August 2026: South Africa, Victoria Falls and Chobe!
Our August tour visited a few of the same locations as the February tour, but we traded Namibia for extra time in South Africa - specifically a visit to Mantobeni private reserve, part of the Kruger National Park. It was yet another great mix of landscapes and wildlife, with a great group of people on board. Some were new to photography, or experienced photographers learning to use new cameras. I did a lot of teaching on this tour, sometimes on the fly as we had a great photo opportunity and someone needed me to find the right setting on their camera in a hurry!
The adventure started in Capetown, with visits to Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. A highlight for me was to see the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in early Spring as the proteas were in full bloom and the sunbirds - often very hard to catch - were a lot more cooperative than usual.
After Capetown, we flew up to Victoria Falls which never disappoints. In fact this may have been my best experience yet, with the thunderous falls creating enough mist for some spectacular rainbows (I always prefer to visit in the afternoon for this reason) and still give us a clear view of the falls. While staying at Vic Falls, we made a one-day journey into Botswana for a fantastic wildlife day, both in the landcruiser and on the water.
Our grand finale was four nights at Mantobeni, a private reserve in Kruger national park. With morning and afternoon game drives every day, we covered a huge area of the park and saw enough wildlife to fill a book. In a truly special moment, we had a rare encounter with African Painted Dogs - this was just the second time I have ever seen these rarest of animals. I was even lucky enough to get a perfectly timed shot of a lioness lit just by the headlights of one of the vehicles as we drove home after sunset. This tour was a great success, and several people who travelled with us for the first time are already making inquiries about their next tour. Job well done for me and Pierre!
