Cape Peninsula, Timbavati and Sabi Sand in May

[FlyTraveler]

I am hanging out to hear the rest of your report! We are heading to Motswari in October and I've just been Facebook chatting to Chad to see if we can lock him in as our guide. Looking forward to your ongoing report. Cheers.

 

You should see a lot more wildlife in Motswari in October (the end of the dry season). Would be great to go on game drives with Chad, he was on a leave while we were there, not that we didn't like the other guides, but Chad is also a great photographer. We liked the atmosphere in Motswari very much and I am sure that you will have a ball there.

[Marks]

No need to apologize for the non-safari portion! The microlight looks rather thrilling and very scenic, of course.

 

Chad Cocking's articles in Africa Geographic were hilarious. My favorite was his article about using the term "hallucination of pangolins" to describe a group of them.

 

Excellent photos of the leopards in the tree. That blue sky is the perfect shade behind them, too; I have a few leopard-in-tree pictures where the gray/white sky in the background blows out the image. These, on the other hand, work beautifully.

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Morning game drive. May 20, 2014.

 

 

After spending about 15 minutes at the leopards sighting (three vehicles only were allowed per sighting and there were others waiting), we drove away. Our guide Harold spotted a single white rhino in the bush and asked us if we wanted to follow it on foot. We liked the idea and Harold loaded the riffle with live ammunition.

 

 

 

We (three guests plus the guide) followed the rhino at about 40 meters distance and if the rhino stopped we would stop, as well. At certain point Harold said that the rhino knew we were there, but it looked quite relaxed, so he decided to come closer. As you all know, rhinos have a very poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and sense of smell. We shortened the distance between the rhino and us to about 30 meters when it started walking directly towards us. Harold told us to go behind a tree, which I did, but my wife and another female guest just froze. Fortunately at a distance about 15 meters the rhino changed direction and walked away. I tried to smell the air around, but it didn't seem like anyone has done something in the pants

 

Now I could say that I have had a limited walking safari experience.

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Afternoon game drive. May 20, 2014.

 

This PM drive was kind of slow, there were some elephants and impalas, but I don't think that the photos are worth posting. I took also some photos of birds and hippos.

 

Southern yellow-billed hornbills, photos are not incredibly sharp, but you will be able to recognize the birds

 

 

 

 

A couple of Saddle-billed storks caught my attention - I believe the male tried to impress the female with a fabulous ballet performance. Unfortunately they were quite far from us and these were pretty much the best photos I could take with my low-end 70-300 mm VR lens:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Than one of them flew away (couldn't tell whether this was the male or the female):

 

 

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Afternoon game drive. May 20, 2014.

 

And to call the day off - some photos of hippos and a Timbavati sunset:

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

@@FlyTraveler,I love the sunset and the yellow-billed takeoff!

[FlyTraveler]

@@FlyTraveler,I love the sunset and the yellow-billed takeoff!

Thanks, @@Peter Connan! I tried to catch different birds in flight on this trip (including some kingfishers in Botswana), but it is very hard (for me) to get good results

[Peter Connan]

It's very hard for anybody, believe me...

 

Good equipment and lots of practice helps.

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Morning game drive. May 21, 2014.

 

This was our last game drive with Harold and Difference, they both were going on a leave right after that. We had to change guide and tracker for the remaining two drives. The drive was slow - no idea if it was because they were leaving and didn't feel like pushing it

 

Harold took us to spotted hyenas' den and we spent most of the time there, observing and photographing the members of the clan, both adults and pups. I wish it was wild dogs' den, but Harold said that wild dogs would not be denning in the area until much later during the dry season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Great pictures of the hyena interactions. I think they are fascinating animals!

[FlyTraveler]

Great pictures of the hyena interactions. I think they are fascinating animals!

 

Thanks, @@TonyQ! Hyenas are not my favorite wild animals, but nevertheless it was very interesting to hang around the den and observe their behavior.

[Peter Connan]

Wonderful Hyena sequence Fly!

[Marks]

Great hyenas! I just love them.

Also nice detail on the hippos; look at that network of scars running across its back. What a life it must have led.

[FlyTraveler]

Thanks @@Peter Connan and @@Marks! I just realized that I have missed several sightings from the same game drive when we saw the hyenas and from the day before. I knew it couldn't be just the hyenas for the entire morning game drive...

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Morning game drive. May 21, 2014.

 

Well, as I mentioned in the above post, I have missed a small detail about this game drive - we were charged by a female cape buffalo, that's correct, buffalo don't do mock charges (as far, as I know), it was for real. Unfortunately I did not get photos of the charge, so you would have to accept my word for it (my wife took the very beginning on video, but switched off the camcorder since she braced for an impact).

 

We ran into a herd of cape buffalo at a dam and stopped to observe and to photograph them for a while. This was perhaps the most beautiful sighting of buffalo that I have seen up to this moment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we drove around to look for lions (the tracker Difference had found some tracks). Couldn't find the lions, so we decided to go back to the buffalo herd. The herd wasn't at the dam any longer, there were just a single cow with a calf left. At first she hid with the calf behind a bush, then suddenly started running towards us. Harold quickly started the engine and stepped on the acceleration pedal. The buffalo came really close to the vehicle (about 2-3 meters), but then the Land Rover gained speed and we slipped away. Everything happened so fast, that it seemed to me that it is not actually happening to us and I am rather seeing it on a movie, so I was even laughing about it. The guide didn't feel like laughing, though.

 

I also missed a few sightings from the day before (no charges this time ), but I will catch up with them in the next installment.

Edited June 16, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

As I mentioned in the post above, I will go back to the previous day to cover some sightings that I forgot about (actually I didn't forget them, just thought that they took place on a different day - sometimes it's useful to go through the videos in order to refresh one's memory regarding the order and timing of events).

 

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Afternoon game drive. May 20, 2014

 

Continuing the hippo family theme with two more photos:

 

 

 

 

Next to the dam we found a group of waterbucks:

 

 

 

Then spent some time amongst a breeding herd of elephants, some of which came really close to the vehicle:

 

 

 

Elephant butts - big, big and bigger:

 

 

 

These "extended" eyelashes:

 

 

 

The young individuals are not allowed to use cosmetic procedures

 

 

 

Miss May posing for Wildlife Playboy magazine photo:

 

Edited June 16, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Afternoon game drive, which turned into a night safari. May 20, 2014

 

I will conclude the missed sightings for May 20 with our night safari (the after-dark portion of the afternoon game drive). Harlod managed to find a leopardess in the dark. He knew that particular animal, he said that she has been very shy and difficult to observe during the day. During the night she seemed quite relaxed, though and did not seem to be bothered by the tracker's spot light. That was the second leopard sighting with total of 3 individual animals observed for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the lodge, Difference (the tracker) spotted a chameleon:

 

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Afternoon game drive / night safari. May 21, 2014

 

 

Our guide Harold and tracker Difference have gone on a leave after the morning game drive so we did the remaining two drives in Motswari with Richard (guide) and Petrus (tracker). I liked Richard's sense of humor and he also proved to be very knowledgeable guide, especially when asked the right questions. The drive was a bit slow, compared to the previous drives in the reserve.

 

Couple of steenboks:

 

 

 

 

Then we run into a lone lioness who was calling the rest of the pride:

 

 

 

 

 

After the lioness we "scored" a giant eagle owl:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This must have been our owl night, because shorty after the giant eagle owl, we saw a spotted eagle owl:

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Our last (morning) game drive at this lodge. May 22, 2014

 

According to my modest safari experience, usually last game drives tend to be quite rewarding and this one was no exception. We got a nice sunrise with beautiful morning sun light. I managed to take a few good photos of cape buffalo bull and cow hidden behind branches and leaves. In cases like this I really appreciated the fact that I learned to use back button auto focusing, instead of the standard way of doing it via the half pressed shutter release button:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timbavati sunrise:

 

 

 

Timbavati Autumn landscapes with safari vehicle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunrise with safari vehicle:

 

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by FlyTraveler

[Marks]

According to my modest safari experience, usually last game drives tend to be quite rewarding and this one was no exception. We got a nice sunrise with beautiful morning sun light. I managed to take a few good photos of cape buffalo bull and cow hidden behind branches and leaves. In cases like this I really appreciated the fact that I learned to use back button auto focusing, instead of the standard way of doing it via the half pressed shutter release button:

 

What is the advantage of this technique? I don't know too much about photography and haven't head this before.

Love the owl photos.

[twaffle]

Enjoying this report very much.

[FlyTraveler]

 

According to my modest safari experience, usually last game drives tend to be quite rewarding and this one was no exception. We got a nice sunrise with beautiful morning sun light. I managed to take a few good photos of cape buffalo bull and cow hidden behind branches and leaves. In cases like this I really appreciated the fact that I learned to use back button auto focusing, instead of the standard way of doing it via the half pressed shutter release button:

 

What is the advantage of this technique? I don't know too much about photography and haven't head this before.

Love the owl photos.

 

 

This way you separate the two actions (auto-focusing and firing a shot). If there is an animal behind brunches, leaves or grass, you auto-focus when there is a visible part of the animal exposed, then you can keep taking pictures without the auto-focus system getting "confused" because of branches or grass between you and the animal. You can also leave your camera on continuous focus permanently. If you need a single focus, just tap the focus button once, if you need continuous focus, keep it pressed while firing shots, no need to change from one mode to the other. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, you get a few more "tools" in the box.

[FlyTraveler]

Enjoying this report very much.

 

Thanks @@twaffle!

[FlyTraveler]

Motswari Lodge, Timbavati. Our last (morning) game drive at this lodge. May 22, 2014

 

 

Richard and Petrus found a lion pride (adult females and sub-adult cubs) lying in the grass. The "golden hour" light, right after sunrise and the proximity of the animals gave us some good photo opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marks]

This way you separate the two actions (auto-focusing and firing a shot). If there is an animal behind brunches, leaves or grass, you auto-focus when there is a visible part of the animal exposed, then you can keep taking pictures without the auto-focus system getting "confused" because of branches or grass between you and the animal. You can also leave your camera on continuous focus permanently. If you need a single focus, just tap the focus button once, if you need continuous focus, keep it pressed while firing shots, no need to change from one mode to the other. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, you get a few more "tools" in the box.

 

 

So you are essentially saving yourself from refocusing for every single shot (and potentially focusing on the wrong thing), even while otherwise shooting on auto? That does sound useful, thanks. I'll have to see if my camera can do this!

Edited June 18, 2014 by Marks