ITINERARY

To take full advantage of this experience, we suggest arriving in Kasane the day before the safari. Contact us for accommodation options in Kasane.

Day 1 – 3: CHOBE NATIONAL PARK (luxury mobile safari camp)
You will be met by your professional photographer, who will be your host for the duration of the safari. If you do not have your own camera equipment you will be supplied with a camera and telephoto lens.

The safari starts with a game drive through Chobe National Park a custom built 8-seater open 4×4 game viewing vehicle. Each person will have a “window” which makes it that bit easier to get that perfect shot.

The camp is in the far western section of Chobe National Park. The animals of Chobe are generally very relaxed, which is one of the main reasons why photography is so good, and you will often have herds of herbivores like elephants, zebra and buffalo wandering past the camp during the day. You will explore this amazing area on morning and afternoon game drives, and spend the evening with your photographic host who will teach you how to choose and edit the best images.

You will stay in exclusive private campsites located far from any other campsites. There are five large walk-in tents sleeping a maximum of eight guests (room for a couple of singles) with a dining tent that doubles as an editing area. Each of the tents has twin beds with linen and en-suite facilities. This comprises a toilet, basin and a bucket shower that can be filled to the brim with warm water straight from the campfire when needed. This is “glamping” at its best!

Our chefs are masters at producing delicious meals from the nearby bush kitchen and the support vehicle has enough cold storage to make sure the drinks are always chilled. After dinner, there is time to sit around the campfire and enjoy this true wilderness experience.
Included meals: breakfast lunch & dinner

Day 4 – 6: CHOBE NATIONAL PARK (Pangolin Chobe Hotel)
Today you leave the mobile camp behind you and slowly make your way east towards the Pangolin Chobe Hotel. The hotel sits on the plateau overlooking the Chobe River and the Caprivi floodplains below. Completed in 2018 the hotel has 14 rooms and is designed around a wildlife photography gallery.

With its proximity to the Chobe River, most of the game activities are done on the custom-built photography boats with the same photo host who accompanied you on the first part of the trip. By this time you will have improved your photography and will be feeling confident shooting on the manual. This will allow you more creative control over your images and you’ll spend more time on the boats perfecting various techniques.

The boats seat 8 people all in a row down the middle, with room for everyone to rotate 360 degrees. Each seat has a custom camera gimbal on which you’ll mount your camera and lens. We tend to use bigger telephoto lenses (150-600mm) on the river than on the game drives (100-400mm) as you don’t need to hand hold the cameras on the boat. You’ll enjoy twice daily game activities on the river and also one or two game drives in a very game-dense part of the Chobe. In between the activities you can relax at the eco-pool or make use of our air-conditioned editing room at the end of the gallery.

Your photo host will be on hand during the day to help you with postproduction. Access to computers is limited in the Chobe so we suggest that you perhaps bring a laptop with you for image review sessions. Alternatively, you’ll get plenty of memory cards to fill throughout the safari to take your images home with you. Meals are served as often as possible out on the deck, or in the interleading dining room, with the fabulous chefs dishing out wholesome meals with locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. The evening meals vary from braais (barbeques), to gourmet pizzas cooked in our woodfired oven. Most dietary needs can be catered for. The bar on the upper floor has spectacular views and the best cocktails in Kasane and is a great place to relax after dinner with your fellow travellers. Alternatively, the sunken fire pit is always a hit!
Included meals: breakfast lunch & dinner

Day 7 – 9: OKAVANGO DELTA (Bushman Plains Camp)
On the seventh day it’s time to make your way the short distance to Kasane airport to board your charter flight to the Okavango Delta and the next destination Bushman Plains Camp. The flight time is normally just over an hour and you’ll fly along the border due west from Chobe along the Selinda to the Okavango Delta. Flying over the Okavango Delta gives you a great perspective of how the fascinating system of channels, lagoons and islands work.

Bushman Plains is an owner-managed and charming traditional bush camp in one of the most game dense and photographically productive parts of Botswana. The Bushmen who own and manage the camp are amazing guides and trackers and know their homeland better than anyone else.

The camp comprises five tents and a communal dining lounge area with a dedicated photo editing area to use at your convenience. The spacious tents have a covered area at the front to relax and en-suite facilities at the back of the tent. There is always electricity in the rooms and hot water. Don’t expect to find all the fancy extras like private plunge pools and outdoor showers here – This camp is all about an authentic wildlife experience and not the “extras”.

The camp has two vehicles (which hold four clients each), each manned by an experienced guide and tracker. This combination is a real advantage as the team works tirelessly to decipher the tracks to seek out amazing sightings and photo opportunities. Your photo host will rotate between the vehicles on each activity spending equal time on each vehicle. The guides and trackers at Bushman Plains have been trained to the specific needs of wildlife photographers as far as light and positioning are concerned, but their real value is in their experience and understanding of animal behaviour. This means you’ll often be in exactly the right spot with the right light at the sighting.

One extra activity that’s on offer at Bushman Plains is a walk with one of the guides, through the bushveld. The guide explains more about Bushman culture and the uses for the plants and trees found in the area. This is not to be missed – it’s fascinating and a real insight to a simpler, more natural life.

In between game drives there is more time for image review with your host, but equally it’s time to enjoy the camp looking out over the plains and seeing what comes by. The food at Bushman Plains is great with simple delicious fare. Sometimes meals are taken around the fire instead of the dining table with optional cutlery! This is the essence of Bushman Plains. It’s a wonderfully relaxing place with no airs and graces and an exceptional wildlife experience.
Included meals: breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 10: MAUN – SAFARI ENDS
On the final day we head back over to the Kadizora airstrip for onward charter flight to either Maun or Kasane. At the end of this safari we can guarantee that you will leave a much better photographer than when you arrived with a fistful of memory cards filled with beautiful images that you will treasure forever!
Included meals: breakfast

Price:
US$ 6 550.00 per person sharing