Wildlife Photo Tour

Many wonder what it is like to travel in Africa. Questions like; what are accommodations like, is the food safe to eat, is it tasty, what about the water, and how do I get around? All are good questions. Here is some of what I’ve learned. Here are photos of vehicles and accommodations on my last African Photo Safari.

Accommodations:

Mara Simba Lodge in Masai Mara on the African Photo Safari

On my tours we stay in two kinds of accommodations, Lodges and Tented Camps. Lodges compare to any medium-priced motels in the US. Most have twin or queen size beds, ceiling fans, no air conditioning, and westernized bathrooms. Because these accommodations are located great distances from civilization they generate their own electricity. I’ve stayed in lodges and camps that are surrounded by electric fences to keep wildlife out and others that are patrolled by Maasai Warriors for the same reason.

Tented Camps are just that, camps that are set up with large walled tents with a thatched roof canopy over the tent to keep the sun off. Each tent has hot and cold running water, showers and toilets. The beds are just that, beds not cots with sleeping bags. They also generate electricity for the camp and guests.

Meals/water:

Food at both lodges and tented camps is very good. Most meals are very westernized. Breakfast generally has two or three kinds of eggs, bacon, ham, toast, French toast, potatoes, fruit and a variety of drinks including fruit juices, coffee, and tea. Lunches are hot meals with meats, potatoes, rice, raw and cooked eatables, breads, deserts and drinks. Dinner will have chicken, pork, beef, maybe some game meat, two or three starch dishes, several different vegetable and fruit dishes, a couple of deserts and drinks including alcohol (drinks are always extra). Many lodges and camps serve their meals as a buffet.

Don’t drink the water, drink bottled water. To find out if ICE is safe to use and made from filtered water I always ask the manager. Most accommodations filter their water for ice as they use it for ice tea.

If you want snacks during the day you have to take them with you as Circle K’s and 7/11’s haven’t made it into the bush.

Transportation:

African Safari Vehicles on the African Photo Safari

Touring is from 4×4 extended vehicles with lift top roofs. These vehicles will seat seven plus the driver, however when I lead a tour I have two seats removed and only put four clients in each vehicle. More than four it is just too crowded. With the roofs in the up position even the tallest person can stand up to view wildlife and African scenery. Because wildlife is wild and dangerous you are seldom allowed out of the vehicle while on a game drive, generally two to three hours.

Black Rhino on the African Wildlife Safari

After spending two nights at Lake Nakuru we headed for the next stop on our African Wildlife Safari, the Masai Mara National Reserve. This Kenyan National Reserve is located in south-western Kenya and covers about 950 square miles. Effectively it is the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. This reserve, also spelled Maasai Mara, is named for the Maasai people and the Mara River which divides the area. The ecosystem is open grassland with areas containing clumps of the distinctive acacia tree.

Lions Mating on the African Wildlife Safari

We arrived at the Mara Simba Lodge by mid-morning. After a great luncheon buffet and short nap, we were off on our afternoon game drive. During the two days we spent on the Masai Mara we photographed lions mating at 15′, cheetahs hunting, and thousands of other mammals, birds and reptiles. In fact wildlife viewing is excellent year round on the Masai Mara including Cape buffalo, elephant, hartebeest, zebra, giraffe and big cats are in abundance. We photographed four of Africa’s “Big Five” rhino, elephant, Cape buffalo, and lion Leopard was the only Big Five I didn’t photograph on the reserve. The rivers are home to large numbers of hippos and crocodiles. Also calling the reserve home are 452 species of birds including 53 raptors.

Please note that the Black rhino is severely threatened, with a population of only 37 recorded in 2000 on the Masai Mara. I think myself extremely lucky and privileged to get this photograph of the Black Rhino above. Not much of a photo as photos go, but I got to see and photograph Black rhinos on my African Wildlife Safari!

Crocodile and Electric Fence on the African Wildlife Safari

This lodge was also surrounded by an electric fence like many others. One evening during dinner I watched a huge crocodile try to enter the compound only to receive a shocking experience when he got to the fence. He got the message and returned to the river.

I truly hated to leave the Masai Mara, but other places awaited so we headed for our next stop in Kenya was Amboseli National Park.

Leopard Licking His Chops for African Photography Safari Blog

For seventeen days in February, 2009, I lived a Teddy Roosevelt adventure. OK, it wasn’t quite like the way Teddy did it, but my African Safari was a real thrill that I’ll cherish the rest of my life. My safari wasn’t a big game hunt but an African Photography Safari in Kenya and Tanzania.

We started our safari by flying from Tucson to Nairobi by way of London, arriving early in the morning. At the Nairobi airport we were picked up by Somak Travel, one of the leading safari companies in Kenya.

After breakfast we headed north arriving at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge in Lake Nakuru National Park. The first thing I noticed as we arrived at the lodge was that it is surrounded by an electric fence. In fact, many of the lodges use electric fences to keep unwanted wildlife out.

After 30 hours in the air or at airports and a 4 hour drive, I was a whipped pup. No matter, after lunch and a quick nap we left the protection of the lodge and headed out on our first game drive. Simon, our driver, had to become weary of our questions but never let on or missed a beat. He answered every question and seemed to know every bird, reptile and mammal by name. He even loaned us his well worn copy of Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania
so we could study the various birds we saw.

When asked about our chances of seeing the big cats, lions, leopards, and cheetahs, he said we would see lions and cheetahs without a doubt, then apologized saying he hadn’t seen a leopard in three months and wasn’t sure we would see one on our safari. He clearly knew that leopards were a big ticket item for tourists to see and as we wanted to photograph them he could sense our disappointment.

Not to worry, within the two hours of leaving the lodge Simon spotted two leopards in a densely forested area. We waited for some time to get photographs we would be proud of. Because we were patient, we were rewarded with several really nice photographs.

During our afternoon game drive we saw wildlife by the hundreds, six lions laying in the shade, a female White rhino and calf, hundreds of antelope, birds, and Cape buffalo. It was a glorious start for any safari.

The Lake Nakuru National Park is really well maintained and cared for. Regulations of the Kenyan Park system forbid anyone in the park prior to 6AM and after 6:30PM to allow wildlife to act like wildlife. Staying at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge is a very nice experience. Housing consisted of separate bungalows (dd) with electricity, private bathrooms, and showers. Meals were on par with most US restaurants, we were fed three buffet meals a day.

Lake Victoria, another stop on our African Wildlife Photography Safari, is the world’s second largest freshwater lake and has an area of more than 40,000 sq miles. The lake itself is not a park or reserve. Being only 3-4 hours from the Maasai Mara in Kenya it’s a good place to stop off before continuing on to the Mara.

Bird species found around Lake Victoria, but rarely if ever seen anywhere else in Tanzania or Kenya, include the Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Blue Swallow, Swamp Flycatcher, Greater Swamp-warbler, White-winged Warbler, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, Carruthers’ Cisticola, Papyrus Gonolek, Red-chested Sunbird, Red-headed Quelea, Slender-billed Weaver, Yellow-backed Weaver, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Black-throated Seedeater, and the Papyrus Canary. For a list of birds that we may see and photograph on the African Wildlife Photography Safari at Lake Victoria visit Kenya Birds.

The place to be in February is the Ndutu Conservation Area and that is exactly where my African Photography Safari will be. The animals that trek around the Serengeti National Park plains migrate from Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park area in August and arrive here just south of Serengeti
National Park in February. This is where many species of wildlife give birth prior to their migration north into Kenya. Since Ndutu is a conservation area and not a national park, driving outside the indicated roads is allowed here.

The Ndutu area in southern Serengeti is the best place to be on an African Photography Safari for the annual wildebeest migration. For up to seven months of the year, the huge herds remain in and around this area. A striking characteristic of this area is the stunning acacia woodland, which is immediately surrounded by the short grass plains. Within this wooded area is Lake Ndutu, one of the Rift Valley’s soda lakes.

Animals from the annual “Great Migration” are not the only wildlife to be photographed here. Elephant, lion, cheetah, leopard, buck, hyena, bat eared fox, and African wildcat are just a few of the species we may see as they live here year round. The woodlands also provides wonderful habitat for hundreds of species of birds and opportunities for bird photography on my African Photography Safari.

Maasai Wanderings is the tour operator I use when I lead my Africa Wildlife Photo Tours to Tanzania. One of the goals of Maasai Wanderings is to provide opportunities to those who otherwise would not have received them. They use a portion of their profits to provide assistance in these areas by funding various projects that they initiated themselves. Along the way they have received intermittent funding boosts from individuals from around the world.

In 2008, Maasai Wanderings began assisting in Esilalei, a Maasai village along the shores of Lake Manyara. Together with Into Africa UK and Belafrica (Europe), they built their first classroom – a Nursery school for 120 students. The elders of Esilalei heard along the ‘Maasai Grapevine’ of the success of Ilkurot (another project supported by Maasai Wanderings) and spent many months finding out who were responsible. They knocked on the gate at Maasai Wanderings who had no hesitation in bringing education back into the village.

Maasai Wanderings hopes to continue expanding the school with the first classroom for the primary school. During December 2008, three groups of students from Brisbane Girls Grammar (Australia) participated in building projects in both Ilkurot and Esilalei – the results have been amazing. There have been desks and murals painted, holes dug, playgrounds established, plastering and many other well appreciated chores. It was such a success.

Visiting Esilalei

Located on a key road for visiting national parks in the northern circuit, Esilalei is a convenient addition to most safaris, and many safari drivers are familiar with it. From Arusha, after turning left at the Makuyuni junction, Esilalei is 17.5 km down the road. From Serengeti-Ngorongoro-Manyara, Esilalei is about 16 km after MtoWaMbu. The boma (a traditional Maasai enclosure) is open every day 8 am – 6 pm. Visitors may come without notice.