Private guided photo safari in the Okavango

Trevor Kleyn guided a Private Photo Safari in the Okavango Delta fro C4 Images and Safaris during the start of September. The Trip was timed for the height of the dry season, with animals all focused along the permanent waterways, which maes this photo safari can only be termed as the “ultimate” safari into the Okavango Delta. 

What makes Botswana’s Okavango Delta most remarkable is the fact that it is a wetland paradise located within the arid Kalahari Desert. Each year floodwater flows into the Okavango from its source in the moist central African highlands over 1000km away, creating a unique wetland that supports and sustains a huge diversity of wildlife.

Have look at these great examples photographed by Trevor Kleyn.

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Pantanal Photo Tour 2015

After a recent scouting trip to the Pantanal in Brazil we are now proud to announce our first safari to South America!

The Pantanal is a magical destination of excellent bird life, amazing mammals and of course their apex predator, the Jaguar.

We will be spending time in some of the best locations for each species and ending off with 4 nights on the Jaguar floating hotel right in the heart of Jaguar country.
Join us on this fantastic journey to a wetland that is three times as large as the Okavango Delta, and with more species!

For more information please visit Pantanal Photo Tour

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Rounding off the year with the magic of Chiefs Camp - by Isak Pretorius

The scenic beauty and wilderness feeling that Chiefs Island offers makes it one of my favorite places in Africa to visit. It was quite fitting to end the year for C4 Workshops at such a great location.






With the early December rains, the area has transformed into beautiful green, different from what we had seen five weeks earlier on our previous workshop to the island. It was quite noticeable how much more water was around from the local rains they've had - a beautiful sight to see and exactly what one always envisage the Okavango Delta to look like.





The workshop was a great success - from the flight into the lodge over the Okavango Delta that gets the excitement going at the beginning of the workshop, to the sharing of photos during our afternoon informal workshop sessions. Anywhere in the bush where you have great game-viewing and a relaxed atmosphere is a great place to learn and put the theory of wildlife photography into practice.





December in the Okavango Delta means lots of birds, and we had great sightings of raptors, waders and the all the migrant species. Some of our highlights included seeing Pygmy Geese and Rosy-throated Longclaw, and in addition we got great photos of kingfishers and the African Painted Snipe to name a few.

We made the most of the variable weather conditions we experienced as we photographed everything from early morning backlit buffalo, carmine bee-eaters in the rain, to lions shaking their head after the rain. I loved the variable weather and mild temperatures and I like in particular how it forces you to be creative and experiment with all the different genres of photography to make the most of the trip.





Chiefs Camp is one of the best camps in Africa. Having cocktails on the deck while watching elephants bathing in the water right in front of you makes you realize that this is a special camp. It's not just the location, the luxury, the quality of the service or the food, but also the homey feeling that it provides that people always enjoy the most. Besides game drives, the camp also offer a variety of other activities. A flip over the swamps with a helicopter was a great way to end our workshop and we were all very sad to leave Chiefs Island. We are already looking forward to visiting there next year again. We'd like to say a big thanks to Rory, Jade, Basil, Petra, the rest of the camp staff, and our fantastic driver guides Rex and Jonathan who made this such a memorable trip for us all!

Happy shooting everyone and see you next year!
2-6 November Chiefs Island
7-11 December Chiefs Island






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Experience Wilderness - By Isak Pretorius

Chiefs Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is pure wilderness and a land of incredible beauty. Vast open seasonal floodplains with palm tree islands. Herds of animals roaming free and wild exactly like they have for thousands of years. Unspoiled scenic beauty that stretches as far as the eye can see. To experience this and to have it all to yourself to enjoy is pure magic! The recent C4 photographic workshop to Chiefs Camp offered our guests exactly that. This is my favorite destination in Africa.





Our photographic workshop was a great success, especially because we're such like-minded people, having a lot of laughs together, and enjoying the good photography and nature experience that this wilderness had to offer. Game viewing was fantastic with great sightings of the general Delta game, the big five, and a rare glimpse of a leopard carrying a week old cub. This leopard is close to camp and very accommodating towards photographers, a beautiful poser. We are looking forward to seeing her more during the upcoming safaris to Chiefs Island. Although we didn't do serious birding, we unofficially tallied more than 130 species for the trip. This included numerous lifers for most of the guests.



Chiefs Camp is tucked between beautiful big Jackalberry, Sausage and Apple-leaf trees on the edge of the actual island, overlooking a seasonal floodplain. The camp has recently been renovated and the accommodation, food and comfort that the camp offers are exceptional. It's easy to see why this camp has been voted the best lodge in Botswana for three years in a row now!



As a photographic safari our objective was to get top wildlife photos as much as it was to experience this untamed wilderness. Chiefs Island delivered superbly in both categories. Apart from the good photography, we also extended our experience into the air with a flip in a helicopter over the Delta, and an afternoon's mokoro experience on one of the main channels in the Delta.



Thanks to all our guests, my co-host Albie Venter, our drivers Ishmael and Sky, and all the staff at the camp who made this such a memorable experience for all of us!



Albie Venter's Report
Mark Dumbleton's Report
Chiefs Island 2011


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Chiefs Island Report by Albie Venter

It seems like the bars are continuously raised on the safaris. Not even the heat of Chiefs Island could dampen anyone’s adventurous spirit as we disembarked the Cesna Caravan at Chiefs Camp’s bush airstrip in the middle of absolute supreme wilderness.





Once settled into our quite spectacular rooms it now feels like the adventure never stopped until our return to Jo’ies four days later. Everything from leopards carrying new born cubs to intricate painted reed frogs kept everyone busy with photographic opportunities jumping at you around every corner (if you’ll excuse the wisecrack).





Every photographer has a wish list, often not the easiest of subjects. But when Trevor wished for a leopard on a termite mound you can’t help smiling when one actually peer straight at the lens from atop one. Surreal stuff! The only real problem everyone had was not finding enough time to capture it all and unanimously everyone wished for more time in the Delta. Hopefully this will come in the not too distant future.





All of you, who made our time so much fun, as always from Isak and me, thanks a mill!! It can never be fun without great guests and we are looking forward hosting you all soon when we catch up in the sticks.





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Trip Report, Stanley's Camp, Okavango Delta

By Isak Pretorius

When you go to a place where there are abundant wildlife, water and sunshine mixed together, you are guaranteed to see something spectacular! The Okavango Delta is such a place, a pure wilderness and probably the most exciting game viewing destination in Southern Africa.

C4 Images and Safaris have just concluded a very memorable photographic safari to the Okavango Delta at Stanley's Camp. The camp is situated in the heart of the swamps just below the South Eastern tip of Chiefs Island. They've had extremely good rainfall in the Okavango Delta during January and February. This resulted in unusually high levels of water on the floodplains for this time of the year. The water level was almost as high as when the flood waters push in from the Okavango river during July and August. This meant that we were in for an interesting time ahead! Just as at Chiefs Camp, Stanley's Camp uses game viewing vehicles specifically modified with bigger wheels and raised suspensions to negotiate the swampy terrain effortlessly. I've never seen so much water around and having water rush over the bonnet and over the floor of the vehicle provided an additional thrill for everyone!

The safari was led by Greg du Toit and myself. Drizzling and overcast weather on the first two days meant that we had a slow start to the safari. Luckily we were all serious photographers and this could not damped our spirits. In fact, we were excited to use the elements to our advantage, searching for unique photo opportunities of impala and wildebeest in the rain! We also enjoyed the dramatic skies for which the Okavango Delta is famous. On our second drive, a great sighting of a leopard that entertained us for an entire morning got the shutters working properly.

The next few games drives delivered sightings of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, and letchwe before we were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sighting of a lion kill. We witnessed a pride of six lions killing a young zebra thanks to Greg du Toit who made the call to stick it out for an afternoon with the lions, watching them sleep, waking up, stalking, ambushing, and finally devouring. A complete cycle rarely seen, and of course stunning photographs by everyone! Oúr vehicle, on the other hand, stumbled onto a few wild dogs staking a herd of impala on our way to the lions. "Spoilt for choice" got a new meaning as we had to choose between following wild dogs on the hunt or lions stalking zebra. We decided to follow the wild dogs for a while but when the call came over the radio that the lions had killed a zebra we quickly rushed to witness the action.

Another memorable sighting we had on our way back to camp one evening was of a spotted hyena walking in the road and in the swampy water looking for a meal. With the dark water at night and subject illuminated only by the spotlight, this made for some dramatic images. During our final game drive of the safari we were luckily to find a big male leopard crossing one of the water channels. I was interesting to see how he very slowly and carefully made his way through the water trying not to make a sound! This is a sight that you'd only find in the Okavango Delta and it ended our safari on a high.

The Okavango Delta is of course also a bird paradise. With most of our guests being keen bird photographers it meant that everyone were in their element! Fish Eagles around every corner, Grey-headed and Striped Kingfisher, Saddle-billed Storks, Wattled Cranes and Dwarf Bittern were a few of the species that got us really excited.

When hosting a photographic safari it is important to go to a camp that can take care of our clients, making them feel at home and relaxed after a hard day of photography out in the African bush. Stanley's Camp is exactly such a camp! It is a very intimate camp gathered around a large sitting and dining area which offers great views over the Okavango Delta floodplains and one of the best camps I've ever been to. Apart from the filter coffee wake-up call, the friendly staff and exquisite food prepared by chef Harry is what made the camp extra special. The camp also offers an elephant interaction experience, mokoro excursions, and guided walks if you want to try something different.

Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end. We were sad to leave but enjoyed the last breath-taking views from the Okavango Delta as we flew back from the camp to Maun where we all went our separate ways. A big thanks to Evelyn, Harry, Jonathan, Carter, and the rest of the staff at Stanley's camp for making it a trip of a lifetime!

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Botswana Tour Trip Report, December 2009. Part 2

December 2009 was a good month for C4 Images and Safaris. Firstly we had a 2-week safari to Botswana and then it was Christmas holidays for us!

We wont write about the holidays, but we do want to share with you a great photo tour to the Okavango region of Botswana. Ill document each day as the tour went along.

The tour was led by Shem Compion and Greg du Toit. There were 7 clients and between us we had 3 private vehicles for our sole photographic use.

Part 2:

Day 8
Leopard at dawn. What a way to start the day. It was a classic scene- a large tomcat resting on a low horizontal branch with the sun softly glowing through the clouds. A perfect set up, but unfortunately an unwilling model. The beauty of travelling into such wilderness areas is that animals like this male leopard determine your photographic success. In this case, this leopard might not be seen for another year by another vehicle and we were very fortunate to see him. That is the beauty of true wilderness areas. The morning wasn’t a waste though- we enjoyed photographing a black bellied bustard doing its champagne cork courtship pop and an open billed stork fishing away on fresh water mussels. Tea time was to be the real treat though, as we witnessed nearly 150 elephants emerging out of the bush to drink, play, mud wallow and swim in the lagoon in front of us! It was a sight to behold and we slowly got right in amongst these silent giants- brilliant! We left one hour later with some of the elephants still not having completed their watery activities!
The wattled crane is a highly endangered bird- with the Okavango being its largest breeding ground- so it was very pleasing to be able to approach a pair preening in the last light of day. It was the closest I have ever been to a pair and they gave us a real show, calmly cleaning their feathers with the wattles swinging away.

Day 9
This morning was rain filled, which doesn’t always make for great photography. However, it does bring out the unusual animals and a honey badger was spotted while Harry spotted and photographed a caracal out stalking!
Unfortunately the rain continued in the afternoon, making photography impossible.

Day 10
After the rain, out comes the Velvet mites! These tiny creatures attracted the interest of all on the vehicles and resulted in some very unusual poses with many bottoms facing skywards trying to get nice and low angles on the mites!
However, the best was to come, as we tracked the wild dogs and found them lying up in the shade. The next few minutes turned out to be one of the best sightings of 2009, with all the wild dogs getting up and playing in a pool of rainwater. I have written about this in a post entitled “wild dogs in 409”, but I will say it again- this was simply magnificent animal behaviour of the highest order. Great subjects, good light, excellent action, repeated motion, willing subjects and excellent positioning!

That afternoon, we sat with the wild dogs again and followed them as they went off on the afternoon hunt in perfect golden light. You could say it was a “wild dog day”.

Day 11
Cheetahs and wild dogs. Lagoon camp is famous for its wild dogs and by the end of the day we knew why. It started with finding the three brother cheetah, who posed on a termite mound before heading off to hunt Impala which once chased ran right past one of our vehicles! In the afternoon, we found wild dogs running like crazy dogs along the road- a kill had been made and the adults were coming back to the pups. Again we witnessed brilliant behaviour of these dogs playing, regurgitating, chasing and feeding in an open clearing.

Day 12
Rain hampered our start to the morning, but keeping a keen eye out on the weather, we headed out as soon as it started to clear- that being 13h30. A long afternoons drive it was going to be- and what a smelly one it was. A dead elephant was located, attracting hundreds of vultures and marabou storks. The fighting and hissing around the carcass was something to behold. The area surrounding the dead elephant was littered with hundreds of scavengers filled to the crop with food. They decorated the large dead trees like Christmas decorations!
We left the smell and headed to a peaceful lake where we photographed hippo in lovely light before the sunset stopped us and we photographed in the opposite direction. (Were far from the hippo by now!) En route back to camp we chanced upon the rare roan antelope. It was many peoples first sighting of one and although it was shy, we all got a good look at its “clown like” facial features.

Day 13

Last day blues were to be banished by the excitement of the morning’s sightings. Cheetah buffalo and wild dog saying their good byes were the morning’s main attractions. We followed the cheetah, scent marking and patrolling- making for very good images. They rested up eventually and we were off to find the buffalo- a nice breeding herd with oxpeckers providing that extra bit of colour.

From there we raced back to camp for brunch and the flight back to Maun, civilisation and unfortunately the end of a wonderful tour.

The start of the rainy season is my favourite time in the bush. Everything comes alive, the migrating birds are back and the animals are dropping their babies. Some mornings, you can literally feel the bush buzzing with excitement.
With our clients on this tour, we certainly had a few days of “buzzing excitement”!
Thank you to all our clients who once again provided a great tour.

At the start of our safari, I asked one of the clients what they were particularly interested in. “Insects”, they replied… well at least I had just completed an insect book! However it highlights a typical C4 Images and Safaris safari. We aren’t here only for the big 5 and their kin. We take tours for people who enjoy experiencing nature in its entirety; and then photographing it to capture its beauty.

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The Chiefs Island Experience - Isak Pretorius

Chief’s Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is known as the predator capital of Africa. C4 Images and Safaris has just concluded its first of many safaris to the island and the place had more than lived up to its reputation and everyone’s expectation. We met our guests at O.R. Tambo International from where it’s a two hour flight to Maun and then a 20 minute flight into camp. Flying low over the Delta is always thrilling with spectacular views of this unique waterway system alive with large herds of elephants, buffalo, giraffe, and zebra which are easy to spot from the plane. This got the safari off to an exciting start.

We were looking forward to sunny weather and good photography. Chief’s Camp is located on Chief’s Island on the edge of a large floodplain hidden away between beautiful Jackalberry and Sausage tree woodland. The lounge, dining room, bar and pool are situated on a large wooden deck overlooking the floodplain and became our general meeting area for the next few days doing everything from our afternoon photo workshops, eating, relaxing and talking photography while watching nature unfold in front of us. Growing up amongst the animals in the surrounding areas, our guides Ali and Ishmael were masters of predicting animal behaviour and locating our photographic subjects. They had obviously dealt with many photographers before and knew exactly how to position the vehicle for us to get the perfect shot. Chief’s Camp is also different from anything we’ve experienced before in that they’ve modified their vehicles for driving through water. A lifted suspension and snorkel did the trick but occasionally we had to lift our camera bags and feet off the floor during the deeper crossings. Twice during the safari we had water over the floor of the vehicle that drained away quickly once we got through. Apart from the thrilling sightings this added some additional exhilaration.

The game drives took us onto both the floodplains as well as the higher dry areas of Chief’s Island itself. It provided typical Okavango Delta scenery of wide open plains with grazing herds of animals and islands of woodland vegetation and palm trees. Game viewing and photography were excellent with numerous sightings of lion, leopard, huge herds of buffalo, elephant, lechwe and the other general game like zebra, wildebeest and giraffe to name but a few. The Delta is of course also a bird paradise that provided us with terrific photographic opportunities of many “specials” like wattled crane and slaty egrets. The water level on the floodplains was dropping quickly, leaving behind numerous pools with trapped fish. We came across a number of pools with hundreds of yellow-billed storks, marabou storks, hamerkop, and egrets all trying to make the most of the fish’s misfortune. One afternoon we did the makoro experience where you get close encounters with birds and some of the Delta’s smaller subject while gliding quietly over the water.

Each day usually starts with a wakeup call from staff who also brought us coffee in bed. This is followed by a light breakfast, morning drive and early lunch after which there were time for relaxation. The afternoons were spent doing the photography workshops that included lectures on light, composition, technique, digital workflow and processing. Afternoon tea and game drive followed, after which we had time for relaxing drinks and dinner.

This safari would definitely be remembered for a spectacular late afternoon fast moving thunderstorm on our last afternoon drive, and a sighting where a black-backed jackal had killed a baby impala. As a natural history sighting this was very special, though gruesome at times. It was an opportunistic kill by the jackal of a few day old impala amongst a large herd of impala. I will also never forget the water crossings that we did with the game viewing vehicles. In areas better suited for makoros than vehicles we made our way through the water en route to the sightings. In one particular incident, our guide Ishmael were driving over a dry area of the floodplain when he spotted some lions in the distance. At that specific place we had a deep water filled deception between us and the lions and it would have taken us too long to drive around and through the water at the shallower regular crossing on the other end to get to the lions. Ishmael asked me if I think we should attempt to drive to the lions straight from there through the deep water. Not knowing what difference my opinion would make anyway, I think I was more curious than anything else to see how his attempt would unfold. I told Ishmael to go for it. Amazingly with water high over the bonnet of the vehicle and tyres gripping slowly but surely at the sandy bottom, we made it through and were rewarded with great photography of the lions and then lechwe running through the water.

Chief’s Camp delivered the magic of the Okavango Delta in many ways. During our last evening we showed a presentation of the top images from the safari from every guest. It was wonderful to see everyone’s own interpretation of the last few days and how the different photographic techniques we taught got put into practice with great success. It was sad to leave the island and although the flight back to Maun over the Delta was something to look forward to, it was of little comfort. We all wanted to visit Chief’s Island again soon!

Thanks Charl, Semma and the rest of the staff for making this a trip of a lifetime.

Read Shem Compion trip report here.

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