Mashatu Photo Workshop, April 2 - May 3 : By Isak Pretorius

Safari Diary - 29 April 2015

Photo Workshop, Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana

We were so inspired by our photos and the potential at the bee-eater hide that we decided to give it another try this morning. The dark background, golden side-lighting and action created stunning photos. A coffee break under a big Mashatu tree concluded both the morning drive as well as the first photo workshop. We to...ok our guests back to the border and picked up the new guests for the second workshop. During the afternoon drive our original plan was to have a look at the lions feeding on the elephant carcass. Instead, we found a leopard and spent the whole drive with her as she climbed a few trees, walked around, drank water and finally disappeared into the thicket. This was a fantastic start to the second workshop and the bar had been raised very high.

 

 

Leopard | 1/50sec at f/4.5, ISO 2500 | Canon EOS-1D Mark IV + EF200-400mmf/4L IS USM | Shutter priority, -1 EV

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Mashatu Photo Workshop - November 2014, By Trevor Kleyn

Some more great feedback and images from C4’s last Mashatu Photo Workshop of the year. Some incredible moments where shared in the bush during this workshop, despite the ‘far from ideal’ weather conditions.

With a little bit of applied patience and excellent guiding, shots such as these by workshop host Trevor Kleyn where achieved.

Hide activities

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C4 Workshop, Mashatu Game Reseve - November 2014

With the onset of the rainy season and the first rains the weather proved to be challenging in terms of photography, but there is one very famous saying, “Mashatu always delivers”, and that it did indeed.

In anticipation for the bad weather, we all decided to head into the underground hide on our first morning with the hope of getting lucky before the rains. Luckily we had 3 different processions of elephants come down, who where elegantly dwarfed by the moody skies.

 

Elephants at the underground hide with moody skies

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Mashatu : Photo Workshop with C4 Images and Safari's - By Astrid and Juerg Bluemel

We were here before, little over a year ago. It was so absolutely fabulous that we had to come again, come and share it with friends. So we booked a photo workshop with C4 images, hoping to learn a little more and improve our photography, and we did ! Plus we made some new friends, had a great time, fantastic wildlife sightings and a very enjoyable stay at Mashatu Tented Camp.

Mashatu Tent Camp Tents
 

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C4 Images and Safari's September Workshop - Mashatu Game Reseve, By Kyle de Nobrega

During our last 4 day photography workshop hosted at Mashatu Game Reserve’s Tent Camp, we were treated to some incredible sightings with our guests that Andre Cloete and I co-hosted.

With the onset of summer, the weather was inconsistent which made it challenging for a few days with very overcast conditions. However, this worked in our favour for the multiple times we spent with the mother Cheetah and her four 3 month old cubs.  Without the worry of harsh light we all spent a number of drives following these 5 Cheetahs as they walked, stalked and played over the dusty baron areas which are so unique to Mashatu.

With our bank of luck being topped to the full, we where fortunate to get a glimpse of the 3 new large male lions that have moved into the area from the Tuli Circle region in Zimbabwe. Clearly life out in their usual territory is not like that for a lion at Mashatu as these 3 boys where not having any vehicle get within 50-60m from them. As if they where never here, the very next morning they somehow disappeared from the property giving us a glimpse of hope that they might one day finally reside in the reserve.

During the course of our 4 day workshop we where spoilt with no fewer than 5 differnet leopard sightings, and in true Mashatu style the sightings were of great quality.

Myself and Andre spent some time scouting out a new ‘star –trail’ site and we where delighted to hear about and discover that the largest Baobab on Mashatu was only within minutes from Tent Camp. With this monster of a tree being very rarely visited we spent a good portion of our last afternoon/evening trying our hand at some Milky Way and star trail shots.

Over the course of the 4 days, it wasn’t just about getting images for the stockpile but rather about enjoying the wilderness and being able to capture the incredible time we had out there together.

A huge thank you to everyone who was on the workshop!

Cheetah mother and her four 3month old cubs

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Mashatu guide press release

C4 Images and Safaris are excited to announce a new chapter in the Mashatu Photographic hides. We’ve welcomed two new guides with a passion for conservation and photography as strong as C4 Images and Safaris’.  

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Mashatu Workshop Report

Words by Isak Pretorius, images as indicated.

Taking the N1 north from Johannesburg early morning you see the sunrise over Pretoria as you pass through. The first stop is at Kranskop Wimpy for a toasted samie and famous Wimpy coffee on the go. This is bliss, not only because of the good coffee but this sequence of events usually means the start of a C4 Mashatu Photo Workshop!

It's an easy drive up to the Pontdrif border between South Africa and Botswana where you leave your car and get picked up by the Mashatu vehicles. This is where the safari starts! August is always a great time for a safari at Mashatu, but then again any time of the year is actually a good time. The photo workshop is five days with eight game drives and aimed at getting any level of photographer to take their own top quality wildlife photos. We do this through photographic guidance on the game drives and informal classroom training in the afternoons at the lodge.

I was looking forward to this trip in particular because of some familiar guests we were hosting. It always helps to know what the expectations are and in this case I knew we had to get some top leopard, lion and cheetah shots. No pressure! All the other guests had the same request and also threw in some elephants, hyena and general game photo requests. We worked hard for the sightings on the first few days but it all worked up to a climax as we were spoiled with top shots of all predators and their young by the end of the trip. In fact, on the last four game drives we could literally choose between any of lion, cheetah, leopard, or hyena sightings as they were all out and performing beautifully on the open plains of Mashatu.

Time flies when you're having fun and the workshop felt much too short. We had great sightings, great laughter and were wonderfully hosted by the friendly Mashatu staff in the quiet and comfortable Tented Camp. Thanks Richard and Justice and all of Tented Camp's staff for a great time! We will al be back shortly!

14 August 2013
Leopards and other predators were on the wish list for this photo workshop, so we spent our first game drive trying to find our first subject to photograph. We had no luck finding anything as we kept driving and searching. Eventually we found an elephant that provided us with the opportunity to warm up the shutters. After photographing the elephant we got a call on the radio of a leopard sighting in the area we had been scouting all afternoon. We quickly made our way there and got some top shots in the bag before returning to camp for supper.

15 August 2013
I love keen photographers so I was in my element to find everyone ready for the morning drive 15min before the time we had agreed on. After a bird silhouette sunrise photo we scouted again in the area we saw the leopard the previous evening. Without luck tracking down the leopard we were happy to learn about a lion kill not too far from us. Two males in a pride of 13 lions killed a big eland in a riverbed. Our shutter count went up by a few hundred photographing the lions. While we watched the lions a herd of elephants came to drink in the same riverbed where the surroundings made for great wide angle shots. The afternoon game drive started with a bang as we found the mother leopard fetching her cub (the same cub we photographed on the first evening) to take her to what we guessed was a kill she had made. They disappeared into a thick bush and we left the sighting to go to a cheetah mother and her three small cubs who were feeding on a fresh kill. After the cheetah we went back to the leopard and found them on a kill too. A drink back at the bar at camp was the perfect way to celebrate another glorious day in the African bush.

16 August 2013
Our original plan was to try the elephant hide this morning, but with all the fresh kills and good sighting around we decided to try our luck on a game drive again. Leopards at their kill and catching up with the cheetahs completed our drive. The afternoon drive had a special sighting in store for one of our vehicles as they were lucky to see a lioness bring out her four tiny cubs out of a bush, almost just to show them off for a few minutes. A hyena den with tiny pups and the cheetahs on the open plains completed another great drive.

17 August 2013
We tried the elephant hide for the morning and although the bird photography was great as always, we were unlucky not to have any elephants show up. The afternoon drive made up for any disappointments however as found the mother leopard and both her cubs in a Mashatu tree they've dragged their kill into. Beautiful skies and last golden light provided us with special back-lit and silhouette baboons, back-lit elephants and kudu, the cheetah cubs playing in last light, hyenas at the den and landscape photos which included a lesson in starscape and startrail photography.

18 August 2013
It was with shock that we realised the last morning drive had arrived. Making the most of good morning light my vehicle photographed backlit elephants in the mopanes while the other vehicle focussed on the cheetahs in golden light. They gave a phenomenal show with the cubs playing on the open plain and even climbing in a tree at one stage. We then found the leopards again exactly where we left them, to take our last photos and say goodbye to another fantastic photo workshop at Mashatu.

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Mashatu Photo Workshop Client Images

Below a collection of images taken by C4 client, Deepak Daya, whilst on our June photo workshop at Mashatu.

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Mashatu Photo Workshop - June 2013

C4 Images and Safaris recently returned from another photo workshop in Mashatu. Here is some feedback and images from client Prakash Bhikha. "A quick note to say thank you for the amazing time I had at the Mashatu Game Reserve. Here are some of the images I had managed to go through. It was great company, the lodgings were comfortable, the food was fantastic and the rangers really went out of their way to get us close to the opportunities that presented to us for photographing these magnificent specimens."

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Mashatu Photo Workshop Feedback

"Back from Matshatu after a long day on the road with hearts filled with joy of the beauty of the bush…

We had a stunning time and came back with lots and lots of pics… many worth keeping and it'll serve as a visual reminder of a great few days in the bush under the guidance of Isak.

The hide, in particular, offered "a new perspective"! - Paul Vorster

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Mashatu Trip Report by Greg du Toit

Like many of Africa’s finest wilderness areas, when you first arrive at the Pontdrft border-post (between South Africa and Botswana), and you take a drive through the Mopane-veld on your way to camp, you think to yourself “Does anything live out here”? Mashatu is a true wilderness and as such, she does not flaunt her inhabitants, but rather she reveals her diversity subtly and serendipitously. On our recent C4 Mashatu workshop, the Tuli Block of Botswana decided to reveal to us one of the most rewarding wildlife sightings I have ever had:

Here the mother is seen looking up at a tree and plotting her way up to get the impala carcass up and out of harm’s way.

Upon arriving, we heard rumours that a mother leopard (with three young cubs) had killed an impala deep within a Croton thicket and we went in search of both her and her cubs. We soon found the kill with one cub high up a tree, but the mother was not there? Its amazing how the cub instinctively knew to stay aloft, out of harm’s way, in mom’s absence! We finally tracked the mother down and found her walking through the Crotons calling for her missing two cubs. By the end of the first evening, she had not located her boys and we feared the worst (especially our French guest Lisa). The following morning however, we went back to the kill site and we were delighted to find the mother with all three cubs at the site. The cubs are now around 6 months old and once mom makes a kill, she always has to go and fetch them. The problem is, that her two teenage boys are now gallivanting on their own in her absence, instead of staying put like good little boys! I could not help but feel sorry for mom who not only has to provide meals but also then has to track down her two delinquent sons.

The kill was on the floor and one of the young male cubs was attacking the dead impala. Being still young, the cub was still more interested in playing with his food than actually eating it. It was incredible to watch the young cub practicing the ‘death hold’ on the carcass, whereby he tried to clamp his small mouth over the impala’s jugular. It was also interesting to see that even though the cubs are still young, their fiercely independent spirit is already ingrained, as only one cub would feed at a time!

The young boy cub’s sister slowly approached the prey as he walked off decidedly impressed with himself, after perfecting his strangling technique. His sister is almost half his size and as soon as she approached the kill, which was close to where we were parked, the mother walked over and gave us the beady eye. This means that this mother knows her offspring individually and she also knows that her young girl needs extra protection. The more time I spend with leopards, the more I respect them!

The mother leopard had already attacked one hyena and wanting to avoid problems, she decided to hoist the prey up a tree and right in front of us! Seeing her strength and agility was a spectacular highlight. Once the kill was in the tree the cubs took turns at playing with it AGAIN. The dangling antelope’s head was used as a punching bag until the kill became unbalanced and just as it was about to plummet to the ground, the mother would run over and grab the impala with tooth and claw. She had been up all night looking for her cubs and now she was having to stand guard, to ensure the cubs never dropped dinner to the hyenas! While we were parked under the tree watching this spectacle, one of the cubs ran down the trunk and stopped to pause and stare at us. My 200 – 400mm lens has a MFD (minimal focal distance) of two metres and when my lens would no longer focus, I looked up and the cub was almost in our laps! Such moments cannot even be photographed and it was undoubtedly the closest that I have ever been to a leopard cub. The mother was not perturbed by the cub’s close proximity to us, which means that she saw our presence as not being a threat, which I was particularly pleased about.

One of the young cubs came running down the tree within touching distance.

We went back to the same location in the evening and we continued shooting with delight as the cubs continued to play with the carcass while a hyena stood at the base salivating! After dinner was finally complete, she groomed the cubs which was a joy to watch. We must have spent over four solid hours watching and enjoying photographing a wild leopard family, carrying out their delightful existence. I fear that all our full memory cards combined (and there are many), will not do this wonderful experience justice!

While the above sighting was undoubtedly the highlight of the workshop for me, another highlight was teaching Michael and Kevin to photograph star trails while Lynette sat eating popcorn watching us crazy photographers go about our work, as if she was watching an Imax at the cinema! Seeing Mike’s and Kev’s faces when they reviewed their images was priceless! Another highlight at Mashatu is always the wonderful elephant sightings! The Tuli Block is a safe haven for the elephants in southern Botswana and even the breeding herds are wonderfully relaxed. Parking our 4x4 and having an entire herd of these mammoth beasts walk past in perfect silence is an experience of a lifetime! Another highlight came on our last morning as we watched a lioness hunt impala and warthog!

I first visited the Tuli Block a decade ago and I have been back to this unique and mysterious corner of Botswana many times since. This enchanting and ancient land with its giant Mashatu trees and ghostlike herds of Eland is no doubt one of my favourite places in Africa!

A special thank you to Mike, Lisa, Willy, Willem, Kev, Michael and Lynette for sharing this wonderful experience with me.

(Our workshops for 2011 are unfortunately finished but be sure to book your spot for next year to avoid disappointment.)

Even after an entire day of playing with the dangling carcass this young cub still looks up at his mother playfully.


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Finding Gold - Mashatu Trip Report by Isak Pretorius

Another Mashatu workshop is behind us, making us all suffer from serious withdrawal symptoms. A photo workshop with passionate guests, spectacular sightings in a wilderness area hosted at a stunning camp can not be anything but very successful! August in Mashatu is cool and dry with a landscape covered in gold with the drying mopani leaves. It's a magical time of the year!

The leopard mother with three cubs we had seen on our workshop in June delivered an even better show than the last time. Our first four game drives were dedicated just to them as the mother made an impala kill and dragged it into what I consider "the best leopard tree". A fever berry tree with a big open branch growing diagonally and then horizontally out of the ground. This made for a beautiful stage for their performance.

For most of us photography itself is a wonderful excuse to spend time in nature. At Mashatu's tent camp dinner is served in a boma that overlooks a floodlit waterhole. This is always exciting. One evening we were treated to a show of at least 30 elephants coming for drink and entertaining us during our dinner.

After seriously branching out on our leopard portfolios we decided to look for a greater variety of subjects during the rest of our game drives. Some of the highlights included spending time with hyenas at their den, baboons, breeding herds of elephants, zebra in the golden mopani bushes, and fighting giraffe! As always during a Mashatu workshop one evening was dedicated to doing starscapes and startrails at a baobab tree near our camp.

Each season at Mashatu has it's own magic. For me, the winter months is extra special! Thanks to everyone who made this such a great trip! Enjoy the photos taken by our guests!

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