Of black maned lions and rampaging hippos

[bPeteb]

@bPeteb @RooFlyer

I have a Canon DSLR, Zoom 70-200 f2.8 L lens, 50mm plus another lens with f1.8
These things are heavy and the more zoom the more fuzzy the image becomes unless a tripod is used. No lens is fast enough at zoom. Great in low light though without having to jack up the ISO too much.

Are trips like yours conducive to tripod shots?

Sometimes less is more.

No, not at all. You don't get out of the vehicle at any point during a safari. The only place you would be able to use one would be at a lodge like RF started his trip at.

 

[RooFlyer]

The others, have covered it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I have a question for you and any others with first hand knowledge (paging @RooFlyer and @kpc). I am totally NOT a morning person. I like to go to bed at midnight and get up about 0830 and feel dreadful (like permanent jetlag) if I have to wake up early. This is mainly because I struggle to go to sleep early even if I am exhausted after a busy day/early start, and even if I take melatonin to help me go to sleep it can still take over an hour after I turn off the light before I sleep. So I am rather anxious about all the very early starts that have been described. Are there any alternatives or is it like, "if you want to see sunrise, you have to be up before the sun." Any tips to help manage this?

When we went to southern Africa in 2017 (mostly South Africa & Namibia plus day trips into Chobe and Zimbabwe from Livingstone), we drove ourselves and organised our own accommodation. We could get up early or sleep in; whatever suited us on the day. The only guided tours we did were the one from Livingstone to Chobe and some game drives while staying in Kruger. We did get up early for a couple of these but also chose to sleep in at other times.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Another big thank you to @bPeteb for a great TR. I really enjoyed reading about your travels, particularly as you stayed in a lot of the lodges, and visited many of the places that +1 visited in 2017. Your TR brought back lots of wonderful memories for me.

Looking forward to riding along on your next trip...