Short trip to the big five / Zimbabwe part 1

Zimbabwe Hwange national park

When you like to take images a safari to Africa is an interesting challenge, even though you are not specialised in wildlife photography. When you are additionally invited by Wilderness Safaris is this an opportunity, which you should not let slip away. Therefore I flew in autumn 2017 to Africa for a short trip to the big five and visit Zimbabwe and Botswana. The trip went from Hamburg via Frankfurt and Johannesburg to the Victoria waterfalls. Arrived there we were welcomed by Wilderness Safaris.

From the Viktoria waterfalls, we flew with a small propeller machine Cessna C208 from Wilderness Air into the bush. Compared to the huge jets you get a more direct flying experience. But not only the flying experience compare to the huge jets is different but also the available space. This means, that the total weight of your luggage should not exceed 8 kg. In case you have photo equipment with you this is a challenge. Fortunately, the Micro Four Thirds cameras from Olympus are small and light. Directly after arrival, we started to a so-called game drive. This means driving with an offroad car to explore landscape and wildlife.

Hwange national park

Our first destination was Linkwasha in the Hwange national park Zimbabwe. Besides breathtaking wildlife, this location has also breathtaking landscapes. Shortly after touch down, if I remember correctly it was less than 10 minutes, we saw the first elephants. Proceed to a so-called pan to observe several elephants herds while drinking. An unforgettable experience, especially as the light was different to what we are used to in Europe.

When you are in camp, the daily routine is full of game drives. As the animals are not very active in the noon sun, you start the day before sunrise, to observe the animal activities in the early cool morning hours. During noon you make a siesta and two hours before sunset you start again with a game drive. Besides the game drive, I enjoyed most being away from the busy world, as neither telephone nor mail or other modern communication possibilities is available in the bush.