Camels and Dunes

Day 3 is mainly a long drive south, to not far off the Chinese border. Thanks to the emergency replan this is a bit longer than expected, and we’ll also have a slightly longer drive back on day 5 returning … Continue reading
Oops! That Was More Sudden Than Expected

The big problem with Mongolia is that it’s so big. Big and empty. The distances between points of interest are usually several hundred km, there are few internal flights and a limited rail network. To explore multiple tourist destinations you … Continue reading
The Mongoblog

“Alright, alright, alright alright alright”. If you know, you know. If you have to Google it, it’s option 2! With the virtual ink just dry on the Zimanga blog, I’m off again, new destination Mongolia. In an ideal world I … Continue reading
Eating the Elephant (The Tail-Piece)

It’s instructive to look back on my Zimanga trip, to review what worked, and what I might have done differently. If you’re planning a photo safari, you might find the following useful. Firstly, I can’t praise strongly enough the owners … Continue reading
The Need for (Shutter) Speed?

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the same conversation at least four times: before my trip to South Africa, at least twice while I was on my safari, and also after sharing my images for review. It starts like … Continue reading
The Zimanga 2025 Group Photo

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 … Continue reading
Cutting It Fine

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
A Day of Drama

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
I Invoke the Dragon Gods

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 Scavenger Hide

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
In Which Andrew Meets Many Heffalumps

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
The First Great Heffalump Hunt

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