2020 was probably the most difficult years in memory for a lot of people, and definitely the worst for the travel industry, which came to a grinding halt, as the COVID-19 pandemic, wrapped it’s Python like coils around the globe. We hunkered down, and waited for some sense of normalcy to resume. In August, South Africa started to relax some of the really tough restrictions, and one of them was inter-provincial travel! This gave me the opportunity to invite my good friend Isak Pretorius (Yes the world renowned Wildlife Photographer), to come and experience a reserve he had never seen. Our plan was to showcase this incredible (and highly under rated) reserve, and with the reserve still very quiet, it was the perfect time to just focus on photography.
We initially started to the north eastern parts of the reserve, on a broad patch of Kalahari Sandveld. The red soils in the area, can produce some incredible images, particularly in the afternoon. We found some really nice birds and a male Lion, who was lying just outside a thicket of Kalahari Pomegrantes. He was very much still awake, and the cold Kalahari morning was still lingering, but the hot African sun was fighting to warm the earth.
In the afternoon, we went west to a dam that produces some incredible Elephant sightings. Over 100 Elephant can be seen here in the afternoons, and the last 20 minutes of light, produce some incredibly iconic Elephant images.
The next day, we decided to head south, into the western Bushveld section of the reserve. Madikwe is divided between north and south, by the Tweedepoort mountains, and the Geology between north and south is completely different. The South is dominated by predominantly white dolerite soils, while the north most comprises of the Kalahari Sandveld. We immediately struck it lucky with a pack of African Wild dogs, hunting along the Marico River, but the light was poor and the dogs were moving, at a rapid pace.
We continued south, and got to another pan, where we decided to stop for a cup of coffee, because the morning was cold! As we were pouring the coffee, we got disturbed by a Lioness making her way to the pan for a drink, and then another Lioness appeared. They got to the waters edge, and just started drinking, when a Buffalo bull appeared and decided to push the Lionesses away. After he left, they enjoyed their morning drink.
In the afternoon, we made our back to the same pan, to see if the Lionesses return, with better afternoon light. They didn’t but we did have a lot of White Rhino and Elephant activity to keep us entertained.
The next morning, we decided to explore along the Tweedepoort mountains. There are 2 Sandstone cave formations, that we wanted to have a look at, and hopefully get something unique. The birdlife along the mountains is also something quite special.
The plan for the afternoon was to head back to the dam in the west, and then head to one of the Sandstone caves to do a bit of astral photography. It was an afternoon of Rhino’s and stars!
I’ll continue with our Madikwe adventure in the next blog.
If you’ve enjoyed the blog, please let me know in the comments section, I’d love to hear from you.
I will be running some photographic safari’s in Madikwe in 2021, please get in touch if you’re interested and let’s get planning!
Darren
Hello Darren,
Your photos are beautiful. Ed and I had the pleasure to visit Madikwe twice and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I am a non-photographer but all your stories about the history of the country even long long time ago were interesting and gave sort of ‘’depth of time” when looking at the scenery. You being our safari guide was one of the reasons we returned after the first visit. Ed got to enjoy the photography and we had some experiences I will not forget such as dozens of elephants filling the road from one side to another, lumbering decidedly towards the watering hole right behind our vehicle. That was impressive. Thank you again!
Hi Anja.
It was a great pleasure having Ed and yourself on safari. Definitely times I’ll never forget. I’m really glad you guys had a good time, and I look forward to welcoming you both back, when all this craziness had passed.
All the best