5-Day South Africa Photography Workshop Big 5 Safari – Luxury Lodge in Sabi Sands (June 30-July 4, 2025)

Join award-winning Africa Geographic and NatGeo Daily Dozen published photography guide Karen Blackwood in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, under the Greater Kruger National Park umbrella. It’s home to highest concentration of leopards in Africa, and they aren’t afraid of the vehicles so we have incredible photographic opportunities.

It’s also home to the rest of the Big 5: lion, elephant, rhino, and buffalo. You’ll also find hippo, crocodile, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, kudu, cheetah, mongoose, wild dogs, dozens of bird species, and so much more–just browse our photos on our website or on Facebook to see what we see on our safaris. Many of Karen’s award-winning photos have been taken on game drives!

Our small group, intimate safaris are designed to watch and photograph wildlife. Karen will coach your photography skills to help you achieve your goals in any way we can. 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 into position for dramatic, one-of-a-kind photographs.

We start every morning with coffee or tea and a snack, 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 get our coffee until after the game drive!

When we return to the Lodge, we’ll have a delicious filling breakfast. Join Karen for our complimentary photography and Lightroom Workshop, or just relax until lunch around 13:30. You have a soaking tub in your bungalow; how about a luxurious afternoon bath? A trip to the spa for a decadent massage? Or you can grab a drink and watch wildlife coming to the waterhole.

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’ll often have that cocktail on the vehicle.

After we return to the Lodge, we’ll socialize over pre-dinner cocktails and talk about our day before moving to our mouth-watering candlelit 3-course dinner on white linen tables set up around the fire. Then it’s bedtime. Let yourself be lulled to sleep by the night sounds of the bush…

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

We take every precaution to keep you safe, but you are in an area with dangerous wildlife. Animals can be unpredictable. We employ highly experienced, licensed Rangers and Trackers who live at the Lodge. We do not ever pressure wildlife to get a sighting or a photograph; if an animal appears uncomfortable or pressured by our presence, we will leave the area and find something else to watch. You must be willing to comply immediately with direction or instructions from Lodge staff and Karen when we are around wildlife.

The Lodge has two high electric wires to discourage rhino and elephants, but other wildlife wanders through regularly. You may see or hear animals nearby. You are free to walk around the Lodge during the day. After dark, you must stay on the lit paths. Once the lights are turned off for the night, you may sit on, but not leave, your porch.

Blackwood Safaris keeps this Photography Workshop small and intimate, with only 6 clients at a time.

We try to have a maximum of 6 clients per vehicle on this trip so that each client has an end seat for unobstructed viewing. Karen will be in the middle to answer questions and help with settings, as well as suggest unique photographic compositions.

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.

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. Karen recommends that you consider gratuities of about $10/day each for our Ranger, Tracker, and Housekeeping staff ($30/day total). Spa gratuities are typically 10% of services. Gratuities are always based on your personal appreciation and this suggestion is just a guideline.

You may charge gratuities on your credit card at the end of the trip.