The vast Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa stretches around 150kms along the escarpment and Lesotho border. It can be divided into four sections – Bergville and the northern Drakensberg; Winterton and the central Drakensberg; Himeville, Underberg and the southern Drakensberg and East Griqualand and Umzimkhulu.

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilised people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…” ~John Muir

This post is the first of two sharing some of the images and scenes we were privileged to see in mid-May. We were fortunate to visit Montusi Mountain Lodge for a long weekend break. It is a family lodge situated in the northern Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The lodge is located in the lower berg in full view of the amphitheatre with the Royal Natal National Park just below it. This is one of the most iconic parts of the Drakensberg. It must be one of the most striking cliff faces in the world as this amphitheatre is over 5 kilometres wide and has cliffs of around 1220 metres in height.

From the valley floor to the highest point in the amphitheatre it is over 1830 metres. The highest point of the amphitheatre is 3050 metres above sea level. The grandeur of this scene is mesmerising and creates a sense of longevity and permanence.

The Royal Natal National Park is situated on the South African side of the Drakensberg escarpment with the Golden Gate National Park to the north near Clarens, and the Giants Castle Game Reserve  in the central and southern Drakensberg. Royal Natal National Park in KwaZulu-Natal is located at the base of the amphithreatre, is incredibly scenic, and perfect for photography. It offers the towering peaks, the majestic amphitheatre and rolling high altitude grasslands, the Tugela Falls and picturesque foothills. Each aspect changes with the seasons and time of day creating wonderful photographic opportunities. UKhahlamba means the barrier of spears in Zulu language. When viewed from the higher reaches the peaks often protrude above the clouds. These jagged peaks look like spears, a barrier of spears.

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being” ~Ansel Adams

At the Montusi Mountain Lodge we found many sunbirds. There were numerous large clusters of  candelabra aloes, many of which were in flower. The nectar in these aloe flowers is a powerful magnet for the nectar feeders in the area.

One of the surprises at Montusi was to find so many candelabra aloe (Aloe arborescens ) clusters. These are large multi-headed sprawling succulents. This aloe’s flowers are arranged in an inflorescence called a raceme. The flowers progressively open from the bottom upwards.

The male Malachite sunbird is highly territorial and chases off any visiting sunbirds. It cannot chase off weavers, blackeyed bulbuls or Gurney Sugarbirds. In the breeding season, the male Malachite has iridescent metallic green plumage and is stunningly beautiful. Outside the breeding season the male loses its iridescent green plumage on its body.

On the smaller candelabra aloes, we found many Greater double-collared sunbirds. They appear to be less territorial but are also prone to chasing each around.

Although able to hover for short periods, most of the time the Malachite and Greater double-collared sunbirds tend to perch to feed .

The Greater double-collared sunbird is more often seen than its southern or lesser double-collared cousin. The two collars comprise a thin iridescent metallic blue-collar above and a broad scarlet collar below extending onto its belly.

The greater double-collared sunbird has a cousin, the southern or lesser collared sunbird which has a similar two coloured collar but the scarlet collar is much thinner. The lesser double-collared sunbird is found in over lapping geographic areas with the greater double-collared, but tends to be more often seen in the coastal and Cape regions. 

In the sunbird family, the females are not nearly as glamorous as the males and usually have plumage which is brown and dull yellow in colour.

This greater double-collared sunbird was perched on a candelabra aloe raceme which had not yet begun to bloom.

The fact that the aloe’s raceme opens over an extended period provides sustenance for these nectar feeders for an extended period in late autumn and early winter when many other plants no longer provide food.

“If you cannot fly then run, if you cannot run then walk, if you cannot walk the crawl but whatever you do keep moving forward.”~ Martin Luther King Jr

The male Malachite sunbird has a stunning vibrant metallic green plumage with blackish-green primary and secondary wing feathers. This male Malachite sunbird was guarding his territory. Malachites can be found from Ethiopia to the Cape.

This male Malachite sunbird is moulting and losing his breeding plumage. The non-breeding plumage on its upper parts and belly are a yellow and greyish-brown while the wings retain their metallic green colouring.

The Malachite sunbird is nectivorous feeding mainly on nectar though we watched them catching small flying insects when possible.

This sunbird is found mainly in cool montane and coastal scrub.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” ~John Muir

In the grasslands below the mountain lodge there are babbling mountain streams where the water is icey cold but crystal clear.

Being late autumn, many of the aloe racemes had not fully opened and provided good sentry posts.

“May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.” ~ Harley King

There is colour and beauty to be found wherever you look.

The weather was mostly sunny, but this huge mountain range stirs up the clouds adding more photographic interest. It was warmer than we expected as we were hoping for some snow, but there was nothing, not even on the mountain peaks.

“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we could ever learn from books.” ~ John Lubbock

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be,

Have fun,

Mike

In March this year, Helen and I went to Blyde River Canyon in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa to join a landscape workshop hosted by Mark Dumbleton, who is one of the top landscape photographers in South Africa.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~ Jawaharial Nehru

The Blyde River Canyon is situated on the escarpment at the eastern end of the Drakensberg mountain range. This canyon is in the Blyde River Nature Reserve which is around 16 kilometres in length. This is the second largest canyon in South Africa after the Fish River canyon. It may be the largest “green” canyon in the world due to its lush vegetation and is one of the great natural wonders of Africa.

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” ~Ansel Adams

The canyon is spectacular and ideal for landscape photography. What makes it even more special is that the relief of the geography stirs up the weather which can cast many variations of light and mood over the canyon.

The weather forecast was for overcast weather and rain for four of the five days of the workshop. One aspect I really enjoyed was learning to shoot landscapes in all-weather conditions. Landscape photography relies on taking advantage of any weather conditions and playing with perspective and composition.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” ~ Dorothea Lange

The Blyde River Canyon is known for its huge and round buttresses, popularly known as the ‘Three Rondavels’, the Swadini buttress and the Blyde dam.

The first morning it was dark, very overcast and pouring with rain. We climbed down into position on the canyon wall but had to wait it out with our camera bags under our ponchos for about an hour in the semi-dark. The sun never managed to shine through the thick cloud but it gave us opportunities to photograph our subject, revealing its many moods.

The clouds and mist swirled through the canyon so there were opportunities to photograph the canyon with some parts exposed and others disguised. On the left hand side of the next image is the great Swadini buttress in the distance just below the clouds. This vast buttress comprises harder quartzite which forms the vertical cliffs, while softer shale has eroded to form the talus, or sloping sections which are now covered with vegetation. Capping the escarpment is a layer of hard, black reef quartzite.

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” ~ Ernst Haas

One dramatic geological feature of the area is the “Three Rondavels”. They are huge pinnacles of rock rising above the canyon. The tops of these pinnacles are shaped like traditional beehive huts, with sloping walls and domed summits comprising quartzite and shale.

Looking north-east on a moody, overcast afternoon. Landscape photography is about experimentation. This image was taken using a 70-200mm zoom lens to change the perspective by magnifying the background.  It also showed the enormous quartzite cliff faces.

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” ~ Ansel Adams

I mostly used a 24-70mm lens but of course with the wide-angle you needed to get close to the edge of the canyon wall to alter the balance of foreground and background in the image. The next image shows minimal foreground, a moderate portion of middle ground and  vast vistas of background. To give you an idea of the steepness from the top of the canyon wall, Mark, in his red jacket, was standing (below) on a rock promontory overlooking the canyon. It was around 800 metres from that point to the bottom of the valley.

“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.” ~ David Alan Harvey

At last the sun came out to play. Given the dramatic relief of the area it became a game of playing with shadows. In the afternoon we wandered to our preferred lookout but the late afternoon shadows cast large areas of the middle ground. The clouds also cast shadows so it was also about looking and waiting for clouds to cast shadows in the right areas to emphasise the dramatic landscape.

One of the photographers in the workshop, Peter Guthrie, in a zen mood contemplating the universe from a commanding perspective.

Looking east across the dam towards the “Three Rondavels” in the middle ground and Mariepskop in the distance behind them. I included some of the foreground to give a greater sense of the steepness and depth of the canyon walls. 

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and my camera is my passport.” ~ Steve McCurry

To mix up our shooting, Mark took us down below the Forever Resort to wander along some trails and streams to find different subjects. The next image was in a forest where a small stream cascaded into a pool of crystal clear water. It was relatively dark because the sky was very overcast. It was dead quiet and exquisitely beautiful.

Changing the perspective a little by moving a few steps downstream. There were six photographers so it was quite tricky to get an image without a fellow photographer in it given we were using wide-angle lenses.

Downstream from the waterfall was a small stream lined with trees. We saw an African Finfoot swimming and fishing in the stream. They are very shy birds and it quickly moved into the undergrowth next to the stream and out of sight so I could not get a shot.

On our last day the sun came out.  The interplay of light and shadows on the dramatic relief of the canyon created some interesting new ways to look at the scene.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or bring storms, but to add colour to my sunset sky.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Another image of Mark standing at the edge of a protruding rock face. Over the edge of that particular rock was almost straight down to the valley floor.

You can see just how much the mood and look of the canyon changed in the late afternoon sun with clouds adding to the shaping of the image.

Thank you Mark Dumbleton for a really interesting workshop. I learnt new smart techniques for establishing the hyperfocal length to get maximum depth of field. I learnt how valuable “live view” can be. I also learnt that there can be some incredible opportunities to photograph the chosen landscape no matter what the weather throws at you. It just takes a particular cloud formation or mist swirling in the valley or an interesting shaft of light to break through the clouds to alter the mood and presentation of the subject. Our editing session in Lightroom was helpful and you also pushed me to get started in Photoshop, for which I thank you.

“A camera sees only a limited range of light and dark, and colour. The photographer chooses the subject, the perspective and the balance.  The skilful combination of the two creates a photograph.” ~ Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand,marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

This is the last post from our Masai Mara trip with CNP Safaris in February. This is a period which is between the “small and big rains”, the latter coming in late March and April. The easiest way to get to the Mara is to fly by charter plane from Wilson airport in Nairobi . It is about a 45 minute flight. One lands on a gravel airstrip which is about a kilometre from the camp. If you are lucky there will be pride of lions lying under a tree near landing strip. You are also likely to be greeted by buffalo, zebra, eland, and Thompson’s gazelle. The next image is a view for the camp while driving from the airstrip.

“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.” – Anna Quindlen

The Kichwa Tembo camp is sited on the edge of a riverine forest. It is cooler and there is rich birdlife in the forest.

The reception looking east toward the dining area and towards the pool.

Our tents were at the south end of the camp. From the front of the tent, the view beyond the electric fence was into thick elephant grass along the river. At night you could hear buffalo in the grass, hippos in the river and lions roaring. 

“Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind.” ~ Seneca

The inside of the tent was comfortable and perfect for our needs as we were out and about for most of the day. There was quite a voltage drop at the perimeter of the camp which complicated charging our camera and computer equipment. Nevertheless when you flop into bed at night, turn off the lights and just listen, you will hear a very busy nocturnal natural world outside. It is a wonderful feeling and even though it takes a night or so to adjust, by the last night you will waft to sleep comforted by all the bush sounds around you.

Above the bar area was an open air lounge. This was the view from that lounge looking down onto the boma where the Masai do their ceremonial dance around the fire at night. The pool looks out onto a large plain which stretches down to the Mara river. From the pool you can see everything from elephants, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and sometimes even lions during the day.

In the lounge above the bar is where we did some of our image editing and discussed the days sightings.

Looking out from the bar towards the boma and pool. This is a place of many stories and even taller tales are told. Discussions became animated over a few beers with faces illuminated by the light of the fire from the boma.

Signs of yesteryear travels.

At the start of each day we normally gathered at the dining area for a cup of coffee and a rusk with the aim to be out of the camp by 5h30. It took us about 45 minutes on the terribly rutted gravel road running on the outside of the reserve to get to the Mara North section. It was a very bumpy ride which was affectionately called an “African massage”. The aim was always to get the Masira gate by around 6h30. It was still dark at that time and once through the park gate we would start looking for the lion prides. Early morning was when the hot air balloons got going. Every morning we would see up to five hot air balloons drifting through the cool early Mara sunrise.

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” ~ Randy Komisar

The guides from camps in the Mara North had radio contact and would tell each other where the predators were. This image was a guide taking his guests to see the latest predator sighting.

At lunch time we would stop in the “greenheart” forest next to the meandering Mara river. There were hippos and crocodiles in the river and in the afternoons the Olive baboons would scale down the steep river bank for a drink of water and to play.

This is CNP Safari’s specialised photographic vehicle. It can accommodate five photographers with long lenses on a customised camera support system with swiveling chairs which give the photographer wide views and an ability to photograph from both sides of the vehicle.

Late in the afternoon below the Oloololo escarpment, this was the view looking onto the Masai Mara plains.

Dawn in the Mara North section with a soft warm morning light backlighting a few zebra.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart!” ~ Confucius

There were times at a predator sighting when there could be as many as 15 vehicles. It did not seem to bother the lions.

There were other times when we were the only ones at a lion sighting. This was a new coalition of four young male lions who looked to be moving into the area for a pride take over.

Lou Coetzer, our guide and professional photographer, and the owner of CNP Safaris, taking a few images of his guests in the specialised vehicle during a coffee break.

“The mediocre mentor tells. The good mentor explains. The superior mentor demonstrates. The greatest mentor inspires.” ~Lucia Ballas Traynor

Two nomads struggling in the heat late in the morning. There were no trees nearby to lie under so they chose the next best thing,  a large pool of water in a drainage gully.

Another image looking to the east as the sun was rising behind the horizon in the Mara North.

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” ~ Martin Buber

Two of my long-standing photo buddies, Duncan Blackburn and Les Penfold receiving some welcome mid-morning coffee from our guide and driver Akatch. Both are excellent and experienced wildlife photographers. While we were waiting for action at a sighting we would chat sharing camera settings, and we had many interesting discussions about life and the universe, sprinkled with wicked humour. 

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” -Tim Cahill

Late in the morning when the sun had risen quite high, the lion pride would seek the shade offered by a balanite tree. Usually one lioness would keep watch while the others slept.

A very peaceful scene of elephants enjoying themselves in the “greenheart” forest. They would eventually move out of the forest  and make their way towards the swamp around midday.

February is a superb month for predator photography. The herds have passed so the predators have to work harder to feed themselves. There is still plenty of game and birdlife on the plains. This time of the year offers fewer vehicles and the grass is low so photography on the plains is much cleaner. 

“Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” ~ Jennifer Lee

A special thank you to Lou Coetzer and CNP Safaris for a wonderful photographic safari. We were privileged to have some exceptional wildlife photographic opportunities. This is one of the most remarkable and productive photographic destinations I have been privileged to wander through.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike