Private Guided Trip, Namibia, April/May 2015 - By Trevor Kleyn

After meeting my guests at the Sossusvlei airstrip, we headed out in our small charter plane to Swakopmund.  As we flew the clouds parted giving us a spectacular view of the coastline from up above.  

The birding opportunities in Swakoopmund and Walvisbaai area were great and included both Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Great White Pelicans and a variety of waders.  Inland we got Tractrac Chat, and an abundance of reptiles in the dunes.  

From there we flew to Erongo, a special wilderness area surrounded by the Erongo Mountains, where the desert, mountain and bushveld ecosystems meet.  Here we had fantastic birding and photographic opportunities of Rosy-faced lovebirds, Hartlaubs Spurfowl, Rockrunner and Monteiro’s Hornbill to mention just a few.

Next stop was Serra Cafema Camp in the Namib Desert with breathtaking scenery.  Activities included a boat trip up the Kunene River, the lifeline to many species in the area, as well as a visit to the local Himba village providing different photo opportunities.

I knew Etosha was going to be good when shortly after arriving a Carp’s Tit flittered around in the tree above us while having lunch.  We also had good opportunities with crimson-breasted shrikes and short-toed rock thrush.  A definite highlight was spending an afternoon in a hide at a waterhole watching animals and birds coming down for their afternoon drink.

Last stop was the Caprivi Strip.  Here we enjoyed some scenic boat trips where we were rewarded with sightings of Long-toed Lapwings, Little Bee-eaters and Hartlaub’s Babbler.

Himba Villlage

 

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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, April 25-29 - By Isak Pretorius

Safari Diary - 25 April 2015

Photo Workshop, Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana...

The April rains in Mashatu carpeted the land in a stunning green with yellow and purple flowers and I’ve never seen the bush this beautiful. Temperatures are also down with warm days and cool nights. I met the guests at the border for the start of the first scheduled photo workshop for 2015. After checking everyone into the lodge we embarked on our first game drive where we were blessed with good sightings of jackals in golden light and a leopard just before sunset. We toasted to another stunning day in Africa! Let’s see what tomorrow will bring!

 

Leopard | 1/800sec at f/4, ISO 2500 | Canon EOS-1D Mark IV + EF200-400mmf/4L IS USM | Shutter priority, 0 EV

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Patagonia Photo Tour 2015

Hougaard Malan has just returned back from an unbelievable two weeks safari with clients in Patagonia.

Situated on the outer fringe of the Antarctic Circle, Patagonia remains one of the most remote and unspoilt wilderness destinations of the world. The sheer grandeur of Patagonia’s landscapes is what magnetises photographers towards it as a world class photographic destination. The landscape of  ice-capped mountains towering 3500m above sea level, surrounded by Magellan Beech forests hosting a pallet of autumn colours and not to mention the cascading waterfalls and crystal blue lakes, create a platform for some of the most picturesque landscape images a photographer could ask for.

Our recent Patagonia landscape photo safari,  co-hosted by C4 Photo Safaris and Capture Earth was one of ideal weather conditions that allowed for some amazing images. The beech trees painted the mountains with their thousand colours and the clear crisp evenings and mornings highlighted the clouds and reflections with dashes of pink and orange.

C4 Photo Safaris will be running another Patagonia landscape tour in April 2017. We will keep you posted. Enjoy the beautiful images below with lovely Autumn colours due to the exellent timing of our tour.

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Serengeti Calving and Predator Safaris 2016

Over the past 5 years C4 Images and Safaris have run photo safaris to this magnificent, but large wonderland. We have now refined this itinerary to give you the ultimate experience of the Serengeti calving season. Spend 5 glorious nights with us deep in the beating heart of this ecosystem. We have a located and partnered with a small camp, far away from other lodges with their own airstrip. From here we have exclusive access the reserve as well as the game management areas- perfect for locating and spending time with the calving herds of wildebeest. 

 David Nodde

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Serengeti calving photo safari: client images

Over the past 4 years C4 Photo Safaris have run photo safaris to this magnificent wonderland and 2015 was no different. With exclusive access to the reserve as well as the game management areas, we give our clients the opportunity to spend time with the calving herds of wildebeest and secondly search for hunting predators, which are found in abundance.

 

Marna Terblanche

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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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