Lens for a private game reserve at South Africa

[yagizaneo]

hello all,

I have already made a reservation with inverdoorn for a safari experience. Its a private game reserve. very excited for this great opportunity. However, i'm quite confused at what type of lens I should bring for this safari.

How close can you get to the animals in a game reserve?

I already have a 18-200mm lens. For the safari, I have 2 lens in mind..

a) nikon 70-200mm lens. I like the speed,the quality of this lens. But im not sure if the focal length range is sufficient.

b)sigma 120-400mm lens.

I will greatly appreciate if anyone can advise me on how close you can get..from the land rover..to these animals in a private game reserve.
This information will definitely assist me to choose which lens I should buy for this trip!

Thank you very much in advance!

 

[polar28]

I was at Kruger last Dec, vehicle has to keep to the open track. The animal can be as close as next to your open top rover, but mainly zebra, elephant & impala.

For private game reserve, I understand from the game, this are mostly stage, so you probably can get very close.

 

[xcite]

Just coming back from a safari in Zimbabwe and Botswana I was told that the animals in parks come much closer to the vehicle than in private parks as they are more used to people. Also depending on what is next to your private reserve (e.g. a hunting reserve) they might be much more shy than in a park like Chobe or Kruger. If you take the 70-200 I strongly recommend to get a converter, I used a Sigma 150-500 and was often at 400mm (tried to avoid zooming in further as the Sigma goes soft after 400mm) and on occassion could have used more zoom..