The flight to Sanctuary Stanley’s was again quit short, low altitude and good visibility.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 62mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500)
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 52mm, ISO 160, f/8, 1/500)
During approach we were greeted by an Elephant standing near one of the many rivers.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 240mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500)
Chippy our guide picked us up from there airstrip and after a short stop we’re on our way to the camp. On the road we saw a clan of Banded Mongoose.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 270mm, ISO 110, f/5.6, 1/1000)
We met other guests from the camp, deposited our stuff in our cabin and then went off for the first game drive around the camp.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/320)
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/800)
The bushfire that we had seen from the airplane were not fare away. During daylight we only saw the smoke.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/640)
But with the fading daylight we could see the glow of the fire and finally the fire it self.
Nevertheless we enjoyed a magnificent sunset
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/3200)
On the way back to the camp we saw an owl sitting on a branch of a tree. Conditions for photographing were complicated, but even with ISO 16000 I got some acceptable images. Unfortunately the autofocus could not follow the owl once it has taken off for a short flight to another tree.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 16000, f/5.6, 1/60 to 1/160)
The next morning we were waiting for since quit some time. We had booked a one hour helicopter flight. Takeoff was planned for 7AM, so for photographing we would have the warm light from sunrise, long shadows and no harsh light.
Right on time the helicopter landed near the camp. But before boarding the pilot told us “Just wait a second, I’ll take off the doors, that’s the only way you can take good photos”.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 26mm, ISO 500, f/8, 1/500)
Only about one minute into the flight we found out, that the pilot is from Fribourg (Switzerland), so we switched to French for the whole flight and had a lot of fun. He’s an enthusiastic photographer as well, knows all the places around like his pocket and managed to bring us in perfect position to take tons of images.
For the helicopter flight I only took my Sony A7R3 with the 24-240mm lens attached. I set the camera on Auto ISO and started with a minimal shutter speed of 1/500. Then I narrowed down to 1/1000 and finally ended with 1/2000. Even with higher ISO the digital noise is negligible with this camera and I could eliminate it without problems during post processing in Lightroom Classic.
After liftoff we saw the smoke from the bush fires. It covers large parts of the area and blocked the view to the ground. Our pilot decided to fly to the other side of the bush fires, opposite the direction of wind. Once we had crossed the fires the visibility changed completely and we enjoyed an unobstructed view.
Usually the flying altitude was between 50m and 100m. While watching animals the speed was quit low, only while crossing the bush fire area we flew at higher speed, as the there was nothing to see and we did not wanted to wast too much time there.
Soon we could see the first groups of animals, hippos and elephants.
Even the small white heron on the back of a hippo and a big grey heron nearby were clearly visible from the helicopter
We could even spot a group of wild dogs. Their fur offer the perfect camouflage, but from the air we could see the shadows and this helped to see the individual animal.
A group of wild dogs near a termite hill. Big parts of this land has been completely burnt by the bush fire.
A group of Wildebeest drinking water
Another group of Wildebeest
In the distances we could see a small water pond almost completely covered with green algae. But it turned out to be the privet pond of a Hippo. Most of the other Hippos we saw were in groups, sometime big groups. So maybe this one here has not the most friendly character ?
Solitary Hippo in his private pond
Ever heard of a mix between Zebra and Elephant ?
No – so here they are : Three Zebras each with a shadow of an Elephant
Zebra with Elephant shadow
Migrating Zebras walking in line, groups gazing around, we could see quit a few Zebras during this flight.
In the wide open we saw a baby giraffe and his mother (most probably)
A larger group of Elephants with a small baby
The big pond, almost a small lake with an impressive population of Hippos
But not only Hippos, we also saw their natural enemy the crocodiles
First we saw a group of buffalos, then a few more and finally we found out it was a really large herd of buffalos spread out on the open area and the small woods between.
A first group of buffalos
Under and between the trees are many more buffalos
Then it was time to return to the camp – an unforgettable experience this helicopter flight.
We boarded our Safari vehicle and went to join the other guests which were on a game drive somewhere in the area.
On the way we saw this big elephant
We found the other vehicles close to a group of lioness chilling in the shade of a small bush.
(Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 130mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/500)
We couldn’t get in a good position to get images from the full animals, so I concentrated on some elements, like their paws.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 160, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Half moon visible on the blue sky (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/800)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 380mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000)
We saw many beautiful birds during this game drive
We stopped at a pond where we were greeted by a Hippo family
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 220mm, ISO 125, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Seeing a Hippo yawn is always very impressive
A dead tree like an art sculpture (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/500)
We continued our drive and followed for some time a male lion
and also saw a curious group of impalas
In the low light of sunset we found a group of buffalos
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60)
From a distance lions observed closely the buffalos (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 220mm, ISO 12800, f/5.6, 1/1000)
Another beautiful sunset completed this day
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 140, f/5.6, 1/1000)
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