A giraffe drinking in the blue ‘hour’ – that all too slim window of luscious, inky opportunity just begging for a great subject – gets our trip underway nicely. It’s pretty special when you get the chance to photograph giraffes drinking after dark, but having one show up so timely at dusk, one you can show off against that deep midnight-blue backdrop is something else again. Our tall friend certainly offered our photographers scope for some night hide images with a little extra je ne sais quoi right from the off.

We got lucky again later in the trip when two white rhinos lumbered up to drink in the blue hour. Being able to ‘zhuzh up’ the photography of iconic safari subjects and take shots of classic big game to the next level is what Zimanga, and its world-famous custom-built hides, is all about.

The chance to stay out after dark to spotlight the mightiest of big cats was another case in point on this visit. Dynamic and dramatic shots of a big male baring some fine and fearsome canines proved an awesome climax to a day spent perfecting our lion photography on the reserve. (At one point it even seemed a hunt might be on the cards when one of the females began stalking some kudu in the twilight, but the antelopes got wise to her before she’d made much progress.)

The main pride had been resting up on the banks of the Mkuze river  – one of the reserve’s most scenic spots –  providing plentiful interesting behaviour and a picturesque location for our guests to work with. Highlights from this productive session included shots of a big male crossing the river to be reunited with his pride and lots of close-up interaction demonstrating the tight bond or ‘bromance’ between two handsome young males.

Photogenic wildlife behaviour turned out to be the key theme of our final visit of three to Zimanga in 2023 with a wide variety of action from amorous hamerkops to warring white rhinos. The latter encounter proved a stand-out sighting when two bold, younger male white rhinos decided to take on an experienced territorial bull. Two on one did not seem a fair fight, but the dominant male held his ground. We all thought he’d finally conceded defeat when he stomped off at one point, exiting the ’arena’. Not so. He simply strutted to a nearby wallow and regained his composure by covering himself all over with glistening wet mud. War-paint or simply a breather? Your guess is as good as ours. But he went straight back to the fray afterwards. We continued to press our shutters until all three ran out of steam with no clear victor.

Then there were the marvellous, marauding spotted hyenas running amok at the scavenger hill hide (famed for producing fast and furious action shots of carrion-eating raptors). On this occasion the avian aggression was upstaged when these muscular mammals burst onto the scene; their explosive charges scattering the panicking vultures in a red mist of dust and feathers.

On top of that we had the full-on adrenalin rush of a lion kill one morning. We thought we’d been fortunate getting the main pride on top of a high ridge; positioning beneath them so we could silhouette their outlines against the sky and experiment with white balance. When they moved off, although we followed, we were convinced we’d had the best of them for the morning. Yet minutes later there we were again, almost in the middle of them as they brought down a squealing warthog; squabbling and bloodied as they jostled for the prime cuts.

If that’s a little too red in tooth and claw, how about the afternoon where one group of our photographers was treated to some magical moments when a tiny baby elephant, the youngest on the reserve at less than a week old, was introduced to its first mud wallow. Mum, aunties and sisters also got right down to things and rolled around in the mud showing the newest member of the herd how it was done. It was a delightful scene; our guide correctly anticipating the group would make a beeline for the mud on such a warm day and positioning in the best spot well in advance so as not to stress them out nor disturb their fun.

We crossed paths with the resident female cheetahs on several occasions and got some great low-level shots of them both on the prowl and backlit when we were able to get out of the vehicle with them. All our photographers were also privileged to be there, right at the end of our stay, when the gate to the boma (a game enclosure in which two new male cheetahs had been quarantining for three months) was opened to release them into their new home. The males were being introduced to refresh the gene pool and it was interesting to be part of this exciting moment on the reserve. The thing was the cheetahs didn’t quite appreciate the momentousness of the occasion and failed to come bounding out to enjoy their new found freedom as we’d all thought. The gates were opened…ta da… and…nothing happened…for ages…at all. In the end we drove carefully inside the boma to see if a gentle nudge might do the trick. Not so. Not wanting to stress them further we drove home for a late breakfast, leaving them to walk out under their own steam. When we checked again later in the day the boma was empty. Welcome to your new home guys.

And finally we can’t close the book on Zimanga for this year without mentioning the bird photography at the lagoon hide – always a firm favourite with our guests. The opportunities it provides, morning or afternoon, for some visually stunning images, at a naturalistic level with wonderfully out of focus surrounds, sparkling with colour and bokeh and even a cheeky monkey or two on occasion made this, once again, both a beautiful and rewarding place to photograph.

There’s just time to say a massive thanks to our guide and caracal whisperer Jono Warburton for going the extra mile, quite literally, at all times to get us the best pictures. Thanks as always to the ever-smiling Alice and Blessing and to Fikile (behind the scenes). Thanks also of course to Charl and Mariska and all the wider Zimanga family.

And we can’t wrap up without a fanfare for each one of our fun and friendly guests. We miss those team-building midday word-games, the daily reveal from the trailcam and our ‘curry-nites’ in the overnight hide. Thank you brutalist architect afficionado SB for all the tennis updates, to RC for the best G&T and worst made-up words, a hearty slainte goes to weather guru KC, a big sorry goes out to PS it’s such a shame we had to drag you away from those cheetahs again, to CS for best baby elephant video (we were all a bit green with envy at that one) and last but not least our most stylish trouper, the very chic and very patient VC.