NOTE: Most images below are downsized, uncropped frame grabs from our 6K and 4K film stock footage. Active words are linked to more information and trip adviser/other reviews.

————————————————————-

Are YOU looking for THE BEST,… TOTALLY WILD,… REMOTE,… AFRICAN BUSH SAFARI? If so, read this blog and book soon with Swampland Safari Trails, before they are totally full and you have to wait another year to experience this Pure Magic.

Having always chosen Swampland Safari Trails for our Botswana Cinematography expeditions, we were very excited to be commissioned to film and produce promotional material for them. This includes five, 60 second Teasers and one 5 minute promotional film, all for broadcast on their social media and at Travel Exhibitions around the World.

( COMING SOON - Watch this Space! )

Just like all our trips with Swampland Safari Trails, the owners Louis and Laetitia, along with their wonderful team, took care of all our trip details, requirements and planning. They also made numerous modifications to one of their Safari vehicles, to suit our filming needs. A huge thanks to them all!!

Swampland Safari Trails went out of their way to ensure that everything was running smoothly, which admittedly is not always easy when sitting out in the African bush, 4 hours drive from the nearest town. We are also very fussy and have demanding cinematography requirements.

Not a problem for Swampland Safari Trails!! From literally removing seats, placing new foot rests (so that we were comfortable while travelling), drilling holes into their Safari vehicle bodywork for securing cinematography gear, to the supplying of solar panels, inverters and batteries to satisfy our hefty data transfer and battery charging needs. All filming location transfers arranged, domestic flights booked, very experienced Safari guides, scrumptious meals cooked on a bush fire by very competent chefs and all our hotel and B&B bookings (They get them at a better rate than we can...so don’t even bother looking online).

Laetitia’s company, Captivating Destination, that complements Swampland Safari Trails, does an amazing job with promptly sorting out all the details for any request, delivering every need into the remotest of bush areas and even arranging our return Covid PCR tests. Often in the bush, things change, but not to stress, Swampland Safari Trails always have a plan B & C ready. What a purely magical team.

This is the only team we want to rely on, in the very remote bush areas of Botswana. Not only are they well connected and supported by other operators, but Louis also owns the Satellite phone company, BotSat , so his crews are always connected. Whenever we need any communication services during your expeditions in Botswana, we just speak to Louis.

Our camp site was so remote and peaceful. Totally soul rejuvenating. We slept in spacious tents erected under shady trees, with proper comfy beds, our own en suite with bucket type shower and chemical toilet.

Talk about WILD DINNING, our table was two meters away from the rivers edge and most days/nights we had Lion's, Buffalo, Hippo, Elephants and Hyaena that would come and visit our camp. The enchanting sound of the bush and the hundreds of chirping Reed frogs, lulled us to sleep at night. We got some super clear audio recordings at night, of Hyenas, Hippos, Owls and Reed frogs. The Elephants loved the trees at our tents, that were shading the en suite bathrooms and kept coming to feed during the day, even when we were in the camp and sometimes, in the bathroom itself. They were so relaxed with our presence. What a treat to have a total of 25 African Elephants visiting our camp site, while we ate lunch on the day before we left.

We have been privileged to visit the Botswana Bush a number of times and have tried self drive camping and even stayed in Safari lodges, but nothing that compares to this!

This is TRULY WILD !!

So Special!

EXCLUSIVE!

The BEST AFRICAN BUSH SAFARI WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED.

The animal sightings were incredible. A total of 32 Lions, with numerous cubs at different ages and plenty of amazing behaviour. 25 African Wild Dog, with a large number of pups. A total of 4 Leopards, with one cub and 8 sightings. Lion and leopard on their kills. Lions and Hyenas eating a dead Elephant. Lots of exciting water crossings in our Safari Vehicle, stunning sunrises and sunsets. So many amazing memories and stunning footage.

We were very happy to have our favourite Safari guide, Max with us once again, in fact for the 5th time. Max is so experienced and he truly has a passion for all the animals too. At times, yes, we would follow the animals but never chase or harass them. His bush and animal etiquette is fabulous. Now and again, animals that we were filming, would disappear into a dense area of bush, which was just not accessible. No problem to Max, he would calculate where the most probable place of emergence would be, move the vehicle and they would reappear right there. While most other safari vehicles went one way, we would often go the other, and guess what... animals that we were tracking would pop out right in front of us, with no other vehicles around!! He took great care of us at all times and we wish to thank him for sharing his knowledge and always being cheerful and willing to help. We look forward to seeing you again soon Max.

We were filled with anticipation for the first use of the 1.4X tele-converter that we had purchased for the trip. This was used with our trusty 150-600mm Sigma zoom lens and increased the zoom capability by 40%, from 600mm to 840mm. This lens combination, making it possible for us to get even closer to the action, surpassed all of our expectations and produced tack sharp images, as you can see from many of the 6K frame grabs above.

Naturally, the Bush Safari can be a very hard and unforgiving environment. The roads can get extremely rough. It rains unexpectedly. The wind blows and the DUST gets into everything. But, that being said, our gear coped faultlessly, no matter what we subjected it to. Our Blackmagic, DJI and RED cameras, just kept on filming, regardless. Our MSI laptop and 32TB of Western Digital hard drives, that we store all the 6K and 4K RAW footage on, never missed a beat and the Canon and Sigma lenses that we use were as clear as ever, by the end of our 3 weeks of filming in the Botswana Bush. Quite remarkable.

We also wish to give a big thanks to Jonah and all the chefs, for the scrumptious fresh food, cooked on a bush fire in very remote areas, moving solar panels to follow the sun all day, every day and always being willing to help out with a huge smile. Jonah's freshly fire baked bread is to die for!! We are both vegetarians and this was catered for with ease. Thank you!

The Mokoro trips on the river are a special treat too. The staff share their knowledge and love for conserving the area.

Another big Thank You to our great Buddies, Carol, Terry and Max, for their fabulous company, but most of all for putting up with all our filming requirements. Sitting absolutely totally still while filming and keeping totally quiet while recording audio. We know we drove you all NUTS!!

You guys ROCK! THANK YOU! We do hope that we will be able to share many more happy adventures together.

We wish Swampland Safari Trails all the best with their new marketing material, may the post-COVID-19 tourism be even better that before. We have loved being in the bush with you and encourage everyone to go wild and book soon. We can not wait to return!

We wish to thank Swampland Safari Trails for this incredible opportunity.

HAVE YOU BOOKED YET??

_____________________________________________________________
This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.