The South African Predators Safari: Day 6

After a great few days down in the Cape, we were welcomed to the wilds by some very warm weather, and several herds of elephants. We spotted quite a few animals from the plane before even landing, which seemed to set the tone for the day, because we got off to a flyer! Two male rhinos having a serious disagreement meant the cameras were put to work early into the first drive, and a male leopard kept them clicking. You couldn’t ask for a better start to this leg of the photo safari.

Major sightings of the day:

Several herds of elephants

Hippo

4 male buffalo

4 rhinos, 2 males fighting

Male leopard

White tailed mongoose eating tortoise eggs

To join us on safari, click here!

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 Classic South African Safari: Day 6

There was only one way to finish to such a productive safari – more leopards and lions! We managed to find a pride of 7 lions enjoying the morning sun, before coming across a large male leopard feeding on his kudu kill up in a tree, which had its token hyena underneath. Two side-striped jackals were also running the area, giving us even more to photograph. With our sad, end-of-safari-faces on, we left the feeding leopard and started back to camp to get packed up ready to leave, when our misery was rudely interrupted by yet another large male leopard! He was out on his morning patrol when we found him, but stopped when he noticed a herd of impala feeding nearby. He went into full stalk mode, sneaking his way to…sleep. He put his head down, and had a catnap, right next to the impala! We unfortunately had to leave, but what a way to end!

Major sightings of the day:

7 lions
Male leopard feeding on kudu kill
Spotted hyena
2 side-striped jackals
Male leopard hunting impala

To join us on safari, click here!

The Classic South African Safari: Day 2

We started off in much the same way as we finished up on day 1: with a female leopard on the move. She soon retired to the shade of a tree so we moved on and managed to find a whole host of different animals to photograph, including herds of elephants, giraffe, a pride of lions and a couple of spotted hyena. We had ample time with each of the animals, and managed to spend a good deal of that time creating lasting images. Just as we felt we had been spoilt enough for the day, a second female leopard emerged from the bush late in the afternoon. We had a good look at her, but she was more interested in sleeping, so we let her be, giving the camera a well earned rest!

Major sightings of the day:

Female leopard
Hippo
7 lions
Side-striped jackal
2 spotted hyena
Herd of elephants
3 male buffalo
Female leopard

To join us on safari, click here!

The Classic South African Safari: Day 1

Straight out of the gate we found a female leopard on the move, and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with her. This is never a bad way to spend your first afternoon on safari. The leopard was showing a lot of interest in a herd of impala, zebra and wildebeest and stalked her way into a good position, giving us many great photographic opportunities. The cameras were worked all though the afternoon, and into the night, starting us off with a lot of great images.

Major sightings of the day: