Between October 5th and 13th (2007) I had the chance to visit again with my good friends Geraldine and Peter in Pretoria, South Africa. The majority of our visit was spent at the Ivory Tree Game Lodge in Pilanesberg, ZA. After our earlier visit to the low veldt at Mala Mala, near Kruger National Park in northeastern ZA, (see www.pbase.com/worldhoppr/mala_mala) this expedition to the high veldt near Pretoria would be adventure of a different type.

The Ivory Tree Game Lodge sits in the northeastern corner on the border of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. It's individual, thatch-roofed rooms were reminiscent of Mala Mala, but this was clearly going to be a different type of visit. October brought an end to winter and the start of spring in Pilanesberg, but the air was still nippy as the impending warmth of spring had not quite yet arrived. Riding in the open Land Rovers on the numerous game drives was a bone-chilling experience, but worth it in every way. Each morning at 6:00 and each evening at about 5:00 the intrepid safari-ers gathered at their assigned vehicles for the purpose of the visit -- the game drives. Our guide, driver, ranger, and soon-to-be friend, Nyiko, was a wealth of knowledge as well as a patient shepherd leading his flock of tourists across the high veldt. Putting up with our questions, requests to stop, back-up, roll forward, etc., Nyiko never failed to wear a smile and maintain his completely professional presentation. Going on Safari with Nyiko was a joy. He clearly loved his work, the veldt, and the animals that draw the myriad of visitors to Pilanesberg every year. Thanks, Nyiko; it was fantastic.

I have arranged these pictures almost as they were taken. There were shot with a Nikon D200 and a Nikon D70. I did a bit of rearranging in the order to better portray a story in each drive. Be aware that the lighting was poor at best. The morning drives were filled with the morning mist and the low, yellow/red light of the rising sun. In the evening the night fell quickly and on occasion I had to revert to using a flash (which I despise on nature shoots). I have tried my best at cropping and lighting adjustments via Photoshop Elements 4, but some pictures may be a bit "over Photoshopped." Please forgive these heavy-handed adjustments to lighting, contrast and color saturation and just enjoy the views of the high veldt and the animals that are the true stars of this gallery.

One last comment, I took these pictures in JPG format, forgoing raw. This may have been a mistake as the morning and evening sun and the very cloudy conditions were a challenge in white balance. Rather than play with the white balance, I chose to let the camera do its automatic "thing" and was pleased to find the results (in most cases) reflected the lighting quality (temperature) that I experienced when I made the shots. So you may find some of these too gray or too blue or too yellow or too red, but this is the way it would have looked if you were there. I still debate whether to use raw and go for a "true color" or to adjust the white balance in the camera as the lighting changes or to let the photographs reflect the color temperature of the scene as it was shot. Comments are appreciated, but I think I would continue with the "as shot" temperature if I were to do it again.