Mashatu - Day 3 AM

This whole morning is a ‘special’ in itself as it's one of the main reasons we came to Mashatu in the first place.  Instead of a game drives we've booked two sessions in the hide, a shipping container with windows cut out, sunk into the soil overlooking a waterhole where elephants and lots of other animals and birds come to drink.  It's fully kitted out for photographers with seating, gimbal heads, power for charging batteries etc and comfortably houses 8 photographers.  It is at extra cost (£85pp) and has to be pre-booked so that one of the in-house photography guides can be with you to give tips on settings and angles and also to ensure no one behaves in an inappropriate or dangerous fashion - like leaning out of the windows or making loud noises.

The hide is about 1/2 hour drive from the camp so we set off at more or less usual time and were dropped off around 0720 and greeted by our photography guide for the morning, Garibou sp., who informed us we were the only guests that morning so I could position myself anywhere I like and move around freely.

Elephants usually start arriving from around 0800 so I had a little time to acclimatise and sort out my settings although I don't really know what to expect.  Garibou was very helpful and told me which direction the sun moved and where the elephants were likely to approach from (11 o/c or 12 o/c direction).

Whilst we waited with baited breath we were entertained by a few feathered friends.

Cape Turtle Dove

Swainson's Spurfowl

Which judging by his grumpy expression wasn't have a very good day.

Red-billed Quelea

Red-billed Oxpeckers (presumably the ones without the red-bill are juveniles).

Meve's Starling

Brown-headed Parrot

Dark Capped Bulbul

Yesterday I'd been trying to photograph Guinea Fowl which are notoriously stupid and run around in all directions forgetting they can fly and Daniel had assured me I'd be able to get good photos as they came to the waterhole each day.  This is the only one I managed before they shot off as the elephants approached.

Talk about punctual, it was 0755 when the first elephant strode into view and from the 11 o'clock direction we'd been expecting.  

I have over 1,000 photos and that's after deleting the complete rubbish ones and TBH I'm not entirely sure which images to post to convey what we experienced - probably impossible.  It was the most magical experience as herd after herd visited, some with just a few members and others 40 strong.  Some only stayed a few minutes whilst others lingered for a long time enjoying their drink and just a few feet away from us. 

So here's a very random selection (chronological order, two cameras etc as per usual) and if you notice a magenta spot in the middle of the images, sorry, I've tried to correct it and will be speaking with Canon as it some sort of chromatic aberration happening when I shoot directly into the sun with the new camera/lens, but only visible against the elephants.

This shows a bit of the set up.

The noise at times was deafening as they came rushing in, keen for a drink.  It was fascinating to watch the interaction between the animals; there was a distinct hierarchy and some elephants, with a mere wave of a trunk or flap of the ears, would send others scurrying out of their way.  A couple of times there were loud bellows and we thought arguments might break out but as usual the elephants sorted matters in their own respectful way.

Garibou warned me at the start that some elephants think nothing of squirting water in all directions and sure enough my lens and I got a good splashing at one point.

I was photobombed on countless occasions too.

Luckily this one was far enough away not to give me a soaking.

This little one took exception to a flock of Red-billed Quelea and decided to see them off.

I'm not convinced this one has quite got full control of his trunk yet.

Eventually the last couple of herds sauntered off and calm descended over the waterhole once more.  

Ian estimates in the region of 200 elephants visited the waterhole in just one and a half hours.  I'm totally exhausted trying to operate two cameras, set Ian up to take the occasional video, run back and forth for the best angle and also, when I remembered, just put my camera down and enjoy what was in front of me.

And we get to do it all again tomorrow.