The South African Predators Safari: Day 1 – 5

As always, we started this wonderful photo safari in the beautiful city of Cape Town, and spent the first few days seeing all that the city has to offer. We hit all the hotspots, including the always entertaining penguins which got the cameras working nice and early. The winds did pick up over the stay unfortunately, meaning that the great white shark excursions were called off, but we found ourselves face to face with the massive southern right whales instead! A great start to a great safari.

The Tanzania Safari: Day 11

Our final morning safari finished us off on the right note. We had kept a bird list throughout the safari, and needed a few more birds to break the elusive 200 mark, which we did comfortably. There were many buffalos out and about, as well as a large male elephant. 2 black-backed jackals kept us company for a good while, but the prize went to a lonely hippo that was making its way back to the river; it caught wind of us and made a breaking run – great for the cameras! Finishing a photo safari always drops the lips a little, but it is made easier when you finish with amazing images!

Major sightings of the day:

Many sightings of male buffalos

2 black-backed jackals

1 male elephant

To join us on safari, click here!

The Tanzania Safari: Day 10

Hearing about the arrival of large herds of zebra from the south, we set out quite early to see if we could find them. The scene was already set for us with clear blue skies, and lovely, soft green grass, so when we found the zebras, it was easy-shooting for the cameras. Massive herds of zebra, which had been joined by lots of topi were scattered all around the plains. In between all the zebra’s legs, we found a small bat-eared fox hidden in the grass, and again, up in the trees, a pride of lions. Late in the afternoon, we spent a lot of time around the river enjoying the many crocodiles and hippos, and in a first for FiveZero Safaris, we spotted some black-and-white colobus monkeys high in the treetops! A wonderful barbeque dinner was waiting for us when we returned, closely followed by a very comfortable nights sleep.

Major sightings of the day:

Herd of Buffalo

Many sightings of male buffalo

Large herds of Zebra and topi

Bat-eared fox

2 sightings of black-backed jackal

Pride of lions

6 hyenas

Elephant herd

Many crocodiles

Many hippos

3 black-and-white-colobus monkeys

To join us on safari, click here!

The Tanzania Safari: Day 9

We went out in search of some big cats, and were well rewarded for making the effort. A very graceful and relaxed leopard started us off, sitting in her tree hideout surveying the land, and a pride of lions, with 4 2-month old cubs closed out the day for us. We found these lions resting up in a tree, looking surprisingly relaxed for a lion in a tree (although not quite as relaxed as leopards in trees). The little cubs had been hiding in the grass on the floor, and when the mother came down, they all rushed out to greet her. It is always special to see such young lions, so when they came out into the open, the cameras were put to work! The day was punctuated throughout by the always-present elephants and buffalo, and topped off with some great bird sightings. Getting back to a cold drink on the banks of the Grumeti River that is filled with hippos is a magic way to end yet another wonderful day on safari!

Major sightings of the day:

2 elephant herds

Female leopard

2 male buffalo

5 lionesses, 1 male lion and 4 small cubs

To join us on safari, click here!

The Tanzania Safari: Day 8

One of the goals of the photo safari was to catch up with the migrating wildebeest, as they made their way back north towards Kenya, where will be seeing them later this year. Our move across to the Serengeti was kicked off by tens of thousands of wildebeest all around the airstrip! It was truly wonderful to see so many animals dotted around the vast plains. We spent quite a bit of time watching all the wildebeest and taking as many images as we could, before slowly moving on to the lodge. We had the chance to photograph several herds of elephants on the way up, as well as a couple of old male buffalos. During the afternoon safari, a massive storm was rolling in, which gave us some wonderful skies and didn’t dampen the game viewing; black-backed jackals, masaai giraffe, and a pair of very co-operative verreaux’s eagle owls found their way in front of our cameras. After a great safari, we were treated to some delicious food in a very beautiful setting.