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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This was the best photo adventure I have ever experienced. My travel partners were great, the food and lodging were wonderful and most of all I learned a tremendous amount about a variety of photography techinques from the amazing Stu Porter.
www.imagesbyaggie.com
Aggie Pagnillo, USA
I found Wild4 through an article in Popular Photography magazine about how to choose a photo safari. They were one of five recommended in the article. After checking them all out, I saw that Stu and Wild4 offered the kind of experience that I wanted: 1) Small groups of dedicated photographers 2) Variety in wildlife viewing 3) Tuition on photography and wildlife behavior 4) Good communication and organisation. I can say that Wild4 met and exceeded all expectations on all points (and then some).
1) We used one vehicle for three photographers. Stu is a trained photographer himself, so his goal was always to get us into the best position with the best light. Having only three on the tour meant plenty of room for equipment and the ability to shoot from either side of the vehicle when surrounded by a herd of elephants! It also gave us the flexibility to be patient and wait for the shot.
2) The three places we visited each provided a unique experience and wonderful variety in scenery and wildlife viewing.
3) Stu's tuition was excellent. It was there if we needed it but never pushed. Tips, reminders, anecdotes on wildlife behavior. All given with patience and good humor.
4) From the first email, the communication was timely & clear. Justyna was a joy to work with and handled the back-office part of the tour seamlessly. It can't be as easy as she makes it seem.
Wild4 didn't provide the wildlife or the spectacular sunsets that we experienced, but they put us in position to enjoy and capture a little piece of it in our cameras and in our memories. Our Safari was amazing and I would not have changed a thing...well, maybe I would have eaten a little less.
If you're looking for a Photo Safari, there is nothing to consider. Just go ahead and contact Wild4 Photographic Safaris. You will not be sorry.
Doug Croft, 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