Hi guys,
I am heading to South Africa in a couple of weeks to compete in a week long sporting event in Durban (the World Transplant Games).
The best bit though is that I am also taking the opportunity to go on a short 5 day Safari tour. The tour starts in Durban and ends in Johannesburg.
I've never been to South Africa so really looking forward to it. I've made a list of the equipment that I am planning to take and would be interested in feedback on any thing I have overlooked please.
Firstly a copy and paste of my intinery to give you a feel for where I am heading:
Day 1:
Durban to Hluhluwe via St Lucia….River cruise in the World Heritage Wetlands (iSimangaliso Wetland Park)
First game drive through Umfolozi
Overnight accommodation in Game Lodge.
Day 2:
Drive through the KINGDOM of SWAZILAND,
lunch at the beautiful NISELA SAFARI LODGE
then into MPUMALANGA..
Evening open vehicle game drive
Overnight at BONGANI GAME LODGE
Day 3:
Early morning game drive prior to breakfast…
then into The Kruger National Park
Lunch in the park
visit the quaint town of SABIE
Accommodation at LONE CREEK RIVER LODGE
Day 4:
From SABIE via the PANORAMA ROUTE…through Sth Africas gold mining history…then via the awe inspiring BLYDE RIVER CANYON
and on to MAKALALI PRIVATE GAME RESERVE …
Afternoon Game Drive
Day 5:
An early start to catch the bushveld as it comes alive whilst on your last open vehicle GAME DRIVE….
after breakfast head to the picturesque village of DULLSTROOM…
then on toward Johannesburg
An amazing stop at A MARKET…. ONE OF the LARGEST MARKET in Sth Africa…
Continue into Johannesburg for your last night
Excuse the caps locks above but I just copied and pasted off of the itinerary that I was sent. I'm looking forward to the 5 open vehicle game drives.
The equipment I plan to take includes:
- K30 + DA18-135mm
- K30 + DAL55-300mm
- Primes: DA15, DA40 & FA77mm Ltds
- Sigma 10-20mm
- Sirui N2204 carbon tripod with Sirui K20X ballhead - which also converts to a monopod
- Bean bag
- Corded remote control for long exposures
- Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW bag
- Lowepro Sirrus 140 small bag (for second body when not in use)
- 4 x batteries
- AA adaptor as an emergency
- 2 x battery chargers
- 4 x 16GB SD cards (45 MB/s)
- 4 x 4GB SD cards
- Lens blower
- Lens cloth
- Lens pen
- Power adaptor + power board (4 x socket) to charge up batteries, laptop, phone etc
- Laptop to backup photos (#1 backup)
- 500GB USB portable drive to backup photos (#2 backup)
- Variable ND filter for Sigma 10-20mm
- Polariser filter for DA15mm
- GoPro3 Black edn plus spare batteries and charger for some video
It looks like a long list but when on Safari I would just take the K30 + DA18-135mm, K30 + DAL55-300mm, Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW bag, blower and lens cleaners and leave the primes, Sigma 10-20mm and other gear at base camp. I will likely leave the tripod at basecamp as well and only use it for early morning late afternoon captures (maybe take the monopod though?).
Based on recommendations, due to the dust I will have a UV filter on both the 18-135 and 55-300mm lens.
I usually shoot in RAW + jpeg but in order to save card space I will probably shoot just in RAW.
Anyway, interested in any feedback and tips to help finalise my planning for the trip. I leave on Thursday 25th July, so not long to go now.
cheers,
Bryan
Last edited by WA-surfer; 07-05-2013 at 05:37 AM.