Safari testimonial
March 25, 2010
Xavier Ortega recently sent me a testimonial with some fabulous photographs that he took on a safari with me last year at Lion Camp. Here it is.
“After carrying out wildlife photo safaris in Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana I wanted to know South Luangwa in Zambia and thanks to Patrick has been the best safari. He is an excellent and very experienced guide who knows the place very well. He is able to interpret the sounds of the forest to find the animals.
Thanks to Patrick I improved a lot in my photographs. We were alone with the animals and Patrick always placed us in the best position. Lion Camp is a magical place with plenty of animals. Night drives were a very good experience with many sightings of leopards. It is also a paradise for birds. I realize a dream, taking photos from an aircraft, following the animals from the air, this adds to the safari a plus of emotion. The lodge is super and very intimate. Every night we look at the pictures and talk about photography and wildlife.
I highly recommend a photographic safari with Patrick and I will be joining him again on my next safari in 2011.”
Here are just a few of the images that Xavier took on his safari last year:
Lilac breasted roller
Lioness
Leopard at night
Elephants from the air
Running Puku
If you are interested in joining me on one of my safaris in the Luangwa in 2010 please click here
Aerial images
March 11, 2010
Despite the bad weather John and I had a wonderful week getting up into the air in his microlight whenever we could. A few shots..
Elephant family
Buffalo mud bath
Flying with Bateleur eagles is always exhilarating – they are extremely fast and almost impossible to photograph so I’m quite pleased with the image below.
Bateleur eagle
Apart from the photography we have been tracking lions using the radio collars fitted by the Luangwa Valley Carnivore Monitoring Program. We found a group of four males and a female feeding on a buffalo in the Nsefu sector. It seems the collared lions in the Lion Camp area have moved inland away from the river to avoid the flooding as there was no sign of them. We have also done a few flights further north looking for poachers – John quite often finds poacher’s camps and meat-drying racks in the rains but thankfully there is no sign of them this year.
Male Lion following a game trail
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Kudu Bull
March 10, 2010
Kudu Bull
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Rain, rain and more rain..
March 4, 2010
I’m back in the Valley and it has hardly stopped raining since I got here. The river is in full flood – a huge contrast from the dry season. Here are a few aerial shots from the last couple days.
Storm breaking over the Muchinga escarpment
Luangwa river
Floodwater
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Elephant images
February 26, 2010
A couple elephant images that came up in today’s files.. Next week back to the Valley – I can’t wait!
Grumpy bull
Stuck in the mud
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Crocs steal kill from lions
February 14, 2010
The following images are from an incredible event that took place on the banks of the Luangwa river. It was mid-morning and I was sitting in my vehicle photographing the Hollywood pride who were laid out in the shade of a tree near the river. At the same time there was a large number of crocodiles casually finishing off the remains of a hippo that had died in the water nearby.
After a couple hours spent watching the lions sleep a small herd of impala came down to the river to drink and the lions were suddenly very much awake again. The impala ram immediately spotted them and he and his females came closer to get a better look at the lions. Antelope, especially Puku, often do this when they see lions as they seem to feel safer if they can keep the danger in sight. Or maybe they just like to live life on the edge! I think if I was an impala I would get as far away as possible as soon as possible!
What the impala didn’t realise was that there was a solitary lioness lying in the grass quite close to their position. As they came closer this lioness dropped down onto the sand behind them and they were trapped. The rest of the lions immediately gave chase and the impala herd shot off in all directions. The lions honed in on one individual and chased her down toward the water.
At this point I had to jump out my vehicle and chase the action on foot as the lions were blocked from sight by a grove of ebony trees. I am quite used to this kind of thing happening – with wildlife the best action often seems to take place either too far away or partially obscured by something… It just helps to keep you thirsty for more!
By the time I got into a position where I could catch my breath and start taking photographs again the lone impala, having no other option, had entered the water and was quickly caught by the crocodiles. A couple of the lions braved the water and followed her in but soon gave up hope against the crocs. The poor impala was torn up and swallowed in a matter of seconds.
At one point a fish eagle swooped down and grabbed a chunk of meat which it took back to eat at leisure on a nearby branch.
I was a little disappointed with the images that I took away from this as I had missed a lot of the action. Still, the images I did get were very interesting and it was an incredible event to witness. The poor lions had no choice but to watch their meal being devoured before their eyes by the crocodiles.
Eventually they realised that they weren’t going to get anything to eat and one by one they headed back to the shade.
I stayed with them for the rest of the day hoping for a sequel which never came..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
New Hollywood male
February 7, 2010
This handsome lion is the largest brother of the coalition of male lions that took over the Hollywood pride last year. He is still a young lion and his mane and body size are still increasing steadily. I think he will be a seriously impressive beast in a few years.
I am still wading my way through last years images but will finally be going back to the valley in a couple weeks time. I can’t wait to get back and will upload some rainy season images here soon.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
