Author Archives: Andrew

Although my "group panoramas" are a tradition, I am on this occasion frustrated, as on every night there’s less than half of group at dinner, between night hide slots and three of us staying at The Homestead, a separate accommodation block a few minutes’ drive away, with its own catering arrangements.
In the end Ann and I persuade everyone to line up for a group shot taken after breakfast on the last full day. Back row, from the left: David, Yasmin, Mark, Lee, Issa, Ann, Ray. Front row: yours truly, Mike, John, Martin, Ali, Sue, Colin, Chris.
1/10 to Lee, who could have shuffled along to the left to fill in the gap!
Technical Note
Regular readers will recognise two recurring scenarios regarding my relationship to tripods:
- I have a tripod, but it gets used for a purpose definitely not listed on the manufacturer’s website
- I have no tripod, and have to improvise camera support using an object to hand
This is a good example of the latter. Camera placed on the edge of the pool, pointing at the sofa, flip-out screen pointing up so I can check composition, albeit upside down (ground glass screen and cloth, anyone?) To adjust the yaw angle, fork from dining table wedged under the camera body providing exactly the right angle of inclination.
Personally I think all this nonsense about tripods is overblown.
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The Zimanga team insist on doing a final pre-breakfast game drive. While I appreciate the "value for money" focus, I am fretting slightly about whether that then makes the timing for the rest of the day a bit tight. It Continue reading →
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
Next morning I present myself slightly early so we can go to the Tamboti hide and collect a justifiably-smug Colin and John, ready for our morning session in the Lagoon Hide. I’m keen to practice my new skill with the Continue reading →
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
After the frustrations and ultimate disappointment of the previous night hide session, I demur from another and after lunch wave goodbye to John and Colin before joining another group, with Calvin as guide, for an afternoon game drive. I Discover Continue reading →
The next morning we head off for our (in my case, at least) long-awaited session at The Scavenger’s Hill Hide. As the name suggests, this is designed to attract the reserve’s less glamourous occupants, those who depend on the kills Continue reading →
Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
With our search for elephants still not fully resolved, and Frances confirming she wants me to come back with evidence of at least one baby elephant, we give Tyrone a fairly straightforward directive for the morning game drive: "find us Continue reading →
Monday, June 23, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
Despite the short guest appearances on previous days, our hunt for elephants remains unfinished business. Zimanga has about 40, and it should in theory be relatively easy to find them, so that’s the initial focus of our morning game drive. Continue reading →
Saturday, June 21, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
The 4th day of our stay at Zimanga delivers where the previous day did not. We start with another game drive, again aiming to track down the reserve’s male lions. Almost immediately there’s a confirmed sighting, and we head to Continue reading →
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
You don’t have to shoot Zimanga at 800mm! I call this “Absence of Elephant”. £4M please! (If Peter Lik can get away with it, why can’t I?) Oh, and about 5 minutes after shooting this scene, it disgorged a herd Continue reading →
Day 3 dawns with a borderline white-out: thick mist filling the valley under heavy low cloud, and it appears to be even colder than the previous day. The drive is somewhat hairy, and also almost a wash-out: we find the Continue reading →
The afternoon of day 2 is spent at a hide officially called Bhejane, but in practice known to everyone as "The Bird Bath", because it attracts a wide variety of small birds who come to both eat the bird seed, Continue reading →
Sunday, June 15, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog
We head north to Zimanga, the first South African game reserve designed specifically for photographers. Located in KwaZulu Natal, not far south of the Mozambique border, this is a private game reserve of 7000 hectares (about 18000 acres), which is Continue reading →
Saturday, June 14, 2025 in
Travel,
Zimanga Travel Blog