Day 8 - Savuti Camp additional photo

Day 8 - Savuti Camp additional photo

Since I am on my Blackberry, I can only post 1 photo at a time from this device to my blog. I am here in Johannesburg, and will post again when my internet connection in my hotel is back up. So I will be posting a few more images from Day 8....

Day 8 - Savuti Camp additional photo

Day 8 - Savuti Camp, Linyanti Concession, Botswana

Up at 5:30 again, a light breakfast out on the deck at 6, and we were off by 6:20. It is amazing how different people behave after a cup of coffee, and I am speaking of me as well as the other people in the group. Smiles happen only after that first sip of caffeine.

We pointed the vehicles towards Dish Pan and Rock Pan, and immediately started tracking a pack of wild dogs. Woohoo! My vehicle was a little farther away, and I could hear the other 2 vehicles and their excitement over the airwaves. “matala mathlarelaa matala mathlarelaa”, and I knew they were on to something good.

There are three dog packs near Savuti, and this was the smallest of the three with only 4 adults. When we had our sighting I noticed that there were only 3 of the 4: 2 males and a female. We were lucky in that we saw them right on the Savuti channel, which is much preferred over the thick mopane woodland. They were out in the open, and after a few minutes they started out on their morning hunt. We were able to stick with them, as they never left the water’s edge. What a treat, as wild dogs can be some of the most challenging subjects to photograph.

We gave them room to work, and eventually we saw some impala about 200 meters away. Double cha-ching. The lead dog quickly went into a crouched position, and he had the advantage as he was downwind and the impala had not noticed the pack. After a few moments a chase ensued, and our three vehicles burst into action from behind. The pack split up and we followed one of the males back towards the water. We had hoped that one of the impala went that direction, as we would have the dogs back in the open and would hopefully see a kill at the same time. Well, the strategy paid off and we watched the 2 males chase a lone impala across the channel and onto a swampy island in the middle of the water. The kill happened so fast that nobody was able to see it as we were moving the vehicle just to keep up. So many great things to photograph: wild dogs crossing deep water, a kill, a tawny eagle going in after they were finished, the female dog trying to get to the island, and then finally the dogs’ coming back across the water towards us.

It has been a while since I have filled up a memory card in less than an hour, and this morning I suspect it too much less time than that.

On the afternoon game drive, we took a slow approach to try and fill in our safari with all of the other things that we had not spent enough time working on, like birds, buffalo, landscapes and general plains game. We split off from the other 2 vehicles and decided to spend some time with a rather lively family of elephants, who were down at the channel drinking water. Kane noticed some interesting behavior on the edge of these large pachyderms, and we noticed that one large bull was trying to keep a smaller bull away from one of the females in estrus. The smaller male was approaching the female, and she wasn’t interested in mating with him, despite his ‘5th leg’, which was ready to go into action. The female ran away, and the smaller bull raced after her through the shallow water’s edge. Trailing behind was the larger bull, and the trumpeting and splashing of water was quite amazing to see. These types of events always make me realize that life in the wild is all about sex, violence, eating and sleeping.

After some time spent with this threesome, we continued driving down the channel to the west, and we tracked down the Savuti pride of lions, which includes an adult female and her two sub-adult males. The males are under 2 years of age, however they are already larger than her mother. We initially saw only the 2 males, and after 15 minutes we heard the mother’s quiet roars in the distance. We repositioned the vehicles to witness their reunification, and you can see just how close of a bond the family has.

After a few minutes of loving behavior, they moved towards the channel and positioned themselves to watch over herbivores on the opposite side of the water. These lions are quite smart, in that they had positioned themselves at the end of the backflow, and any animal that wanted on the other side of the channel would have to come face to face with them.

We headed back to camp after sunset, and all talked about what an amazing day it was. After a quick shower, Sean the manager and I heard over the radio that the Duma Tau male leopard was set to walk through camp, and we ran to grab a vehicle to go out and see what was going on. It was already dark outside, and we saw his tracks but could not locate him in the thick bush. When we arrived back in camp, there were numerous camp staff using flashlights along the walkway. Apparently he had walked right through camp and had found his way back out of camp.
At dinner we all had good laughs and smiles, and myself, Grant and James asked each person to tell the group what their favorite moment, memory or photograph from the trip was. I love doing this exercise, as it collectively reminds everybody that we all see and feel different things while out on safari. These kinds of moments help remind me just how much I love my job and career, and how I am doing what I was meant to do with my life. My old software consulting career was less than fulfilling, and I have found something that I am extremely passionate about.

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Day 7 –Savuti Camp, Linyanti Concession, Botswana

We left camp and drove north to the woodland, along the Linyanti River, and there we tracked an adult male leopard, known as the Duma Tau male, and we spent quite a few hours with him. He was relaxed and let us spend time with him as he was lying down on a termite mound. He left after a while and then he spent the next hour actively marking spots with his scent, and he eventually took a viewing position up in a n African ebony tree (jackalberry tree). His position was difficult to photograph, as he was on the end of a small branch in the canopy.

After some repositioning, we found a nice spot where we could photograph him as he came down the tree. This big male must have had a large meal, as he had a huge belly and moved quite slowly. After he left us, he headed towards the mopane forest and we disengaged and didn’t follow him. 2 hours was plenty, we thought.

On our afternoon game drive we left camp and headed towards an area known as Mmantshwe, which means ostrich. Since the Savuti channel is flowing again, the area is better for elephants and buffalo. There we tracked and located a single adult female lion, and for the first time in a few days the sun came out from the clouds and we had the best light one could ask for. She was obviously searching for something, and Goodman told me that she has a few 4-month old cubs and she probably was searching for them.

After an hour of following her along the edge of the Savuti Channel, we realized that her cubs were on the other side of the channel. Cha-ching! This meant that it was likely that she was going to cross the channel to reunite with them. The only thing we needed to do was to figure out where she would cross, and then make sure we were in the most optimum shooting position to take advantage of the crossing.

The lioness let off some mild roars, and the 2 cubs appeared on the other side of the channel. We moved our vehicles to a spot where we could watch her from a 90 degree angle, and we got lucky and also had the light over our shoulders. The water was a crazy cobalt blue, and the light on her was so amazingly orange, and I could hear the cameras shooting away in the background as she swam across the channel.

After a few minutes of watching and photographing the happy reunion, we moved away and stopped for a sundowner drink just as the sun was setting in the distant sky. What an amazing day. Absolutely amazing. These kinds of sightings are what make Savuti one of my favorite locations in all of Africa. There are other camps that produce just as many good sightings, and I cannot wait to visit them on future trips.

Tonight was a braai (BBQ) night at camp, and we dined in the outside boma, set by a roaring fire in the middle. Today was a great day, capped off by a wonderful dinner with happy guests.

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Duma Tau male leopard

Duma Tau male leopard

Duma Tau male leopard

Our beautiful lioness for the afternoon

Lioness about to cross the Savuti channel

Goodman, one of our amazing guides

Lets and Kane take a break from finding the best wildlife around

James and Joe take time to do some chimping

Day 6 –Savuti Camp, Linyanti Concession, Botswana

Today we had yet another overcast day, and it never really got cold at all. Perhaps the mid 50’s isn’t cold for wintertime, and I am sure future days will get cold again. We drove to the open woodland, along the Linyanti River, and we saw herds of giraffe, elephants feeding on the tall grass, baboons and a few wildebeest. We heard some commotion and saw some hyaenas feeding on a day-old giraffe carcass. After 30 minutes, two lionesses came back and wanted to reclaim their kill and the hyaenas quietly walked away. I suspect there was so much meat on the kill that there was enough to go around without too much displacement.

One of the female lions was quite pregnant and should have cubs soon, and the other female had a ‘milky eye’ and was a bit more aggressive. We watched them do the typical dining activities, and we broke off after a little while to go have some coffee and tea. Kills are always a great thing to see, especially for the first time, however it doesn’t always produce the types of photographs that people anticipate.

After lunch we worked with the local wild dog researcher to locate and photograph a pack of wild dogs. Wild dog sightings are rare to begin with, and this one was special because they also had 5 puppies with them. The pack was 17 strong, and we just sat and watched them sleep and play for the afternoon. What a treat. The dogs had a temporary den that they will keep for only a few days, and we worked with the researcher to locate the pack using a radio collar, and it took a fairly decent offroad drive over mopane trees to get there. This sighting was definitely a challenge photographically, because we never did get a good, open area where they were playing.

On the way back to camp, we sat and watched a large herd of elephants cross the road in absolutely perfect light. What a day!

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Day 5 –Chitabe Camp / Savuti Camp, Botswana

Today was our last day at Chitabe Camp, and like the previous mornings, it wasn’t too cold when we started out. It was overcast and more windy today than the past few days. On the days when we are leaving one camp and heading to another, we typically have a shorter morning game drive to allow for an early brunch, packing of duffle bags and time to get to the airstrip.

We knew we wouldn’t be out for more than about 3 hours, so we chose to search for game closer to camp. We found a healthy-sized cape buffalo herd, and chose to spend the bulk of our time with them. When photographing buffalo, if you wait for a long while you may end up with them on all sides of your vehicle. We didn’t have the time to accomplish that particular approach this morning, due to time constraints. We were able to find quite a few red billed oxpeckers on their backs and faces, and chose to home in on the symbiotic relationship between the two.

After a nice brunch, the Chitabe staff sent us on our way with smiles and full bellies. We made it to the airstrip before our pilots arrived, and we took the time to tell bush stories and just chew the fat. On all of my safaris, we always provide whatever it takes to allow people to bring enough camera gear to make the safari successful. On this safari we have provided for a pair of Cessna Caravans for our group, which significantly increased the weight allowance from only 44 pounds to more than double. This is a huge benefit if photography is your main goal from your safari.

After only a 30 minute flight to Savuti, we disembarked our planes and jumped into our safari vehicles. I also had a chance to see my friend and guide Kane, which is an excellent safari photographer and guide. You can see his photographs at www.kanethebushman.com. I helped him setup his web site last year, and he updates his site often.

After a 3:00 tea, we headed out for our first game drive at Savuti. Right outside of camp, we were stopped by a large group of elephants on both sides of the road. A lone bull elephant decided to walk towards us and dined on a healthy diet of minerals about 10 feet from us. We had a great time zooming in and grabbing intimate details of his face, ears and tusks, and when he was through putting on a show for us, he picked up some loose dirt and flung it in our faces. I actually had to turn my D700 + 70-200mm lens upside down just to get the dirt out. Talk about a fun time with a very very relaxed bull elephant that all in the vehicle will remember.

As the sun started to get low in the sky, we worked the edges of the Savuti channel in hopes of picking up lion or leopard tracks. We did track a lion for the better part of 2 hours, however we never could catch up with it before we had to head back to camp.

On the way back to camp, we stopped to photograph a lone bull elephant crossing the channel. The channel is more flooded now than in recent years, and the water is flowing all the way to the Savuti marsh, inside Chobe National Park. This is a significant change since the early 1980’s, as the channel hasn’t held flowing water since that time. The area is lush and green, and elephants are crossing the water quite often.

We were back to camp on the early side, as we didn’t stop for anything on the way back. An early dinner awaited, and now I cannot wait for tomorrow’s game drives, as we have heard of the local wild dog pack’s movements near our camp.

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

James Weis strutting his photographic stuff with BB, our guide

Lone elephant, crossing the Savuti channel at sunset

Day 4 –Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta

We were out of camp early today, and spent the bulk of the morning photographing the animals and birds that make Africa tick: kingfishers along the water’s edge, herds of impala, warthog, hornbills, bateleur eagles, all 3 categories of vultures (rippers, gulpers and scrappers), zebra, wildebeest, elephants, giraffe and all of the other species that can fill up a day of game drives. I didn’t take any photographs this morning, primarily because I was working on teaching panning techniques to people, and how best to do pan blurs depending on each subject and how fast they are moving. It can take quite a bit of time to work on, for sure, but pixels don’t cost anything except temporary CF card space and battery life. If they don’t work out, just delete and try harder.

We had a challenge with the water today, and odds caught up with us and we got stuck for a while. It wasn’t a big deal, as we just went and took some dead wood, jacked up each tire and placed the wood underneath each tire and went on with our business.

The weather on this safari has been much warmer than anticipated, and most mornings aren’t any colder than 50F. The skies are usually cloudy for most of the day and evening, so the lack of clear skies and a lack of any cold fronts are preventing from the colder days. No complaints from me, for sure.

I spent the middle of the day after lunch teaching Lightroom 3 and Nik Software’s Viveza 2 plugin. I have found that this combination really works well for my own photography, and it is a great combination for wildlife photographers. Perhaps this is good content for a future blog post?

This afternoon we tracked a pair of cheetahs into the mopane forest, and it turned out to be the same adult male and female cheetahs from our first full day in Botswana. We had a difficult time getting clear shots of them, as they always seemed to stop in a location where we would have a tree or termite mound in the way. That’s ok, as it teaches patience and good things will come to those who try harder. As you can see I included a few shots of one of the cheetahs, as the other one was rarely in a good position to photograph.

Note: All images in these daily blog postings are very very rough edits of the things we have seen, and I often omit the photographs that take too much time to process. I don’t take much time off during the day, as I am working with people with their photographic needs. All of my images in these posts will have to be re-processed when I get back home, and they are only included in these blog entries for illustration purposes.

Grant, giving his best sour face

BB, one of our excellent guides at Chitabe

Whoops

Just a little behind-the-scenes of what goes on in between incredible wildlife moments: coffee