POTN Safari around South/West Africa - we are baaack :-)

Very good resource that one ... so seems I will get laughed at in my khaki shorts and hat Well if that happens I'll laugh at their helmet with parting haircuts, too-tight shirts and mildly flared trousers

condyk wrote in post #3707179
How'd ya manage to do that? Fell asleep at the TV?

Hell dude, I got Pentax binknockers so you are well safe from any ribbing that may occur! I used mine way more than my camera last time.

There is a small possibility we may end up in the Central Kalahari depending on how things 'pan' out. Not sure there'll be much to see there at this time of year tho'. The critters like to be around water.

I'd feel less self conscience with Pentax, but it's all good glass. the last Itme I looked through a Pentax anything was a few years ago, the local federal wildlife warden was next to me eyeing the states first Bald Eagle chick in like 150 years..
He had a spotting scope that was Pentax, and it was AMAZING!

A few years back one of the surplus companies I used to buy.. ahem.. ammo, .. form cough cough, was selling some clearance Steiner binocs,. I hesitated to long and too many time, but I would have had some genuine German beauties for under $200.00

Im pretty happy with these Noinks though for about $65.00 they seem very good. The optics have just come a long way since the 1940's vintage ones I use

tommykjensen wrote in post #3707847
I have finnaly made up my mind which lenses I will bring (after I changed my insurrance policy of course so I need to change it again)

So I will bring:

1D MK III (Jake if you bring the charger for MK II I will bring the one for MK III)
5D
100-400
70-200 f/2.8 non-is
24-105 f/4 IS I considered my 24-70 f/2.8 instead but it is just a little too big to fit securely in my bag.
85 f/1.8
1,4x extender


As for that restaurant it looks nice. But is it just me that thinks the Springbok Stir Fry do NOT look appetizing ? (maybe its just the small photo).

I'v been playing with packing clothes thus far, had a semi dry run on gear a few wee4ks back when I got the bag..

Here's what I know I am bringing:
Two Bodies, MkII and either MkIII or 30D (depending on what happens with Canon and my MkIII)
500mm
100-400mm
17-40mm.
1.4x and 2x T-C

The above covers Birds, wildlife and landscapes.

Not sure yet:
135mm I really want to bring it and most likely will as I love it for people.
24-70mm. There are times this range will be perfect, but the 17-40mm and 135mm may solve this at less weight.
70-200mm Only because it is good in low light, and it is a fast pointer an AF for birds in flight even with a TC. If I had the 400mm prime I'd take that for sure instead.

And then the accessories and stuff.. I'll bring 580ex just in case, most likely in checked baggage,. (fyi if any o=is flash less and really wants one I have a 430ex as well let me know)

My bias is towards the 135mm and the rest of my "definite" list, and leaving both f/2.8 zooms behind.. but damn..it's tough to do that.

I'd leave that 100-400mm at home and use the 500mm and 70-200mm. The latter will be a big bonus for lower light morning drives IMO. We'll mainly be in vehicles for wildlife or short walks for hides so the alround/walkaround quality of the 100-400mm not very important. I agree on the 17-40mm and 135mm being a nice combo.

I hadn't planned on bringing a flash. Do you think I need one? I have a 420EX.

I also think I'm going to bring along my Sigma 70-300mm to use when we are walking around. I had planned on using my 17-70mm but I'm afraid it wouldn't have the length I might want. I think the combination will work well for walk around with the Bigma for game drives and Nifty for fun.

Dave, any word on lodging near Chobe yet?

condyk wrote in post #3709755
I'd leave that 100-400mm at home and use the 500mm and 70-200mm. The latter will be a big bonus for lower light morning drives IMO. We'll mainly be in vehicles for wildlife or short walks for hides so the alround/walkaround quality of the 100-400mm not very important. I agree on the 17-40mm and 135mm being a nice combo.

It does seem like a good way to go Dave, I might just swap the 100-400mm for the 70-200mm,. I can use the 1.4X to get me longer when needed...

BeccaNH wrote in post #3710068
I hadn't planned on bringing a flash. Do you think I need one? I have a 420EX.

I also think I'm going to bring along my Sigma 70-300mm to use when we are walking around. I had planned on using my 17-70mm but I'm afraid it wouldn't have the length I might want. I think the combination will work well for walk around with the Bigma for game drives and Nifty for fun.

I wouldn't say "need" no.
I sometime like one for fill with birds and wildlife, but that's also a shooting style thing. if you don't shoot that way, no need to start now....

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #3709558
Im pretty happy with these Noinks though for about $65.00 they seem very good. The optics have just come a long way since the 1940's vintage ones I use

That seems a very nice price ... I got my Pentax ones in Cape Town SH shop and they are quite big and heavy which is a pain. They were looking quite knackered a few weeks back but I stripped them down and got rid of the dust inside and used a lens pen to clean up the externals and now they are fine. I did have some decent pocket ones but seem to have lost them at some point: they would have been better for this trip probably, even tho they didn't have the same range

BeccaNH wrote in post #3710068
I hadn't planned on bringing a flash. Do you think I need one? I have a 420EX. I also think I'm going to bring along my Sigma 70-300mm to use when we are walking around. I had planned on using my 17-70mm but I'm afraid it wouldn't have the length I might want. I think the combination will work well for walk around with the Bigma for game drives and Nifty for fun.

I decided against a flash. There is so much one could bring 'just in case'. I just decided a fast prime would do me and major on only stuff that would get used across the board. As Jake says, unless you specifically use fill for wildlife style shooting it's probably not worth it. There are nearly always workarounds to get specific types of shots.

BeccaNH wrote in post #3711079
Dave, any word on lodging near Chobe yet?

Nope ... is high season there now and 'African time' is a time all of its own and doesn't follow the kinda time we are used to However, I'll drop them another email today.

Oh boy just tried to pack my bag and without the books I will bring the weight including the bag itself came up to 16 kg the airline does allow 20 kg but I really don't want to have that much.

What time do you arrive at Gatwick Tommy?

Tick, tock ... so two weeks today at this time I will have finished tidying my place for my house-sitters and will be having lunch looking at all my stuff thinking about packing it finally; I'll be going through the various bits of paperwork and accommodation bookings and checking I have it all, wondering if I've forgotten anything and then at around 4.00pm double checking my cash, tickets and passport are on my person before going to catch the train from St Albans to Gatwick. Then starts the worse part of the trip, but within 24 hours all the stress and hassle will be over and I'll be heading to the airport to pick up the US posse

My flight lands in Gatwick at 13:40 so I will have 6 hours to kill. But at least I can check in early. (I hate late checkin).

At some point we should probably exchange cellphone numbers so we can get in contact.

We should probably also have at least one of the US posse to have a cell phone and pass the number to us.

tommykjensen wrote in post #3712888
We should probably also have at least one of the US posse to have a cell phone and pass the number to us.

I was thinking the same thing, especially between the US group. We are all coming into DC from different airports, so it would probably be a good idea to be able to check in with each other if anyone runs into a problem on the journey.

If everyone would like to PM me their cell phone numbers (if you are bringing one) I can compile a list and send it out.

Question:

What will be the best time to take the malaria medicine? The instructions for Malarone says to take it with fat food or with milk and preferably at the same time everyday.

Will it be best to take it with breakfast, lunch or dinner when taking into account it should be taken approx at the same time each day?

When I have taken them in the past I have tried to do it at breakfast just so it is done. We will go on game drives 5.00ish 'til 9-10.00am and then have breakfast. If we are camping and have no 'proper' food, just muesli bars or something, then we can have one at breakfast with a bar. My instructions don't specify 'fat' food, tho' does say food or milk. I can't see that being too important.