Antarctica 2016: Crossing the Southern Circle

The first time I stepped onto land in Antarctica I was asked, “is this your seventh continent”? to which I belatedly replied, Yes! I had not considered it before because I was in awe of my surrounds and very excited for the upcoming landing. Antarctica does that to you- the obvious becomes an after thought because you are so caught up in the moment of enjoying this wonderland.

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Guest Image Gallery, Serengeti: By Gerhard Uys

 

Yet another fantastic guest image gallery from our C4 Photo Safari travellers.  Gerhard Uys, recently returned from Kusini Safari Camp in the Serengeti, where he and his wife along with photo guides Greg du Toit and Isak Pretorius experienced the spoils of one of Africa’s finest wildlife destinations. As seen in Gerhard’s images the trip was jam packed with top class predator sightings, as well as an array of bird species, wildebeest on mass, and of course breath-taking sunsets. Thank you to Gerhard for sharing the highlights from your trip with us!

 

 

 

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Guest Image Gallery, Serengeti and Mahale Mountains: By Randall Bacon

 

Recently returned from the Serengeti and the Mahale Mountains is guest traveller Randall Bacon. Randall along with fellow travellers and photographers, where guided and hosted by top wildlife photographer Greg du Toit. The group’s first stop on the trip was the Serengeti, in search of the large migrating herds of wildebeest who at this time of year have begun their calving process. Unfortunately, the group didn’t catch the migration but where still treated to fantastic predator sightings on a daily basis.  Thereafter, the group continued to a remote destination on the eastern banks of Lake Tanganyika, Mahale Mountain. The area offers a unique experience, of exploring the pristine indigenous forests in search of the shy Mahale chimps. The team where extremely successful in capture some incredible shots from both of these Tanzanian wilderness areas, thank you to Randall for sharing a few of your top shots from the trip.

 

 

 

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C4 Photo Hide Update

What a start to the photographic season in the C4 Hides at Mashatu Game Reserve. After scoping out a colony of White-fronted Bee-eaters hard at work digging away at the banks of the Majalie River, we rushed back to camp to collect the mobile hide. We gave the birds 2 days to get used to the big green ‘box-like’ object above their colony before setting off before sunrise to capture these beautifully coloured creatures in first light.

Unfortunately the morning was overcast, but this ended up working in our favour as we had more time to spend with the birds before the harsh light of the day kicked in. After 10mins of not one bird in sight and a slightly dampened faith that the colony had taken to us, the first bird arrived. Thereafter the performance continued until our batteries where dead and memory card where full up.

Being co-operative breeders the juvenile birds from the first clutches of the season, where hard at work digging holes and collecting food for their families within the colony. The juveniles make for perfect subjects as they are almost oblivious to the photographers and the tent, allowing the photographers to get close to them.

During the course of our action packed morning we had multiple visitors including, Laughing Dove, Meve’s Starling, African Hoopoe and Carmine Bee-eaters, not to forget mating White-fronted Bee-eaters!

White-fronted Bee-eater

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