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When on Wilderness trails it is adviseable to check with the trails ranger first before photographing potentially dangerous animals , particularly if they are unaware of your presence , as the camera shutter noise may cause certain animals such as rhino to approach the source in order to investigate . Rhino for instance have relatively poor eyesight , which may result in the animal either charging / fleeing directly towards the trailists .
A shutter noise may result in the animal being viewed becoming aware of you and fleeing .

Animal sightings tend to be very brief so photographic opportunities are limited , thus in my opinion a superzoom (I assume you are referring to a fixed lens non DSLR) which has a false thus muteable shutter sound will suffice .
In many cases , particularly in the next 2 - 3 months while it is extremely dusty , your DSLR will become covered in the dust kicked up by fellow trailists , so if this is a factor which worries you , I would recommend you rather leave your DSLR in camp .

Last week we did two walks in LS and we took our DSLR cameras with us. We were about 10 meters away from three Rhinos. We took some cover behind a bush and we were aloud to take pictures. Our guide told us not to be a paparazzi, but leave some seconds between two pictures. You need to think about the noise from your focus motor. There are lenses which are silent (like we have) then there is no problem at all if you listen carefuly to the guides. But if that motor is a bit noise, I wouldn't take the risk of using them as you risk yours and the animal lifes.

Hi Bessi,

A warm welcome to the forum.
I have been on 6 trails so far and only once I have been in a situation where I decided not to take photos, though the ranger had allowed us to do so;
We stumbled upon 2 black rhino's! The ranger led us to a big tree that was fallen down from where we were allowed to take some photos. I took two photos. To me the sound of my camera seemed deafening and each time I took the photo, mother rhino looked straight at me! I thought better to be safe than sorry.
Most times though time is limited and the animals are too far to hear your camera. I find a macro lens to be very handy, because you will have a close look at insects, spiders, flowers etc. which you will not have when you are in a car. And they do not seem to be bother by sounds of the camera.
Enjoy your trail!!!

I have never done a Wilderness Trial and will be booking one to do early in the new year. So Excited!! Can anyone advise as to which should be our first trail to do? Am leaning towards Nyalaland, but would love some advise.

I hope this is more or less factually correct ...

Digital Single Reflex Lens camera - when the photographer views through the viewfinder he actually looks through the lens - he sees the image that is projected onto the digital sensor (or film in a film camera), but the SLR camera has a prism which deflects the image to the wiewfinder , the prism folds away momentarily when the shutter is depressed and allows the image to fall on the digital sensor (hence the click noise one hears) . Thus the image is deflected from the lens through 90deg to the viewfinder .
When looking at this camera from the front there is not a seperate viewfinder "window" visible .

With non SLR cameras the image the photographer sees in the view finder is a seperate but allmost identical image to the one that passes through the lens , there is no prism that folds away out of the light path between the viewfinder and the photographers eye .
When looking at this camera from the front , there are 2 seperate "windows" visible , the viewfinder and is on a higher plane on the camera than the lens .

These cameras can produce a simulated noise function (which is muteable) similar to the noise one hears on a SLR to inform the photographer that the picture is being taken .

SLR more expensive , more complicated mechanism , but better image reproduction .

Very difficult to advise , each one has its merits depending on the time of the year , rainfall , your preferences (the wilderness experience / birding / scenery / etc.) and 3 or 11 or more other factors .

If you are a keen birder , early in the year is the right time for Nyalaland .

For good game viewing - particularly towards the end of the dry winter season - the centrally situated wilderness trails are probably better , though one or more of the 11 factors may influence this .

If your motivation is to experience the wilderness and not necessarily to see game , to hear the sounds and smell the aromas , then choose any of the trails , you will probably return to do the rest and as each of these trails offers an experience that will be remembered for many years .

Hi Bessi-F,

Obviously it is best to check with the ranger, as he(they) know best. But it might also be an idea to check your camera. Mine (a Nikon D300s) has got a 'quiet' setting, where the mirror stays up till you release the button and then goes down. Result is a much quieter process as the 'mirror-slap' is significantly reduced. Don't know if other cameras have got that option. Also, lens-based image stabilisation and even sensor-based IS, can be quite noisy, so, maybe best to switch that off. Of course there is always the manual focus option that will help reducing (audible) noise, especially the old screw-drive focus.

Hope this helps

Xankie

First of all: Thanks to everybody for the quick answers!


It's a Canon EOS 400D body (500g) + 75-300mm IS (630 g) + Battery Grip (ca. 150 g) + Batteries (ca. 50 g) => Total is about 1,3 kg. Pretty heavy , thus I didn't intend to carry it around my neck, just in a shoulder bag or little backpack.

The advantage of this combination is:
the 70-300mm lens image stabilizer is pretty effective and walking in the morning gets some nice moody pictures - hopefully. The sound of this lens won't be a noise problem, because it has an ultrasound motor.
Disadvantage: Very heavy and might get full of dust when walking. No videos at all (too old camera)

The only problem might be the shutter noise - as described above. Two years ago an elephant heard my shutter ca. 200 m away from me and moved towards our car but fortunately walked away soon afterwards. Pretty scary when not in a car and the only way of hiding is behind a ranger.

The other camera is an old Fujifilm S5500 (f 2.8-3.1), "only" 4 MPixel, no image stabilizer, but still a very smart camera becaues the lense is totally covered by an extra tube, on which I've got an UV or Pol-Filter. So no dusk at all!!! And as described above, the noise can be neglected - except the starting of the camera, when the lens gets out of the body. Further advantage: Videos (though only 640x320 pixels)
Disadvantage: Internal Battery forgets time and date every now and then. Resetting makes a lot of noise until I switch of the sounds.

The last alternative is an Canon Digital Ixus 120: Advantage: Very small, HD-videos in excellent quality. But again: No considerable zoom and vulnerable to dust.

You see, I'm pretty desperate.

Hi Bessi and a very warm welcome. I hope that you have a really stunning trail.

My own experience has been that the rangers are very quick to let people know when it is safe to take photos and when not. I have never taken a very "big camera", but I have been very angry with myself for leaving my camera behind. If you are comfortable with the weight, "go for it"

I have on several occasions been in situations where we came upon elephant , buffalo & rhino unexpectedly and at close quarters where a clicking sound could have resulted in trouble .

Bessi F - in most cases you will not have your camera ready for a good action pic as the animal sightings are generally very fast & fleeting .

Hi Bessi-F

Most modern cameras have a "silent" mode which is ideal for photographing birds or animals at close range without disturbing them to much. Check your camera's operating manual for further info. Happy snapping!

Hi,

I am sure you will get lots of direct replies but have you had a look Olifants Trail

and Sweni Trail for lots of individual opinions and reports.

also Here

Enjoy which ever one you choose.

Every Wilderness Trail is a great experience. Sweni is the most popular trail because it is close to the savanna of Satara and therefor you can have great sightings. What I liked best of the Sweni is the view from the camp; there is a waterhole in front of the lapa where you can see game coming for a drink. Especially in May when it is drier, you will see game there but it makes it harder to make up for some well needed sleep in the afternoon.
We also did one afternoon walk next to the S100! Though we did not see any cats, it was a real treat to walk near this 'famous' road.
The Olifants camp is situated higher with the possibility to look out over the Olifants river, but because it is higher it is harder to spot game near the river. An afternoon walk with a sundowner along the Olifants river is a true special experience.
The landscape during the walks has more variety than that of the Sweni so I liked that better.
Olifants camp has new huts too. (At least I suspect that they are all finished now.)

To me a Wilderness Trail is about being in the bush with just a small group of people with just the basics at hand. To wake up and go to bed with just the sounds of the bush, walk through nature and being able to smell and touch it. Every animal you see, is just a bonus and not the main attraction. Then a shower while you can peep through the 'wall' to the bush, and sitting around the fire. Delicious food (and not having to cook yourself). And having a basic breakfast in the middle of the bush; what can top that?
Both Trails will provide in that fully.

I will try to post some photos this evening.

To give sound advice places one in a bit of a dilemma ...

Generally Sweni offers better game viewing as the Olifants area is fairly rocky and thus there is less grazing available and less plains game , whereas Sweni is on the plains with much general game - though the amount of rainfall in a particular area during the last season may just result in the opposite being true ...
The Olifants camp setting & scenery is in my opinion slightly better than Sweni .

As Merel states it is more about the wilderness experience , one should regard the scenery and game viewing as a bonus , I have experienced that one may see game regularly on one day , the next day the game seemed to have disappeared from the same general area .

Here some photos as promised.

View from Sweni.



A close up from a Sweni view.



View from Olifants



Afternoon walk along the Olifants River with our ranger Nicol