Day 23 – Tuningi Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Today was a day for giraffes and rhino, and when it comes to giraffe photographs I just don’t have enough great shots of my most favorite of mammals. One of the challenges when photographing giraffes is related to composition: a giraffe’s neck is so long that most of the time the long neck is intersected by a converging line in the background, the horizon. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but the human brain has a difficult time with converging lines. An image that has discordant elements can often lead to an unsettling feeling to a viewer, even though the viewer cannot explain why they don’t respond positively to an image. Well, converging lines typically are not helpful in a photograph, yet these converging lines are omnipresent in nature photographs. Nature is inherently very messy. It is our job as nature photographers to try and make order out of chaos.

I have so many giraffe photographs in my library, yet very very few of them ‘work’ for me. Most of the time it is difficult to explain why, but an easy answer is that converging lines often spoil a photograph. Giraffes are typically found near their food source (duh), which are typically trees that are at least 3 meters tall. These trees often interfere with a clean shot. When I find giraffes away from their food source, they are either walking to another food source or water. My favorite photos of giraffes are when they are on the open plains, away from trees and bushes that can hide some or all of these majestic creatures.

Ok, on to today’s images. We spent some time photographing some giraffes at a water hole, and one of the challenges when photographing drinking giraffes is finding the best position to shoot from. If a giraffe gets nervous while drinking, it will stop drinking, lift its head and walk away. So one has to find the best position prior to drinking. My goal was to find a position that would accentuate the water that drips from the mouth of the giraffe, after the head comes up from the water. This requires side lighting to adequately illuminate the ‘slobber’, but we couldn’t line up the vehicle to make that work. The other challenge with this approach is that the giraffe head comes up from the water very very quickly, and would require at least 1/640 shutter speed to freeze the action. The background was fairly close behind our subject, and this also makes for a compositional challenge. The farther the background is away from the subject, the easier it is to blur the background. This can be a big deal, because a giraffe who is leaning down the drink often needs 6 to 10 feet of depth of field. If you are using a 400mm lens from 75 feet away, this may mean that you need to be shooting at f/11, f/14 or perhaps f/16 to make it work. These f/stops make blurring the background difficult if the background is too close to the giraffe.

Ok, enough technobabble. Here are some quick, unprocessed photos from today.

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 only.

Giraffe drinking water

Day 22 – Tuningi Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Today was a little warmer than the past 3 weeks, and it was very welcome. The sun came out in full force, and the morning warmed up into the 70’sF rather quickly. I had forgotten what it was like to wear shorts, even though back home I haven’t worn long pants to the office in at least 4 or 5 months.

This morning was a little on the quiet side, so I am focusing this entry on the afternoon’s sightings. I really enjoy the winter’s dining schedule, because morning brunch is typically served around 9:30 or so, high tea is at 2:00 and game drives leave around 3:00 or 3:30. Dinner is usually at 7:30, which tends to be within 15 to 30 minutes after getting back from the afternoon game drive. This is great, because I am typically wiped out at the end of the day and there isn’t too much time to mess around after getting back from the game drive.

This afternoon we took off around 3:30, and headed back to one of the more productive watering holes. We were joined by Gerry Van Der Walt and his wife Adele, so it was nice to have a casual drive with friends today. Gerry is a great photographer, and he also runs Photo-Africa.com, a great web site for photo enthusiasts who also love Africa.

Immediately after our arrival at the dam, we found numerous family groups of elephants. There were two large families, one small family and then some sparring bulls scattered throughout. It was a virtual playground of elephants today! I really enjoyed sitting back and just watching their behavior, and how they organize themselves when drinking water. What I mean is that adult female elephants really do look after their young, especially when a family is clumped up together and drinking from a small water source.

My attention quickly went towards two sparring males, and I really enjoyed watching just how gently they pushed each other around, because when they fight for real it can be quite violent.

After the fight, we moved around and noticed three lions deep in the mud. They had obviously taken down an impala, and were ripping it apart. This was definitely a fresh kill, and the challenge was that they were a little far away and not at a good angle for us. We couldn’t get a better angle, so we just sat and waited for them to finish their mud-crusted meal. It took some time, but they moved off the carcass after a while and made their way into the thick bush. I was able to grab one quick shot of one of the lions up on a hill, and the lion was about as muddy as a lion could ever get. She quickly hurried off into the thick bush, and we headed for sundowner drinks after we lost them a few hundred meters into the bush. 

What a great day!

Bull elephants sparring at the watering hole

Bull elephants sparring at the watering hole

Three lions eating in the mud

The lioness, all covered in mud from head to tail. Only her eyes and a little bit of her whiskers were showing

..and she scuttles off into the bush

Adele, Gerry and Leslie take a break

Day 21 – Tuningi Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Leslie and I flew this morning to Gabarone, Botswana, and my friends Gerry and Adele van der Walt picked us up from the airport and drove us into Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa. It is kind of ironic that I had to fly to another country in order to get to the reserve, but it was the fastest and most efficient way of getting here. There is a charter service from Johannesburg directly into Madikwe, but it sure is nice to take a big bird every now and then. We could have rented a car and driven the 3+ hours, but I would have not needed the car upon my arrival in Madikwe. It was actually less expensive and more efficient to just fly on a major airline instead. Oh, and I accumulated some more Star Alliance points. :-)

We stayed at Tuningi Safari Lodge, which is in the western side of Madikwe Game Reserve. Madikwe is a very interesting place, as it was once heavily grazed with cattle. In 1991 it was converted into a wildlife game reserve, and has all of the big 5 within its boundaries. The wildlife was relocated to Madikwe through Operation Phoenix, which was one of the largest wildlife translocation projects in the world. More than 8,000 animals from 28 species were released into Madikwe, which included elephant, rhino, lion, cheetah, wild dog, buffalo, hyena, giraffe and impala. The project was completed in 1997, and today there are more than 100 lions in the included 75,000 hectare property. Madikwe is a malaria-free area, which makes it a wonderful area for family safaris.

Tuningi Safari Lodge has 8 villas, and can accommodate a maximum of 16 people. Leslie and I absolutely loved the accommodations, and felt right at home during our 4 nights there. I would love to bring our sons there when they are older, but 2 years and 4 years old doesn’t work at this time.

After getting settled into the lodge, we headed out for the afternoon game drive. We pretty much spent our afternoon with elephants and rhinos (not a bad thing!) and watched some interesting and funny behavior. We were at one of the water holes and watch 2 family groups of white rhinos drink at the water’s edge. One large male spent the better part of a half an hour scratching his, uh, underside on a dead tree stump. After looking at the stump it was obvious that it has been used quite a bit for similar activities.

This afternoon was such a relaxing afternoon that I didn’t take too many photographs. I sat back, enjoyed my time with Leslie, and chatted with Grant Marcus, our awesome guide. Grant is also a great photographer, and one should visit Grant’s web site to see some of what he sees in and around Madikwe.

We headed back to camp after sunset, and we washed up and had a wonderful dinner around the fireplace in the lodge.

Our room at Tuningi

 

White rhino at the water's edge

..now time to scratch, uh, the 'underside'

..and time to try another position

Days 21 through 25 almost ready....

Sorry for the delay in getting the last part of my safari online. Leslie and I spent 4 nights in Madikwe at Tuningi Safari Lodge with some friends, and during that time we didn't have much time to process photos or post anything online. And then, of course, when we arrived home daily life got in the way.

I will post the remainder of my safari journal online in the next few days, as well as a summary from the African Wildlife Boot Camp. Sorry for the delay!

Day 20 –Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa

Today was the last day of my second safari, and I was very sad to leave Mala Mala. Mala Mala is a very special place, and I plan on spending more time in the Sabi Sands in future years. For me the Sabi Sands area is all about high value photographic subjects in a short amount of time, and it makes for an excellent photographic destination for predators. For that reason I will be back in a few months to run my Leopards of the Sabi Sands trip in early November. I cannot wait to get back.

This morning’s game drive needed to be short, primarily due to the timing of our plane flight back to Johannesburg. We were out by 6:30am, and were back in camp by 8:45. In that short period of time we watched a herd of 36 elephants cross the airstrip, as well as watch the largest male leopard on the reserve, Emsagwen Male, go out on a patrol of his territory. What an awesome way to end the safari. Between our safari group we had 9 sightings of leopards in 4 days. That averages to more than 1 leopard per game drive. What surprised me was that a cold front blew in a few days ago, bringing along high winds, and that typically makes for difficult game viewing. When we have high winds it makes it difficult to hear bird calls, and those calls are one of the things that we rely on to identify and track predators. Additionally, the high winds and cold temperatures cause grazers and browsers to hunker down in the dense woodland, and your prey species are also difficult to locate. It is like somebody stole all of the wildlife. On this safari we relied on good old fashioned visual sightings, as well as using paw prints in the dirt and sand to locate our predators. Even looking for paw prints is difficult, as it is problematic to be able to tell the age of a print when the granules of sand have been swept into the paw print area in a short amount of time.

After our time with Emsagwen Male, we drove quickly back to camp for brunch. On the way back we followed a mother rhino with her baby that couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 weeks old. A nice parting gift for us! But wait, there is more. It started to rain ever so slightly, and a rainbow appeared over the camp in the distance. And then it happened: a double rainbow. A double rainbow, but not the kind where I sound like I am going to cry and then ask “what does this mean?” as if I were stoned as in the YouTube video.

We departed camp by 11 and headed to the airstrip. We said goodbye to our ranger friends and boarded our plane for Johannesburg. The flight only took 1 hour, and after we arrived the whole group split off into different directions. I have to say that I am honored and privileged to have a business where my customers also turn out to be my friends. I am doing what I believe I was put on this earth to do, which is to share my love of photography, Africa and adventure with other people. I couldn’t be in a better profession for my skill sets, as well as my passions.

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 only.

A herd of 36 elephants crossed the airstrip this morning. What a sight, but challenging to photograph

The Emsagwen Male leopard

Double Rainbow all the way. What does this mean?

Day 19 –Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa

Ok, today was the day of all days. Leopards, leopards and more leopards. I am overwhelmed, to say the least, and here is how my day went in the paragraphs below.

We left Rattray’s by 6:30am and worked the road that borders Londolozi to the west. Within 1km of camp we heard a commotion of francolins, and it was clear we had a leopard in our midst. We stopped the vehicle and noticed not one but two leopards in a tree: the Dudley Female and her subadult cub. The cub was working an imapala carcass, and the Dudley Female was too busy paying attention to the young hyaena on the ground. We didn’t have a clear view, unfortunately, and we couldn’t go any closer than about 125 feet. Londolozi and Mala Mala are different properties, and none shall go between them. It’s just how it is, unfortunately. We watched as the Dudley Female jumped down out of the tree towards the hyaena, which totally freaked me out. Typically you will never see a leopard do such a thing, however this time the hyaena was too young to be much of a threat, so she obviously felt comfortable enough to get near it.

2 leopards by 6:45am.

We left the Dudley Female and her cub, and worked our way north and east towards the Sand River. We tracked and intercepted the Bicycle Crossing Male leopard by the river, and we had multiple attempts at photographing him as he walked down a game path. Our approach was to drive around and forward of him, turn around and photograph him as he walked towards us. We did this about 5 times, and I was happy with the photos from this session with him. I last saw him in 2008, and it was great to be near this great leopard again. His size and stature remind me of the late Tjololo, who made it to the cover of National Geographic a few years back. Kim Wolhuter photographed and shot video of Tjololo, and one should seek out some of Kim’s work if interested in beautiful leopard photography.

We followed the Bicycle Crossing Male offroad, and he came upon a skeleton of a wildebeest. He absolutely snuggled and caressed the bones, which was one of the more unusual acts I have seen a leopard engage in. After his intimacy with the dried remains, he then scent marked it as his own and then moved on. We lost track of him in the dense bush, and we had to backtrack to get back to the road.

3 leopards by 7:28am.

Above one of the picnic sites we found the Daughter of Ngoboswan Female, and boy was she a gorgeous leopard. She had a new impala carcass in the tree, and was happily munching away with an adult hyaena at the base of the tree. We were able to move the vehicle around to find some good vantage points, which explains some of the images down below.

4 leopards by 9:45am.

We were so chuffed when we got back to camp, that we decided to eat a quick brunch and head back to the Daughter of Ngoboswan Female to see what else we could yield photographically. Our other vehicles stayed with her when we ate, and when we got back to her the other vehicles moved on for brunch. Rotating vehicles is the only way to make sure that everybody gets good photographs, and I am a fan of this method.

After an amazing set of leopard sightings, we returned back to our mating pair of lions for some more ‘action shots’. J

Dinner was indoors, due to the high winds and cold temperature. It has really turned cold in the past 24 hours, and this morning was 40F with a colder morning forecasted for tomorrow. Time for winter gloves and a winter hat, for sure. It should be around 3C tomorrow morning. BRRRRRRRRR.

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.

The Dudley Female barely makes it into the open

The Dudley Female jumps from her tree in front of a hyaena

The Dudley Female

Bicycle Crossing Male

Bicycle Crossing Male

Bicycle Crossing Male

Bicycle Crossing Male

Daughter of Ngoboswan Female

Daughter of Ngoboswan Female

Daughter of Ngoboswan Female

Lone hyaena, looking for some scraps

Daughter of Ngoboswan Female

Dean, James, Filemon, LaWayne and George

Day 18 –Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa

I haven’t been spending much time with my diary in recent days, primarily because of the limited amount of time to keep on top of it all. My apologies if today’s dairy on the shorter end, but I will try to do a better job in future days.

Today we focused on mating lions, sub adult male lions, kudu, birds and a nice sunset. Not bad!

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 17 –Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa

Gosh, where do I begin? We had such a jam-packed day with so many rich photographic subjects. To put it bluntly, we had lions, lion cubs, leopards and rhino. Ok, so I said it. Now on to the day’s sightings.

We stumbled upon two adult females of the Styx pride, and one of the adult females is quite the legend in the area at 14 years old. She is a different looking lion, in that her nose rides high on her face, and you always know who she is when you see her. She has a young cub at the moment, and it may be the last she will have due to her ‘old’ age. We sat and watched the two lionesses in the open grass opposite Mala Mala Main Camp on the other side of the Sand River, and after an hour we noticed the younger female was interested in a bush buck on the river’s edge. She stalked and eventually took off running after the bush buck, only to end in failure. I could see the excitement in the other photographers’ eyes, as any chase is a great thing to see.

We were back at camp at 10:30 for brunch, and then back out by 3:00. In the wintertime many camps offer breakfast before the morning game drive, however for the next few days were are going to eat brunch after the game drive. This will allow us to get a few more minutes of sleep, without foregoing the good light in the morning. It also helps out the camp staff.

We left camp by 3pm, and photographed more lions in and around the Sand River. We had 3 cubs and 2 adult females, and we had a very difficult time getting clear shots of the cubs in the tall reeds in the river. The mothers felt comfortable enough with us, and the cubs were heard growling for their mothers to provide milk for the hungry little guys. So we had intimate experiences with these gorgeous cats during their nursing activities. I just couldn’t get a clear photograph, due to the tall grass, but it was a great moment indeed. After their feeding, the cubs played in the sand on the water’s edge. We left them and headed towards the west street bridge to photograph white rhinos that had been seen.

Rhinos are funny creatures, and I get a good chuckle when I spend time with them. They are difficult to photograph past the obvious types of shots, so I always have to find new ways of interpreting gestures, moods and behavior. After my obligatory head shots, I noticed that some of them had good gatherings of oxpeckers on their backs, so I tried my best to get these emotional birds in my viewfinder. My biggest challenge was getting a good angle, good light and a good background, but the best I could muster was a background with the bridge in the background. GRRRR. Oh well.

On the way back to camp, we tracked down the son of Ngoboswan, one of my favorite male leopards in the reserve. There are only two others that I enjoy more, and that is the Bicycle Crossing Male and the massive Emsagwen Male, and it was good to see this beautiful guy before the sun went down. He was obviously hunting, so we kept our distance and watched as he tried to sneak up on a nyala in the forest. The nyala had already figured out what was going on, but it was fun to watch the game of cat and mouse until we could barely see in the moon’s light.

At dinner we all laughed about our good fortune, and added up that we had collectively kept Sandisk in business due to our appetite for flash memory.

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.

El Grupo

Oxpeckers on the back of a white rhino