The Green season on safari is seen by many as a time to avoid game viewing destinations, given the fact that the vegetation is quite dense and the possibility of rain is ever present.
Last week some of the Wild Eye team went on an assignment to Simbambili, situated in the Northern Sabi Sands and Saseka tented camp situated in the Thornybush Game Reserve. This particular part of South Africa has received a tremendous amount of rain this year, which meant that the vegetation was thicker than usual, and waterholes and seasonal pans had more water in that what they normally would.
Despite the fact that the vegetation was quite thick, we were blessed with some amazing sightings, including numerous Wild Dog, Leopard and Lion sightings. What I did really enjoy during our time, was the beautiful contrasts that were present, which from a photographic point of view is absolutely golden! Yes during the dry season you might find more wildlife concentrated around waterholes, but the colours are bland, and often there is hardly any difference between big cats and the vegetation.
There is no doubt that the dense vegetation does bring with it some challenges, focussing being one of them as you fight the long grass and foliage... But it also makes you think outside the box a little bit to try and create something unique and different, something you probably wouldn't have tried before.
I would like to urge you, if you haven't travelled during the green season yet, do give it a try. Not only will you leave with some unique, colourful images, but your overall portfolio will get a new and fresh look about it instead of just having everything in dry, brown vegetation.
Until next time...
Johan
