Dates September 8–22, 2006
Leaders Jeff Foott, Darrell Gulin, Wayne Lynch, John Shaw and Joe Van Os
Additional leaders added as tour size warrants
Fee $6,495 from Nairobi, Kenya
Deposit $850
Limit 55
Extension Dates September 21–28, 2006
Extension Fee $3,195 from Nairobi, Kenya
Extension Leader John Shaw
Additional leaders may be added if extension size warrants
Special Terms and Conditions Apply
You can be a member of a photo group that will have a significant portion of one of the world’s greatest and most famous African wildlife reserves essentially to themselves! We’ve designed a trip with unlimited wildlife photo opportunities—one that will generate a wealth of striking imagery and provide the time and depth for an unparalleled African nature experience.

We have reserved the entire deluxe Mara Intrepids Club—one of the nicest, and certainly the best-positioned camp—for our group. Our Land Rovers will fan out within the wildlife reserve and adjacent private Koiyaki Ranch, scouting, assessing and sharing information on virtually every productive locality in the region.

Our lodge is located in the heart of the Mara’s densest wildlife concentration. The rolling landscape, savannah woodlands and rich riparian habitats will provide a dramatic background for our photography. This area is great for predators; it has a phenomenal cheetah population, big lion prides and several habituated leopards. During this time of year we will seek out the wildebeest and zebra herds that blanket the landscape throughout this northern segment of their Serengeti migration. The animals may pour across the treacherous, crocodile-infested Mara River and literally mow the grass from knee to ankle height in a few days. Their location will depend on weather conditions, but we can expect to spend some time with the moving herds—watching their behaviors and the predators that wait in the shadows.

For optimum photography, we will have only 3 participants per 9-passenger Land Rover, which will allow excellent freedom of movement between each side of the roof hatch and a generous amount of space to spread out photographic gear. Our leaders will handpick many of the driver/guides. These guides routinely drive for wildlife film makers as they film documentaries, and for much other commercial work. They understand photography, lighting and what we are trying to accomplish.

Leading this shoot will be John Shaw, Jeff Foott, Wayne Lynch, Darrell Gulin and Joe Van Os. Midday photography, wildlife lectures and impromptu question and answer sessions will allow participants to learn wildlife photo tips and techniques during the period of harsh afternoon light—between the photography action when the animals are most active.

After our daily shoots, we’ll dine and relax under the starry African sky. There will be lots of evening leisure time to sit by the fire with a “Tusker” in hand and swap stories of the day’s events. Even with a weak US dollar, our trip fee is an excellent price for an upscale 15-day African Photo Safari like this one! The fee includes all meals, lodging in Nairobi at the 5-star Safari Park Hotel, and flights to and from the Mara to avoid the bad roads and traffic. This trip will be highly productive photographically and a wonderful opportunity to “talk shop” and network with other photographers. The Mara is a great place to give a digital camera a workout, and a lot of fun as well. It should be especially rewarding for those photographers who have been to East Africa on an earlier safari and want a more concentrated photo experience. Don’t miss it!

Day 1
Participants should make arrangements to travel to Nairobi, safari capital of Kenya. Flights often leave major US cities in the evening for an overnight flight to Europe.

Day 2
Flights generally arrive in Europe in early morning with connections at midday and a late evening arrival in Nairobi. You will be met upon arrival and transferred to our 5-star hotel.

Day 3
After a breakfast orientation meeting, we fly across the Great Rift Valley into the heart of Kenyan big game country in the Masai Mara National Reserve. On a remote airstrip we meet our drivers and almost immediately begin to see numbers of animals on the way to our deluxe permanent tented camp. After lunch, we’ll head into the field for our first game drive. (BLD)

Days 4–13
Established in 1961, the Masai Mara National Reserve and is unparalleled as a wildlife reserve in Kenya, and ranks as one of the world's outstanding wildlife
sanctuaries. Located about 185 miles west of Nairobi on the border of Kenya and Tanzania, the Mara is really the northernmost habitat of the huge Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. In the outer regions of the reserve the local Maasai, dressed in their traditional fashion, graze their cattle alongside the plains game. The Mara is a huge, unspoiled landscape of rolling hills evocative of Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa. Stands of acacia trees break up the extensive stretches of grass savannah that is threaded with numerous tributaries of the Mara River. In the river, hippopotamus and crocodiles bask near the shore. Herds of elephants roam across the plains, masters of this land for half a million years. Cape buffalo are here in great numbers as are Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, impala, topi, and Coke's hartebeest. Giraffe, eland,
bushbuck, serval and the big cats—lion, cheetah and leopard—all live permanently within the reserve. At this time of year the massive herds of zebra and wildebeest will also be present in the Masai Mara ecosystem. Photographically, the Mara is unsurpassed. Many of the animals are acclimated to human wildlife viewing activities. Our visit coincides with the start of the dry season and will allow us to experience some of the region’s many moods and capture the range of light from sunrise to sunset. Our camp’s strategic position in the center of the reserve affords us the opportunity to shoot and re-shoot landscapes and wildlife at a variety of different angles at different times of day. A gentle climate combined with scenic splendor and incredible wildlife make the Masai Mara National Reserve Kenya's most popular inland destination. (BLD)

Day 14
We fly to Nairobi. Flights to Europe often leave Nairobi near midnight. (BLD)

Day 15
After morning arrivals in Europe, flights continue homeward.

OR JOIN THE SAMBURU EXTENSION

Day 14
Overnight in Nairobi, after the main tour group departs.

Day 15
We travel overland to Nakuru National Park, a migratory stopover of more than a million lesser flamingos. (BLD)

Day 16
Lake Nakuru is also a reserve for both black and white rhinos. East Africa's most dense leopard population dwells here, plus Rothschild’s giraffes, Defassa waterbucks, reedbucks and unwary warthogs. (BLD)

Day 17
Our journey today will take us through some of the most varied and photogenic scenery that the country has to offer. Samburu National Reserve lies in the hot and arid fringes of the vast northern region of Kenya. The reserve is within the lands of the colorful Samburu pastoralists, relatives of the famed Maasai. (BLD)

Days 18–19
The Samburu landscape is harsh under the merciless equatorial sun, but relief comes from the wide swath of the Ewaso Ngiro River, which rises some hundred miles to the west in the Aberdares and vanishes beyond Samburu in the recesses of the Lorian Swamp. The river is at its best in the reserve. Here it is broad and sluggish, with a
large population of crocodiles and hippos seen at almost every meandering bend. Elephants roam the gaunt hills that punctuate the scrubland, and groups of Grevy's zebras defend their growing young from predators. Along the Ewaso Ngiro's banks, clusters of doum palm and riverine forest add shade and contrast to the surrounding countryside and provide habitat for many of the reserve's animals. There are reticulated giraffe, not seen in the southern parks, as well as gerenuk. The blue-necked Somali ostrich is found at Samburu, as well as Grant's gazelle, eland, impala, common waterbuck, dik-dik, vervet monkeys, hyrax, olive baboon, warthog, (various) mongoose and oryx. Previous tours have observed striped hyena at the lodge's water hole at night—a sight not often seen in other reserves. On a more tranquil note, herons and ibis wade the river, patiently hunting, while malachite kingfishers flash past with their electric colors. More than 400 species of birds are found in the reserve; some are among Africa's most interesting. (BLD)

Day 20
If time allows we’ll have a final morning game drive before we fly back to Nairobi, arriving in the afternoon. Dayrooms for relaxation and last minute packing will be provided. We’ll have our final dinner before evening flights to Europe. (BLD)

Day 21
Arrive home.


Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Washington USA 98070
Phone: (206) 463-5383   Fax: (206) 463-5484    Email: info@photosafaris.com
Copyright © 2008, Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc.