Words and Images by Sven Martin

My real job has me chasing summers around the globe following the international Mountain Bike race season. I live out of a bag from April until November each year with a new country, new set of mountains and a different airport each week. I pack all the gear I will need for the year into my Shimoda Explore 60 but throw an empty Action X30 into the bike bag to use it on assignments for when I need to pack a lighter load. Those days usually involve steeper and deeper-distance trail rides.

After an especially long summer work schedule - jam packed with seven months of back-to-back events and job’s - we stopped off in South Africa for a short vacation to visit the family on our way home to New Zealand. No visit to Africa is truly complete without a proper trip into the bush for a safari. We always try to find a way to fit one in somehow.

Luckily, a window opened and we booked a quick 2night three-day trip to the Kruger Park; South Africa’s world famous National Park. It’s 20,000 square KM’s (roughly 380km long and 70km wide) and home to ‘the big five’ and many more lesser seen animals.

LUGGAGE :(

For half the year it feels like all I do (when not shooting and editing) is pack bags and drag them around airports. It’s a bit of a stress when traveling with 30kgs of hand-luggage, an overweight bike bag and another overweight luggage bag jammed with everything you need for life (including work) on the road. For this trip we wanted to travel light and stress free, with only hand-luggage to maximize our time in the bush and not at the airport checking in or tracing “delayed-baggage”.

I chose the Action X30 and packed it with only the essentials for a couple of days away. Initially I figured I needed my bigger Explore 60 to fit everything in but the hidden size and versatility of the X30’s roll top did the trick. I can’t tell you how liberating it felt flying with just one hand-luggage bag that contained everything I would need for both clothes and photo gear.

JOCK SAFARI LODGE 

We only had a few days to book a private lodge, we chose Jock Safari Lodge. This was the best option for game viewing drives during prime photo shooting conditions. One drive began just before dawn and another late afternoon into the night. The seventy-series safari Toyota Land Cruiser is truly the king of Africa, and paired with our knowledgeable driver/tracker, it was a formidable game viewing vehicle, ready to go off track at any sign of spoor (tracks). This led to plentiful and even rare species game viewing. 

On top of the seven hours of game drives each day there was also a two-hour informative bush walk which offers another viewing perspective and the adrenalin rush of seeing wild animals up close- while on foot. We were lucky on this trip and saw the big five (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo) and a lot more in the short time we had. The lodge is a non-profit organization and all of their proceeds go into nature conservation, community empowerment and a fully funded Anti Rhino Poaching unit. I can highly recommend it if you want the very best experience while knowing the money is going to good use.

GEAR

My first memories using a proper SLR camera are from family vacations in game reserves, being taught by my dad over thirty years ago, I’m so thankful for the path he set me on both in appreciating nature and giving me a camera to capture it with. My Gear List was as follows:

Camera kit

Canon 1DX MKii
Cannon 5D MK1v
300mm 2.8
70-200 2.8
16-35
24-70
Extender 2.0x

Other gear

A water bottle (fit nicely into the shoulder strap pouch), extra batteries, cards, card reader, External SSD, MacBook Pro, GoPro, Power Bank, iPhone, clothes, swimsuit and hat. My wife packed my toiletries and binoculars and high-powered LED flashlight so technically I didn’t fit in everything :-)

On the game drives I would have two cameras set up and ready. One with the 300mm paired with the 2.0 x extender. I normally don’t use an extender when shooting sports, because you have the ability to move closer to the subject when necessary, but for wildlife shooting it worked great for a bit more reach. It’s a bit lighter than a 600mm too. The other body would have the 70-200 mounted. During the night drives I removed the extender to increase the usable aperture on the lens and engaged the stabilizer for a bit of help in the low-light hand-held shooting conditions. On the bush walk I just walked with one body paired with the 70-200 and the 24-70mm in my pocket. You don’t want to be switching between cameras and lenses too often and it needs to be in your hands at all times for any chance encounter.

Since it was a short trip away into the bush. I didn’t bother with chargers or power cables for the computer. A full charge is enough to download and review shots and backup onto the external SSD before the next days shooting. No need for daily editing or wifi to upload which kept it more like a holiday and less like a job. With no wifi, 4G or electricity it was truly good for my soul.

Try it some time.