It’s been a dream for a LONG while to go on safari and get up close and personal with the majestic animals of Africa. This year, the dream came true courtesy of Shamwari private game reserve in the eastern cape.
We stayed for 3 nights, and in that time were able to go on 6 separate game drives. The typical routine was one very early morning drive, around 5am, to get the animals as they started their day, and then an afternoon drive that would often last until the sun set. In between the drives, you were able to relax, nap, eat enjoy the excellent facilities – mostly for me, I spent the time reviewing the photos I had taken!
Some reflections about the game drives were:
Be prepared for it to be cold in the vehicle!
I didn’t *quite* dress as appropriately as I could have, especially for the early morning drives. If I was going again, I would pack some thicker clothes. Luckily, Shamwari provided blankets in the vehicle which was super helpful, but particularly on the windier mornings, more layers would have been amazing.
Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get the perfect shot
There were quite a few moments that I was hoping for the stars to align to get a specific shot – some of them paid off and some of them didn’t. To avoid feeling disappointed, I had to remind myself that there’ll be plenty of opportunities while you’re there, and even if you never quite get exactly what you want – at the end of the day, its part of the magic of wild animals and safari to be so out of control.
Be on the lookout for the big and small.
It can be very easy to be training your eyes all the time to find a lion but then missing some of the smaller, but mighty wildlife around you. Noticing the beautiful birds, the little warthogs, and even rabbits that were around us were some of the little moments of joy and awe that I loved.
Your guide is a font of knowledge.
Our guide, Keenan, was an amazingly knowledgeable ranger and an all-round nice human. His expertise made our game drives 1000x more interesting and exciting. Looking back, I would have loved to spend even more time asking him questions about the animals and the habitat.
I am SO thankful I got to live my safari dreams at Shamwari, and really got the bug – I’d love to do it all again. Watch this space!
Here are some of my most favourite shots of animals at Shamwari:
