LIONS and LEOPARDS of KRUGER photo safari trip report - September 2017
Posted by Wild4 Photo Safaris on 2nd Oct 2017
Our second Lions & Leopards of Kruger trip again took us to three very different, but all photo productive places, Ngala, Kruger National Park and Mala Mala, all in South Africa,
Some of the highlights we managed to photograph, were a massive Bull Elephant with wonderful tusks in the Timbavati River, fantastic bird life, a young female Leopard in the Kruger National Park, excellent Elephant, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala and African Elephant sightings at all locations, two different packs of Cape Hunting Dogs and an amazing sighting involving the large 26 strong Lower Sabi Pride, chasing a Warthog, catching it and then having to endure the wrath of a huge herd of African Buffalo. Finally the Lions returned to their Warthog meal after the Buffalo left.
As usual Mala Mala offered amazing sightings, starting off with the Senegal Bush Male Leopard who had killed another Impala, the Teardrop Female Leopard and her two cubs, as well as the Tamboti Female Leopard and the Island female Leopard who managed to finally catch some food, a small baby Scrub Hare. We also saw one male Cheetah and the Kambula pride of Lions which we photographed at night.
On our final morning we again bumped into the Island female Leopard, this time with an Impala kill in a Marula tree, only 100 meters from the boom gate !
Many thanks to all the lodge staff that looked after us at each location and also to our rangers, Bernhard at Ngala and Theo at Mala Mala, thank you for your hard work and patience and for getting us into sightings and spending quality photographic time with the animals. Thanks also to the Wild4 back up team who looked after us so well in the Kruger National Park.
Finally, thank you to the participants, Rita, Veeda and Dick, it was great travelling with you all and I think the Warthog kill in the Kruger National Park was one of mother nature's best..
Enjoy some of the photos below.
Best wishes
Stu
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Stu - just wanted to say a huge thank you to both you and Justyna for putting on such a fantastic safari tour for us. It was truly amazing! Your endless patience with me and your generosity of knowledge was very much appreciated. Thanks to your help and guidance I am now much more competent with my camera and may even have a few photos to show you, at a later date, to prove that I did listen to everything you told me! Justyna - the travel arrangements were impeccable. All flights and transfers went smoothly and without a hitch, and the accommodation was amazing - both in the camps and at the lodges. I even managed to squeeze in a swim and a massage (which I highly recommend) at the lodge in Chobe. It was a real treat! Thank you both once again for a fantastic trip and I am sure that we will meet again in the future!
Kim Tattersall, UK
I could not imagine a more competent and friendly company to take us on a photo safari of Kruger. This was my first visit to Africa, but I never had to worry about anything while on the Wild4 Photo safari. Everything was well planned, including the lodging, meals and "drives" into the game park. Your safari vehicle had lots of room to spread out and it was easy to get photos from both sides. The elevation of the pickup bed is well above ground, so you have the feeling of security and also a good vantage point and angle to shoot photos. I had hundreds of photo opportunities, even with my limited zoom lens and other small cameras. Our guide, Kosie was extremely knowledgeable on the wildlife, birds, trees and even had handy info on his ipad. We certainly had all the "big 5", the "ugly 7" and other categories in the bag after just a few days. We enjoyed seeing several camps and met many fine, helpful people along the way. By the way, the African coffee is excellent, and we took many enjoyable "coffee breaks" during our 10-days in the Kruger. If you want to see the animals...WILD4 Photo Safaris will definitely make that dream come true. Thanks to all. Dave Truax
Dave Truax, USA