Here’s your first tip – no matter how tired you are NEVER miss a game drive!
On the last morning of our stay I decided not to do the game drive to give me the time to pack at leisure and enjoy my beautiful room – both of which I achieved but to the detriment of missing an amazing experience. When my friends came back and showed me the photos of their encounter with a pride of lions on the hunt I was more than a little annoyed to see what I had missed.
Anyway, I was most intrigued to come to LH to see if it lived up to its promo and I have to say that it did more than that, it exceeded my expectations and by a long way. My friends tell me that my expectations are too high, hence I am continually disappointed by things but that cannot be said for LH, their attention to detail was second-to-none and their service impeccable. This extended from mealtimes with delicious food and big smiles to a steaming hot bath awaiting my return from a chilly evening game drive.
The cocktails or hot chocolate awaiting our return back from the game drives was also a nice touch. I can‘t fault our guides Raymond and June, whose extensive knowledge and tracking skills were a real boon to ensure we never missed an opportunity, as my photos will attest. I still can‘t believe how up close and personal we were with the animals and that we saw so many of them! I was also amazed at how unperturbed they were by our presence, going about their business like mating or devouring a kill, seemingly oblivious to us being there.
Another wonderful experience was the visit to a neighbouring village and the Jeremiah Créche where we distributed presents to the children that we had brought from our respective corners of the globe. It was lovely to see their faces light up with excitement over simple things like lollipops. They sang us a song and generally behaved like children vying for our attention and the next present – it was great!
My only regret is that we only had three nights at LH, it wasn‘t enough! My friends, Angie and Rosanna, and I are already talking about when we can come back again but this time for longer.
Finally, I would just like to thank Duncan and his very capable team again for the wonderful time we had at Leopard Hills. We can‘t wait to come again!
Regards,
Leanne xx
PS. Hannes – can you please tell me what lens you use for you very close up shots and what the best manual setting is for low light situations.
Hi Leanne, thanks for posting such an informative and complimentary article, it is always nice to receive such wonderful feedback, it’s much appreciated.
Having been in the Game Lodge Industry for the last 21 years, this is not only the finest Lodge I have ever had the privilege of being at, it is the finest Team I have ever worked with, it’s just so nice to hear it through the eyes of our Guests.
Thanks again for the posting, Hannes will be commenting shortly on the camera question. See you all soon.
What wonderful photos! I especially loved the one of the little boy w/ the lollipop (so sweet!) Thanks for sharing your photos and thoughts on LH – we went 4 years ago for our honeymoon & loved it as much as you seemed to, and enjoyed the same impeccible service, friendship and experiences. Glad you loved it!
Hi Leanne,
What a wonderful article, and fantastic images. Once again, thank you very much for the gifts you sent out to Jeremiah! It was really fantastic to be around and hear what you had to tell when you came back. See you again soon
hi Leanne,
I use a Sigma lens with a zoom range of 50mm-500mm. But a better lens would be to use the Canon 100-400mm lens with image stabilizer. This will allow you to take pictures with a much slower shutter speed and a lot less blur. For low light conditions I would put the ISO on about 800, this will make the shutter speed faster and 800 does not cause too much "noise" or graininess in the picure. If you are going to use flash, remember to change your White Balance to the flash setting. If you only use a spot light (no flash) then the "tungsten" setting is the best bet. But once again if you use spot light and flash, put the White Balance on flash. Hope this helps.