South Africa: 3 weeks and 3 days = 5 lodges and 5 reserves

OOps forgot the forgot to upload the springbok.

BTW, while on Madikwe, I decided that this trip I would spend more time working on 'pan shots' to get more gesture into my compositions. Here is one of my early attempts at a hartebeest which was actually walking fairly slowly but the pan gave the iamge some action.

One other disappoint at Madikwe was my own fault. Some other general guests of the lodge chose to do a walking safari mid-day. I was offered to go along; however my experience is that game runs away and you learn a lot about plants and bugs so I passed and took a mid-day nap. everyone came away with AMAZING photos of 4 male cheetah. I'm talking iPhone photos that filled the screen with cat from end to end .... and of course I did not see any cheetah when we went back to that area on the afternoon drive. Hey, it's not a zoo and if you snooze you lose.

So that's about it for Madikwe. On the last day, I did pick up a nice sunrise morning shot and also a nice shot of zebra on the dam. The 4 days past quickly at Madikwe and I would encourage folks to give this property a try.

That afternoon, I drove back to Johannesberg airport area (less than 5 hours) and met the 7 guests I led for the next legs of our trip into Timbavati. Since Madikwe was only a scouting tease, I was now excited for the 'main event' and I think my guests could sense it.

Outstanding.... Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful photos, glad you enjoyed SA.

Its Joburg btw, "burg" means town or fortress, "berg" means mountain or hill

If you ever do it again I highly recommend the Tsitsikamma National Park, its a protected coastal reserve so a completely different type of wildlife and the Addo Elephant Park, and wind the trip off at Jeffrey's bay if you into surfing.


Thanks for posting

Excellent thread, really enjoyed it!

FerozeK wrote in post #17642705
Beautiful photos, glad you enjoyed SA.

Its Joburg btw, "burg" means town or fortress, "berg" means mountain or hill

I'm constantly getting this wrong. Thanks for clarification.

btw, I will be back in September with a group, but we are locked into a Chobe/Cape Town, wine, Hermanus schedule.

Buddy - I'm really enjoying your trip report. I was about to say that's an impala in post 12, not a springbok but I see you added the sprinkbok in 16.

I've been to South Africa a few times for safari (as well as combining it with Botswana and Namibia on trips) but have not been to Madikwe. I love the Timbavati and have trip number 4 planned for there (this time combining it with the Kalahari and South Luangwa in Zambia). In the end if the transition day in Joburg was not a concern, would you still include Madikwe? Would you recommend including it with a Timbavati and Sabi Sand itinerary for a bit more variety?

Thanks

wanyc wrote in post #17642722
In the end if the transition day in Joburg was not a concern, would you still include Madikwe? Would you recommend including it with a Timbavati and Sabi Sand itinerary for a bit more variety?

I'm still up in the air on Madikwe. Here are my concerns:
a) no off road for elephants, rhino and buffalo ... but in your case you will have them from the Greater Kruger trip
b) bush is very heavy in many areas, so off road tracking or viewing game in bush can be a challenge.

While those are a challenge, I will say here are some reasons to go:
a) excellent lodges, meals and staff at Jaci's and Jaci's Tree House. Owner Jay is a true hotel expert as well as lover of the bush.
b) new 'Terrapin Hide', this is going to give you shots of a lifetime. I've shot from a similar bunker and have images that will blow your mind (one attached)
c) brown hyena, ostrich, cheetah, black rhino, springbok, etc. A lot of game you don't see in the lowveld but would see in the Kalahari.

Yes, I plan to be back and do recommend this as an add on. BTW, you can also fly directly there with FedAir.

Subscribed. I'm thoroughly enjoying the photos as well as the accompanying verbiage.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your trip and knowledge.

What an amazing thread. Beautiful images and great stories. Love the panning shot and the elephant shot is out of this world.
Very much enjoying the tour!

I think I'll take you as a guide if I could ever afford a trip like this.

If I may ask... what kind of budget would something like this take? 20k?

Great work! Did you find the zooms were the way to go in your case, or do you think you could have pulled most of that off with primes? I keep going back to the first two - love all the elements you included in those.

Talley wrote in post #17642956
I think I'll take you as a guide if I could ever afford a trip like this.

If I may ask... what kind of budget would something like this take? 20k?

Talley, actually trips like there can cost much less than you think. This trip of 7 days in Timbavati and 5 days in Zimanga was around $7200. That includes all meals, flights inside of Africa, transfers, guides, park fees, etc. Wine and liquor as well as laundry and tips were extra. Airfare from the U.S. will run an additional $1,000 to $1,600 depending on season. I work hard with my Africa contacts and try to bring trips in at less than $400/day as a final price plus airfare from US. Not trying to sell here, but my trips are listed at www.magnumexcursions.c​om. I'm retired with a pension, so I'm not doing these to grow a big company. I do this basically to teach folks photography and to get to shoot myself. I will be posting the 2016 schedule in Sept/Oct. but you can expect a June trip and an Aug trip usually.

Wow, this is some top notch stuff!

Moar!!!

AZ Pix wrote in post #17642961
Did you find the zooms were the way to go in your case, or do you think you could have pulled most of that off with primes? I keep going back to the first two - love all the elements you included in those.

I plan to end the journal with a summary of equipment pro's and con's.

I will say up front my plan was to shoot the 5D MkIII in bad light and close and shoot the 7D MkII once the light was better after sunrise. That said, I got comfortable with the 5D MkIII up to around ISO 5000 and was okay with the 7D MkII up to ISO 3200 but there were conditions where the 5D MkIII got pushed past ISO 10,000 and did fair. The 7D MkII was strong below ISO 1600 and adequate at ISO 3200.

From a lens point of view, I'm really impressed with the 100-400 Ver2. Incredibly sharp and fast focusing. The combo was much lighter than my 400mm DO (ver 1) or my beast of a 500mm f/4 (ver 1 also). We were close enough that the lens length was ample. Several on the trip had the 300mm f/2.8 and I envied their ability to shoot higher shutter speeds in low light, but upon examining many of their shots, I found the dof was often too shallow, with the eyes sharp but nose soft and vice versa. For those with fast glass, remember how short the dof gets when you are close to a subject. I love bokeh too, but it's okay to shoot a lion from 30 feet at f/5.6 or f/8. I did feel the twin 100-400 concept created too much overlap. Near the end, I would put the 24-105 on the 7D and the 100-400 on the 5D body. When I wanted more of a sense of place shot, the 24-105 would be put on my 5D MkIII. I had a teleconverter with me also but never used it.