A baby hippo, round as a ripe aubergine, is relaxing close to his mother on the banks of one of Africa’s mighty rivers. We drift in slowly so as not to disturb them. Peeping over the lush grasses the youngster is eyeing us nervously. Mum barely bats an eyelash on our approach. The cow’s calm reaction affords her offspring just the reassurance he seeks. Taking his cue from his mother he grows in confidence enough to move out from the shade by her side to get a better view of us. It’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for as the the river gently laps around our photo boat. Overhead an African fish eagle is calling. Wee-ah, hyo-hyo-hyo. The cry of Africa. In the distance a large herd of impala mills around on the bank of Botswana’s Chobe National Park while a troop of 40 or so baboons tumbles in and around them. It’s been a beautiful, busy morning of photography, but the sun’s getting high now and with shots of the baby hippo to round up our session it’s time to return to our base for brunch.

This was our first visit to the Chobe for 2019. Few things top wildlife-watching and wildlife photography from this river; floating up, almost unnoticed to African jacanas feeding around the pads of waxy white night lillies, to fishing waterbirds, to hovering pied kingfishers, to oil-slick iridescent darters drying their wings showily, to pods of hippos, basking crocs…and elephants, tons of elephants.

One morning we couldn’t believe our luck when we happened to arrive at a popular elephant crossing point just as two towering bulls began to cross. Our boatman, Dan, with excellent skill, speed and anticipation managed to get us in position just at the point he calculated they would exit the river. We were able to hunker low in the boat with wide angle lenses poised in just the right orientation for the light as they waded past, looming over us. Their hulking grey bodies at close range against the enticing blue sky and bright blue water made for dynamic, powerful shots of these imposing icons of the African bush. These images would sit well against the shots we’d already picked up the day before of a very large matriarchal herd of assorted sizes marching along the riverbank just metres from our boat.

It’s never possible to predict exactly what our guests will see and photograph with us on each safari because conditions change. Last year at this time water levels on the Chobe were considerably higher than expected for the season. This year they were down on the yearly average. But such is the richness of this diverse riverine habitat that in neither instance did our photography suffer.

In the early mornings, before the larger mammals were stirring on the banks in number, we followed calm backwaters looking for bee-eaters and malachite kingfishers. Along the way we photographed pygmy geese and plentiful African jacanas and honed our flight shots as numerous large waterbirds, plus the occasional marsh harrier or fish eagle, cruised across the clear African sky.

We peered through our viewfinder into the wide gapes of gnarled, basking Nile crocodiles, returned the stares of grumpy-looking buffaloes wallowing at the water’s edge, we followed closely as two majestic male lions prowled by our vehicle in the game reserve at dawn, and we spent a special and productive afternoon with our photo boat beached at Elephant Bay photographing a command performance by several herds of elephants – backed by numerous, commendable support acts including fighting baboons, backlit, and a chorus line of kudu and impala.

Before we knew it, we were wheels up and winging our way to South Africa and the second destination of the trip: Zimanga private game reserve. Zimanga’s famous hides, including the lagoon hide with waterbirds and kingfishers at eye level, were soon delivering great shots and the dry, fair-weather conditions meant we had great light for all our photo sessions there. The trip included one night in one of Zimanga’s world-renowned night hides and we were kept out of our beds on one of these sessions when some 40 or so buffalo visited throughout the night. Thankfully they didn’t all come at once, but in small groups, making some nice shapes for framing when they drank just four metres from our lenses. The highlight was a couple of feisty bulls pushing heads, with mirror reflections. It’s not easy to suggest behavior when shooting in the dark so their stand-off was a bonus and a first for us.

The lions were the stars of the game drives. Although, sadly, the little male cub remained in hiding throughout our four nights on the reserve, the two males really showed themselves off. We also had our first hyenas at the scavenger hide when two characterful ‘spotties’ provided the opportunity to capture some great interaction when they began chasing off the arriving vultures.

There’s always a lot of people to thank on a trip like this with two hot-spot photographic destinations in one safari. We couldn’t do it without the help of the great teams we work with on the ground.

Thanks in Botswana to the staff and team at the Pangolin Chobe Hotel who must take credit, not only for caring for us and keeping us extremely well-fed throughout, but for entertaining us richly at the same time. There are so many names to mention…so suffice to say that everyone was ‘lovely’ and everything ‘was done to perfection!’ A special thanks goes to Dan our boat guide, who was the ‘The Man’ once again for his expert spotting, positioning abilities, wildlife knowledge and quiet patience with us all. You make a mean cup of coffee too Dan!

On to South Africa where our thanks go the whole Zimanga family – in particular the staff at Doornhoek Lodge who once again made the place feel like our very own home from home. Our new diets are down to you Alice, Blessing, Sli and Happiness. Thanks also to Bongi who keeps our rooms so nice and copes with all our piles of laundry. Last, but not least thanks to our brilliant guide at Zimanga, head ranger and ace photographer Calvin Kotze. Thankfully Calvin’s extreme off-road driving was a whole lot better than his jokes. We’re also extremely grateful to his better half, Ester, who is lodge manager on the reserve and calmly ensured all went smoothly during our visit. Thanks finally to Charl and Mariska Senekal for all their help pre, during and post the trip and for the work on our new guide room which was really appreciated by Steve and myself.

And we can’t sign off without a nod to the great gang of guests for their huge contribution to the success of the trip. So hugs to new Crocodile Dundee PC, to BJ for your tuneful renditions of Queen classics at every photo opportunity (and that crazy photo vest!), to our resident videographer BJ, to quiet man JB for the welcome moments of sanity, to JC for your advocacy for going mirrorless (Sony say the cheque’s in the post!) and finally to PM for rocking that ‘no-jacket’ safari look on chilly mornings with such innate glamour and no goose pimples!