CUSTOM photo safari to the Kruger, Mala Mala & Tswalu - August 2018
Posted by Wild4 Photo Safaris on 21st Aug 2018
This was a 10 night custom photo safari spent at three locations in South Africa, namely the Kruger National Park, Mala Mala and Tswalu Kalahari.
The tour began with the Kruger National Park where we had to endure some very unseasonal and cold weather. Some of our highlights in the Kruger were a pack of African Wilddogs, Elephant, Spotted Hyaena, Greater Kudu, a coalition of 4 male Lions and some great birds including the two smallest Owls, the Pearl Spotted and the African Barred.
Next stop was three nights at Mala Mala, here we were lucky to see the Kambula Lioness that has small cubs, she crossed the Sand River for us. We saw 4 different Leopards, a beautiful Nyala Bull displaying and a most incredible Lion experieince which involved two different prides fighting over and Impala kill and over territory.
Our final stay was at Tswalu Kalahari Reserve which really is a unique place with some very different species. Some of our highlights at Tswalu were the beautiful Roan and Sable antelopes, Giraffe, Tsessebe, Oryx and the African Wilddogs with their puppies. We also had a brief sighting of the rarely seen Pangolin. We managed to spend time with two different groups of Meerkats, both of which had youngsters with them, the youngest were only 3 weeks old.
Many thanks to the WILD4 TEAM for all your fantastic catering in the Kruger Park, the staff at both Mala Mala and Tswalu and to our rangers, Pieter at Mala Mala and Kyle at Tswalu - thank you for your patience and for working so hard to get us into some wonderful sightings and some great photos..
A huge thank you to our clients, Jon and Bernice for travelling with us on this custom photo safari.
Enoy some of the photos !!
Best wishes
Stu
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Everything about my first Safari with Wild4 was so outstanding that I was afraid the second would pale in comparison. I needn't have worried! It was a huge success! Communications, details, accommodations all handled expertly by Justyna. Making sure that we got into the right situations and stayed with them long enough to get the shot handled incredibly by Stu. Susan was not a photographer when we began this journey, but Stu's patient tutoring assured that she came home with some fantastic photographs as well! Our heartfelt thanks to the whole Wild4 family! We'll be back...
Doug & Susan Croft, USA
Shopping for a travel adventure on the Web is somewhat risky, but when I wanted to go on an African photo safari, I really had no choice. I looked around and finally picked Wild4 Photographic Safaris for one reason: the vehicle.
It was obvious that this was an outfit that understood photographic details and the needs of serious wildlife photographers. With a capacity for 10 passengers, the vehicle takes just three photographers. The three photographers' benches feature platforms to steady big lenses on both sides of the vehicle, and loads of storage space and pockets for lenses, bodies, accessories, binoculars, field guides, water, etc. I can not imagine a better platform for photography in the bush veldt.
What is not as obvious in the on-line description is that the vehicle comes equipped with Stu Porter, the Wild4 owner and guide. Stu, who bears a striking resemblance to movie actor Matt Damon, is a deceptively shy young man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Kruger National Park, its animals, geography, geology, climate, seasons, and, of course, rules. He also has the eyes of an eagle and is the best leopard spotter in South Africa.
Stu's knowledge and patience are seemingly infinite, and he somehow manages to be aware both of his passengers' needs and everything around us. He does everything humanly possible to give you the opportunity to get the best shot. And if you need more than just the opportunity, he can instruct even the most seasoned photographer on technique.
Stu grew up next to Kruger National Park, and his mother (who does the meal preparation for the safari) started taking him there as soon as he was old enough. He has been accumulating his knowledge of the park and its animals all his life, and that comes in very handy when you need to know something about animal behavior.
In short, Wild4 Photographic Safaris is all about the vehicle, with spacious seats, shooting platforms and Stu Porter as standard equipment. You can't do better.
Thank you, Stu!
George Cathcart, USA
What fantastic sightings! - Including a pangolin - how special! Was the rhino carcass at Mala Mala another poaching victim?
Sharon Thorp - August 21st, 2018 at 11:02pm