Kalahari & Cape Photo Safari, South Africa

A PTR Review:

Photo Travel Review only recommends travel agencies that we have used personally. In this review, all expenses were born by the reviewer, and the reviewer received no compensation from Explore.

Photographic Ups & Downs, South Africa 

By Melanie

Speciality holiday; arranged by the renowned tour company, Explore.

Trip undertaken August 2005

Price: £2699, with a local payment of £225. (2005 cost)

(Not in their current itinerary.)

Why go?

There were two sentences in the trip dossier that led me to believe this trip was made for me:

‘On this exciting new route we combine visits to private Wildlife Reserves with classic and lesser-known national parks to provide a real contrast of game, birdlife, scenery and flora.’

‘The magnificent Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - - - - is the real highlight - - - evoking images of shimmering landscapes, rolling red sand dunes, saltpans and vast African skies.

Ideal, I thought, a combination of landscapes (my first love) and wildlife (being a complete novice) with the leader a photography specialist on hand to provide expert tuition and advice.

Itinerary:

Day 1  Fly London to Johannesburg.  Collected from airport by tour leader and guides. Drive to and visit the De Wildt Cheetah Conservation Project .  One night, D, B&B at the De Wildt Cheetah Lodge.

Day 2-4. Drive to Pilanesberg National Park, 2 nights D, B&B at the Bakubung Lodge Hotel.  Twice daily game drives.

Day 4 Early morning game drive in Pilanesberg, followed by a drive to Kuruman Red Sands Country Lodge. 2 nights D, B&B

Day 5 Raptor Centre visit   

Day 6 Drive to Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi National Park, stopping en route for provisions. All our accommodation in the park is self-catering, with guides producing the main meals. One nights’ cottage accommodation.

Day 7-8 Nossob  . Drive to Nossob, with game viewing on the way. 2 nights’ cottage accommodation.

Day 9 & 10  Mata Mata . Initial plans had been to stay at the Mata Mata rest camp, instead we stayed at the Kalahari Tented Camp

Day 11 Augrabies Falls. One night, bungalow accommodation with catering by the wildlife guides.

(The plan had been to spend 2 nights in Augrabies, but the leader decided to break up the journey to Cape Town with the lure of seeing the spectacle of Namaqua Land in flower.)

Day 12 Drive to Springbok with a one night stay at Annie’s Cottage , breakfast included

Day 13 Drive from Springbok to Cape Town. Cape Town Hollow Hotel   for 3 nights. Breakfast included.

Transport from Johnannesburg to Cape Town, including all game drives, was in specially adapted long wheelbase 4X4's.

Day 14 Cape Peninsula National Park , including Hout Bay,  the Cape of Good Hope and the Jackass penguin colony at Boulders Beach

Day 15 Cape Town and Whale watching  at Hermanus

Day 16 Table Mountain and home.

(Transport while in Cape Town was in a minibus, with local guide and driver.)

Highlights

Not having been on a safari before it was thoroughly enjoyable to see the animals and birds of Africa in their natural habitat. Among the memorable moments were: seeing a leopard catch the rising sun high on the skyline then watching it walk down the hill to cross the road in front of us,

observing a female cheetah and her three offspring organise themselves for a hunt, watching raptors fighting, seeing the herds of elephant in Pilanesberg and hearing the lions roaring at night from our beds at Nossob Rest Camp  The animals and birds around the rest camps provided excellent photographic subjects for myself as a wildlife novice, there was more time to pursue them and you were outside the confines of the vehicle.

The colours of the Kgalagadi were incredible.

as were many of the landscapes we drove through travelling between the parks. After close to a week in the dust of the desert Annie’s Cottage  was a welcome gem, we were able to wash off the grime with a real bath.Cape Town was delightful, full of life and a wealth of photo opportunities.

With Table Mountain on the doorstep of the very comfortable Cape Town Hollow Hotel it was difficult to want more.

Lowlights

The real frustration of the trip was not having the opportunity for landscape photography. Outside the rest camps, picnic areas and the very sparse hide, you are not allowed out of your vehicle. Landscape photography from a vehicle, just isn’t the same as getting out your tripod and on your knees.

Our tour leader, despite the trip description, was not forthcoming with his photographic expertise. The majority of the group felt he had his own agenda, and were of the opinion he was using the trip as reconnaissance to design his own tours. He did not join us for two of our days in Cape Town but went about doing his own thing. When the best wildlife photographic opportunities presented themselves he kept his eye fixed to his own viewfinder and did not return the courtesy of moving seat to allow others to get a chance of a shot.

I was sorry we did not have the planned 2 nights at Augrabies Falls NP, as here there were walking trails and the rock formations were magical. In addition to losing a night in Augrabies, we were told we had missed the flowers in Namaqualand, we did witness many by the roadside making me question that statement.

Having looked forward so much to seeing penguins in the wild Boulders Beach was a disappointment. In order to help protect the colony, wooden walkways have been constructed; there is an entrance building where you pay a fee both of which made the place feel more like a zoo.

Recommendations based on my own experience

If you are planning photography go either with a reputable, dedicated photo guide/operator or do it yourself.

The programme covered some long distances meaning valuable ‘shooting time’ was wasted while ‘on the road’. In the future I would restrict myself to just one or two specific regions with more time to spend getting to know the area, the animals and their movements.

If you visit the Kgalagadi in the winter make sure you take some warm clothes. The trip information we were given was to take a fleece and windproof jacket as the nights could get cold. Despite that on many early morning drives most of us were bitterly cold, that the tour leader was wearing a down jacket tells you something about the organisation of this particular trip!!!

For those travelling independantly, you cannot use credit cards to purchase petrol in South Africa, make sure you have cash to hand for this.

Recommended Photo Gear

At the time of the trip I had Canon 10D and 20D bodies. I left a wide-angle (17-40L) on the 10D and used the 100-400 IS L on the 20D. Now I have the faster 1Ds MKIIN, I would take that. I would love to have a long, fast prime lens, but as primarily a landscape tog, I can’t justify the money. My advice would be to take what you will find most versatile and the best quality you can afford. If you are primarily a wildlife photographer, you don’t need any advice from me! If you have two DSLR bodies, keep your long lens permanantly fixed to one to prevent the ingress of dust onto the sensor.

Dust is a big problem, try to keep your camera covered in the vehicle and if you are not using it than keep it in a zipped bag. Take something to clean your sensor, the Arctic Butterfly  is ideal.

In a shared vehicle a beanbag is indispensable. I use this one,  you can position it quickly and can keep it handy by your feet. You may consider the Ergorest.

If space is short you may be well advised to leave your tripod at home, the times you will use it are few and far between.

Peculiar to South Africa are the round pin electrical plugs needed and you will need to take your own adapter UK ,  US  with you to the rest camps. Voltage 220/230 volts AC 50Hz. Visitors from the US may need a transformer.

When to go

The African winter (June – September) is best for wildlife. This is the dry season and the animals will congregate towards water. Vegetation for camouflage will be at a minimum.

Will I go again?

Explore generally provide a high quality of service and I suspect this trip was not one of their best. It has now been dropped from their program. I would highly recommend the Kgalagadi National Park, it is a true wilderness and the wildlife watching opportunites can be fantastic. Rest Camps within the National Parks of South Africa are very reasonably priced. I would love to go the Kgalagadi again, but would do the trip independently or with the help of a service such as The Tourist’s Friend .

Namibia and Botswana are next on my wish list of safari destinations, I will take with me much that I learned from this trip.

as it did not live up to its description with the tour leader lacking in enthusiasm for guidance and sharing. In the absence of our tour leader it could have easily been a 4 star trip as the wildlife guides/drivers were excellent.

Recommended Reading

Lonely Planet Wildlife photography: A Guide To Taking Better Pictures by Andy Rouse

The Power of One by Bryce Courtney (fiction)  

Lonely Planet Watching Wildlife: Southern Africa

UK travellers. PTR recommendations for insurance:

Travel insurance and camera insurance.