Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Has anyone done an African safari ie one geared towards photographers and not the general tourist? If so, which one did you use and would you recommend them?

I'm building up a DB of tour companies that specialize in photo tours to help narrow down my search for a 2012 trip.

If anyone else is seriously interested in joining up for specialized African photo safari sometime next year, PM me and I'll keep you in the loop. Keep in mind that it's not going to be cheap.

this has been kicking around in my head too, ever since buying that Brandt book. Yeah, there's not many vacations more expensive than an African Safari vacation.

...Then again, i know a guy who went on a photo expedition to Antarctica to take pictures of the penguins there. THAT must have been pricey!!!

Yeah, I've been some research and the general ones stuff 2 to 3 people in a seat row on the vehicles so there's no room for extra gear and little elbow space for big lenses. Not to mention, you maybe in a 3+ vehicle caravan. I may even opt to go for the private reserves as opposed to the national ones. Turns out there could be other tour companies on the same schedule and they're strict on following the main road and aren't allowed to deter from it.

The private reserves border the main ones and the photo tours cater to the photographer ie they get you close (safety first) to the wildlife, the best possible position to shoot and work around the best light of the day staying longer if needed etc. Not to mention, they're usually limited to 8 photographers. The general ones take you out on fixed schedules for a couple hours before taking you back to the lodge in time for lunch/dinner etc.

I'm supposed to get some "local" info from a coworker's boyfriend who's a biologist specializing in lion conservation in South Africa.

I've seen some pretty nice prices for general tours to the Galapagos, Nepal, Peru etc through Gap Adventures.

Hey Carlton

No experience just wishful thinking on my part. But you might look at Andy Biggs. I have seen positive reports on the internet and he does seem to address some of your questions in the FAQ such as only 3 people in each vehicle (one per seat row).

Have a look at the home page here; http://www.andybiggs.com/index.php

And the workshop/tour page here; http://www.andybiggs.com/content.php?page=safaris

DG

Thanks DG, yup, got Andy Biggs tour to Sabi Sands or Botswana as one of my options. His is a bit on the expensive end. I found a really reasonably priced photo tour to Sabi Sands for a week for 50% less than Andy Biggs'. Mind you it was a 7 day trip vs 8 days but since I'm going all the way to that side of the planet, I also want to hit the Serengeti and a Mara River for the Wildebeest migration.

I lived and traveled in these areas awhile ago: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya, and visited various national parks including the Serengeti, Masai Mara, Luangwa, Chobe, Hwange.

I spent two weeks driving around Ngorongoro and the Serengeti and highly recommend them, especially Ngo. The lodges within the parks, owned and operated by whatever Tanzanian national ministry were beautiful, comfortable, clean and good food, they make a packed lunch for everyone to take with them.

Stay away from the mini bus-type vehicle tour operators, they can't negotiate the smaller off-road paths. Choose one that uses 4x4 vehicles.

"Going off the path" is not too important criteria. Serengeti for example has a lot of off road paths, akin to Algonquin parks' indicated trails. Also, you may need special access licence and guides. Luangwa has almost no roads so off-path is required to see anything.

There are privately owned and operated "reserves" located on the parks' borders, private hunting camps mostly. The few I saw seemed messy, trashy and unappealing. Personally I wouldn't patronize any of them, but to be fair I only saw two. Also, the national parks have more to see as they're bigger with more varied geography, rivers, etc.

Wow, 12K seems pretty steep. I like how i saw in one of the tour photos, people in the vehicle behind a leopard and only one has a camera- a small point and shoot, ha. What a 'waste'!

Sometimes life is enjoyed without a camera.

Yeah, i know, i was teasing. But at that price, i'd at least have a point and shoot in my hand to take a couple snaps he he. Those people looked bored! ha ha

Carlton a friend of mine is leading his first photography based African safari as we speak. His Name is Ray Barlow and he is based here in Grimsby. He has done successful trips to Costa Rica, Newfoundland, Yellowstone

Here is an excerpt from his site

[b]The second tour I recently booked has
the following date schedule:
January 22nd - 31st, 2012.
This tour is slightly different due to the
migration changes, so note a slight difference
in the fee, and locations:

Arusha
Lake Manyara
Crater Highlands

Cool. I'm compiling a list of potential tours/workshops so I'll check out his site. Thanks!

I will post here when he returns.

Thom Hogan had a tour last year - I am sure he does it once a year but it is north of $10+ USD

You can read about his 2010 tour on his blog
http://www.bythom.com/southafricaworkshop2.htm

Wow, north of $10 US is cheap.

Well - I didn't say how much north it was...

Good point.

Carlton seems to prefer to go to Kenya/Tanzania rather than South Africa.

Ok, I feel like an ad for Thom here but he has some articles up about African Safaris. This article looks fairly old but gives you some general info about the differences between East and South African Safaris.

http://www.bythom.com/safari.htm

Here was his itinerary for his 2010 tour. I am not sure if he is doing a tour in 2011