Elephant Plains - May 2024 Trip Report

[@CarlosRodriguez-j2m]

I had a phenomenal time at Elephant Plains and also had Doctor and Colbert as a guide. They were both phenomenal trackers and I can’t speak highly enough of my time in Elephant Plains. I went in June 2023 as a solo traveler having graduated university and before starting law school. Dry season. I am glad this video exists so I can recall my time there. Thanks for sharing! Great leopard sightings, lions practically every drive, and unforgettable elephant encounters. Was blessed enough to have a lucky game drive with all the Big Five in one drive. Even had a Hyena join us for dinner once (he got kicked out by our waiter). I imagine the rest of Sabi Sands is great in general but I can only vouch for Elephant Plains at the moment. My only question is regarding the size of the property, as it seems pretty small compared to the other Sabi Sand properties. That’s not inherently a bad thing. It just limits how far you can drive around. I’m very curious about how the experience would differ in, say, the huge area that is Mala Mala. With that said, I loved Elephant Plains and I hope I can return to Africa and go to another safari soon.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Haha the poor hyena just wanted dinner! EP's property is actually quite large, well ther traversing area... they can go onto Arathusa, Buffelshoek, Djuma etc as well. If you cant find something by then.... you wont find anything. When it comes to MalaMala etc you get a bit more freedom in sightings... often you can stay in a sighting as long as you want, particularly if there is multiple sightings running at the same time. The werd thing with MalaMala is that they don't have trackers, so a lot of animals go unfound each drive. BUT, the property is so big and the density so high that there's almost zero quiet drives.

[@CarlosRodriguez-j2m]

@ Oh I see! I was under the impression we could only traverse their property. It seems a little small if you look at the Sabi Sands map on Google. If anything, I now rate EP even better than I did before so I really appreciate that. I also appreciate your input on Mala Mala. Not having a tracker does seem a little out of the standard compared to the other South African safaris. Seems like it’s working for them, though. Again, thanks for your response! Greatly appreciated. Just found your channel and I will keep following it cause I really like your work.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

@CarlosRodriguez-j2m ahhh thanks so much for the kind words! Yeah MalaMala it's away with it because of how insane there property is... but there's also guides who out in the hard work and some who don't.... can be very frustrating being a guide myself when we drive past very fresh leopard tracks!

[@capturingnaturewithsandip]

Awesome so lovely video. Will definetly visit and plan the trip accordingly.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

That will be great seeing you there!

[@annettelane659]

What an amazing safari, leopard sightings galore. Tiyani, Xidulu, Nhenhe and more What a buzz and those Plains Camp males are so strong and healthy looking. Poor lioness. Really enjoyed this vid, thank you.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thank you so much. We had a great time! Those boys are HUGE!

[@sawildlife24]

My heart almost stopped when I saw how close Nhenhe was to those lions. Glad he was ok. You got some beautiful shots, sounds like it was a brilliant trip!

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thank you so much. We were very surprised he decided to climb a tree and watch them rather than running away! Maybe not such a smart move haha

[@miozotiscarpenter9813]

Amazing video, I really enjoyed 😊

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thank you so much!

[@TheSafariExpert]

Looks like you had an aaaamazing safari! 😃

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

We had an absolute blast! Thanks for watching

[@nnonotnow]

I really enjoyed your video!

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thank you so much!

[@steveboice]

Can't wait.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Us too :D

[@drstavroseleftheriou1722]

Difficult to beat Elephant Plains in terms of price - quality of sightings! Amazing!

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

For price, nothing beats it!

[@jackieboshoff2013]

Awesome video and recap of your safari Lance! Yes EP is definitely amazing value for money with unbelievable sightings I did a 3 night/4 day safari there in November last year and it was nothing short of spectacular Leopard wise we saw 8 different individuals (Tiyani, her blue eyed cub that was killed about 3 weeks later, Xidulu, Nhenhe, Tlalamba, Xitsalala, Tortoise Pan, Laluka) with 11 Leopard sightings in total! Good lion sightings as well with walk bys after dark of the Nkuhumas and the Talamati breakaways. And one sighting of one of the Black Dam males I compared the spot pattern etc of that male leopard that you guys saw on your afternoon drive on day 4 to my footage of the Xitsalala male and it does indeed look like it was him that you saw. He likes the Buffelshoek area.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Awesome, thank you so much! We didn't see Xitsalala long enough to get a good look, and he's a new leopard for me :D

[@krugeradventures]

It was an amazing experience, one that we will never forget. It was so good that we are going back next year! Thank you Lance! And a great recap of the trip! I suspect it will be about 6 months till I get the chance to edit my videos 😂

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

It was so great having you guys! Sorry we couldn't show you more leopards 😝

[@joejames4231]

Superb video Lance you really got some winner shots this trip 👍👍

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thank you so much! Such a great location

[@bornufree]

Wonderful update. Definitely a lodge I’m keen on On what other properties can elephant plains traverse on?

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thanks so much for watching! It's an absolute must. They can traverse on Silvan, Arathusa, Djuma, Simbabili and Buffelshoek

[@DrLukeonCall]

Fantastic images and video. Maybe just something small, the video shows a high percentages of you talking. It just felt to long and I eventualy scrolled to the images and videos. Still I enjoyed the information and the video. Thank you!

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Thanks for the tip! I will keep that in mind 😎

[@jackieboshoff2013]

​@@PantheraPhotoSafaris I actually liked the talking and explaning everything. Probably cause I've been to Sabi Sands a few times, so I'm familiar with the different properties and individual leopards and lion prides. And also because I'm inquisitive and like to know EVERYTHING 😊

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

@@jackieboshoff2013 Thanks Jackie. I will try and find a better balance of talking and images / video :D Its difficult to do a trip report without talking too much haha.

[@jackieboshoff2013]

@PantheraPhotoSafaris I liked the balance of talking vs videos and images

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

@@jackieboshoff2013 Awesome, thanks :D

[@ScrimshawPhotography]

I've never done a South Africa safari, but as a photographer I think I would go insane from hearing that I have to wait in a queue at a sighting or that an animal moved into a neighboring property and we couldn't follow.

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Luckily they have their radios in their ears so you would never know :D It goes both ways though... as a photographic guide its our job to manage the "queues" and get in at the right time for the best activity. The properties are large, so its only really the dogs that are constantly in or out. Beats being in a sighting with 85 vehicles behind the animals :D

[@reelgreens4127]

behind 85 vehicles… do you mean like in East Africa?

[@MBSAU37]

l love ikan perana

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

ok?

[@GeorgetownThunder]

No elephants? Its called Elephant plains?

[@PantheraPhotoSafaris]

Haha there are plenty of elephants! We see them daily there, but the main focus of our tour is big cats :)