Tuli Photographic Workshop

This male leopard was attacked by a lioness seconds after this photo was taken.

After crossing the Limpopo in a cable car at Pont Drift border post you head into the 70 odd thousand Tuli wilderness in south east Botswana. Here, Isak Pretorius and I were to be hosting photographic workshop for C4 images over the next five days at Mashatu Tented camp. I admit that I had some preconceived ideas about Tuli. Fears that it may be a drought stricken region devoid of significant wildlife densities were soon put to rest on our first Game drive. The first bouts of camera fever were soon treated with some portraits of a lioness in the riverbed. When sundowners followed everyone thought it a fitting end to a first day. However, as we were getting ready to leave the distinctive rasping call of a leopard came from the nearby woodland. No sooner had we dumped the drinks in the vehicle and dashed off in the direction of the sound when we bumped into this incredibly relaxed young male leopard and followed him into the riverbed. What could possibly beat this? In the meantime though the lioness of earlier caught wind of the intruding predator and unbeknown to us had snuck up on the unsuspecting leopard in the meantime. In an explosion of growls the two cats clashed behind dense riverine bush.

A nervous stare from the top of a Nyala Berry tree.

Fortunately the lithe spotted cat made good its escape and dashed up a Nyala berry tree out of the eager lionesses reach. And finally that brought an end to our first day.

Numerous lion sightings tested the photographers abilities under different lighting situations.

Within the next 24 hours two more top predators in the form of Spotted Hyena and Cheetah with three cubs were ticked off from our photographic wish lists.

The soft muted light allowed great for longer photographic outing. This Natal Spurfowl was photogrpahed during the middle of the day.

The photographic opportunities didn’t stop there though and great shots of a pair of Giant (Verraux’s) Eagle owls, a variety of herbivores and landscapes were covered.

The large numbers of elephants allows for a wide variety of photographic interpretation.

Tuli of course is elephant territory and one is guaranteed of their presence throughout your stay. I do find them quite a challenging subject to portray in a new way but the sheer numbers present every conceivable opportunity to hone one’s skills.

Funky Chameleon.

And then the rains came! Although the area is known to be a dry region, during our stay more than 160mm fell changing the face of the placid little stream in front of camp.

Not to be cheated out of any photographic opportunities we all set about photographing this dramatic event through everything from wide angles to macro shots of the now prolific frogs and the dramatic lightning in the skies!


And this is where the spirit of the group came to the fore. I cannot recall a single objection, not even when the stream turned into a raging torrent that came crashing through our tents and dumping the veranda furniture some way off.

Waiting out the rain.

No trip can ever be a success without great guests and I would personally like to thank Piet, Tanya, Paul, Christine, Peter, Jane, Wessel and Wentsel for your contribution, whether an impromptu geology lesson or a quick joke that made this such a truly memorable trip for me. Thanks also to Isak for presenting such a great workshop where everyone, including myself learnt so much about photography. I am looking forward catching up with you all again.

Nesting Chameleon

Sometimes the most remarkable sightings happen in the least expected places. The garden for instance. Now I must add that I do not live out in the absolute wilds anymore but I have the likes of Egyptian cobra, Narina Trogon and a wide variety of other creatures in my garden and in the hills at the back, even Leopard.

A few days ago I stumbled onto this scene. A Flap Necked Chameleon in the process of laying its eggs. To say that this animal was inching forward as it dug its nest would be optimistic; they’re not exactly known for their speed, are they? From the time I observed it the first time it took about 24 hours to finish the job of digging its hole in rain soaked soil to laying the eggs and covering up the hole again and departing, never to see its own young again. Now in about 220 odd days they eggs would hatch and the youngsters will emerge. Its marked on my calendar so watch this space.

A very tired chameleon covering up its nest with soil and plant material the following morning.

Where all the action took place. Slap bang in my garden.

Kruger National Park

As I have said before the Kruger National Park must be by far one of the best, if not the best, value for money wildlife destinations on the continent. Yes there may be areas where you will be overrun by tourists (same as many other African destinations) but if you know where to go it is easy to avoid the crowds. For instance the many secondary roads that offers great game viewing with very little traffic and there were times that I drove for miles without seeing any other vehicle. Here are some pics from one of our recent visits.

Daybreak announces a respite from the dangers of the night yet this male Impala remains vigilant.

Spotted Hyena shortly after a mid morning drink and bath.

Although it was the end of March and nearing the end of summer many of the migrants such as this European Roller were still present in good numbers.

And I always find it very encouraging to see the large raptors - an indication of a still (largely) intact ecosystem.

A delicate male Steenbok.

A sleepy Black-Backed Jackal before the start of his nocturnal foray.

Obiquitous throuhough the park, a Burchell's starling announced nightfall.

Unlikely Nemesis

An incredible sighting we had a while ago of some very rarely seen predation. Although it is known that small birds can get stuck in the webs of the Golden Orb web spider I cannot find any confirmed report that the spider actually fed on it. We found this freshly dead little Blue Waxbill one evening entangled in the web of the Spider and was astounded to see the large female actually bite into the wing of the bird and proceed to feed on it.

When we visited the site the next morning the female was still in the same position and a large wound had formed at the site of the bite. At the same time the feathers also seemed to fall out at the site of the bite.

As a photographer I always try to capture the mood of events and try to steer away from just straight forward documentation. In this instance I photographed against the greying sky while using a slow shutter speed to enhance the sinister mood of the events. The flash was held off camera as always to increase detail.

Karongwe Sightings

Some of the latest images from Karongwe. In just over two weeks we encountered five different Leopards, one of which was during a Game Walk.

Portrait of a male Leopard in prime condition.

This scruffy looking female gave us a most indignant stare as we unknowingly disturbed her attempt at hunting Impala.

Hyena visited camp every night and even the activities at the sleepout in the bush got the better of this cubs curiosity who came to investigate.

One of the Hippo dams. A great spot for sundowners.

And curiosity even gets these behemoths to pop around for a closer look.

As allways, striking birds such as this woodland Kingfisher are never far.

A Yellow Billed Stork in interesting pose.

A Magnificant male Lion obligingly becoming active just as the sun filters through the clouds and grants us wonderfull photograhic opportunities

And just to round off the predator sightings, two male Cheetah decided to hunt down a young Wtaerbuck around camp only to settle for Impala later that afternoon.

Animal of potency and power.

An obscure cave in the Cederberg. Note the “hooved” human figures and the horselike figure in the background, possibly a “rain animal”.

For a people who had to rely largely on veld food such as Geophytes (Bulbs, etc) meat was indeed a much sought after commodity. And these to a large extent were in the form of smaller mammals and birds such Korhaan (Bustards) which they ensnared. Thus one can imagine that a large animal such as Kudu, Hartebeest or Eland were indeed a rare treat. None more so that the majestic Eland, unusual in that its meat had an unusually large quantity of fat. But what is more interesting is that the Bushman not only regarded the Eland as a source of protein but also as the animal of potency and power. In regions rich in a wide variety of antelope it is obvious that the distinctive Eland shape dominates their art, often in association with dance scenes – another reason why the art should not be viewed as mere documentation of their life.
When entering the trance like state during the well documented rhythmic dance people are said to “become” an animal – often the Eland. Next time you view rock art notice how the human figures often have the heads and feet of animals (the Bushmand were not known to wear masks). In this trance they would perform rituals like blessing a hunt, cure the sick or bring rain.

For years I tried to depict the enigmatic Eland from the mysterious point of view of the Bushman. Subconciously I had already given up when one afternoon I managed this shot. To me it seems like the pair of Eland are running off a stone age rock art site into reality.

Images of Power

I just returned from a photoshoot in the Waterberg, an area rich in history both recent and, well … not so recent. In fact several thousand years ago the first inhabitants of Africa walked these hills. The legendary Bushman or San. Except for the Egyptians, these eloquent people are one of the few African tribes who left a rich legacy of their spiritual lifestyle on the rocks of predominantly southern Africa.

Incredible detail for late stone age artists.

One can be forgiven for viewing these as merely decorative. Indeed these beautiful paintings do add a certain flair to the harsh rock faces but that’s not where it ends. More commonly, many just assume that these paintings are a documentation of animals and events that occurred during their day to day life. To a certain degree both ways of looking at the paintings are not wrong. Aesthetically they are beautiful and often one can discern animals such as Eland, Giraffe and the like which the bushman may have encountered and or hunted. It is when one views the fascinating array of dots, lines, circles and weird unidentifiable animals adjacent to the more easily recognized drawings that things start fitting more difficultly into our western mould.

Studying the art.

Also many, if not most painting are in areas not suited for habitation such as a small inaccessible ledge.
Enter the spiritual realm of the bushman. The well known rhythmic dancing induces a trans-like state of consciousness and it is when certain members (i.e. the shaman) enter this realm that rites are performed. Rain making, blessing a hunt or curing the ill occurs during this state. Important also to note is that no paintings were ever done during this state but rather afterwards when the mind clears again. Space just doesn’t allow a more in depth discussion but for those interested David Lewis Williams’s Images of Power is sure to fascinate.