After a short flight we arrived at the airstrip where Paul, our guide, picked us up.
Aerial view from the area of Kings Pool (Sony A7R3, 24-240mm at 30mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/2000 sec)
The Kings Pool Camp is about 45 min drive away from the airstrip. So the transfer to the camp was actually our first game drive in the area.
(Sony A7R3, 24 -240mm at 187mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/500 sec)
But soon after they chased us away. Impressive when an elephant of this size comes closer and closer to your vehicle.
(Sony A7R3, 24 -240mm at 141mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We reached the camp, got installed in our beautiful cabin, enjoyed some food and drinks and then went off for our first game drive, greeted first by a group of Impalas.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 340mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Paul showed us a large warthog sleeping under a termite hill. This warthog must be doing this for very long, as all the game drives came by and looked at this impressive animal.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 210mm, ISO 3600, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We got the information that nearby a leopard was spottet feeding on an older kill. We could see the leopard, but photographing was very difficult. The predator was hidden under dense bushes in complete shadow. I had to crank up ISO to 16000 to get an acceptable shot.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 16000, f/8, 1/160 sec)
We did not stay very long at this location and continued or drive in a direction with more light.
We got stopped twice by technical problems with our vehicle. While waiting for help I took some photos of the spot where we got stuck and saw some beautiful dragon flies.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 2800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
The sun got down and soon we enjoyed a magnificent sunset from a location overlooking the nearby river.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/400 sec)
Next morning sunrise was no less spectacular. This photo was taken from our breakfast place, near the lobby of Kings Pool Camp.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1.6 sec)
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/640 sec)
By radio we got to know about the sighting of a male lion. After a speedy drive we got there and could see this beautiful animal.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 220mm, ISO 1400, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
The lion was on the move and soon he quit the area in a direction we could not follow.
But by experience the guides knew where the lion will most probably show up next. By car this meant some detour and on the way we saw beautiful birds …
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 410mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
… and a warthog family.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 370mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
Near a waterhole we found the lion again. Some other vehicles were there as well, so we had to wait a little before moving into the location.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 640, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
The lion was drinking water and then left to an area with higher grass.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 360, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
There we saw, that he was not alone. His brother was there laying on the ground in the shade. Both had some good time together. Even that lions are big cats, they behave like any cat, that’s funny to experience.
Finally they separated and one of them posed like a king near a bush, so that we could take our time to make those images.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 500mm, ISO 2000, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We continued our drive enjoying the beautiful landscape.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We managed to get a little closer to an elephant with a baby.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 290mm, ISO 1100, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
It was obvious that the baby elephant enjoyed the day.
(Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 200mm, ISO 2500, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
We could even see a mongoose with a baby.
In the afternoon instead of a game drive we went on a river cruise with the boat Queen Sylvia on the Linyanti River.
Water lily on the Linyanti River (Nikon D500, 200-500mm at 410mm, ISO 1100, f/8, 1/1000 sec)
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60 sec)
Birds (Pied Kingfish and Cormorant) and elephants visiting Linyanti River
The calm water offered spectacular reflections of the river bank and the sky.
(Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60 sec)
A hippo enjoying the river, probably not so happy about us.
Clouds swimming on the river (Sony RX1R, 35mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/400 sec)
In the evening light we saw some bee eaters, another pied kingfisher and other birds.
Visit the website of the Kings Pool Camp
Back to the overview of our trip Botswana and Zimbabwe 2018
Back to the overview of all trips on desktop-images.com
