One thirty in the morning. Rubbing the eyes. Mind drifting from the task in hand. Must keep watching. Drifting off again. What’s that? A ghost. A white shadow-creature on all fours appears in the gloom just beyond the light. What is that? Quick double take. Now there’s a second one. Both are approaching. A dream? But the shadow shapes are quickly taking substance. Still in the distance, but purposeful, clearly approaching. Brain switches on. Alarm goes off. This is it. No dream. Two lionesses. Definitely going to drink. Got to get this right. Excited shout/whisper towards the back of the hide with extra urgency just to be sure. Come… now… quickly… quietly… be ready… two lions!

This is when a Zimanga night hide hits peak performance. Sitting behind your camera just three and a bit metres from two beautiful lionesses, their pale fur shining bright against the velvet blackness, their heads nuzzled close together, sisters, tongues synchronized as they lap thirstily. Perfect compositions, lighting all sorted, your photography lifted to the next level. Shots that look like paintings.

There’s a huge buzz around sightings like this that is joyful to ride – even in the early hours of the morning. A memory written to the head, and heart, not just your memory card.

But not all night hide dreams come true.

While one of our groups got to experience the thrill of photographing these awesome big cats at night on our first visit to the reserve in 2024, the other group got hit with a big dollop of disappointment. A large male leopard that emerged in the same way on the edge of the light during one of their night sessions, raising the hairs on the backs of necks as well as expectations, sadly turned out to be more hungry than thirsty. Actively hunting, he bypassed the water altogether and walked straight on by. A gut punch for our waiting, ever-watchful photographers

Hopefully there was some consolation in the fact that this group had opened their visit to the reserve with a busy night of fairly non-stop photographic action. Two large groups of breeding buffalo crowded at the water in the dark, with the melee producing a serious stand-off at one point between two testy bulls (nicknamed Cedric and Wayne by our guests). Factoring in the treat of another hundred-plus breeding herd of buffalo, bearing down on the hide the next morning, plus two giraffe visits (always impressive from that close and that low) plus a massive rhino bull, there could be few complaints about the sheer tonnage of subjects stopping by to pose.

On game drives our start looked likely to be slow due to an unusual cold snap, windy conditions and the lions being MIA (off on a kill in an area we couldn’t access with the game viewer). Thankfully the forecast was promising and enjoying time with the two ‘new’ cheetah males we’d last seen being released onto the reserve last September never felt like second best. How wonderful getting ahead of the pair, our guide anticipating their behaviour, to photograph them at sunrise as they crossed a small stream, or being in pole position as they targeted a baby zebra. Our group got the chase but not the takedown as the mother deftly stepped in and saved the day for her youngster. Clearly these boys were bossing the place and had made Zimanga their home. Also new on the reserve, it turned out, was the tiniest baby elephant, spotted while we were photographing a breeding group of elephants on our first evening against the sunset. Considerable clicking for the cuteness ensued. The same for the baby white rhino that topped everyone’s shooting list as soon as they’d seen it snuggled close to mum on our arrival.

One of the crucial things about a photo safari on Zimanga is the ability to maximise every last drop of light. And while spotlighting the lions at dusk may initially have been off the menu, while they were otherwise engaged, we were nonetheless kept busy at sunset backlighting other iconic species. A cheetah mother who lifted her head perfectly for us as the sun slid away, a secretary-bird silhouetted atop a thorn bush, and arguably the best backlighting action shots of the trip when a small troop of vervet monkeys began leaping from branch to branch, silhouetted perfectly against an eye-popping orange backdrop.

Not until we were back inside the homestead for dinner was it safe to put our cameras down. On one memorable drive home, for example, we stopped to photograph a beautiful spotted eagle owl; our guide getting us into the perfect spot so he could spotlight in order for us to bring out the bird’s detail without killing the gorgeous twilight colours. Seeing owls well on safari is always a treat – given they’re mostly nocturnal – photographing them well is another matter and can be the icing on the cake if you get the chance to pull it off. Except on this occasion we even got a cherry on top when, just as we were patting each other on the back for the owl, our guide spotted something else exciting to point our cameras at up ahead on the track.  A female leopard. Now we had the chance to do some spotlighting as we followed her carefully – so as not to disturb her patrols – before happily returning to HQ for well-earned drinks and dinner.

Then one morning magically (or rather with the helpful science of telemetry) we met the lions at last. There they were posing in lovely light in the open; the male interacting obligingly with the females as if they’d never been away, while we held our breath and steadied our cameras. We even got powerful portraits of the big pride male baring his teeth in a flehmen grimace. You could sense it was going to be that kind of day. Next up we located the two cheetah males again, this time posing on a mound where we could get out and get down low to frame them dynamically against the sky. They were quite the star performers as our guests got them posing perfectly again later that afternoon; one of the brothers peering between the branches of a rather photogenic dead tree like a supermodel. Among other highlights on drives the hot afternoons searching for subjects along the Mkuze river stand out, the riverine habitat providing a scenic backdrop for rhino, elephants and giraffe splashing through the cooling water as they crossed to the other side.

New this year, the Bhejane hide (previously set up for small bird photography with a reflection pool) has been completely reconfigured. The edge is now natural all the way around, allowing for mammal as well as bird photography. Just as well, as one of our groups had no fewer than 12 giraffes turn up to drink one warm afternoon! The bird photography there was still strong. A convention of crested guinea fowl was joined on both sessions by a varied array of species included green winged pytilia, white bellied sunbird, acacia pied barbet, spurfowl, assorted doves, bulbuls, weavers, whydahs and a host of tiny, colourful and extremely pretty finch species.

The double-aspect lagoon hide, complete with some new perches, is aways a favourite with guests for the excellent waterbird photography both front and backlit. Once again we were lucky to get a painted snipe here, although its appearance was brief, along with the customary assortment of egrets, crakes, plovers, hamerkops, thick-knees, assorted herons and kingfishers and a cameo appearance from a marabou stork. Mammals sometimes stop by this hide too and on this trip we got buffalo, nyala and vervet monkey plus a brief walk past from a hunting monitor lizard.

The scavenger hide – always a strong performer – worked well, although the number of birds varied from a large crowd of vultures to a handful. The latter, however, is often preferred by our photographers as it’s easier to isolate the action and frame clean shots of the talons-bared conflicts that break out when there are fewer birds to get in the way. As it was we got a taste of both scenarios on our visit and on one occasion the added excitement of a jackal chasing into the throng of assembled birds.

And then – all too soon – with a lovely farewell encounter with the elephants in the fever tree forest – it was time to say farewell.

Watch out for more reports from Zimanga from us in the coming weeks as we have two more trips there this year…

As is our custom it just remains to thank all those who made our first Zimanga adventure in 2024 a ‘roaring’ success. First the applause goes to the legendary Mr Hendri Venter, our six-star guide and ace photographer; next BIG thanks to the homestead team including Blessing and Zi for the cooking and much-appreciated creature comforts. A big old Mexican wave, in fact, in honour of the whole Zimanga crew, including Charl for making it possible in the first place! Last, but never least, we thank our wonderful and patient guests who put up with us for so long. Thanks each of you – that’s ‘Pastor’ MP, S(Do you shoot Girrrl?)H, JR, who cleaned KwaZulu-Natal out of veg curry, and, of course, our resident animal whisperer and esteemed vet AG, not forgetting animals met and named – Starsky & Hutch and Cedric v Wayne. Are you all missing us still?