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Kgalagadi and Londolozi: The Living Desert and Desserts to Die For


Safaridude

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@@Safaridude, great photos and report. Looking forward to the Londolozi part!

@@KiwiGran, I fear I do belong to the senior category, but we're still hoping to do a self-drive trip through Kgalagadi and Namibia next year ( when I'm even more senior:)). The tips of the kind people over here will definitely help if you would decide to give it a try. As they did for me.

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Thank you to @@xelas, @@PeterHG, @@penolva and @@Safaridude. Your encouragement much appreciated. Our preference to not self drive is more as safaridude says - we value the input of a guide, the spotting skills, the information and not having to concentrate on driving.. But we also have to make it fit our budget! The actual driving is not the problem - we did 7 trips to Australia mainly in the outback and travelled 30000kms in rental vehicles. I really appreciate Safari talk. That and Wild Earth Live safari make my day!!

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@@KiwiGran

I can comment about spotting only for Etosha and Kgalagadi. Both of them, everyone needs to stay on the road(s). In Kgalagadi, one can always ask a person in the car that is parked along the road, what and where is the wildlife. I fully understand that an experienced guide will find more ... but also the newbies like us we have been able to get our share of great sightings. Driving inside of parks is not really driving; is slow moving from one location to another, with a lot of down time. Moving traffic, on our visits, was almost non-existing. You should try at least once ...

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Safaridude

Londolozi, Sabi Sand Game Reserve

 

 

As I enter the Federal Airlines departure lounge (Federal Airlines serves many of the private lodges bordering Kruger National Park) located at one end of the O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, I notice that I am the only one who is wearing anything resembling “bush” clothing amongst 25 or so guests. A couple of hours later, as I am being driven into Londolozi, I am struck by a very pleasant smell – the smell of… spa! Indeed, I have never been to a safari property remotely resembling Londolozi.

 

The ranger (rather than “guide” here) and the tracker working the spoor and the radio, respectively, in order to spot big game is the modus operandi at Londolozi. The bush at Londolozi is uniformly thick and monotonous, and no matter what one thinks of the tracker/radio scheme, it is enormously helpful in finding game. My primary goal of visiting Londolozi was for low-light and nighttime photography, and Don, the ranger (and an accomplished photographer himself), and Lucky, the tracker, provided outstanding such opportunities, most of the times involving big cats as subjects. While Londolozi lacks huge vistas, variety of terrain and a sense of isolated wilderness, it is among the best in terms of intimate big cat encounters.

 

As a “spa/hotel”, if you will, I have never stayed at a finer establishment – anywhere. Food is of the highest quality – anywhere (I did not turn down any of the delectable desserts – very cold and wet homemade ice cream, for one, served at lunch). And one has the option of working it all off by going to the gym or participating in scheduled yoga classes (In case you are wondering, I didn’t. I tried to nap it off instead.)

 

Posh safari properties bordering Kruger, including Londolozi, engender polarized views: Safari or spa? Wilderness or glorified zoo? Conservation or playground? Yes to all that. The wilds of the Serengeti or the Delta it is not, but Londolozi is among the best for whatever it is. And while I entered Londolozi feeling rather sheepish, I must admit I left it feeling entirely satisfied.

 

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Safaridude

Photos from Londolozi

 

 

Within minutes of setting out on the first afternoon, a female leopard on a tree is found. We stay with her the entire afternoon and evening.

 

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She has cached a duiker kill on a marula tree and goes back to feed on it.

 

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For the rest of the evening, she alternates between sleeping and moving from one tree to another.

 

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Reflections

 

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Zebras

 

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A Nyala bull browsing near the Sand River.

 

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A proud kudu bull.

 

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A different female leopard on the second day. This one is about 11-months old and not quite independent yet.

 

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Lions by spotlight

 

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The endangered white rhino

 

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Buffalos wallowing

 

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A small elephant calf amongst a breeding herd watering

 

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Two male lions, two lionesses and two cubs, affectionately known as “two plus two plus two” at Londolozi.

 

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Edited by Safaridude
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Christopher Moran

Your photos are probably the best work I have seen on Safaritalk. Really outstanding stuff.

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Wow! Amazing photography...I really like the almost black shadow of the leopard, that's worth framing. But then, a lot of your pics are worth framing. Thanks for sharing with us your adventures. As we also prefer guides to self-driving (not too confident in our spotting skills), I'm glad to hear that's an option in Kgalagadi.

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@@Safaridude Really beautiful photography from Londolozi. I particularly like the work in the dark and the lions with the moon. You have given me something to aim at in the Timbavati this week!

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Superb photography - the leopard silhouettes in particular are exhibition worthy.

 

Still chuckling about you at a resort- like place. Londolonzi however has an excellent reputation borne out by your photographs. My very first safari a decade ago was right next door at Elephant Plains and I recall seeing Londolozi vehicles on a few of our drives.

Edited by AKR1
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madaboutcheetah

How could you turn down the yoga class? ;) .......... Anyways, super report - would love to go to KTP one day!

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Safaridude

@@AKR1

 

Haha… me with cucumber slices over my eyeballs...

 

 

@@madaboutcheetah

 

No way I could bend any part of my body after such prodigious meals!

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@@Safaridude

 

Thank you for adding the exif data to this batch of photos. So much to learn from your photography, and knowing the gear used, and the settings used, is adding to the knowledge.

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@@Safaridude

Amazing photos all through- but you certainly got the low light cats you were aiming for - the "just lit" leopard in black and white, and the "just lit" lion soon afterwards are superb.

It must have been a very interesting trip with two such contrasting destinations.

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SafariChick

More wonderful photos, this time from Londolozi. Londolozi is famous for its leopards, so it is fitting that was your first sighting there! I especially love the leopard sleeping on the branch at night and the lioness with cubs and the moon. Which of Londolozi's lodges did you stay at? I seem to recall there being four and we stayed at whichever it was that was considered the most family-friendly, seeing as we had our 10 and 13 year old daughters with us at the time. I think it was the one that was the original lodging building - Founders? Varty?

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Safaridude

@@xelas

 

That was inadvertent. It must have happened when I was exporting some original files to somebody. Well, there are no secrets anyway.

 

Thank you.

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Safaridude

@@TonyQ

 

Yes, it was the most contrasting trip I have ever taken. Not only the terrain/biome, but the whole vibe. But both Kgalagadi and Londolozi are representative of South Africa.

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Fantastic stuff...the female eating the duiker in the tree, just superb.
As an avid reader of their blog, tell me, will we be seeing a post on their from you?...

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Safaridude

@Big-Dog

 

Thank you. No, I won't be posting on their blog. I believe all the contributors on the Londolozi blog actually work for Londolozi.

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Occasionally (though I'm not sure of the process) the guests write a post too.
But we get your travels right here anyway. :)

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That's some photography! You've got the eye, the technique and stories to match!

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Masterful photos from Londolozi, it appears that you coped very well with the cats on tap and survived safaris in the lap of luxury. And you came out of it with your integrity as a safari cognoscenti intact. Impressive in deed. (All said with tongue in cheek, naturally! ).

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Great photography as usual and this time even better than usual!

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