‘There is magic in this place…you just have to sit and breathe and wait and it will find you…’

Anthony Doerr: ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’

Some waits are longer than others. Some starts are bumpy. That was certainly the case on our first visit to Zimanga private game reserve in South Africa this year – our first safari with guests in 2023.  An unseasonal storm on the eve of our trip dumped 40mm of water on a region already saturated following bumper summer rains. Remember Cyclone Freddy, on the news at the start of the year, repeatedly battering the coast of Mozambique? That’s just across the border from where we were heading.

By now the dry season should be underway – instead rivers are raging and fresh puddles pockmark the veld. Not great news when your destination is famous for its world-beating photographic hides, several of which are water dependent and perform best in the dry. The previous night as we ate dinner in our hotel, a lodge on a neighbouring reserve to Zimanga got hit by lightning and was razed to the ground. Thankfully everyone got out safely and no-one was hurt.

Even on a specialist photo reserve like Zimanga, where photographers have every human advantage and purpose-built hides with a low angle vantage-point get you close to birds and big game, you still can’t control the weather or the wildlife. Was this going to be the trip that underscored this fact?

But then we arrived at the gate of the reserve and the sun came out, followed shortly by a breeding herd of elephants, clearly on a mission and heading directly towards a large dam. Sensing a possible photo opportunity that would settle us all in nicely our guide went off road and took up prime position by the water. Within moments the ellies arrived in close formation, and, as hoped, went straight into the water to play. To the delight of us all a couple began showing off; running up and down in front of us and splashing crazily along the shallows. Our photography was underway, the storm forgotten.

Later that same afternoon, as the light fell, we found ourselves off the vehicle, en route back to our exclusive-use homestead, marvelling at two male cheetahs, brothers sitting proud against the fiery orange glow of a glorious African sunset edged with surreal cloud formations. Not a bad first afternoon’s photography – all things considered.

The elephants and cheetahs came up trumps again for our shooters on subsequent game drives during our 10 night stay. Highlights included framing powerful silhouettes of a big bull elephant in the wider landscape and photographing the cheetahs on the move from a low angle in a number of settings including the warm light of late afternoon, drinking from a small stream one morning (brilliant anticipation by our guide) and an afternoon with three young females hunting impala (unsuccessfully).

The main lion pride as usual provided strong portraits and shots of them socialising, but perhaps the most dramatic images were those from the morning we bumped into these cats before sunrise, allowing our guests the chance to have a go at photographing them to bold effect under spotlight (see top).

The scavenger hide proved a winner once again, not only for the explosive vulture action we’ve come to expect, but for a very special sighting of rarely-seen side-striped jackals. A family of three chasing the other carrion-eaters and scrapping among themselves for food certainly proved top of the bill for our photographers at this hide.

Morning sessions at the lagoon hide provided mood (and mist on one occasion) for some eye-catching waterbird images shooting into the light on the larger pool, while afternoon session highlights included spoonbills bathing, mating geese, hunting striated heron, pied kingfishers diving and a cheeky basking croc that occupied the bank of the small pool for the whole of one session. Lit from the side in the late, low sun, his fearsome predatory profile, plus reflection, provided one of the top portrait shots of the trip.

The most fascinating wildlife behaviour of the visit came not, as might be expected, from the iconic Big Five, but from a plains game species. One morning our guide spotted a mother giraffe with a very small baby. We decided to follow from a respectful distance. It was one of the youngest baby giraffes we’ve seen – it’s umbilical cord still attached and damp. Putting time in with a promising subject is one of the big advantages on this reserve and we were soon rewarded with classic shots of the mother nuzzling her new baby. We were then fortunate enough to witness the mother introduce her offspring to a group of other giraffes on the reserve as they crowded round; seemingly highly excited by the new arrival.

Even more intriguing, however, was the reaction of a nearby zebra to the new giraffe.  The zebra appeared to fixate on the baby giraffe and followed it everywhere most of the morning. At one point when the baby giraffe moved away from its mother the zebra moved in close and directly interacted with the baby; nuzzling it closely for several seconds – something we have not seen or heard about before.

With so much surface water on the reserve the night hide sessions were always going to be quieter than usual. That said, a big male lion walked past in the light twice for one group, on different nights. Meanwhile strong shots of a white rhino with a small calf plus a wonderfully atmospheric portrait of a cantankerous old buffalo, his breath condensing like smoke against the light, turned out to be pretty cool rewards for our patience.

And so it just remains for us to say our heartfelt thank-yous – to Calvin, our brilliant and hard-working guide and to Ester, Charl and Mariska, Elizabeth and Tshepo, Alice and Blessing and the whole Zimanga family. We’re also clapping and banging pots for our cast of guests  – to SL in particular for the impromptu and professional Pilates sessions on the deck at Doornhoek (we’re just hoping any drone footage, if it exists, can be located and destroyed; to ‘Dark-PR’, the DJ queen of Doornhoek and now new honorary Brit); to RG, all-round sceptic and teacher’s pet at Pilates; to DH, for the bountiful, well-timed one liners, sadly all unintelligible in that Devonian drawl; to IS, for being such a good sport and joining in the mad Pilates even when under doctor’s orders to rest; and finally to the group’s private confectioner JS, for her numerous tips on creating chocolate novelties. Thanks all for the laughter and for pulling together as a group.