Trip Report, Thornybush, Djuma and Lion Sands
May 23rd, 2009, 08:13 AM
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Trip Report, Thornybush, Djuma and Lion Sands
I just got back from an amazing 14 days in the bush in South Africa. My trip consisted of 3 reserves, Thornybush, Djuma and Lion Sands.
This was my first stay at Thornybush Main Lodge and also the reserve. My stay was for 6 days. The rooms were large and well appointed. I was very comfortable right from the beginning. The reserve itself is a closed reserve which means that animals are not free to roam into any other areas. There are some animals that have found a way over and under the fences, however for the most part there is no game traversing. This means that they have to manage their numbers of certain species to prevent overpopulation. When I was there, there were no lion cubs and I think it was because they are trying to keep the population down. The game viewing was excellent with sightings of black rhino, cheetah and a hyena den, leopards and lions. The reserve is very large and because of dynamics of weather and rain, certain animals seem to prefer general areas to reside. For example, elephants and buffalo prefer the southern areas. What this means in terms of game viewing, is that if you want to see elephants, you need to drive an hour each way from the main lodge to find them. Of course you will see other stuff along the way, however if you are trying to find the big 5, it means driving for long periods just to go see some of them. I did find this a bit annoying.
The food was excellent with only one dinner where I found the food to be a bid "chewy" and tough. They do charge for drinks at the lodge, but not for water which I found to be OK as I drink a lot of water. The service was outstanding and I felt my ranger, Richard, did an excellent job of both game viewing and taking care of me personally as a guest.
On my last evening, there was a total of 5 guests at the lodge, 2 couples and me. The lodge staff announced that dinner would be in our rooms. I found this to be strange since I travel by myself and we had not been asked for our preferences. One couple graciously offerred to have me eat in their room which was very nice since they knew I was eating alone.
After I got into my room, within a few minutes, I got a phone call stating they had make a "mistake" with me and that I would be eating with my ranger, Richard. I was very happy for the change, however I had suspicions that the right people did not make the decision. When I met up with Richard, I asked him if he was the person who made the suggestion to eat with me and he just smiled and shrugged. This told me that he as a ranger, came to the conclusion I should not eat alone. Its a sign of a person who will do great at his job, but on the other hand, management should have figured that out also. All in all, I enjoyed my stay there, but because the reserve is a closed reserve, I think I will probably not be going back, but no regrets about being there either.
I was transferred by car to Djuma Vuyutela Reserve. I chose this reserve because Wildearth.tv (www.wildearth.tv) broadcasts from there and I wanted to meet the folks there. I stayed only one night and I wished I planned for at least another. I did manage to get in front of the camera twice for Wildearth, once to open their segment and the other time on a drive. I definitely prefer to be behind the camera.
The room at Vuyutela was large and well appointed. I had one major problem with the room as they ONLY have outdoor showers. Inside, they had a tub where with tubes you can use showerlike functions. The reason this is a problem is if it is raining or cold (like it was for me), your choice is only to take an awkward shower inside.
Another thing that bothered me is that their drink policy. It is very normal to charge for drinks from the bar, but I was informed that bottled water was also to be charged to me. They did have a big bottle of water in my room, but I thought it was odd to pay for water when no other place that I had been to in 6 trips did so.
My ranger Charles, who has been there a very long time, was great. I got the best game viewing in 2 drives then I got for most of the rest of my trip. In one evening, I got to see a male lion courting a female, a female leopard and 2 separate prides of lions. Well done Charles! During sundowners, I was offered as usual, something to drink. I asked for Amarula and hot chocolate which he did not have. Then he offered me something else and I chose white wine. Nothing unusual about that until when I was checking out I found out that I was being charged $7 for the wine. Again, NEVER have I been charged for a drink on a game drive. For a 5 star reserve, I found this to be both very strange and very annoying. It was a BIG turn off when thinking about this and the shower regarding any returns to the lodge.
Dinner was excellent and I sat next to a young lady, Pinky who works there and was delightful. She even "hit" me on the shoulder for what I thought was no good reason. It turns out she spotted a small scorpion climbing up my back and she hit it to knock it off. She also informed me that this type was was of the more dangerous types of scorpion found there. Many thanks to Pinky for "saving" my life and of course being clobbered by such a nice person.
I definitely would consider going back to Djuma because of their quality rangers and the outstanding game viewing. I am still a bit turned off by some aspects of their
accommodation, but the game viewing there is enough to overcome those concerns.
I then was transported by car again from Djuma to Lion Sands Ivory Lodge via Kruger Park. Godfrey, from Go Thula Tours offered me the transfer through the park for no extra
charge even though it was twice as long, almost 5 hours. I did pay him extra because I felt he earned it for his extra driving. My final 7 day stay was at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge. This was my 4th stay there and it is still by far and away my favorite place to be. This lodge is very pricey and its much more expensive than the other places I stayed this trip. However I love the extra attention they pay to details and the way they treat me as a repeat guest. I cannot go into all the details as to what they did for me because I cannot guarentee they would do the same for others, however trip #7 again includes a long stay at Lion Sands.
I had two rangers at my stay, Jacqui who is both a great ranger and delightful as a person and Alan, who used to be the head ranger and is now in charge of training. Both did a great job of finding animals for me, in spite of the problems that we had rain for 2 consecutive nights. With the heavy rain, it meant that of roading was very limited and that did hurt game viewing, but protection of the land is more important.
The rooms (yes I said rooms) were spacious and beautiful. They overlook the Sabi River which was flowing strong. I saw ellies, buffalo and hippo outside of my room. When I was on the plane ride to South Africa, I met some great folks who were also staying at Lion Sands, but they were at River Lodge. When I mentioned to the staff if it would be OK if they were to join me on one or two drives, they not only said yes, but they had them join me EVERY drive. This is great to have friends with you when you travel by yourself. They even had the folks join me for dinner, even though they were at the other lodge. This to me shows the true sign of class that Ivory Lodge staff exhibits. They KNOW how to take care of guests. Many thanks to Trevor, Janine, Ollie and Lee (in reservations) for making this trip the best one yet.
The chef, Malcolm, cooks food like a master artist paints. He seems to love cooking more than life itself. When he prsents the food for dinner, he makes it sound like you are listening to a dramatic rendition of the menu. The food at Ivory Lodge is the best I have had anywhere. You have choices of a number of different types of game meat along with more traditional choices. Everything is wonderful.
Ivory Lodge has the reputation of being one of the best lodges in the Kruger area and they earned every bit of it. I am definitely planning to go back to South Africa in Sept 2010 and 7 days at Ivory is a definite must do again.
Photos of the trip:
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/thornybush_2009
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/djuma_2009
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/lion_sands_2009
Mike Moss
This was my first stay at Thornybush Main Lodge and also the reserve. My stay was for 6 days. The rooms were large and well appointed. I was very comfortable right from the beginning. The reserve itself is a closed reserve which means that animals are not free to roam into any other areas. There are some animals that have found a way over and under the fences, however for the most part there is no game traversing. This means that they have to manage their numbers of certain species to prevent overpopulation. When I was there, there were no lion cubs and I think it was because they are trying to keep the population down. The game viewing was excellent with sightings of black rhino, cheetah and a hyena den, leopards and lions. The reserve is very large and because of dynamics of weather and rain, certain animals seem to prefer general areas to reside. For example, elephants and buffalo prefer the southern areas. What this means in terms of game viewing, is that if you want to see elephants, you need to drive an hour each way from the main lodge to find them. Of course you will see other stuff along the way, however if you are trying to find the big 5, it means driving for long periods just to go see some of them. I did find this a bit annoying.
The food was excellent with only one dinner where I found the food to be a bid "chewy" and tough. They do charge for drinks at the lodge, but not for water which I found to be OK as I drink a lot of water. The service was outstanding and I felt my ranger, Richard, did an excellent job of both game viewing and taking care of me personally as a guest.
On my last evening, there was a total of 5 guests at the lodge, 2 couples and me. The lodge staff announced that dinner would be in our rooms. I found this to be strange since I travel by myself and we had not been asked for our preferences. One couple graciously offerred to have me eat in their room which was very nice since they knew I was eating alone.
After I got into my room, within a few minutes, I got a phone call stating they had make a "mistake" with me and that I would be eating with my ranger, Richard. I was very happy for the change, however I had suspicions that the right people did not make the decision. When I met up with Richard, I asked him if he was the person who made the suggestion to eat with me and he just smiled and shrugged. This told me that he as a ranger, came to the conclusion I should not eat alone. Its a sign of a person who will do great at his job, but on the other hand, management should have figured that out also. All in all, I enjoyed my stay there, but because the reserve is a closed reserve, I think I will probably not be going back, but no regrets about being there either.
I was transferred by car to Djuma Vuyutela Reserve. I chose this reserve because Wildearth.tv (www.wildearth.tv) broadcasts from there and I wanted to meet the folks there. I stayed only one night and I wished I planned for at least another. I did manage to get in front of the camera twice for Wildearth, once to open their segment and the other time on a drive. I definitely prefer to be behind the camera.
The room at Vuyutela was large and well appointed. I had one major problem with the room as they ONLY have outdoor showers. Inside, they had a tub where with tubes you can use showerlike functions. The reason this is a problem is if it is raining or cold (like it was for me), your choice is only to take an awkward shower inside.
Another thing that bothered me is that their drink policy. It is very normal to charge for drinks from the bar, but I was informed that bottled water was also to be charged to me. They did have a big bottle of water in my room, but I thought it was odd to pay for water when no other place that I had been to in 6 trips did so.
My ranger Charles, who has been there a very long time, was great. I got the best game viewing in 2 drives then I got for most of the rest of my trip. In one evening, I got to see a male lion courting a female, a female leopard and 2 separate prides of lions. Well done Charles! During sundowners, I was offered as usual, something to drink. I asked for Amarula and hot chocolate which he did not have. Then he offered me something else and I chose white wine. Nothing unusual about that until when I was checking out I found out that I was being charged $7 for the wine. Again, NEVER have I been charged for a drink on a game drive. For a 5 star reserve, I found this to be both very strange and very annoying. It was a BIG turn off when thinking about this and the shower regarding any returns to the lodge.
Dinner was excellent and I sat next to a young lady, Pinky who works there and was delightful. She even "hit" me on the shoulder for what I thought was no good reason. It turns out she spotted a small scorpion climbing up my back and she hit it to knock it off. She also informed me that this type was was of the more dangerous types of scorpion found there. Many thanks to Pinky for "saving" my life and of course being clobbered by such a nice person.
I definitely would consider going back to Djuma because of their quality rangers and the outstanding game viewing. I am still a bit turned off by some aspects of their
accommodation, but the game viewing there is enough to overcome those concerns.
I then was transported by car again from Djuma to Lion Sands Ivory Lodge via Kruger Park. Godfrey, from Go Thula Tours offered me the transfer through the park for no extra
charge even though it was twice as long, almost 5 hours. I did pay him extra because I felt he earned it for his extra driving. My final 7 day stay was at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge. This was my 4th stay there and it is still by far and away my favorite place to be. This lodge is very pricey and its much more expensive than the other places I stayed this trip. However I love the extra attention they pay to details and the way they treat me as a repeat guest. I cannot go into all the details as to what they did for me because I cannot guarentee they would do the same for others, however trip #7 again includes a long stay at Lion Sands.
I had two rangers at my stay, Jacqui who is both a great ranger and delightful as a person and Alan, who used to be the head ranger and is now in charge of training. Both did a great job of finding animals for me, in spite of the problems that we had rain for 2 consecutive nights. With the heavy rain, it meant that of roading was very limited and that did hurt game viewing, but protection of the land is more important.
The rooms (yes I said rooms) were spacious and beautiful. They overlook the Sabi River which was flowing strong. I saw ellies, buffalo and hippo outside of my room. When I was on the plane ride to South Africa, I met some great folks who were also staying at Lion Sands, but they were at River Lodge. When I mentioned to the staff if it would be OK if they were to join me on one or two drives, they not only said yes, but they had them join me EVERY drive. This is great to have friends with you when you travel by yourself. They even had the folks join me for dinner, even though they were at the other lodge. This to me shows the true sign of class that Ivory Lodge staff exhibits. They KNOW how to take care of guests. Many thanks to Trevor, Janine, Ollie and Lee (in reservations) for making this trip the best one yet.
The chef, Malcolm, cooks food like a master artist paints. He seems to love cooking more than life itself. When he prsents the food for dinner, he makes it sound like you are listening to a dramatic rendition of the menu. The food at Ivory Lodge is the best I have had anywhere. You have choices of a number of different types of game meat along with more traditional choices. Everything is wonderful.
Ivory Lodge has the reputation of being one of the best lodges in the Kruger area and they earned every bit of it. I am definitely planning to go back to South Africa in Sept 2010 and 7 days at Ivory is a definite must do again.
Photos of the trip:
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/thornybush_2009
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/djuma_2009
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/lion_sands_2009
Mike Moss
May 23rd, 2009, 08:53 AM
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Very nice report!
I had a look at your wonderful pictures! Especially the leopard photos are wonderful.
What I found - and I cleaned my glasses thoroughly: Did you not re-sharpen or did the photos suffer from uploading?
SV
I had a look at your wonderful pictures! Especially the leopard photos are wonderful.
What I found - and I cleaned my glasses thoroughly: Did you not re-sharpen or did the photos suffer from uploading?
SV
May 23rd, 2009, 09:16 AM
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Everything was sharpened a bit, but not much. So I am not sure exactly what you are referring to as far as oversharpening. I did also adjust levels on many of the pictures. When they get uploaded often the the pictures appear soft in Pbase.
May 23rd, 2009, 09:46 AM
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Okay then - that might be the explanation: softening Pbase.
Ah BTW: Did you have to pay for the bottled wine at Ivory's?
What you state regarding 5* lodges and charging for drinks:
There are some lodges which do that and the reason given is fairness to all guests: everybody pays only what is consumed and not just rising the rate in order to cover a lump-sum which sets people back who drink very little.
I agree it's annoying to have to check out and fiddle around drink bill of maybe 200 ZAR or so. Water should be included in any upmarket lodge. But still - Mala Mala charges for water and they bottle their own water
Ulusaba has a great policy: There you don't have to pay anything and also e.g. Meerlust Rubicon, Rust en Vrede, Bochard Finlayson, Neil Ellis is included. And its winecellar is top-notch!
They even bring the selected wine to your chalet if you wish! FREE OF CHARGE!
Imagine how they could lower the rate if they did not include these drinks?
I also liked Ivory but I prefer Londolozi.
SV
Ah BTW: Did you have to pay for the bottled wine at Ivory's?
What you state regarding 5* lodges and charging for drinks:
There are some lodges which do that and the reason given is fairness to all guests: everybody pays only what is consumed and not just rising the rate in order to cover a lump-sum which sets people back who drink very little.
I agree it's annoying to have to check out and fiddle around drink bill of maybe 200 ZAR or so. Water should be included in any upmarket lodge. But still - Mala Mala charges for water and they bottle their own water
Ulusaba has a great policy: There you don't have to pay anything and also e.g. Meerlust Rubicon, Rust en Vrede, Bochard Finlayson, Neil Ellis is included. And its winecellar is top-notch!
They even bring the selected wine to your chalet if you wish! FREE OF CHARGE!
Imagine how they could lower the rate if they did not include these drinks?
I also liked Ivory but I prefer Londolozi.
SV
May 23rd, 2009, 10:02 AM
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Thanks SV, I do not mind paying for alcoholic drinks, or maybe even sodas. I do not drink much of either, but I do consider water a basic and it should be included at an lodge of the level of Vuyutela or similar.
Ivory does charge for some wines, but not their house wines, they are included in all meals, drives and in between. They also do not charge for mixed hard liquor also. So at Ivory, I did not have to pay anything extra for anything.
As for Mala Mala, I have not been there and have no plans for going there for personal reasons. Knowing they charge for water does not alter my opinion of going there.
Ivory does charge for some wines, but not their house wines, they are included in all meals, drives and in between. They also do not charge for mixed hard liquor also. So at Ivory, I did not have to pay anything extra for anything.
As for Mala Mala, I have not been there and have no plans for going there for personal reasons. Knowing they charge for water does not alter my opinion of going there.
May 23rd, 2009, 11:14 AM
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Mike
Good to know there is one more person who does not consider Mala Mala ;-)
And yes I support your opinion regarding the water supply and NOT being charged for it! It's ridiculous to pay 400+US and pay for the water!
Normally the water is waiting in the room, on the table and in the canvas box in the vehicle. At least it should be that way.........
SV
Good to know there is one more person who does not consider Mala Mala ;-)
And yes I support your opinion regarding the water supply and NOT being charged for it! It's ridiculous to pay 400+US and pay for the water!
Normally the water is waiting in the room, on the table and in the canvas box in the vehicle. At least it should be that way.........
SV
May 23rd, 2009, 11:29 AM
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I did check some literature I had about Ivory and even River Lodge at Lion Sands Only imported brands and wines from the cellar will be charged extra. Also the maxi bar in Ivory Lodge is also included in the rate including all the snacks.
May 23rd, 2009, 02:19 PM
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Hope you bought Pinky a glass of wine for saving your life! For the record, my water was free at Mala Mala. In fact I believe it was ok right out of the tap and into the water bottle, no charge. The Mala Mala home made lemon and lime drink at lunch still remains memorable.
It seems you had a great solo trip with a variety of wildlife sightings starting with a bang at Thornybush. Will check out the pics later. Thanks for the report.
It seems you had a great solo trip with a variety of wildlife sightings starting with a bang at Thornybush. Will check out the pics later. Thanks for the report.
May 23rd, 2009, 05:06 PM
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Great trip report. I like that you discuss everything, "warts" and all.
Djuma - I was considering it for this coming Sept but my TA said he was going there this Sept so let him look it over first. Will be interesting what he thinks of Djuma.
I'm impressed by Lion Sands, but, at what I think looks like $1,000 pppn, I should be impressed!!! Is that rate about correct? My choice always is - I have a budget of let's say $5,000. Do I spend it on 5 nights at $1,000 per night or 10 nights at $500 per night? (Time/days away from home does not enter into it). And regarding drink costs, I also do believe MM does -not- charge for water. But they do for every other liquid refreshment!!!
Good photos as always from you. Favorite is from Lion Sands, Cats of Lion Sands, the lion pride reunion. The expression on those two cats is so relaxed and contented!! And I'm still trying to get bird photos as good as yours.
BTW, I notice that the color profile/space on that lion series is sRGB while I think on all the others it is not sRGB. This can cause weird color on our viewing monitors since most all web browsers expect jpgs as sRGB profile. Just an idea for you to perhaps look into. Anyone else noticed this, or am I just being overly critical (not me!!)???
Many thanks again for your report and photos.
regards - tom
Djuma - I was considering it for this coming Sept but my TA said he was going there this Sept so let him look it over first. Will be interesting what he thinks of Djuma.
I'm impressed by Lion Sands, but, at what I think looks like $1,000 pppn, I should be impressed!!! Is that rate about correct? My choice always is - I have a budget of let's say $5,000. Do I spend it on 5 nights at $1,000 per night or 10 nights at $500 per night? (Time/days away from home does not enter into it). And regarding drink costs, I also do believe MM does -not- charge for water. But they do for every other liquid refreshment!!!
Good photos as always from you. Favorite is from Lion Sands, Cats of Lion Sands, the lion pride reunion. The expression on those two cats is so relaxed and contented!! And I'm still trying to get bird photos as good as yours.
BTW, I notice that the color profile/space on that lion series is sRGB while I think on all the others it is not sRGB. This can cause weird color on our viewing monitors since most all web browsers expect jpgs as sRGB profile. Just an idea for you to perhaps look into. Anyone else noticed this, or am I just being overly critical (not me!!)???
Many thanks again for your report and photos.
regards - tom
May 23rd, 2009, 05:25 PM
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Yes, Ivory Lodge is about $1000 per night, and I wish I could stay there every night. That is why 7 nights were not at Ivory where I paid closer to $500. I understand completely! However it is my one chance to be be pampered to the utmost and I want to take advantage of it as no one seems to be standing in line at home to do it!
As for the photos, I am in the process of changing the photos from one format to the other and its just a matter of time before they are all sRGB. (not sure how much time given the number of pictures!)
Mike
As for the photos, I am in the process of changing the photos from one format to the other and its just a matter of time before they are all sRGB. (not sure how much time given the number of pictures!)
Mike
May 24th, 2009, 06:35 AM
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I loved the Nyalas also. They were so hard to photograph for me at Mala Mala (in contrast to the more elusive leopards that posed) yet at Phinda they practically walked up to shake my hand.
Did you find lots of Nyalas or were your photos lucky encounters?
Did you find lots of Nyalas or were your photos lucky encounters?
May 24th, 2009, 07:43 AM
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I found some nyalas on this trip, the the good looking males were a bit illusive and hard to photograph. A friend of mine who lives in South Africa told me that nyala are the buffer species in Kwazulu Natal (Phinda area). There are more of them then Impala in that region and that is why you see so many of them there.
I got two decent shots of males this trip.
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/112661805
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/112783335
I got two decent shots of males this trip.
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/112661805
http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/image/112783335
May 24th, 2009, 01:35 PM
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Another thumbs up for the warts and all report.
I like to read travellers' experiences and opinions about their game viewing, their accommodation, the environment, the guiding/ activities, the management, the staff, all the little details they can think of to share. Gives a great, rounded picture of a camp.
I like to read travellers' experiences and opinions about their game viewing, their accommodation, the environment, the guiding/ activities, the management, the staff, all the little details they can think of to share. Gives a great, rounded picture of a camp.
May 26th, 2009, 11:54 AM
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For the maybe 30 photos I've looked at you used the 100-400mm lens. Did you have any other lenses with you (I'm sure you did) and how often did you use them?
Have you been to any other camps in Sabi Sand and how would you compare them to Lion Sands?
And your conversion to sRGB is lookng good to me.
regards - tom
ps - has "add a reply" response here been erratic/flaky the last couple days, anyone else noticed?
Have you been to any other camps in Sabi Sand and how would you compare them to Lion Sands?
And your conversion to sRGB is lookng good to me.
regards - tom
ps - has "add a reply" response here been erratic/flaky the last couple days, anyone else noticed?
May 26th, 2009, 12:42 PM
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Hey Tom, there were two mainstay lenses I used for about 95% of my pictures.
The 100-400 was my primary lens and I also had a 400 DO with a 1.4 extender that I used for my bird shots and ultra close ups. The down side with the latter lens is that in low light situations, the contract takes a hit and I did not use it much past sun down. I took about 7000 pictures in total and the 100-400 accounted for about 45% and the 400 DO about 50%. The reason the number of shots was higher on the 400 DO is that it was attached to a Canon Mark III D which shoots 10 frames a second......easy to rack up big number of shots with that camera.
I also had a 70-200 2.8 and a 28-70 with me that I took an occasional pictures. I took a 100 macro that I never took a single shot.
I have also been to Londolozi, many years ago which as far as my memory works, I liked a lot. It was on my very first trip. I would go back there and almost went there this last trip.
The trip before I went to Exeter Leadwood, which is run by AndBeyond (formerly CCAfrica). The lodge is very nice with very large rooms. I did take issue with fact they put pebble floors in the bathroom. This did not feel good on my "tender" feed and I wondered whoever designed it never intended to walk barefoot in the bathroom.
The food was decent but not great. The staff was nice, but also not great. Because the regular ranger was off getting married, I had two different ranger substitutes. The first guy was the ass't head ranger. Technically he knew his stuff, but he was boring. The second ranger got excited over seeing impala and I liked him much better.
The traversing rights covers a great deal of land. This is the good news because there is much to see. However they also share those rights with many other lodges and sometimes the best sightings were very limited because so many others wanted to see them.
At Lion Sands, the area of traversing is much smaller, however there are no vehicles from other lodges. This does not mean you will not be pushed from a site, but if it happens it will be by a Lion Sands vehicle. Since there is a much smaller number of vehicles there, you sometimes can sit longer or go back and spend more time after others have seen the wildlife.
Also Exeter seats 8 people to a vehicle which may happen if the 4 units are occupied. The maximum number of people at Ivory is 6 and River Lodge is also 7-8.
I hope this answers your questions and thanks for your help in making my pictures look better.
Mike
The 100-400 was my primary lens and I also had a 400 DO with a 1.4 extender that I used for my bird shots and ultra close ups. The down side with the latter lens is that in low light situations, the contract takes a hit and I did not use it much past sun down. I took about 7000 pictures in total and the 100-400 accounted for about 45% and the 400 DO about 50%. The reason the number of shots was higher on the 400 DO is that it was attached to a Canon Mark III D which shoots 10 frames a second......easy to rack up big number of shots with that camera.
I also had a 70-200 2.8 and a 28-70 with me that I took an occasional pictures. I took a 100 macro that I never took a single shot.
I have also been to Londolozi, many years ago which as far as my memory works, I liked a lot. It was on my very first trip. I would go back there and almost went there this last trip.
The trip before I went to Exeter Leadwood, which is run by AndBeyond (formerly CCAfrica). The lodge is very nice with very large rooms. I did take issue with fact they put pebble floors in the bathroom. This did not feel good on my "tender" feed and I wondered whoever designed it never intended to walk barefoot in the bathroom.
The food was decent but not great. The staff was nice, but also not great. Because the regular ranger was off getting married, I had two different ranger substitutes. The first guy was the ass't head ranger. Technically he knew his stuff, but he was boring. The second ranger got excited over seeing impala and I liked him much better.
The traversing rights covers a great deal of land. This is the good news because there is much to see. However they also share those rights with many other lodges and sometimes the best sightings were very limited because so many others wanted to see them.
At Lion Sands, the area of traversing is much smaller, however there are no vehicles from other lodges. This does not mean you will not be pushed from a site, but if it happens it will be by a Lion Sands vehicle. Since there is a much smaller number of vehicles there, you sometimes can sit longer or go back and spend more time after others have seen the wildlife.
Also Exeter seats 8 people to a vehicle which may happen if the 4 units are occupied. The maximum number of people at Ivory is 6 and River Lodge is also 7-8.
I hope this answers your questions and thanks for your help in making my pictures look better.
Mike
Jun 24th, 2009, 04:23 PM
#18
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Mike-I've been browsing around here and found your photos, have also seen several on the wild earth site and blog. I was wondering about the light in your obvious night shots, is the light we are seeing from the spot lights on the vehicle, your flash system or both? What flash setup do you use? Always trying to improve my shots and night shots are tricky. I am supposed to travel to MM in December and all of the bad juju talk has me rethinking my lodging in Sabi....Thanks for any help.
Pat
Pat
Jun 24th, 2009, 05:21 PM
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Hi Scruffypuma
I use a Canon 580 Flash. The spot lights on the vehicles do shine on or near the animals. This does cause some lighting issues where you can see the extra light. Sometimes you can get them to shine near the animal instead of directly on them. The reason you need the spot lights is that without them, it would be impossible to focus. Even with them sometimes auto focus does not work and you have to set the lens to manual so the light they provide is a necessary evil.
I hope this helps a bit.
Mike
I use a Canon 580 Flash. The spot lights on the vehicles do shine on or near the animals. This does cause some lighting issues where you can see the extra light. Sometimes you can get them to shine near the animal instead of directly on them. The reason you need the spot lights is that without them, it would be impossible to focus. Even with them sometimes auto focus does not work and you have to set the lens to manual so the light they provide is a necessary evil.
I hope this helps a bit.
Mike
Jun 24th, 2009, 05:41 PM
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Mike
Thank you, that does help. I made the mistake of loaning my old Nikon SB25 to "a friend" and they managed to kill it, so now I will be buying a new flash. On previous safaris I just tried to use the light from the vehicles and did not like the results, as you mentioned, focusing becomes difficult. Now I need to decide which new Nikon flash to buy...just another pound or two of camera gear = less clothes to pack. Just have to decide about whether to change the MM reservation and then all I have to do is wait until December! Thanks again.
Pat
Thank you, that does help. I made the mistake of loaning my old Nikon SB25 to "a friend" and they managed to kill it, so now I will be buying a new flash. On previous safaris I just tried to use the light from the vehicles and did not like the results, as you mentioned, focusing becomes difficult. Now I need to decide which new Nikon flash to buy...just another pound or two of camera gear = less clothes to pack. Just have to decide about whether to change the MM reservation and then all I have to do is wait until December! Thanks again.
Pat
