5-day South Africa Photography Workshop Safari – Traditional Lodge in Manyaleti/Greater Kruger (April 8-12, 2026)

• On Day One, you’ll arrive in time for High Tea and our afternoon game drive.
• We’re up early every day for a light breakfast and morning game drive, including a coffee stop, from about 6:30-9 am. We have the luxury of staying out a little later if we are on a good sighting.
• A big, delicious breakfast starts upon our return to the Lodge.
• We’ll have photography classes after breakfast, including basic camera skills that will get more advanced as the safari progresses, and editing in Lightroom following Karen’s Wildlife Workflow. We’ll use our rapidly improving skills on every game drive.
• You’ll have time to nap or just relax.
• High Tea (light lunch) 15:00
• Afternoon game drive, including a Sundowner Cocktail stop, from 15:30-18:30 or later, depending on sightings.
• We’ll feast near the fire as we enjoy a lcandlelit dinner, beginning around 19:30
• On your last day, we’ll go on the morning game drive. We’ll be back in time for a full breakfast. You’ll depart between 10:30-11:00, but we won’t say “goodbye.” We’ll say “see you next time!”

This safari is outstanding for the time we can spend with wildlife. We can see:

• Cats including lions, leopards, cheetah, African wild cats, caracal, serval
• Hyena
• Elephants
• Buffalo
• White rhino
• Zebra
• Giraffe
• Antelope including wildebeest, impala, kudu, waterbuck, bushbuck, steenbok, duiker, nyala, grysbok
• Hippo
• Mongoose including dwarf, slender, white-tailed, banded
• Wild dogs
• Honey badger
• Civet
• Scrub hare
• Greater and Lesser Bush Babies
• Large-spotted and Small-spotted Genets
• Warthogs
• Porcupine
• Black-backed and Side-striped Jackals
• Vervet Monkeys
• Baboons
• And more!

Bird sightings are migration-dependent. We may see:

• Lilac-breasted Rollers
• European Rollers
• Hoopoes; Shrikes
• Red-billed and Yellow-billed Hornbills and Oxpeckers
• Ground Hornbills
• Violet-backed Starlings
• Cape Starlings
• Burchell’s Starlings
• Brown-headed Parrots
• Bee-eaters such as Little and White-fronted
• Grey Loeries (Go-Away birds)
• Swainson’s Spurfowl
• Helmeted Guineafowl
• White-browed and Burchell’s Coucal
• Kingfishers such as Giant, Woodland, Pied, Gray-headed
• Lapwings
• Raptors such as Fish Eagles, Snake Eagles, Walberg’s, Martial Eagles, Tawny Eagles, African Hawk-Eagle, Goshawks, Sparrowhawks, Amur Falcons, Giant Eagle Owls, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Barn Owls
• Vultures including White-backed, Lappet-faced, White-headed
• Water birds including Saddle-billed Storks, Green-backed Herons, Egrets, Egyptian Geese, Whistling Ducks, Goliath Herons
• And more!

• Bush Veld
• Dry Sand Rivers
• Lakes and Dams
• Kopjies

Karen will teach you where everything is on your camera, help you set it up and customize your settings, and will make sure that your settings are right for all of the wonderful photographic moments we'll encounter. She'll make suggestions for "keeper" shots, teach how to take high-key and low-key shots, and to achieve other fun effects.

You'll learn how to edit your photos using her Wildlife Workflow method in Lightroom, too!

You'll go home with new confidence in your camera and your own ability to capture special moments, and tell special stories through photography.

Beginner to Pro. This is a once-in-our-lifetime trip--we won't see an eclipse with a totality this long again until 2114. Cell phones and tablet cameras are welcome and Karen will show you how to maximize your shots.

Single Occupancy: R 47,000 (South African Rand)

Deposit: 30%

2nd Payment: 35% – 180 days prior to Safari

3rd Payment: 35% – 90 days prior to Safari

The Lodge is unfenced and wildlife wanders through regularly. They will not attempt to enter your bungalow at night, but you may hear them nearby. Elephants make a rumbling sound that resembles growling and you will hear branches breaking as they browse bushes and trees very close to your windows. You are free to walk around the Lodge during the day. After dark, you must be with a Lodge Staff Member outside of the common areas or outside of your bungalow (off your porch).

How are you getting to the Lodge? It's an 8 hour drive from Johannesburg. To make it easy for you, Blackwood Safaris offers a convenient add-on Lodging and Ground Transportation Package.  It takes away the stress of driving in a foreign country, on the opposite side of the road, on the back side of the clock, in areas where GPS and cell are unreliable. She will tell you which flights to book, and you can easily join from Cape Town or Johannesburg. All you have to do is show up for your flight on time.

Our Package includes:

• 1 night B&B accommodation in Johannesburg for your arrival or departure night,
• 1 night B&B accommodation in Nelspruit the night before safari (flight to Nelspruit not included, average cost $250 round trip)
• 2 pm tour of Dr. Jane Goodall’s rescue/rehab facility, Chimp Eden,
• Round-trip ground transportation between the airport, hotels, and Lodge

Book the Ground Transportation Package as an add-on when you book your safari.

Please email questions to info@BlackwoodSafaris.com

South Africa uses Type M and Type C outlets. Any universal travel adapter will have Type C included. Type M must be purchased separately. Most electronics no longer require converters, as they can accept voltage from most major companies. Please check your own personal electronics to be certain, however.

Karen always brings her own power strip with USB ports so she only needs one adapter. Be sure your power strip has enough plugs for your laptop and battery chargers, and USB ports for your cell phone and other small devices.

Gratuities:

The Staff at our Lodge works hard to ensure you have an exceptional experience. Therefore, we recommend that gratuities are equal for each staff member. Typically, staff includes a ranger, tracker, maintenance worker, housekeeper, and chef. Karen recommends that you offer a total gratuity of approximately $40 USD/day (please check the conversion rate and bring cash in South African Rand). Gratuities are always based on your personal appreciation and this suggestion is just a guideline.

Drinks:

The Traditional Camp has a self-serve honor bar. You’ll record what you drink on a ledger at the counter. Drink costs vary from about $2 USD for sodas to $5 USD for beer, wine, and liquor. Coffee and tea are always free.

Crafts:

The ladies make beautiful beaded covers for drinks and food from mosquito netting. These make great souveniers and they are something you’ll actually use at home to keep insects out during backyard BBQs or meals on your patio. They also make colorful placemats from discarded bags, which they cut, wrap around reeds, and sew together into a sturdy mat. Local village resident Pilato Bulala may have some of his exceptional “scraptures” available; this enterprising young man recycles scrap metal into wonderful sculptures (shipping is available). Baseball caps are also available. Costs vary from $4-15 USD.