EXPERIENCE WILDERNESS

Chiefs Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is pure wilderness and a land of incredible beauty. Vast open seasonal floodplains with palm tree islands. Herds of animals roaming free and wild exactly like they have for thousands of years. Unspoiled scenic beauty that stretches as far as the eye can see. To experience this and to have it all to yourself to enjoy is pure magic! The recent C4 photographic workshop to Chiefs Camp offered our guests exactly that. This is my favorite destination in Africa.

Leopard and Cub

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Nikon D3s | 400mm (200-400mm) | 1/640sec at f/5, ISO 1600

New Life in Gold

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Nikon D3s | 290mm (200-400mm) | 1/60sec at f/16, ISO 800

Our photographic workshop was a great success, especially because we're such like-minded people, having a lot of laughs together, and enjoying the good photography and nature experience that this wilderness had to offer. Game viewing was fantastic with great sightings of the general Delta game, the big five, and a rare glimpse of a leopard carrying a week old cub. This leopard is close to camp and very accommodating towards photographers, a beautiful poser. We are looking forward to seeing her more during the upcoming safaris to Chiefs Island. Although we didn't do serious birding, we unofficially tallied more than 130 species for the trip. This included numerous lifers for most of the guests.

Scouting

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Nikon D3s | 200-400mmf/4 | 1/640sec at f/5, ISO 1600

Chiefs Camp is tucked between beautiful big Jackalberry, Sausage and Apple-leaf trees on the edge of the actual island, overlooking a seasonal floodplain. The camp has recently been renovated and the accommodation, food and comfort that the camp offers are exceptional. It's easy to see why this camp has been voted the best lodge in Botswana for three years in a row now!

Rufous-naped Lark Display

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark IV | 600mm | 1/2500sec at f/4, ISO 320

As a photographic safari our objective was to get top wildlife photos as much as it was to experience this untamed wilderness. Chiefs Island delivered superbly in both categories. Apart from the good photography, we also extended our experience into the air with a flip in a helicopter over the Delta, and an afternoon's mokoro experience on one of the main channels in the Delta.

Okavango Delta Helicopter Experience

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark IV | 16mm (16-35mm) | 1/1000sec at f/8, ISO 400

Elephants from the Air

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 78mm (70-200mm) | 1/2500sec at f/8, ISO 1000

Thanks to all our guests, my co-host Albie Venter, our drivers Ishmael and Sky, and all the staff at the camp who made this such a memorable experience for all of us!

OKAVANGO MAGIC

When you go to a place where there are abundant wildlife, water and sunshine mixed together, you are guaranteed to see something spectacular! The Okavango Delta is such a place, a pure wilderness and probably the most exciting game viewing destination in Southern Africa.

The silent hunter

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400

C4 Images and Safaris have just concluded a very memorable photographic safari to the Okavango Delta at Stanley's Camp. The camp is situated in the heart of the swamps just below the South Eastern tip of Chiefs Island. They've had extremely good rainfall in the Okavango Delta during January and February. This resulted in unusually high levels of water on the floodplains for this time of the year. The water level was almost as high as when the flood waters push in from the Okavango river during July and August. This meant that we were in for an interesting time ahead! Just as at Chiefs Camp, Stanley's Camp uses game viewing vehicles specifically modified with bigger wheels and raised suspensions to negotiate the swampy terrain effortlessly. I've never seen so much water around and having water rush over the bonnet and over the floor of the vehicle provided an additional thrill for everyone!

Delta roads

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mmf/2.8 | 1/3200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800

Swampy roads

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mmf/2.8 | 1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800

The safari was led by Greg du Toit and myself. Drizzling and overcast weather on the first two days meant that we had a slow start to the safari. Luckily we were all serious photographers and this could not damped our spirits. In fact, we were excited to use the elements to our advantage, searching for unique photo opportunities of impala and wildebeest in the rain! We also enjoyed the dramatic skies for which the Okavango Delta is famous. On our second drive, a great sighting of a leopard that entertained us for an entire morning got the shutters working properly.

Cloudy skies

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mmf/2.8 | 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 1000

Wild dog in the water

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 600mmf/4 | 1/1600 sec at f/4, ISO 200

The next few games drives delivered sightings of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, and letchwe before we were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sighting of a lion kill. We witnessed a pride of six lions killing a young zebra thanks to Greg du Toit who made the call to stick it out for an afternoon with the lions, watching them sleep, waking up, stalking, ambushing, and finally devouring. A complete cycle rarely seen, and of course stunning photographs by everyone! Oúr vehicle, on the other hand, stumbled onto a few wild dogs staking a herd of impala on our way to the lions. "Spoilt for choice" got a new meaning as we had to choose between following wild dogs on the hunt or lions stalking zebra. We decided to follow the wild dogs for a while but when the call came over the radio that the lions had killed a zebra we quickly rushed to witness the action.

Feeding time

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 300mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1600

King of the meal

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/200 sec at f/4, ISO 1600

Another memorable sighting we had on our way back to camp one evening was of a spotted hyena walking in the road and in the swampy water looking for a meal. With the dark water at night and subject illuminated only by the spotlight, this made for some dramatic images. During our final game drive of the safari we were luckily to find a big male leopard crossing one of the water channels. I was interesting to see how he very slowly and carefully made his way through the water trying not to make a sound! This is a sight that you'd only find in the Okavango Delta and it ended our safari on a high.

Fishing

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 600mmf/4 | 1/80 sec at f/4, ISO 2000

Juvenile red-billed oxpecker

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/2500 sec at f/8, ISO 800

The Okavango Delta is of course also a bird paradise. With most of our guests being keen bird photographers it meant that everyone were in their element! Fish Eagles around every corner, Grey-headed and Striped Kingfisher, Saddle-billed Storks, Wattled Cranes and Dwarf Bittern were a few of the species that got us really excited.

Wattled cranes

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 300mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/1000 sec at f/7.1, ISO 1250

Striped kingfisher

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/500 sec at f/8, ISO 1600

When hosting a photographic safari it is important to go to a camp that can take care of our clients, making them feel at home and relaxed after a hard day of photography out in the African bush. Stanley's Camp is exactly such a camp! It is a very intimate camp gathered around a large sitting and dining area which offers great views over the Okavango Delta floodplains and one of the best camps I've ever been to. Apart from the filter coffee wake-up call, the friendly staff and exquisite food prepared by chef Harry is what made the camp extra special. The camp also offers an elephant interaction experience, mokoro excursions, and guided walks if you want to try something different.

Looking up

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 300mmf/4 | 1/800 sec at f/4, ISO 200

Red-billed spurfowl

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400

Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end. We were sad to leave but enjoyed the last breath-taking views from the Okavango Delta as we flew back from the camp to Maun where we all went our separate ways. A big thanks to Evelyn, Harry, Jonathan, Carter, and the rest of the staff at Stanley's camp for making it a trip of a lifetime!

Leopard prints

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/320 sec at f/8, ISO 800

Lion eye

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/2500 sec at f/8, ISO 800

THE CHIEF'S ISLAND EXPERIENCE

Chief’s Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta is known as the predator capital of Africa. C4 Images and Safaris has just concluded its first of many safaris to the island and the place had more than lived up to its reputation and everyone’s expectation. We met our guests at O.R. Tambo International from where it’s a two hour flight to Maun and then a 20 minute flight into camp. Flying low over the Delta is always thrilling with spectacular views of this unique waterway system alive with large herds of elephants, buffalo, giraffe, and zebra which are easy to spot from the plane. This got the safari off to an exciting start.

King of beasts

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 600mmf/4 | 1/400 sec at f/8, ISO 2000

We were looking forward to sunny weather and good photography. Chief’s Camp is located on Chief’s Island on the edge of a large floodplain hidden away between beautiful Jackalberry and Sausage tree woodland. The lounge, dining room, bar and pool are situated on a large wooden deck overlooking the floodplain and became our general meeting area for the next few days doing everything from our afternoon photo workshops, eating, relaxing and talking photography while watching nature unfold in front of us. Growing up amongst the animals in the surrounding areas, our guides Ali and Ishmael were masters of predicting animal behaviour and locating our photographic subjects. They had obviously dealt with many photographers before and knew exactly how to position the vehicle for us to get the perfect shot. Chief’s Camp is also different from anything we’ve experienced before in that they’ve modified their vehicles for driving through water. A lifted suspension and snorkel did the trick but occasionally we had to lift our camera bags and feet off the floor during the deeper crossings. Twice during the safari we had water over the floor of the vehicle that drained away quickly once we got through. Apart from the thrilling sightings this added some additional exhilaration.

The itch

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 600mmf/4 | 1/500 sec at f/5, ISO 100

Wildebeest

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 600mmf/4 | 1/80 sec at f/8, ISO 2000

The game drives took us onto both the floodplains as well as the higher dry areas of Chief’s Island itself. It provided typical Okavango Delta scenery of wide open plains with grazing herds of animals and islands of woodland vegetation and palm trees. Game viewing and photography were excellent with numerous sightings of lion, leopard, huge herds of buffalo, elephant, lechwe and the other general game like zebra, wildebeest and giraffe to name but a few. The Delta is of course also a bird paradise that provided us with terrific photographic opportunities of many “specials” like wattled crane and slaty egrets. The water level on the floodplains was dropping quickly, leaving behind numerous pools with trapped fish. We came across a number of pools with hundreds of yellow-billed storks, marabou storks, hamerkop, and egrets all trying to make the most of the fish’s misfortune. One afternoon we did the makoro experience where you get close encounters with birds and some of the Delta’s smaller subject while gliding quietly over the water.

Little egret

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 | 1/2500 sec at f/7.1, ISO 400

Saddle-billed stork in flight

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 600mmf/4 + 1.4tc | 1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Each day usually starts with a wakeup call from staff who also brought us coffee in bed. This is followed by a light breakfast, morning drive and early lunch after which there were time for relaxation. The afternoons were spent doing the photography workshops that included lectures on light, composition, technique, digital workflow and processing. Afternoon tea and game drive followed, after which we had time for relaxing drinks and dinner.

Leopard kill

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800

This safari would definitely be remembered for a spectacular late afternoon fast moving thunderstorm on our last afternoon drive, and a sighting where a black-backed jackal had killed a baby impala. As a natural history sighting this was very special, though gruesome at times. It was an opportunistic kill by the jackal of a few day old impala amongst a large herd of impala. I will also never forget the water crossings that we did with the game viewing vehicles. In areas better suited for makoros than vehicles we made our way through the water en route to the sightings. In one particular incident, our guide Ishmael were driving over a dry area of the floodplain when he spotted some lions in the distance. At that specific place we had a deep water filled deception between us and the lions and it would have taken us too long to drive around and through the water at the shallower regular crossing on the other end to get to the lions. Ishmael asked me if I think we should attempt to drive to the lions straight from there through the deep water. Not knowing what difference my opinion would make anyway, I think I was more curious than anything else to see how his attempt would unfold. I told Ishmael to go for it. Amazingly with water high over the bonnet of the vehicle and tyres gripping slowly but surely at the sandy bottom, we made it through and were rewarded with great photography of the lions and then lechwe running through the water.

Rulers of the land

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 70-200mmf/2.8 + 1.4tc | 1/500 sec at f/8, ISO 400

Chief’s Camp delivered the magic of the Okavango Delta in many ways. During our last evening we showed a presentation of the top images from the safari from every guest. It was wonderful to see everyone’s own interpretation of the last few days and how the different photographic techniques we taught got put into practice with great success. It was sad to leave the island and although the flight back to Maun over the Delta was something to look forward to, it was of little comfort. We all wanted to visit Chief’s Island again soon!

A giant of the Okavango Delta

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/320 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Last light on the marshes

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 70-200mmf/2.8 | 1/30 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Thanks Charl, Semma and the rest of the staff for making this a trip of a lifetime.

Sunset over the Okavango Delta

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 1D Mark III | 16-35mmf/2.8 | 1/50 sec at f/8, ISO 800

Day's end

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mmf/2.8 | 1/400 sec at f/8, ISO 400