Addo Photographic Tours 2009

[frogg]

Camera in the hand... fuel in the tank... must travel... Addo Elephant National Park here I come!!!

Equipment in the Backpack::
Camera: Canon 400D, Lens: Canon ES 55-250mm, Filter: Polarized Lens Filter, Monopod: Manfrotto, Window Mounting Bean Bag, Spare Battery and 8GB Flash Card.

Tip:: If you can, shoot in RAW and continuous mode (animals don't stand still for very long) and pack a lens filter (helps avoid grey sky and protects your lens against the Addo dust which gets everywhere)

Plenty of ice cold liquid refreshments (It gets pretty hot in Addo)

Addo Accommodation:: The Orange Elephant
Typical Length Of Stay In Addo:: 2-3 days
Length Of Time In Addo Elephant National Park:: 4 hours per day
Prefered Time Of Day:: 14h30 to 18h30 (Addo Lions are more active in late afternoon/evening)

After spending 52 days in the Addo Park in 2008, the need to spend as much time as possible with the Addo Wildlife seems to be even stronger in 2009...

[frogg]

Joined by two German guests from the Orange Elephant I set off into the Addo Elephant National Park with high hopes of day full of wildlife sightings. My guests were checking off the various animals we came across on their park map... mumbling about wanting to see the Addo Lions.

Half a hour and a couple of Addo Elephant sightings later, their wish was granted when we found the two year lions (brother and sister) sleeping under a Schotia tree close to the road (Jaheel Pan). After plenty of 'not so great' photo's, I suggested a visit to Darren at the Addo Raptor and Reptile Park as the lions would more than likely sleep through the heat of the day and only start moving in the afternoon.

After conquering their fears and learning about our local reptiles and birds of prey, we started round 2 of our Addo Elephant National Park Tour (16h30). We returned to the spot where we had seen the lions earlier, joined by a River Bend game viewing vehicle. We were just in time to watch the lions walking up the road in front of us. We spend the remainder of the afternoon with the Addo Lions.

Wildlife Sighting List for the day:: Elephant, Lion, Kudu, Worthog, Mountain Zebra, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Leopard Toitoise, Yellow Mongoose, Red Hartebees
Favourite Photographs for the day::







"Another great day in Africa"