The Season End: Masai Mara 2015

Much to our groups dismay, 7 days in paradise flew by in no time at all. This may have been due to the fact that every single game drive was filled with some sort of action packed wilderness theatre.

To start off the string off exciting events that where to follow our arrival, we were treated to an aerial crossing of about 3000 wildebeest bounding their way through the Talek River. To say the least, the sighting really set the tone for the rest of the trip. Some of our highlights over the next 7 days included:

·         Viewing the famous cheetah Malaika and her three, 12 week old cubs.

·         Watching a female Cheetah kill a Thompson’s gazelle from start to finish, folloed by her 3 tiny cubs practising the art of hunting

·         Lions, lions, and more lions, seen around every bush and on every single game drive

·         4 Wildebeest crossings

·         3 fantastic sightings of Lorian the leopard and her 2 month old cub playing out in the open, of which all 3 sightings where almost exclusively enjoyed by just our 3 vehicles

·         The endless skies and stormy breathtaking sunsets, that seemed to improve by the day

·          Viewing a relaxed bat-eared fox out in the open plains.

·         On our last morning witnessing a clan of 16 Hyena taking down a young wildebeest.

·         Hundreds and hundreds of animals dotted throughout the open plains of the Mara.

·         The incredible and friendly staff of Entim Camp

·         Traditional Masai song and dance around a campfire on our last night

·         Mostly, the fantastic group of clients that we had the privilege of guiding in this magic destination

To top off the incredible time we had whilst on game drive we were always welcomed home to the friendly faces of Entim Camp. With the private camp to our selves we spent our afternoons editing images, sharing stories and just relaxing to the chorus of birds around camp.

The following is a selection of images from the trips photo guides, Shem Compion, Andre Cloete, Kyle de Nobrega and Ruth Nussbaum:

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WIN!!! With Getaway Magazine and C4 Photo Safari's

Getaway Gallery has for a number of years brought the limelight to some of South Africa’s most talented rising photographers. The gallery show cases Africa’s travel photography at its finest, each month the finalist are published in the Getaway magazine and highly commend entries on the Getaway website. Part of the first prize for the overall winner for 2015 will be treated to a week-long photographic safari in the Masaai Mara worth R45 000, sponsored by C4 Photo Safari’s. On top of this, your trip will see you kitted out with some of the latest photographic equipment on the market.

C4 Photo Safari’s has hosted photographic workshops in the Mara for seven years running; the workshops are hosted by some of South Africa’s finest professional photographers. On this trip you will not only have the privilege of witnessing one of nature’s wonders, the wildebeest migration, you will also have the opportunity to experience the freedom and vast wilderness of one of Africa’s greatest ecosystems.

Enter you images now to Getaway Photography and stand a chance to win with Getaway and C4 Photo Safari's. Closing date for entries is 1 April 2015, winner to be announced in the July edition of the magazine.

Good Luck!

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Southern Serengeti Calving Season

Words and Images by C4 Guide Albie Venter

Contrary to what many believe, the great migration never really starts nor stops ever. It is a perpetual movement of the mega herd of herbivores comprising wildebeest, zebra, and some species of gazelle. One of the main events on our safari schedule is the annual calving season during the months of February and March in the southern Serengeti. Here we caught up with the herd in a beautiful location in the southern woodland. Africa’s quintessential plains meet with the woodland and create a feature-full landscape of flat topped Acacia woodland interspersed with scenic Granite outcrops. These Granite kopje’s adds additional flavor and on them we often encountered prides of Lions, scenes reminiscent of Disney’s the Lion King.

A Scene out of Disney's Lion King! A pride on a Granite Koppie!

Quintessential East African Sunrise.

A chorus of Cape Turtle dove calls welcomed the day each morning as we travelled through the woodlands and we were treated to some of Africas most quintessential sunsets.

Our first afternoon had us photographing a pride of lionesses with no fewer than eight cubs all playing in the last rays of the setting sun.

All the large predators were present in numbers and we even witnessed a pair of newly independent Cheetah siblings taking down a wildebeest calf. Lions with cubs playing in golden light, a large male leopard and animals beyond count all contributed to a very memorable trip.

One of the Serengeti Special endemics, a Grey Breasted Spurfowl greeting calling at the end of day.

A big highlight was upon our return to camp one evening our chats were interrupted by a lioness walking nonchalantly through camp. And being a group of photographer one would imagine at least one good image between the lot of us. But alas...nothing to prove the sighting.

A Tawny Eagle taking off in early morning light.

Something I personally take real pleasure from is the fact that birds of prey were present in both species diversity as well as numbers. And although it is difficult to do proper birding during a safari in one of the worlds predator hotspots I did manage to tick off more than 120 species.

The smaller predators such as this pair of Bat Eared Foxes also added to the remarkable diversity of wildlife.

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Masai Mara tour report back- November tour

When advising a tour to a client, we at C4 Images and Safaris always decide on the best destination by weighing up various factors that will make a tour successful. It’s not necessarily about having a happy client or showing them a good time.

To us it is about showing them the best game viewing for their specific requirements so that they can get the best images. It’s as simple as that, and for us, that is all that matters.

So when we were asked about where is the best place in Africa to photograph predators on a daily basis, we pointed to that piece of land in the heart of East Africa- the Masai Mara. Going in the first week of November, I wasn’t expecting the migration, and the client knew as much. We were there for the predators, and there were other advantages…
• Tourist traffic has significantly decreased- meaning less vehicles
• Predators are all in excellent condition from the feast of the migration
• Many predators have cubs/pups now due to their good condition from the feast of the migration
• Grass is still very short, making visibility and photography very easy

And the best advantage of all for us on this tour? The migration was still in the area! We had millions of wildebeest on the open plains around camp.
Nature is a wonderful thing sometimes. The beauty of it all is that we are just visitors in the dynamics. This year the migration stayed very late and we lucked out. Next year will invariably be very different, as each year is here.

But on this tour we had that extra bonus. What a brilliant tour it turned out to be, with great image taken by all!
It’s as simple as that, and for us, that is all that matters.

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