The Lion's Roar. Photo Safari Newsletter December 2015

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1 The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter December 2015

2 In This Issue... The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter The Pilanesberg Hides Pilanesberg ebook Special The Pafuri area of the Kruger National Park Crocodile versus Lions Tshukudu Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park ebook special offer Parting Shot Pel s Fishing Owl! Editorial Well, another busy year is over and 2016 doesn t look like it will be any less busy! We ll be spending 5 weeks in the Kruger Park getting the final images for our new Photographer s Guide to the Kruger National Park ebook that we hope to publish by June But back to this issue! We have an article on the Pilanesberg Hides with some amazing images of lions and a few lessons! There is a special offer on our Pilanesberg ebook 20% off and a further 20% is donated to the Pilanesberg Wildlife Trust for Rhino Protection. We look at the Pafuri area of the Kruger National Park and have some great landscape images to give you a feel for the area. We also have links to the Pafuri Camp webpage and our trip report page. Pafuri Camp is simply amazing! Then we look at an amazing sighting our friend Irvine Eidelman had in the Kruger Park a crocodile versus lions! We also feature the newly renovated Tshukudu Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg the lodge is perched up on a hill overlooking the plains below superb food and service with excellent game-viewing. If you ll be visiting the Kgalagadi there is a 20%-off discount if you buy both The Photographer s Guide to the Kgalagadi and Peter Derich s Kgalagadi Transfrontier ebook two indispensible tools for visitors to the park. Our Parting Shot is a bird we have been looking for, for over 20 years at last we have found him and have the photo to prove it the rare Pel s Fishing Owl! We hope you enjoy this issue! Mario & Jenny Fazekas Kruger-2-Kalahari

3 The Pilanesberg Hides The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter The Pilanesberg National Park has six hides; Mankwe, Makorwane, Ruighoek, Batlhako, Malatse and Rathlogo. In the summer you can get amazing bird images and some mammal images but it s the dry season that produces the best action events. The one year we sat at Rathlogo hide all day every weekend from June to September in order to get the resident leopard we didn t get him/her and got some great shots of other animals but the one weekend when I fell ill was the day that a pack of wild dogs took down a waterbuck at the hide! We knew that the waterholes are animal magnets in the dry season so were prepared to sit at hides for long periods. Our friend Cay-Uwe Kulzer lives in Germany and loves the Pilanesberg so he visited the park the last week of October this year. He also enjoys sitting at the hides and he was rewarded with some superb lion images at both Malatse and Ruighoek. Cay entered the park as the gates opened and made his way directly to Malatse, one of his favorite waterholes / hides. Shortly before arriving he encountered this lion pride on the road,

4 who started looking towards the waterhole with great interest Cay drove to the hide anticipating the lions would come to drink or for food and he was right, they were going to the water but after a few minutes a black rhino appeared and chased the lions away. While sitting at Malatse, Cay spoke to other visitors and he then learned that a pride of lions, a female, three cubs and a male were around Ruighoek for a few days due to a dead hippo. They fed several days on it and the female patrolled the surroundings to protect the carcass against others, like brown hyena and jackals that were also close by. Cay then drove to Ruighoek and found the lioness at the carcass

5 He made an interesting behavior observation about lions that he s not heard of before. As you can see in this image, the lioness tried to hide the carcass by covering it with sand. Of course she was not able to cover such a big "prey" and needed to continue with her patrol to protect the carcass from scavengers! NOTE: Unfortunately the above image is not very sharp as many people were in the hide and the floor vibrated too much when they moved and Cay was using two stacked tele-converters on his 300mm f2.8 Canon lens! We were very excited to get this info on lion movements as we were going to the park in two weeks time the 12 th 14 th November and we were hoping to still see lions at the hides. We visited all the hides and most waterholes on the first morning and found the old central pride of lions at PC (Pilanesberg Center) and the Rathlogo pride at Rathlogo hide Both had killed and the carcasses were behind some bushes so were hoped that the lions would be sticking around.

6 We were staying at a private lodge so could not come to the hides when we wanted as we had to consider the other guests on the vehicle. The other guests did agree to go to Rathlogo on the afternoon of the 12 th and we got there just in time to see a black rhino and her calf trying to get past the lions and to the water. The sun had already set so we had to increase our ISO and apertures to the max! The field guide that we were with was keen to stay in the hide because we knew this could get interesting but the other guests weren t interested the one commented that the hide is too hot and dingy so we had our drinks in the parking area and left. By then it was too dark anyway and we were happy with the images we had captured. The next day was Friday 13 th a day to remember! The guest on our vehicle didn t want to know about the hides so we ended up seeing the new central pride of lions at Lake Mankwe. We got some nice shots of the females and the two black-rhino boys walking. What was going on at Rathlogo you may be wondering? We certainly were! Lions camped at a waterhole means potential action!

7 Ilna Booyens is another photographer who loves to sit at the hides and on Friday 13 th she entered the park from Bakgatla gate and made her way to Rathlogo hide. She sat in the dark and dingy hide from 05h37 and didn t move. At 6:40 AM the lions chased after a wildebeest but the chase was unsuccessful and the lions went to lie under a tree so everyone in the hide left (the action s over for the day, right!?). That is everyone except Ilna. At 09:30 two men came into the hide but at that time there were only doves and crows taking a bath but they sat and kept Ilna company, chatting about the park and sightings. Ilna could have been distracted by this but she kept one eye on the waterhole. Then she saw a Tsessebe come walking down for a drink of water and the one guy (from America) was asking her what type of antelope that was (he asked if it was a moose!) and while she was answering him the lioness came charging out from under the tree and chased the Tsessebe around the waterhole and pulled her down right in front of her Ilna says her heart stopped for a few beats and the scene still plays off in her mind every now and then!!!

8 Jenny and I have been visiting African national parks since 1995 and have spent nearly 3 years on safaris and we have seen maybe a dozen chases and/or kills so this is a rare sighting! The lioness pulled her down at 9:55 and the rest of the pride came to help her prepare the meal

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10 and by 12h10 the show was over. Ilna used a Canon EOS 7D mark II with a Canon f/ l Is II USM. Her settings were: f/5, ISO 400, 1/3200 sec. What are the lessons here? 1. Serious photographers don t mix well with non-serious photographers. Ilna is new to photography but she is serious about getting the shots so she was prepared to sit in the hide day after day hoping to get some action. The guests on our vehicle were ticking animals off of a list and could not see the opportunities of going to the hides. 2. Patience can pay big rewards a strategy of sitting at hides works. Rathlogo is a morning hide so sitting there in the mornings provides backlight perfect for the lion kill. Malatse is an afternoon hide as it faces east and the sun will be behind you in the afternoon. 3. Have the right settings Ilna had a large aperture and low ISO that gave her a high shutter speed to capture any action that may occur she planned ahead! 4. Speak to other people, like Cay did, but don t allow yourself to be distracted. Can you imagine if Ilna had taken hers eyes off the waterhole? When she next looked the action would have been over. The above eight images are Ilna Booyens

11 The Photographer s Guide to the Pilanesberg ebook 20% discount Over 230 pages filled with photos, maps, advice, tips & lessons Normal price is $34.00 but you can save 20% simply use the code PWT in the discount block at checkout and the price will drop to $27.20 For more information & to purchase your copy please visit either: It s for all levels of photographers Instant download Pay by Paypal or Credit Card 30 day money-back guarantee 20% of each ebook sale goes to the Pilanesberg Wildlife Trust for Rhino Protection or

12 The Pafuri area of the Kruger National Park The far northern Kruger Park is a photographer s dream come true! It has an ancient and mysterious feel to it and the scenery is absolutely magnificent. There are various fever tree forests stretching up from the Luvuvhu River and appearing at intervals along the Limpopo River. In between the fever tree forests you ll find palm-lined pans

13 and ancient baobab trees In addition you have access to Lanner Gorge. The top of the gorge provides magnificent views over the Luvuvhu River and across the Kruger National Park. The best time to visit the gorge is at sunrise (this photo) and sunset.

14 How do you gain access to these fantastic sights I hear you asking? Easy. The new Pafuri Camp provides luxury tented accommodation along the banks of the Luvuvhu River and daily game drives to all the above locations. The food, service and tents are all 5-star and the camp location is unbeatable. All 19 tents overlook the Luvuvhu river as does the communal area so whetehr you are at the swimming pool, bar, or diningroom, you get to see the views We spent 5 nights at Pafuri Camp and still didn t get to see all there was to see! Click here to read our trip report.

15 Crocodile versus Lions The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter Our friend, Irvine Eidelman, was in the Kruger Park staying at Shingwedzi Camp when he came across this most interesting scene where the crocodile kept edging closer to try and get some of the lion pride s meal!

16 Tshukudu Bush Lodge The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter Tshukudu Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg was renovated during the winter months of 2015 and re-opened in October. The lodge is perched up on a hill and has magnificent views of the plains and waterhole below. Tshukudu is situated on a concession in the park, which means vehicles from other lodges are not allowed onto their property and this gives their guests exclusivity when they have animals on their property. The above image shows Amarula, the biggest bull elephant in the Pilanesberg, in front of the lodge. The day before two male lions spent a few hours in front of the lodge so there are many good reasons to stay at Tshukudu! (Image captured by Shawn Catterall, the GM at Tshukudu.)

17 The lodge now has ten suites six refurbished old suites and four brand new suites, all named after animals. We stayed in the Sable Suite. Lounge and bedroom Patio with plunge-pool and grand views over the plains Even the bathrooms have views!

18 And it was so nice to see two of our images being used to decorate the Sable Suite! Special Offer on 2 must-have Kgalagadi ebooks: Click here to purchase

19 Parting Shot... The Lion's Roar Photo Safari Newsletter Pels Fishing Owl, Kruger National Park it took us 20 years to see this owl! Nikon D7100 with mm Sigma Contemporary 600mm resting on beanbag on the Luvuvhu Bridge. We were staying at the new Pafuri Camp. ISO 6400, 1/60 sec at f/6.3 with SB 900 flash & Better-Beamer Copyright: Jenny Fazekas To subscribe to this newsletter please click here