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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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
Hi Justyna and Stu, I wanted to say thank you for arranging a trip that exactly reflected the image I had for the trip of my life! James represents your company well; he was the best guide I could have asked for, working tirelessly to ensure that I saw as much activity in the Park as possible. He looked out for my safety and comfort, and he was never reticent about accommodating my viewpoint to the extent he was able and still respect the park and the wildlife. I will never forget this trip; I have also given the name of your company and James as the guide to several people on my travels home. Best regards
Carol Sheppard, USA