5-day South Africa Photography Workshop Safari – Traditional Lodge in Manyaleti/Greater Kruger (June 23–27, 2025)

Join award-winning Africa Geographic and NatGeo Daily Dozen published photography guide Karen Blackwood for a 5-day Big 5 Photography Workshop in South Africa.

We’ll be in the vast, minimally developed Manyeleti Game Reserve under the umbrella of the Greater Kruger National Park. What does that mean? It’s completely open to Kruger National Park and is home to the Big 5: lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo, but we can go off-road to get up-close viewings of wildlife.

Your accommodations are exactly what you dreamed of…a private thatched roof bungalow with canvas walls for a tent feeling with a dash of romance. Your bed is a premium mattress with soft pillows and sheets, draped in mosquito netting. The wardrobe is fashioned locally from sustainably harvested branches for a rustic touch. Your private bathroom has a shower and a soaking tub, perfect for an afternoon bubble bath–and yes, hot and cold running water. We’re on solar power, so at night you’ll find lamps twinkling on your nightstands.

Our small group, intimate safaris are designed to watch and photograph wildlife while learning to get the best out of your camera. Karen will personally coach your skills to help you achieve your photography goals at every sighting.

Everyone is welcome, from absolute beginners to advanced photographers to non-photographers who just want to watch the animals while the others click away. Our private vehicle has a dedicated ranger and an experienced tracker to ensure the best possibility of seeing the widest variety of birds and wildlife—and to get us into position for dramatic, one-of-a-kind photographs.

We’ll be looking for hippo, crocodile, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, kudu, cheetah, mongoose, wild dogs, dozens of bird species, and so may more African treasures–just browse Karen’s photos on her website, Facebook or Instagram to see what you might see on safari. Many of Karen’s award-winning photos have been taken here on game drives so she’s chosen this special location to ensure you take your best shots!

We’ll start every morning with coffee or tea and choices of something sweet or savory that will hold us over until breakfast, then set out on a 3-hour game drive to see what happened in the wild overnight. Lions and leopards are usually still active, so we’ll see if they’ve hunted overnight. Elephants are just starting their day, and perhaps we’ll see a hippo out of the water—they travel long distances at night. We’ll stop after sunrise for coffee and another snack…ok, we always PLAN to, but we usually have such amazing sightings that we don’t always get our coffee until after the game drive!

When we return to the Lodge, we’ll have a delicious filling breakfast. If you want, you can join Karen for her complimentary Photography and Lightroom Workshop, or just relax until High Tea around 14:30. You have a soaking tub in your bungalow; how about a luxurious afternoon bath? Or you can grab a drink from our honor bar and sit on your private porch and watch the small creatures of the bush go by…and sometimes big ones, as elephants often move through in the afternoon.

We will head back out for our evening game drive around 15:30, when the big cats start getting active after the heat of the day. If we’re lucky, we’ll watch lions or leopards hunt! Elephants will be at the waterhole, giraffe should be browsing the tops of the trees, and maybe some wild dogs or cheetah will pass by. We usually stop for a sundown cocktail…ok, again, we always PLAN to, but there’s usually something exciting happening so we often have that cocktail on the vehicle. Plus, you’ll be using the new skills you learned to take your best shot of the wildlife you see from Day One.

After we return to the Lodge, we’ll socialize and talk about our day before moving to our mouth-watering candlelit 3-course dinner on white linen tables set up around the fire. We might be joined by hyenas or elephants as they move through camp. Then it’s bedtime in your comfortable bed under a traditional thatch roof, lulled to sleep by the night sounds of the bush…

On the first day, Karen will teach you the important basics of how to use your camera before we head out. After that, we’ll learn everything from focusing to metering, from Manual Mode to Aperture Priority, and every function in between. She will continually coach you on the vehicle. By the end of the safari, you’ll know how to choose your own settings confidently.

On Day Two, we’ll continue with camera operations and she will teach you how to download and manage your portfolio in Lightroom*. She will begin to teach her basic Wildlife Workflow so you can learn to edit your own photos. You must bring a laptop loaded with Lightroom Classic for this workshop (Do NOT download Lightroom CC!). Please check the Adobe website for their subscription package. The Lightroom course is limited by the length of your safari.

Karen’s Lightroom Course covers:

• An introduction to Lightroom with an overview of the program,
• How to set up Lightroom to keep things simple yet effective; files and folders,
• Setting import presets,
• How to import photos,
• Strategies for saving and backing up your portfolio,
• How to rename multiple photos with a custom template for consistency,
• How to use keywords, text, attributes, and metadata to find or filter specific photos,
• How to use the Develop Module and Kayce’s basic Wildlife Workflow editing process, step-by-step,
• Sizing and Exporting photos for social media or print.

*Your Adobe subscription and Lightroom are not included.

Beginner to Pro. Seriously, Karen can take you from not knowing how to insert your memory card to setting your own settings–and knowing WHY you chose that setting–to basic editing of your own photos.

If you want to play “Pro Photographer” or just want to see if you’d like photography, ask Karen for suggestions about renting a camera and lens to try out. You’ll need to rent in your home country, so give yourself enough time for arrangements, but Karen will help you decide if this is a hobby you’d really enjoy.

Karen’s safaris are relaxed and casual. She’ll check the weather about a week ahead of your Photo Safari and email you so you can edit your packing list. Speaking of Packing Lists, have you downloaded her Packing List, and her Travel Tips? Those documents really come in handy as checklists to keep you on track as you get ready for your Safari! You don’t want to forget anything, and Karen’s Packing List covers everything you need.

This type of Photography Workshop and Safari is low key and suitable for almost all fitness levels. You’ll be walking on flat paths within the Lodge premises. Bungalows have a couple of steps. We might be able to go on a short, slow-paced bush walk on uneven ground, roadways and paths. You will need to be able to get in and out of the game drive vehicle (one front seat is available); assistance is available.

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).

Because Manyaleti Game Reserve is so large and undeveloped, this safari is outstanding for the quality time we can spend observing and photographing wildlife.

Mammals:

• big cats including lions, leopards, cheetah,
• small cats including African wild cats, caracal, serval;
• hyena;
• elephants;
• buffalo;
• white and black rhino;
• zebra; giraffe;
• antelope including wildebeest, impala, kudu, waterbuck, bushbuck, steenbok, duiker, nyala, grysbok;
• water animals including hippo and crocodile;
• mongoose including dwarf, slender, white-tailed, and 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;
• primates including Vervet Monkeys and Baboons;
• and more.

Birds (Migration dependent):

• Rollers including Lilac-breasted and European;
• Wood Hoopoes;
• Shrikes;
• Hornbills including Red-billed, Yellow-billed, Ground, and Gray;
• Red- and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers;
• Starlings including Violet-backed, Cape, Burchell’s;
• Brown-headed parrot;
• 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, and 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.

Landscape: We may go to viewpoints with expansive views of the veld.

Why choose Karen’s 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 doesn’t work. Her package is designed to make your trip stress-free. 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.

To make it easy for you, Blackwood Safaris offers an add-on Ground Transportation Package that 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,
• Tour of Dr. Jane Goodall’s rescue/rehab facility, Chimp Eden,
• Round-trip ground transportation between the airport, hotels, and Lodge.

For those purchasing our Ground Transportation Package, you must arrive Nelspruit (airline code MQP) prior to noon the day before your safari starts. You’ll be picked up curb-side upon arrival at the airport; look for someone holding a sign with your name or Blackwood Safaris. We can assist you in choosing flights and timing your arrival into Johannesburg or Cape Town. You may use your night in Johannesburg before or after the safari.

You’ll be transported to Loerie’s Call Guest House. After checking in and refreshing, the van will depart at 13:15 for your tour of Chimp Eden (included in GTP). You’ll return around 16:30.

Dinner is on your own. Orange Restaurant is on the property. It is one of the top restaurants in Nelspruit. You can also use UBER safely if you’d like to eat somewhere else.

Please be sure your camera batteries are fully charged before leaving Nelspruit.

On the morning your safari starts, you’ll have time for a fantastic made-to-order breakfast as well as a substantial buffet. Please settle your personal bill with Loerie’s Call before 10:00.

The van will depart for the safari Lodge at 10:30. The drive is approximately 3 hours. At the halfway point, you’ll stop at Perry Bridge Reptile Park, which includes a coffee shop, patisserie, wine shop, curio shop, craft shop, and more.

You’ll arrive at the Safari Lodge in time for lunch and the afternoon game drive.

On the last day of safari, please settle your bill the night before or right after the morning game drive (cash or credit card). We will have breakfast, and the van will depart around 10:30. Check-out time is 11:00 if you are arranging your own transportation.

If you are arranging your own transportation to the Lodge, please plan to arrive between 13:00-14:00. Keep in mind that it is an 8-hour drive from Johannesburg, and a 3-hour drive from Nelspruit. GPS is NOT reliable or accurate for travel to the Lodges. Please be sure that you have directions and a map.

Please email questions to info@BlackwoodSafaris.com

We try to have a maximum of 4-6 clients per vehicle on this trip so that each client has an end seat for unobstructed viewing. With 8 clients, we will be 4 to a vehicle. Karen will split her time between vehicles to ensure everyone has coaching.

The intimate Traditional Lodge has 4 bungalows, for a maximum of only 8 clients (double occupancy) on this trip. Of course you can book an entire bungalow for yourself; ask about the single supplement cost.

South Africa uses Type M and Type C outlets. Type M are the main outlets, and are not included on most international adapters so must be purchased separately.

We will have a power station at the bar that accepts both M and C adapters.

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.

The Traditional Lodge can’t accept credit cards, so cash is necessary. Please plan enough cash in South African Rand for the following:

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.