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| Tailor
made dates |
|
Safari
begins & ends at Johannesburg International
airport |
3
Photographer
seats plus
1 non photographer seat per safari
MAX 4 people (in a 10 seater vehicle) |
| Stu
Porter (qualified Nature Guide and Photographer) |
| Important
flight
and airport info |
|
We begin
our first full day in the Kruger in the early
morning, after a cup of coffee / tea and rusks,
we depart as soon as the camp gates open.
All our food is on board the vehicle with
us and so we can spend the entire day at our
leisure, without having to return to camp
for meals.
Our own private radio-linked spotting vehicle
will be out exploring different roads to us
to increase our chances of coming across good
sightings. |
Southern Kruger has a good road network
and we explore further south toward Transport
Dam, a great place to wait for the animals
as the dry vegetation forces them to slake
their thirst. Waterbuck, Buffalo and herds
of Impala and Zebra often frequent this
dam and with some patience we will be rewarded
with some great photos of the animals as
they come down to drink.
Cheetah and Lion are also resident in the
area and we hope they make an appearance
too.
Later we explore the Granite outcrops around
the Renoster Koppies Pan, hoping to bump
into the resident White Rhino's and the
elusive Leopard.
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At the end
of the day we return to camp just as the sun
goes down and have time to relax and download
photos from the day. Delicious home cooked
dinners are prepared by Justyna while we sit
and enjoy the warmth of our crackling fire
and discuss the highlights of the day's photography.
OVERNIGHT SKUKUZA
CAMP |
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On
the morning of Day 3, we leave camp and head
east to explore the area around Lower Sabie
Camp
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Our
morning starts with a methodical search of
the riverine habitat along the Sabie River.
Leopards are here somewhere - will we be lucky
enough to find them ?
Later in the morning we reach Sunset Dam,
just outside Lower Sabie Camp. The resident
pod of hippo's and crocodiles as well as the
great variety of water birds will keep us
busy for a while.
The afternoon takes us across the Sabie River
onto the Basalt plains below Muntshe mountain.
This is a great area for large herds of Zebra
and elephants. It is also the best area in
the park to get good photos of the colourful
Lilac Breasted Roller.
The South is also home to the majority of
the endangered African Wild dog packs in Kruger
and this will be our best chance of seeing
these highly efficient predators.
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After a
long day in the bush, we arrive back at camp
in time for a nice hot shower and another delicious
dinner.
OVERNIGHT
SKUKUZA CAMP |
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| Leaving Skukuza Camp early, we
wind our way north towards Satara Camp which
will be the last camp we stay at in the Kruger
Park. The central section of Kruger where Satara
is located is perhaps the most beautiful area
for scenery in the park and this area is characterized
by more open plains dominated by Marula and
Knobthorn Trees. |
Being a grassland area, the herbivores gather
here in good numbers. The N'wanetsi River
and bird hide offer great opportunities for
bird photography, with White Faced Ducks,
Egyptian Geese, Malachite Kingfishers and
Saddle BIlled storks being some of the common
visitors. Elephant, buffalo and large numbers
of Giraffe and Zebra are also fairly common.
Centrally located, the camp offers some of
the best drives in Kruger, the Sweni river
to the south and the Timbavati to the north
usually produce good Lion sightings, and the
s100 road, locally regarded as one of the
best drives in the Kruger Park, usually produces
a good variety and quantity of game.
OVERNIGHT at
SATARA CAMP
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Weather
permitting, this area also offers an exclusive
4x4 day trail where a limited number of vehicles
are allowed to drive. We usually obtain a
special permit on this day to drive this beautiful
road where the game is extremely active and
the vehicle activity is quiet (only 6 vehicles
are allowed on the route per day)
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This offers a different experience to the
normal Kruger drives and we stop and enjoy
a picnic on the route, in the middle of the
bush, which is a wonderfully relaxing and
peaceful experience.
We return to camp at the end of our final
full day in the Kruger National Park and enjoy
swapping stories of our adventures thus far.
Satara camp offers an excellent opportunity
to photograph two of our smallest Owls, the
Pearl Spotted and the African Scops. These
two owls are usually quite easy to track down
by listening out for their calls. A walk around
the camp at night has produced some other
nocturnal species such as the Small Spotted
Genet and the Honey Badger.
OVERNIGHT at
SATARA CAMP |
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On our last
morning in Kruger, we head slowly along the
Timbavati River looking out for any last minute
encounters and photo opportunities. We reach
Orpen exit gate at around 10am and depart
the Kruger National Park. |
We arrive at the private
Big Cat Reserve for lunch, where we get to
meet our ranger who will be looking after
us over the next 3 days.
This section of the Safari offers a totally
different experience to the Kruger Park and
you will get unbelievable photo opportunities
and have close encounters with Africa's "Big
5"
Being a private reserve, we have the luxury
of a lot more freedom. We are able to get
off the vehicle and drive off road too, all
under the expert care of our ranger.
After settling into our rooms and a well deserved
rest, we meet again at around 3pm for our
first afternoon drive in the reserve.
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On this section,
you are guaranteed to get great photos of
the Big Cats as we visit them in their large
enclosures. We enter in our private vehicle
and get up close to a Pride of Lions in the
reserves Lion Breeding Project.
in the case of the Cheetah, we go inside their
enclosure, on foot to observe and photograph
these most elegant cats.
An orphaned Leopard offers a great opportunity
for Leopard photography and the photo session
with him usually provides great entertainment
as he jumps in and out of a Marula tree in
pursuit of tasty snacks !
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Over the next 2 days
we will get to photograph Lion, Leopard and
Cheetah as well as a large number of other
animals. National Geographic spent time here
filming Crocodiles and Hippos and we take
advantage of the semi habituated nature of
these dangerous creatures to get really close
to them for some excellent photo opportunities.
There are a number of White Rhino on the property
too which are very approachable as well as
a herd of Cape Buffalo and a free ranging
pride of Lion. Elephant are here too.
We return at the end of each day to enjoy
a wonderful dinner in the "Boma"
around a crackling fire.
In this reserve we can also do night drives
to search for nocturnal animals such as Bush
babies, Porcupines and Genets.
OVERNIGHT 2
NIGHTS AT BIG CAT RESERVE |
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| After our final morning
drive in the Big Cat reserve and a hearty
breakfast, we depart in our air conditioned
mini bus and take a scenic 1 hour drive along
the base of the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains
to our next destination.
Arriving just before lunch, we have some time
to check in and relax and enjoy our new surroundings
in the Forest Lodge where we will be staying
for the next 2 nights.
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After
lunch at the Lodge, we spend the first part
of the afternoon at the Lodge's very own animal
hide, which is at ground level with the Quinine
Tree Forest floor. The waterhole attracts
a large variety of both birds and Mammals.
The rare Red Duiker is a frequent visitor
here. Nyala, Bushbuck, Rhino, Hippo, Zebra
have all been seen at the waterhole during
the day, whilst at night time, Bush Pig, Genet,
Bush babies and Civets are sometimes spotted
here.
Later on in the afternoon we head out in our
private open safari vehicle to set up position
for the daily feeding of up to 400 vultures.
This is a superb opportunity to photograph
these amazing flyers as they circle above
and descend towards the ground. 5 Vulture
species have been recorded here before, Lappet
Faced, White Backed, Cape Griffon, White Headed
and Hooded Vulture. Marabous and other birds
of prey also show up for the feed.
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Once
the feeding frenzy is over, we wait until
they take off again along a clearly chosen
"runway" photographing birds in
flight does not get much better than this
!!
The photography is done between 15:00 and
17:00 when the afternoon light is at its best.
We return to the Forest Lodge and have time
to relax and download some images before enjoying
a delicious dinner on the deck over looking
the quinine tree forest. This brings to an
end yet another full day of unique photographic
opportunities.
OVERNIGHT AT
FOREST LODGE
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Another full
day of photography awaits us and we start
the morning at the Reptile Park with a safety
briefing and orientation. We start photographing
some of the non-venomous inhabitants such
as Giant Plated Lizards, Flap necked Chameleon,
Golden Brown Baboon spider, Rock Scorpion
and Iguana.
We complete our morning session at around
11:45 am and head back to Forest Lodge for
lunch and a well deserved rest.
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We arrive back at the
reptile park in the early afternoon for our
second and perhaps most exciting of our two
sessions. Most people perceive snakes to be
a threat and a danger, here at the reptile
park you will learn that they are not like
this at all. Our experienced handlers, who
have worked with National Geographic, Discovery
and BBC, will point out their amazing features
and capabilities. This is truly a once in
a lifetime opportunity to get some excellent
close up macro shots of Green & Black
Mambas, as well as Habitat shots of the Puff
Adder and Boomslang.
We end the day lying on our bellies, eye level
with a Snouted Cobra, its silky body glowing
in the soft afternoon light. |
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At the end
of the afternoon we head back to Forest Lodge
for dinner. Thick Tailed Bush Babies frequent
the lodge at night and offer a great opportunity
for some flash photography.
OVERNIGHT AT
FOREST LODGE |
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On the final morning
there is an optional walk before breakfast,
or one can photograph the forest creatures
from the hide.
Once packing is done and depending on when
your flight back to JHB leaves, there is also
an optional tour around a Wildlife Rehabilitation
Centre.
At the end of the show, we will head to the
Hoedspruit (Eastgate) airport, about 40 mins
drive from the Forest Lodge. Your plane will
depart around midday and will arrive in Johannesburg
Int Airport no later than 15:30 This should
leave enough time to connect to your international
flight home.
Join us on the "PHOTO SAFARI SAMPLER"
Itinerary for a taste of the good stuff !! |
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*
* * NB * * *
The above itinerary is a sample itinerary. The
camps visited in the Kruger National Park and
number of nights spent at each camp
may vary from trip to trip depending on local
conditions
ie destructive fires (which are fairly common
in the dry season, and also animal movements)
Wild 4 reserves the right to change any itinerary
at anytime, but will inform the participants
of such changes when appropriate. |
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