I have had mixed experiences of night drives in both South and East Africa, mostly very quiet except for seeing a lion kill in Kenya a few years back.

However, my daughter is currently on a veterinary tour (with a company called Ecolife) in SA and just texted me ...on her first two hour drive at dusk staying at Skukuza in Kruger, she had very good sightings of a pack of six wild dogs, two civets, a wild cat, genets...and then a leopard crossing the road. ! All of this without going "off road".

Can anyone beat this ??!! I am not jealous but she is not going on safari again without me ...

Night drives can be very hit and miss. The best night I had was in S. Luangwa at Kakuli. Just after leaving sundowners, we found a leopard and watched it while it tried to stalk some impala. It had a failed hunt, and we were about to leave when we saw a buffalo herd coming by which was then followed by a lion. The lion then attempted to stalk up on the impala. She failed, too. We were about to leave when we saw another leopard come by who was then followed by a spotted hyena. We finally left this sighting and then ran into more lion. On the way back to camp, we saw many genet; and of course, the usual (giraffe, elephant, puku, etc.).

On the other hand, I spent 4 nights in Lower Zambezi, and aside from a great leopard sighting the first night, saw very little - lots of genet, some porcupine, civet, and mongoose - most at a distance. Of course, the other safari vehicle that went out saw an aardvark one night and watched it for 20 minutes, so it's entirely up to luck.

Way to go daughter! You'll want to bring her along for luck in the future. South Luangwa has produced night drives with the elements you describe.

I see lifelist had a good SL experience too.

SL and LZ in Zambia are some of the best for night drives!

Well, one wrinkle with Lower Zambezi is that the lodges there are converting over to spotlights with red filters on them. While this is better for the wildlife, it's hell for photography. Everything gets a red cast, and the light output is significantly lower - I couldn't get a usable shutter speed on any night, so I just stopped trying.

Lucky Girl! From all my experiences with game drives (night & day) its a matter of being at the right place (or wrong) at the right time. Pafuri are also doing the rednight light now - its not great for pics agreed.

The two Skukuza sunset/evening drives that I've been on have been rewarding. I've seen rhinos, lions, elephants, and buffalo, as well as the more typical civets, genets, and bushbabies.

My only leopard sighting was during a sunset drive from Lower Sabie camp in Kruger. We also saw a serval on that drive.

On our last trip to the lowveld (Sabi Sands, Klaserie, Timabavati) we had a few very good ones and a few very quiet ones. But in total it wasn't bad;

- multiple leopards
- lions
- two genets
- civet
- honey badger
- white tailed mongoose
- and 4 ground hornbills sleeping in a tree

In retrospect, if we had stayed in camp, we'd have missed quite a lot. The message is; when given the opportunity, go for it. It's not as if milling around in camp is better.

"Night drives are like a box of chocolates; you never know..."

J.

...forgot our bush baby!

http://www.pixelpower.be/temp/RSApics/2_042.jpg

I agree with your "get yourself out there" philosophy Pixel Power!

"I have had mixed experiences of night drives in both South and East Africa, mostly very quiet..."

Agree, might drives meaning for me the hour or so after sunset, after sundowner drinks. Although it is a bit exciting to be driving around in the dark, a bit primeval I suppose? The early morning, sunrise, drive is by far on average the best. It is still cool and lions/leopards likely to still be active.

regards - tom

I have been on numerous night drives and I feel great if I can get one or two shots. I am very picky about what I think are decent. I am still waiting for my pangolin, porcupine and ardvaark shots but I do have some winners(sorta).

White tailed mongoose http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/78666083

Spotted genet http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/112783490

Bushbaby http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/135311232

White faced scops owl http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/128604316

Verreaux's Giant Eagle owl http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/128459271

I have some more but not many. I treasure them all especially the bushbaby and scops owl. Not a lot to show for for hours of driving, but I loved it !

Mike

(PS I didnt post leopard and lion night shots, only the ones I think are toughest to get)

Yikes Mike!!
You'd better start packing!! Only 3(?) days until you're on safari!!!

regards - tom

Yeah Tom, I am about 20% packed....but more importantly, all my batteries are charged !

Mike