Zimanga: African Essence

Zimanga is a 70 km2 nature reserve in the state of Mkuzi (South Africa) devoted exclusively to nature photography. In an 8-day stay you will combine the best hides in Africa, designed by the prestigious Bence Maté, with photo safari from vehicles. A great combination that will satisfy both, hide photographers and those who like to take photos in safari mode. Yes, there is everything you are thinking about and more: Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, Warthogs, Cheetahs, Leopards, Rhinos … and more than 400 species of birds.

For how many days is this trip?

There are seven full days plus two half photography days.

The PHOTO LOGISTICS guide will depart from Barcelona airport, accompanying participants who depart from the same airport. You can join the group from any airport in the world, you just have to coordinate your arrival with us. Tell us from where do you wish to leave and we will help you with the coordination so that we all meet in Johannesburg on time.

Program:

Day1 Arrival, we leave our luggage in the logde and we begin with a first session in the afternoon. We don’t want to waste a minute!

Day 2 to 8 The sessions in the different hides are scheduled on the same day (see the description of the hides below) alternated with vehicle photo safaris and a night out to photograph lions and more wildlife lite by lamps. The specific program is designed on site to ensure that everyone goes through all the hides and takes all the vehicle safaris.

The day will begin at 5:30 am with a breakfast and then the different activities are distributed in three-hour slots. From 6:00 to 9:00 safari or hide, then we take a snack and free time. At 1:00 p.m. lunch and from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. second round of hides or safari. There are six sessions of hide in total and two nights in the night hides, one in each hide (from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next morning). Plus the lions night.

Departure day. Session until 9:00 am and then departure to Johannesburg airport.

Hides

If Bence Maté is famous for something, it’s because of the skills he has shown when designing hides. All the hides of the trip are equipped with one way glasses of high quality and well maintained, tripods for swivel type Arca Swiss and air conditioning. In some hides the level of comfort is comparable to that of many lodgings.

1. HIDE LAGOON.

It is a hide for water birds built below the water level. The point of view is equivalent to that of a hide at water level, but with all the comfort of sitting on chairs with wheels. This hide is reached through a long tunnel so as not to disturb the animals and once inside you will find a 6 meter long glass, air conditioning, electricity to charge batteries and privileged views opens the lagoon.

2. HIDE DRINKERS MKHMBE AND BHEJANE.

They are hides with drinking troughs where you can control the water level from inside. They have one way glass pans 3 meters long.

3. HIDES RAPTORS.

Hides with three meters of glass where different species of raptors are fed.

5. OVERNIGHT HIDES.

They are concrete structures under the ground level, which provides a spectacular view on the drinking pond. Very long sessions are held from the afternoon, when many birds come to drink, and then you will spend the whole night there, in order to photograph mammals such as Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Lion, Hyenas, Leopards, Warthogs and more. This hide has a large glass and all the facilities and ammenities you can imagine for spending the night: four beds, kitchen, reading corner, microwave, refrigerator and (attention) an alarm system that alerts with sound when an animal comes, in case everyone sleeps. A wide angle lens could be needed in this hide, that close can come the animals.

The safaris: The drivers in the photo safaris are photographers thenselves. They will drive us with every day searching for animals in the savannah. Each photographer will have a row of seats for him / her alone to be able to shoot right or left without problems. Three photographers will be placed in each vehicle. It can be agreed which species are sought by the guides.

The accommodation (Zimanga Private Lodge & Doornhoek Homestead) is a fantastic new lodge and perfectly equipped with all the details or you can rest after very intense days. Not all the rooms are individual. From the balcony of your bungalow you will see giraffes and other animals. Take the swimsuit, there is a pool with views of the African savannah.

Guides: you will have a guide in origin from Barcelona (if you leave from another airport we can catch you in Durban), another European guide with whom we will share group in the reserve and of course the guides of Zimanga.

Group. The group in total will be fourteen people, seven from PHOTO LOGISTICS and seven from other European companies. If we get the required number of photographers (14) in this group the lodge and the facilities will be of exclusive use for us. Otherwise we will go ahead the same, sharing the facilities with other people.

Equipment: You won’t need a tripod, but it will be good for you to have a bean-bag. You need a head tripod type Arca Swiss, the hides are provided with tripods with this kind of head. The lenses can range from a wide angle to 600 mm, but in the hides the animals will be very close. For those safaris excursions you will need a lens of at least 300 or 400 mm.

In the cars you can carry your backpack with all the objectives you consider necessary. You have a row just for you and your gear.

This trip is suitable for all the of photographic skill level.