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Night Vision Binoculars on Safari

Safari Guide — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:18:08 +0000

Earlier this year I went on Safari in Zimbabwe and with me I took a pair of the excellent Luna Optics LN-PB3 Night vision binoculars that I had previously reviewed and because they were so good, I just simply could not leave them behind.

Below are a few of my personal experiences with the night vision binoculars on that trip, which I think really highlight just why I think that you should really consider taking a pair on your next safari holiday:

Viewing Elephants at Night with Night Vision

During my stay in Zimbabwe, I went on a houseboat on Lake Kariba. Located on the Zambezi river, by volume it is the largest artificial lake in the world and there is plenty of wildlife that lives in and around it’s shoreline and it is where where elephants are a very common sight, but it is not that often that you get to watch them at night:

Late one afternoon as the sun was setting, I watched and took photos of a couple of elephant bulls feeding on an island and just before it completely set, they swam across the small stretch of water between the island and the mainland. The water was deep and they became completely submerged, except for their trunks. This in itself was really great to see, but later on that night I was in for far more of a treat.

On the houseboat, I usually sleep out on the front deck under the stars instead of inside a cabin. I love it as not only do the stars seem to shine much brighter in Africa, but from here you get to hear all the sounds of the bush at night.

On this particular night I heard the breaking of branches not far from the boat and knew what it was – the elephants, tearing at the trees for food. Turing on the Luna Optics LN-PB3 Night vision binoculars, I was able to sit and watch them for ages.

For me it is always fascinating to watch these majestic animals at night and this occasion was no diofferent. What was also very interesting was to note just how good their eyesight must be as even though there was nothing but the light from the stars and the moon, they purposely walked over the large ropes that we use to secure the boat to the shore, being very careful so as not to touch them.

The Bat and the Hippo

Spending some time on a houseboat on Lake Kariba is a wonderful experience and is a great way to view animals like elephants, buffalo, crocodiles and a whole host of African birds. It is also a great place to go if you like fishing as lying within these waters is the mighty Tigerfish (Hydrocynus forskalii).

Obviously being on the water another very common sight during the day are Hippopotamuses, but like the elephants you rarely get the opportunity to observe them at night.

At night the boat is moored up against the land and shortly after going to bed one night, (I usually sleep out on the deck under the stars) I heard the unmistakable sound of a hippo coming out of the water onto the land to feed (Hippos usually feed on land at night because their skin is very sensitive to the sun and they can even get sunburnt.)

With so many hippos, this sight is not uncommon around Lake Kariba and I have often seen them eating at night, but never without using a light. So I quickly reached for the Luna Optics binoculars and what I saw was a complete revelation. Sure enough there was a large hippo munching on the grass only 20 meters from the boat, but what I also saw astonished me:

I could also clearly see a bat flying around it again and again. The reason for this I imagine is that it must have been an Insect-eating bat (Microchiroptera) that was taking advantage of the fact that the hippo was flushing insects out from the ground.

For me this sight was incredible and I just wonder if anyone has ever seen this behavior or even if it has been documented it before?

The Greater Bush Baby (Galago crassicaudatus)

During my safari holiday, I also spent a few nights at a Game reserve called Imire. This 11,000 acre game park is located about 105kms east of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare and belongs to conservationists John and Judy Travers who have made it their lives’ work to give rescued wild animals a home.

At the heart of Imire is their black rhino conservation project and for over twenty years they have been breeding these critically endangered mammals and returning them to national parks at Imire. However as we learnt illegal poaching in Zimbabwe means they face a daily battle to keep their animals alive. So what I really like is that by visiting Imire, you can also feel good in the knowledge that the money you spend here is going to a great cause.

On my second night at Imire, I was woken by noise in a tree behind our lodge. It was a sound that I had never heard that close before, it was very loud and and sounded like a little like a human child crying and was rather scary!

Plucking up a little courage and taking my night vision binoculars with me, I decided to go and investigate. Using just the Luna Optics binoculars, I could make out that there was something fairly large in the tree behind our lodge, it was about the size of the cat, but because it was fairly high up, I could not positively identify it.

Turning on the LN-ELIR-1 laser illuminator (an extra laser illuminator that can be attached to the binoculars), I instantly recognised it as the Greater Bush Baby (Galago crassicaudatus). Worth mentioning here is that the laser illuminator is invisible to wildlife, but their eyes shine back at you, almost like cat eyes do on the road. This makes finding animals soo much easier than if you were not using it.

After watching “him” for a while, he moved out of sight and I went back to bed. I was thrilled to have seen the Bush Baby and to have been able to identify the animal that made the sound made going back to sleep much easier! Because I was using night vision, I was able to watch it in it’s own environment, acting completely normally without me having to disturb it with a spotlight or torch, which is what you really want.

Conclusion

Apart from these highlights, I had many other wonderful experiences with the night vision binoculars and it is why I highly recommend that if you are going to be spending a few nights on safari or anywhere in the wild that you get yourself a good pair.

I can’t speak for all Night Vision binoculars, but the Luna Optics LN-PB3 Night vision binoculars that I was using were excellent but I must stress that what really made them was the additional LN-ELIR-1 laser illuminator that you can buy as an accessory to add to it as it really does make a huge difference.

Please note: All of the images used in this article were taken by me, apart from the green night vision ones. Unfortunately I did not have the capability to take photos through a night vision device and they are only there as a guide, but what I will say is in terms of quality, they fairly accurately depict what I could actually see through the binoculars.

Cost & Where to Buy

UK Shoppers Buy in the UK:	US Shoppers Buy in the USA:
Luna Optics Night Vision on Amazon.co.uk	Luna Optics Night Vision on Amazon.com

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Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 5 & 6

Safari Guide — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:00:21 +0000

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 5 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |

Thunderbolts & Lightning – Spurwing to Antelope Island
A massive thunderstorm, drove me from my bedroom under the stars to the cabin in the early hours of the morning and we later woke to some heavy winds and steady rain. We made the decision to put off our trip back to Antelope island until the wind dropped, not that it was a danger to the houseboat, but rather the small tender boat that we were towing that would have taken on water with the large swells. This gave me time to explore this section of Spurwing Island and I managed to get some photos of a hippo taking advantage of the sunless sky to spend some more time on land grazing. Then I spotted a group of about 6 small raptors, which I later identified as (Western) Redfooted Falcons using the strong winds to catch dragonflies. It was a fantastic sight and luckily I managed to get some photos of them using tree stumps as perches. Upon closer investigation, I found the discarded wings of the dragonflies around these stumps.

Once the wind calmed down we made our way back to the northern side of Antelope island, the 5 hour journey going without hitch, apart from right at the end when we were mooring, the gearbox of the boat seemed to loose all drive.

Day 6: Antelope Island to Kariba
We were unable to fix the gearbox overnight, but because Kariba is only 20 minutes away by speedboat we decided to go and get help, rather than call for help on the radio. Whilst help was on the way it gave me another opportunity to explore some of the other side of Antelope Island. I found some old foundations, and all that remains of what once was a tsetse fly control research centre. I think they used Antelope island because it is large enough to hold a permanent population of Buffalo, but small enough to be able accurately assess the results.

Birds: Antelope Island
Only new species from those previously listed are shown below:

Pearl-spotted Owlet (heard not seen)
White-Browed Sparrow-Weaver

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 4

Safari Guide — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:40:03 +0000

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 4 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 5 & 6 |

Spurwing Island, Kariba
We decided to move on, around Spurwing Island finding a place stop on the northern shoreline of Spurwing, right next to Fothergill Island. As the houseboat moved at it’s leisurely pace past the Spurwing Island Lodge, I took the smaller boat with my father to go and check out the lodge. We spoke to the manageress, who was a little busy at the time as they were hosting a large wedding party. The whole lodge complex seemed in excellent condition and for around $100 US, you can still spend a really comfortable night in one of their chalets and go for a game drive with one of their two full time field guides (safari guides), something well worth considering for our next trip.

Birds: Spurwing & Fothergill Islands, Kariba

(Western) Redfooted Falcon
African Fish-eagle
White-crowned Lapwing (Plover)
Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover)
Spotted Thick-Knee (Dikkop)
Woolly-necked Stork
Cattle Egret
Wire-tailed Swallow
Grey-headed Gull
Reed Cormorant
African Darter
Pied Kingfisher
Egyptian Goose

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 3

Safari Guide — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:59:40 +0000

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 3 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Palm Bay, Matusadona National Park, Kariba
I woke up as the sun was just about to peer over the horizon, to find that there was an Impala ram silhouetted against the fiery sky…. what’s that saying about the early bird catching the early worm?

I spent most of the day taking photographs, either on land, from the houseboat or taking out the smaller fishing boat to get closer to the action. Highlights included a family of at least 11 elephants with plenty of young not far from us, a saddle-billed stork, an African Fish Eagle that was happy to pose for me and what I guess best of all, a Banded Gymnogene that I think was almost in breeding plumage, with a pinkish bill. It was obviously on the hunt for chicks in nests in trees and when I managed to get close to it, it was being mobbed by a pair of brave Glossy Starlings.

Angry Hippos
Other wildlife spotted included a bachelor herd of Impala, a herd of Zebra, Hippo, Crocodile and a Terrapin. One thing that was very noticeable was that apart from the usual pods of hippo there were a few hippos just wallowing in an inlet on their own, they seemed to be far more aggressive than usual (I found this out when trying to manoeuvre the small boat to get some photos of the Saddle-billed Stork!) My guess is that they were females getting ready to give birth: Pregnant hippos will remove themselves from the rest of the pod to find a safe sheltered spot to give birth and will stay away until the baby is able to survive the attention it will receive once they re-unite themselves with the others.

That night we had a braai that included steak and some excellent boereworse on the front of the boat.

Birds: Palm Bay, Kariba

African Wattled Lapwing (Plover)
African Jacana
African Fish-Eagle
Gymnogene (African Harrier-Hawk) (Mobbed by Glossy Starlings)
White-Headed Vulture
Cape Glossy Starling
Cattle Egret
Wire-tailed Swallow
Greyheaded Sparrows (building nest in hollow of a tree)
Redbilled Wood-Hoopoe
Grey-headed Gull
Reed Cormorant
African Darter
Pied Kingfisher
Egyptian Goose
Grey Heron
Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover)
African Openbilled Stork
Great White Egret (Black bill – in breeding plumage)
Burchell’s Coucal
Lilac-breasted Rollers
Little Bee-eater
Common Sandpiper
Green-backed Heron
Dwarf Bittern
Saddle-Billed Stork
Red-billed Hornbill (Heard)
White-faced Duck
Black Heron
African Sacred Ibis

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 2

Safari Guide — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:52:58 +0000

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 2 | Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Awaking just before sunrise, I went for a walk on Antelope Island, I wanted to see if I could get a photograph of the sunrise with a Fish Eagle in it, the birds wouldn’t play ball and even with my new 1.7x Teleconverter lens on my camera, I couldn’t get close enough before they flew off. All I managed, was to get dive bombed by a Blacksmith Lapwing, protecting it’s nest and to see what can only be described as the biggest Baboon (excuse my French) turd on top of an anthill ever (I would hate to meet that boy down a dark ally late at night!)

Antelope Island to Palm Bay, Kariba
After breakfast we left for the long 5 hour trip to Palm Bay, a wonderful spot at the foot of the Matusadona Mountains. I could see plenty of elephant through my binoculars as we passed Fothergill Island, Spurwing Island and Bed Island (Yes someone has actually cemented down some bed bases and all you need is a matress, should you want to sleep on this tiny mosquito infested island. Although I am not sure if by now they have rusted away or not?)

‘Holy Croc infested Sandbanks Batman’
On arrival in Palm Bay we saw that another houseboat had taken the inlet that we had planned to use. Whilst searching for another in very shallow water, we hit and got stuck on a sandbank. After nearly two hours of shouting, sweating and using the small tender boat (usually used for fishing) to push and pull the big boat, we finally managed to get free. By the time we had, the spot we originally wanted was now free! Drama over and now in our preferred position we were rewarded by an elephant bull, who shortly before sunset, wandered out of the bush down to the lake right next to us to drink and to cool off.

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 1

Safari Guide — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:25:44 +0000

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Harare to Kariba

That’s around 15 beers a day…per person, I thought to myself as I finished loading the car with all the food, clothes, fishing equipment and the cases of beer for our 5 night Houseboat trip on Kariba. Soon afterwards, we set off on the Lomagundi road, for the four hour journey from Harare to Kariba. A journey that was only interrupted by a stop just before the town of Karoi at Buffalo Downs butchery for my supply of biltong (dried meat) and chili bites (more dried meat.. with a chili flavour). Oh and one emergency stop just before Kariba on the twisting, winding road from Makuti down to the Zambezi Valley when my nephew, became more than little car sick… all over the car… after eating my biltong!

Kariba to Antelope Island
We finished loading Nautique (my dads houseboat) shortly after lunch. After paying National Parks for fishing permits, lake fees and some other fees, that I guess are for his new Mercedes, we set course for Antelope Island, just over an hour away, giving us plenty of time to get sorted before sunset. We moored in our favourite spot, on the western side of the island, with it’s wide open grassland area and tall dead ‘Kariba’ trees, it makes an excellent habitat for Fish Eagles. I immediately counted over 10 individuals and 3 nests, each with chicks in them. As well as Fish Eagles, we saw Baboons, a small herd of Impala and in the water: Hippo and the usual Crocodile. With sunset approaching, I cracked open an ice cold beer or two and later on placed a mattress on the front deck of the boat under Orion and his mates and drifted off to sleep.

Birds
On the road trip From Harare to Kariba

Martial Eagle
Bateleur Eagle
Gymnogene (African Harrier-Hawk)
Francolin – think a Coqui
Golden Weaver Birds
Lilac-breasted Rollers

Antelope Island

African Fish Eagle
Cattle Egrets
Wire-tailed Swallows
African Pied Wagtails
Pied Kingfishers
Crowned Lapwing (Plovers)
Blacksmith Lapwing (Plovers)

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.