Toft Photo 2012 Botswana Photo Tour Safari – Images by Roy Toft Photo Safaris

Why go to Botswana in March? Look at these green backgrounds and beautiful clouds! I just returned home from a month in one of my favorite shooting locations on the planet…Botswana. This year was another amazing adventure full of amazing wildlife, beautiful weather and scenery, and unlimited photography opportunities.

My trip started with a 4 day stay at Jack’s Camp in the Kalahari Desert. Our main focus here was the “star power” of those little lovable creatures know as Meerkats. Jack’s camp has several habituated families of these photographic little animals which allowed us to basically get right inside their family groups and photograph all their behavior with a wide angle lens! It is so fun to work with animals who are not afraid of you and who allow such intimate photography.

Then we were off to the jewel of Botswana….the Okavango Delta. Here we spent are beautiful days photographing Lions, Leopard, Elephants, Zebra, Giraffe, Birds, Warthogs, Hippos, Impala, etc…etc. One of the most memorable experiences we had was watching and photographing our three Cheetah brothers. I have been watching this coalition of male Cheetahs for the last 8 years! They are amazing.

We also had a great thrill with Wild Hunting dogs throughout the trip. Between my two groups, we had three different packs of Wild Dogs. These endangered canines are the reason I started coming to Botswana, which is one of the last strongholds for this amazing predator. We were lucky enough to see a lot of interesting behavior including their complex greeting antics as well as witnessing several kills.

We ended this year’s trip at a place I have been wanting to visit for 7 years…Duba Plains. This area is the location where photographer/film maker couple Beverly and Dereck Joubert  worked on their amazing project documenting the Lions who kill Cape Buffalos. The thought of seeing Lions hunting Cape Buffalo has been in my mind ever since seeing their amazing photographs and film footage. Well…I finally made it to Duba, and it didn’t disappoint!  We were lucky enough to witness this epic struggle between predator and huge herbivore (Lion and Buffalo) first hand when nearly a dozen lions hunted and killed an adult Cape Buffalo!!! This was probably the most amazing thing I had ever seen in all my many years of watching wildlife. Anyway….next year is surely going to be another great year for wildlife viewing and photography….Take a little time off and join me in Botswana!

With over a decade of doing photo workshops in Costa Rica, Toft Photo had another successful trip this year with a terrific group of photographers. We arrived into the Osa Peninsula early in December to sunny skies and great conditions for our 5 days at the Bosque del Cabo Lodge. I always find this time of year perfect—the forests are moist and green, rivers are charging, and the waterfalls are crashing—all this because the rainy season has just dropped 100+ inches of rain over the last 5 months! Wildlife is abundant: Scarlet Macaws squawk overhead as they fly by in pairs, four species of monkeys are gorging themselves on the now plentiful figs, seeds, fruits, and leaves of the forest—Toucans and numerous other colorful birds are busy getting the new season started. This year was especially good for Monkeys and Toucans. Every day, we had dozens of Chestnut Mandible Toucans feeding low on palm fruits as well as large troops of White-faced, Spider, and Howler Monkeys moving through the grounds with their fresh new born babies! Never a dull moment for our group of excited photographers! We also did very well with our night shoots for wild Red-eyed Tree frogs—which is always a hit!

After our main 5 day workshop, we headed up the coast to the Lookout Inn for our Scarlet Macaw extension. Sometimes things just seem to go right…really right! We had a fruiting date palm right next to our lodge that just started to become ripe enough for the groups of spectacular Scarlet Macaws to take notice. We spent two days photographing fly ins—feeding, fighting, and general action at that palm tree—sometimes having 7 macaws on the fruit cluster at one time!

So…successful Scarlet Macaw extension…CHECK!

Then it was time to drive up out of the lowland Rainforest and into the cool, cloud forests of the Talamanca mountains for our quest for the amazing Resplendent Quetzal. Did we get great photos of this amazing bird…why, of course! We have never missed….knock on wood. Everyone enjoyed our time photographing the Quetzals as well as the many hours photographing the many…many hummingbirds that surround our mountain lodge.

I don’t think I will ever get tired of leading this photography workshop to Costa Rica….it is always fun…always productive, and a great location for doing interesting rainforest photography!

Check out a small sampling of the images from the Toft Photo Rainforests of Costa Rica Workshop. I hope to see you next year.

-Roy

This year Toft Photo hosted two full Pantanal trips and the experience and photographic results were amazing! As I have stated in past recent trip reports, the Pantanal is one of the richest ecosystems and one of the best photographic destinations that I can think of. The abundance and diversity of animal/bird life combined with the relative ease of access and photography make this trip a must for any nature photographer. Let me give you a quick rundown of the two trips:

We arrived into the Pantanal with group one and spent the first afternoon on the Pixaim River photographing the huge variety of birds, caimans, capybaras, and other creatures found in great numbers here. All the wildlife in this region is very approachable, which makes the photography terrific. Five different species of Kingfisher are found on the river and often times we glide up to within 20 feet of them at eye level! Some of my favorite subjects this year on the Pixain were Giant Otters, Agami Heron, Green & Rufous Kingfisher, Jabiru Storks, black-tailed Marmosets, and families of Capybara.

After a very productive couple days on the Pixaim River, it was time to head further south to the Cuiaba River and our houseboat, where we would be searching for the mighty Jaguar. After 4 trips to Brazil I finally experienced one of their cold fronts that I have heard so much about. Our first three days on the Cuiaba River, the temps had dropped from around 85 degrees F to 55 F. Even though it was a bit chilly, we had fun photographing many different groups of Giant Otter, birds, Capybara, Caimans….and yes, our first Jaguar! Our first Jaguar came on our second morning on the river. After getting a radio call of the sighting, we all headed to where the most photographed wild Jaguar in the world was resting on the river bank. His name is Wilson. I first saw Wilson in 2009 when I came to investigate this new Jaguar phenomena on the Cuiaba River. Wilson was my first wild Jaguar! We saw him on the river bank and then watched him swim across the mighty Cuiaba on that morning 2 years ago. Something was different this year however. Wilson was not looking so good. He had several large gashes on his face from fighting with other Jaguars and he sported a radio collar. Now, I won’t take time in this trip report to talk about my feeling about radio collars but I can tell you, Wilson looked a lot happier and much more majestic two years ago!

On our fourth day, the cold front had passed and we were treated to a wonderful Jaguar named Lighting. I should mention here that every Jaguar photographed is run through the photo database of known Jaguars, so a record can be made of the whereabouts, physical condition, etc., of each cat can be recorded. “Lightning” was a new Jaguar for this year. This is something that interests me; that it is not just the same small group of cats that are seen over and over again every year around the Cuiaba River. In fact, there were more “new cats” this year seen than documented return cats. Ok, back to Lightning…this male Jaguar was amazing! Huge, beautiful, and not nervous about photographers in boats watching his every move. The photo session that Lightning gave us that afternoon was the best I have experienced. We spent several hours watching/photographing the amazing cat as he relaxed on the river bank, walked down to the river to drink, walked along the white sandy beach….even when he spent a couple seconds playing with a large apple snail shell! Just fantastic! We continued to see/photograph Lightning throughout group #1′s stay and even saw him again with group #2. Two other Jaguars were also seen and photographed during our group one but nothing came close to our session with Lightning.

Ok, so besides everyone from both groups getting to see and photograph wild Jaguars, we had exceptional Giant Otter sessions with both groups. I remember one morning spent in a small, picturesque, black water tributary where we had an entire family of 6 Giant Otters fishing and feeding. We must have burned through 10 gigs of memory as Otter after Otter pulled these large fish out of the water onto logs and proceeded to gorge themselves! These same small river systems were also great for displaying Caimans this year. Almost every morning, we could drift our boats around 10 foot Caimans as they made water dance off their backs….this is hard to describe….but you would hear sonic booms from the Caimans and then see them posturing with their heads and tails out of the water….then the water on their backs would start to dance from the vibrating Caiman –– just amazing!

Recent_Trip_2011_Brazil – Images by Roy Toft Photo Safaris

Our Toft Photo “2011 Eagles and Bears of Katmai Coast Photo Tour” wrapped up to be yet another wonderfully successful tour! For a change, instead of me describing it, read what a couple of our participants had to say!

I have been photographing brown bears for over 16 years now. I’ve been on countless trips and have been to almost every well-known location for brown bears in North America. Without a doubt, your Eagles and Bears of Katmai Coast Photo Tour offers the BEST opportunity for brown bear photography in North America, possibly the world. In addition to the bears, the day we spent with the huge raft of sea otters was absolutely unparalleled and certainly is one of the highlights of my photographic experiences. Not to mention the seals, whales, porpoise, Steller sea lions, bald eagles (both in flight and chicks in the nest), countless seabirds and spectacular scenery. I believe that Geographic Harbor is one of the most beautiful and stunning spots in North America. The experience on the boat was fantastic with a top-notch Captain, Crew and a most amazing cook. I didn’t think it was possible to eat too much fresh Alaskan crab and halibut, but we came close on this trip…

Having done quite a few trips with Toft Photo Tours, it is amazing how you always seem to have such a great mix of wonderful people. And this trip was no exception. The camaraderie and friendships that develop among your groups never ceases to amaze me and on every Toft Photo Tour I go on, I meet the nicest people and always end up developing new, long-term friendships.

Your easy manner, leadership and instruction in the field and during breaks is what sets you apart from any other Photography Tour Company. I am looking forward to many future trips with you.

Steve Freno

I am an intermediate level photographer recently returning from Roy Toft’s Katmai peninsula, Alaska trip photographing bears and other wildlife. I have attended several photo workshops in the past but this one was far superior to anything I could have imagined. It was perfect from start to finish. My friends could not believe my images were real – this was a trip of a lifetime! With Roy’s expertise, I learned a lot about my camera, vision and composition. I highly recommend this trip to anyone at any level.

Ellie Nichols
Annapolis, MD

Recent_Trip_2011_Eagles-Bears – Images by Roy Toft Photo Safaris

For more information on our 2012 Katmai Coast Photo Tour trip, visit the Eagles and Bears – Alaska Tours & Workshop page.

-Roy

Back to one of my favorite places to photograph on the planet! Botswana! I started off this trip by scouting a couple camps down in the Kalahari Desert. I’ve included a couple picture of the unique animals found there including the large desert antelope called a Gemsbok or Gemsbuck. Hard to find a better subject for a silhouette, with a regal, muscular body and those formable 3 foot horns! I also got very lucky to photograph a female lion carrying her 10 day old cub during a change in den sites…..that was at Tao Pan camp in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Now let’s get to my regular camps in the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti swamps area of Botswana. Both camps came through with Lions…Lions…Lions! We had lions nearly every day and not just sleeping lions. We had playful 7 month old cubs chasing their siblings and wrestling with their mothers. We had 6 different adult male lions on several kills including a Tsesabe, Red Lechwe, Giraffe, and even a Hippo! This was some of the best lion activity I have ever seen and photographed. We did get lucky with other cats as well….a huge male leopard allowed us to follow him for about an hour! This was not your normal run of the mill Leopard sighting….if there is such a thing. We also had a couple different Cheetahs, although we did not get a chance to watch a hunt this year by one of these speeders. Giraffe…Elephants, Zebra, and other African specialties kept us busy snapping pictures in between the predator sighting. One of my favorite subjects to photograph in Africa is the Hippos. I know that might sound strange to you, but they are so fun to watch. Even if all the hippos seem to be on the other side of the lake you park at, within 15-30 minutes you undoubtedly have all those huge heads headed your way to check you out! Then you get the full open mouth displays that never get old along with bickering and fights that break out from time to time. Park me at a hippo pool and I can be happy for hours.

Several clients and myself also did an extra trip to Hwange NP in Zimbabwe after the main Botswana trip. It was very tough for us to work in a National Park after being spoiled in Botswana’s private concessions…the main difficulty being the rule of staying on the roads. Of course this is necessary in a park that gets many visitors….it just makes it very difficult to be in the right spot for photography. We did spend time in our lodge’s (The Hide) small concession, just outside the park and was able to work a variety of good subjects including Giraffe, Bat-eared Fox, and Crowned Cranes.

Recent_Trip_2011_Botswana – Images by Roy Toft Photo Safaris

Thank you to all our lodges, drivers, and trackers who do their best to put us crazy photographers in the best possible position and who take care of us all…… while smiling and laughing! Also a big thanks to a wonderful group of mostly past clients who joined me on this big adventure….I hope you had a great time and came away with some wonderful images and memories!

-Roy