Mokala

We had a couple extra days at the beginning of our South Africa adventure, so I was looking for a way to fill the time before we arrived in the Kalahari. Morkel suggested Mokala National Park, located in the middle of the country.

Since it was sort of in the direction we needed to drive, we chose to give it a shot. The experience there was different from what I've experienced in other African parks. Mokala is small and obscure. Many South Africans don't even know it exists, partially because it's only been around for five years or so. A lot of the animals were flown in to populate the park, which is home to tons of antelope (we saw 14 species in a day), rhinos, ostrich and other herbivores. There are no major predators to speak of.

Either because the park is new or doesn't get much traffic, or because the animals may have dealt with poachers before they were moved, everything runs away. Unlike other parks and reserves, the wildlife is not habituated to vehicular traffic. So their self-defense instincts are still intact, which is good, but it obviously makes photography difficult.

I didn't come away with a lot of photos I was pleased with, but I was happy to see several new species. We even caught a glimpse of our first wild meerkats.

This blesbok was a new antelope species for me, and certainly a new favorite thanks to its distinct coloration. They were somewhat rare and shy of course, so I was happy to get this shot from a fair distance at sunrise on our final morning. I think there were a few different crop options here, but I chose to keep the dark top and bottom as sort of a framing effect.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 400
1/1600th
f/4

Max