African Photo Tour

Itinerary

“This tour is perfect for photographers”

     This is an itinerary that finds the perfect blend between price, a high number of game drives/floats, quality photographic opportunities, comfortable 4×4 transportation and quality accommodations.  This is an itinerary that prioritizes quality and practicality for photographers.  

Designed for photographers,
by a photographer

The Highlights:

Kenyan Safari

Maasia Mara & Lake Nakuru

Registration
  • Day 1-8 in the itinerary
  • 8 days/7 nights
  • 6 game drives
  • Hotels in towns
  • Luxury glamping on the Maasia Mara
  • Diverse wildlife photography interactions with:  Flamingos, rhinos, lions, hyena, elephants, giraffe, wildebeest, buffalo, impala, zebras, leopard, crocodile, cheetahs, and many species
  • This tour is timed to coincide with the usual Wildebeest migration on the Maasia Mara

Uganda’s Primates

Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Golden Monkeys

Registration
  • Day 8-13 in the itinerary
  • 6 days/5 nights
  • Return flights included from Kenya
  • 4 hr. photo session with Habituated Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
  • 4 hour photo session with Golden Monkeys in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
  • Chimpanzee Island visit on Lake Victoria for a chimpanzee photo session
  • Ssese Islands wildlife photography boat tour on Lake Victoria

Or, combine both for the perfect 13 day/12 night Central African photography Tour and save!

Register for both

Getting to Nairobi:

When flying from NA to Europe and then on to Nairobi it is recommended that you fly through Amsterdam.  Amsterdam has the most favorable connection times and flight fares.  International flights arrive in Kenya late in the evening.  Our hotel is a short drive from the airport.

Contact for a travel consultation session if 

Contact Joseph at Ihamba travel and adventures to schedule a travel consultation to help with your travel plans to Nairobi if you you would like assistance booking your flights from Europe or North America. 

Day 1:

Arrive in Nairobi at JOMO International Airport and transfer to the hotel a short distance away.

Included today:

  • Accommodation at the Westwood Hotel
  • Hotel/airport shuttle 

Day 2:

After an early morning breakfast we’ll leave for Lake Nakuru National Park.  Expect about a 3 hour drive on a good, scenic highway along the edge of, and then down into the Great East African Rift Valley.  Arrive in Nakuru around lunchtime.

Late this afternoon and evening will be our first evening game drive and photo safari. 

Are you excited!

Evening – guided game drive. Potential to see/photograph:

  • black rhinos
  • white rhinos
  • Rothschild giraffes are likely
  • Lions are commonly sighted
  • a chance for leopards
  • … and lots of birds.

The Lions around here commonly climb tress, which is a somewhat uncommon behavior for Lions elsewhere.  

Day 3:

AM:  Boat safari in Mabamba Swamp. 

Get closer to wildlife and photograph unique species like flocks of pink flamingos and many of the other 450 species of birds found here. 

PM:  Guided game drive with our expert local guide to explore Lake Nakuru National Park.

Key activities:  Boat Safari, Game Drive.

Day 4:

Transfer by road from Lake Nakuru to the legendary Maasai Mara.  Expect a 4-5 hours drive to our lodge inside of Maasai Mara National Reserve.  

Wildlife sightings and good photo opportunities during your guided game drives in the Masai Mara over the 4 days are virtually guaranteed.

We’re almost certain to see and photograph:

  • lions
  • hyenas
  • hippos
  • elephants
  • giraffes
  • wildebeests
  • buffalos
  • impalas
  • zebras
  • and many of the 500+ species of birds recorded here.
  • and we have a good chance to see leopards and cheetahs. 

AM:  Drive from Lake Nakuru National Reserve to our lodge inside of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. 

PM:  Afternoon/evening game drive.

Accommodations:  Enkorok Mara Camp is on the Maasai Mara Savanna.  This will be our home for the next 5 days.

“Our upscale, authentic ‘camp’

is situated on the Maasai Mara”

Day 5, 6 and 7:

Exploring the Maasai Mara

Each day includes photography game drives on the Maasai Mara savannah.  We’ll go where the photography is best.  Sometimes we’ll be in the National Reserve and sometimes we’ll use surrounding private reserves.  We won’t compromise on quality! 

The wildlife movements will dictate our daily itinerary.  This flexibility is needed to ensure that our experienced local guides can deliver us the best possible tour while we’re there.  We’ll trust the judgement of our local partners.

Our main goal each day is provide quality wildlife photography sessions with as much of the Maasai Mara’s iconic wildlife as possible: 

  • Mara’s big cats (lions, leopards and cheetahs)
  • hippos
  • elephants
  • giraffes
  • zebras
  • buffalo
  • impalas
  • wildebeest*
  • hyenas
  • and many of the 500+ species of birds recorded on the Masai Mara

*  We’ve timed our tour to coincide with the usual presence of the wildebeest herds in this part of the Maasai Mara as they follow their great migration route.  It is a near 100% certainty that you will see and photograph many, many wildebeest and their young.

Key activities each day: 

Game drives in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in both the morning and evening.  We’ll tend to have a long lunch break under the harsh mid-day sunlight.

Some flexibility in the daily activities is required to ensure that we assemble the best possible tour for you given the weather conditions and wildlife encounters that we’ll have each day.  

We Use SUVs

Modified for Safari use

Our modified UVs have been optimized for wildlife photography.  They provide a much better photography experience than the smaller 4×4 minivans that you’ll see on cheaper tours.

We don’t use the cheaper 4×4 minivans on the savanna for a variety of reasons:

  • vans have lower clearance and are more likely to get stuck for hours in the mud when it’s wet
  • the ride in a van is a lot rougher compared to a savanna modified SUV
  • vans cannot travel as far as we can in our SUVs.  Vans will get probably get stuck if they try follow us!
  • our modified SUVs provide an elevated shooting platform to ensure we can shoot above bushes and the tall grass.  We’ll be eye level with elephants.
  • And finally…

“WE used savanna modified SUVs instead of smaller 4×4 minivans because they’re just WAAAY COOLER!”

Day 8 – Transfer day

Everyone will…

Transfer from the Maasia Mara to the Airport in Nairobi.

Then, two options…

The Kenya safari only participants:  The tour ends here where it started at Jomo International Airport.  We’ll say our goodbyes wish you safe travels home.

and…

The Uganda Primates participants will meet us at the airport in Nairobi and then,

…the new combined Primates group will fly to Uganda together.

PM:  Fly from Nairobi, Kenya to Entebbe, Uganda and overnight in Entebbe.

Accommodation:

Kisubi Forest Cottages in Entebbe, Uganda is Joseph’s lodge, our African Liaison.  The lodge is nestled on the doorstep of the Zika Tropical Forest which provides us with good bird photography opportunities. 

Joseph will host a dinner for us in his lodge dinning pavilion.  During dinner Joseph and I will provide a briefing for the next leg of our journey.

Gorillas, Golden Monkeys and Chimpanzees

Day 9:

Entebbe and Lake Victoria

AM: Bird photography by boat on Lake Victoria in Mabamba Swamp, home to 260 bird species including the massive Shoe Billed Stork.

PM:  Chimpanzee island visit in Lake Victoria.  We’ll visit a wild free roaming Chimp troop that is taken care of by a local non-profit society.

Travel catch up:  Stragglers who experienced travel delays yesterday and missed us in Nairobi will have the opportunity to catch up to us today in Entebbe.  This day will also provide the opportunity for any lost baggage to be delivered in Entebbe.  Joseph can help with your additional travel arrangements.  You will be responsible for any extra fees involved to catch up to the group in Entebbe. 

Evening – Kisubi Forest Cottages

Day 10:

AM:  Fly from Entebbe to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.  

PM:  Arrive at Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge, which is equidistant to the Mountain Gorillas and the Golden Monkeys. 

Over the next few days we’ll:

  • be day trekking to photograph endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys
  • have a chance to see 10 other primates and 350 species of birds
  • photograph the amazing background landscapes in and around Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and the Virunga Volcanos National Park in Rwanda which is just over the border on the horizon.  
  • Bwindi Impenitrable Forest National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Day 11:

Early AM:

It’s time to get up close and personal to a Mountain Gorilla family that is used to humans being in close proximity.  These gorillas will probably be quite relaxed around us.  This softness helps to bring out their individual personalities!

Gorilla trekking tour includes a privileged 1 hour session with the gorillas with just 6 people in the group.  

The Gorilla permits are included in the tour.  Most other tours do not include these permits and a lot charge extra for them.

Our Gorilla permits are purchased months in advance of our visit.  This day cannot be altered or refunded if you choose not to attend the gorilla trek, as is the case with any other part of the tour. 

In the afternoon: 

We’ll visit a community of Batwa hunter-gatherers known as the mountain forest dwelling pygmies.  These people are the traditional tribes that have evolved in this area with the gorillas for centuries.

Day 12:

All day:  Photo trek/safari

Option A:

Spend the day tracking and photographing the Endangered Golden Monkeys.  They’re found in the bamboo forests on the slopes of the dormant Virunga Volcano located in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Option B another day with the gorillas:

It is possible for those of you captivated by the gorillas to spend two consecutive days photographing them.  Simply buy the extra gorilla trekking day addon before the tour and visit the gorillas again today.  You would have to forego the Golden Monkey trek in Mgahinga National Park if you choose to have a second day with the gorillas.  This is a perfect for photographers captivated with the gorillas.

Day 13:

Transfer day

AM:

After an early morning breakfast we’ll fly back to Entebbe.  

Evening:

After an early light dinner we’ll transfer from Kisubi Cottages to the airport and fly to Nairobi for our international connections home.

Is it possible to fly directly from Bwindi to Nairobi?

or 

Stay an extra night in Entebbe and continue your adventure with one of our post tour add on excursions.  The post tour “add on excursions” are in addition to the tour registration fee and can be arranged weeks in advance through Joseph.  Please contact Joseph for a travel consultation session to book your post tour excursions.