo opportunity to get to where we would spend the two nights in a little town called Hoedspruit in Limpopo province.
Hoedspruit borders on Kruger National Park or is very close.

To kick the thread off is a photo of a really ugly power station we passed en route. It gives you an idea of the weather we encountered and the scarcity of green foliage - the country is extremely dry at this time of year which makes for fantastic game viewing.

DSC_1718 Power station.jpg
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
We arrived late (ish) at our accommodation and didn't do much. There were a few antelopes and warthog aroun near the camp but we were all a bit knackered and after an early meal hit the sack in anticipation of the following days activities which meant a trip to a underground bird hide.
What we saw and photographed there blew us all away.
There were two hides which could each accommodate 5 people (perfect as it turned out). One hide faced East and the other west so the groups spent half a day in each with the more established photographers being given the better lighting time for each hide.

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Not just birds then ...
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
Looking real good so far Lawrence.
What is that 500 f4 you have there?

Sadly not mine. The tour guide lent it to me for the day.
And the tour owner (a friend of mine) lent me a D750 for the entire trip. I didn't use it often as I was too afraid of something going wrong with it and I would need to replace it.
The combination of my D7100 and my 80-200 f2.8 was perfect in almost every situation we came across.

I'll post another just for fun .

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Moab Man

Senior Member
I have not been as active on here as I would like, very busy with photography so I guess that is a good thing, but in the time I have been gone... these photos you did are spectacular. Being away I can really appreciate how much your photography has grown. Really nice work! And I love the idea of this trip you Kiwi's did.
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
I have not been as active on here as I would like, very busy with photography so I guess that is a good thing, but in the time I have been gone... these photos you did are spectacular. Being away I can really appreciate how much your photography has grown. Really nice work! And I love the idea of this trip you Kiwi's did.

Thanks [MENTION=11881]Moab Man[/MENTION] - I have worked hard on my photography and think I am starting to get there.
This will be an annual event or events where I organise a group and collect at the airport and take them all the way and back. I think it goes down better if everything is organised and pre-paid.
Be fabulous to get a group of 10 Nikonites interested.
We had an even split of photographers and non or semi interested photographers who all enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

All in all a fabulous trip and the photos will testify to that.
Stay tuned for more.

Oh what the hell you've earned one simply by replying.

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cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Very nice shots. Love the detail and clarity @Lawrence. Getting shots I can appreciate and only dream about. Did I say, very nice and looking forward to more.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
They have in the past but it is perfectly safe in the underground hide. The gap for the photographers is over the water and is only wide enough to accommodate a lens.
What's the ventilation like in the underground hide? I would think it might get a bit stuffy with that many people in there all day.
 
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