ODPSafari News and More

(Click on image to view bigger) It's almost Chobe season again...! I really am looking forward to our ODP safaris on the Chobe and Zambezi rivers this year. Bird life is simply unbelievable with the first of the migrants arriving later in Aug when we kick off. The Skimmers will keep us nice and busy with huge herds of Elephants and Buffalo to add to the amazing spectacle. This Yellow-Billed Kite was from last years safaris. Watch this space for more updates later this season..!    ...

Another flying leopard on the recent ODP safari at Elephant Plains. (Click on Image to view bigger)Salayexe (or Salasheya as some members call her...) taking the shortcut from one part of the Marula to another where her kill was stashed.Although I have seen leopards doing this on a number of occasions it has always been impossible for me to get a good shot of this behaviour.Either there are just too many branches or leaves in the way or the leopard ends up jumping away from you... or any of a number other factors.Here I finally got my chance to get her jumping from one part of the tree over a big opening to another, without any branches or other factors obscuring the view.I know the background is a bit busy but the image does show the behaviour and environment of the leopard really well....

Amazing sighting of lion chasing leopard up tree and leopard jumping out from  a 2story hight

photo Dudley Steenkamp

(Click on image to view larger)

ODP's new safari to Duba Plains kicked off in March this year.
I can quite confidently state that this amazing venue is a wildlife photographers dream.
The intense lion and buffalo interaction is truly amazing to witness and photograph.
Words cannot describe the exhilaration when moving with the lions as they hunt the Buffalo's - stuff that dreams are made of...!
In 4 days we had 4 kills - 2 of which we could photograph from start to finish.
Apart from the lions and buff's we also had huge herds of Lechwe, Bat-Eared Fox, Aardwolf, Tsesebe and amazing bird life to mention but a few.

The ODP safaris to Elephant Plains have kicked-off again for 2011.
The leopard action is just as good as always with 3 sets cubs on offer and our resident leopards providing endless opportunity..!
This is our 4th year to Elephant Plains and we just can't get enough of this amazing venue..!

Hi All

Our 2nd Nguni trip was as a success as our first . we had great weather and wonderful opportunities.

With Phil, Jill , Sue and Neville being keen bird photographers we went in  search of some more specialized birds and were lucky enough to

find the collared palm thrush ( a very big tick due to its very limited and specific geographical  location.

Some other specials we found were the rock pratincols, also very limited distribution.

The first part of ODP safari on Nguni voyager has come to an end  and every one commented on the good value for money
There is something mystical and wild  about Botswana , its hard to describe and I guess you will only know what I am talking about if you have been there yourself.

This past weekend I was privileged again to visit the Vulture hide in the Giant’s Castle Nature reserve.

George Schmahl passed on this offer to me on fairly short notice but I did not hesitate to take him up on it.  The Lammergeyer hide is always a great experience and I had no trouble filling it up with two other fellow photographers and friends, Jan and Rudy.  I have learned from previous experience not to be more than 3 photographers in the hide.

The morning started lying awake early, listening to the lonely whoop of a hyena, and in eager expectation of a wonderful day’s photography. The drive began with our expert tracker, going by the name of Prince, locking onto the tracks of a large leopard. We followed the tracks east with the cold winter chill tingling against our ears.

The second Outdoor Photo photographic safari of 2009 took place recently in the famed Sabi Sand Game Reserve. This unique ecosystem is heralded as being the best place in Africa to photograph leopard! So it was with much excitement, that Wim and I left the early morning smog and clutter of city life behind and growing increasingly smaller in our rearview mirror. The conversation on the way down was squarely centered on photography as both Wim and I photograph wildlife for a living. What made this trip so interesting was that Wim would be shooting with the Nikon D3x to test its RAW capabilities (both literal and figural), while I had rented the Nikon 200-400 F4 from ODP to test its versatility and sharpness. We bantered on incessantly about photography, pausing only momentarily before the Strydom Tunnel, briefly glancing up for any Taita Falcons, before continuing down the escarpment and into the nirvana bliss of the lowveld.