Botswana Digital Photo Safari - July 2010

Here are some key points to help you decide:
1.  We welcome photographers of ALL levels. This safari will be conducive to learning from one another and include instruction that will suit everyone’s photographic needs. No question is off limits, no inquiry too basic.
2.  We are BIG on photographing in the field. We spend most our time and effort on safari activity and making images. We do meet daily to review images and discuss technique, but this is not a “classroom-intensive” trip. Our "classroom sessions" are optional (although the review sessions are valuable and there is not a more beautiful classroom).
3.  Non-photographer or videographer spouses / travel companions will love these safaris. We have specialist guides leading all safari activities and optional activities (boating, walks, etc.) are also available at any time.

23-24 July 2010; (1 night)
METCOURT LAUREL HOTEL- Emperor's Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa

Stay near the airport at the Metcourt Laurel Hotel.  On your arrival in Johannesburg, you will be met by our local representative, who will assist you across the terminal and to check in at the hotel. Dinner will be at a nearby restaurant with the rest of the group and is also included.

Emperors Palace is a sensational hotel, casino and convention resort that combines timeless classical elegance and sheer excitement, conveniently situated alongside Johannesburg International Airport. This 80-key, three-star select-services Metcourt Laurel hotel offers you cozy, comfortable and affordable accommodation and delightful service. All Metcourt guests enjoy breakfast at the charming Primavera Restaurant and access to all Emperors Palace’s magnificent variety of facilities.

The group will transfer back to O.R. Tambo airport the next morning, where we catch our Air Botswana flight to Maun, Botswana.  From Maun, it is a short flight via Cessna Caravan to our first safari camp.

24-28 July 2010; (4 Nights)
CHITABE CAMP - Okavango Delta, Botswana             Jump to Chitabe Camp

Chitabe Camp is located in a 28,000-hectare photographic reserve built on one of the most beautiful islands in the Okavango Delta.  The area is made up of a superb variety of habitats, which include waterways and marshlands, dry acacia and mopane woodland, riverine areas, open grasslands and seasonally flooded plains.

Chitabe offers guests game drives in open 4x4 vehicles during the day and at night accompanied by an experienced guide, as well as nature walks. Chitabe is strictly a game viewing camp - no water activities are offered here.

Game viewing is excellent here, and includes Buffalo, Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Reedbuck, Lechwe, Impala, Zebra and Hippo. Wild Dogs are among the major attractions of this area and a long-standing program to study the Wild Dogs is based nearby (read more on the Wild Dogs below). Night drives can be very rewarding with good sightings of the rarer nocturnal animals such as Pangolin, Civet, Serval, Genet, Porcupine and Aardwolf. Guests will also likely see Zebra, Reedbuck, Red Lechwe, Impala and all the plains game.

Chitabe has aided in the support of the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project, which was established by Dr Tico McNutt in 1989. The Wild Dog Project has a study area of about 3000 square kilometers. About 160 wild dogs in ten to twelve packs inhabit this region, and Chitabe lies within this study area. Dr. "Tico" McNutt and the wild dogs featured in the May 1999 edition of National Geographic Magazine

28 July - 01 August 2010; (4 Nights)
SAVUTI CAMP - Linyanti Reserve, Botswana             Jump to Savuti Camp

Savuti Camp is situated within the private Linyanti Wildlife Reserve along the Savuti Channel, a legendary wildlife region that is best known for its large numbers of predators - especially Lions and Hyenas.

Savuti Camp is a small and intimate camp in an isolated area, far from any other people. Accommodation at Savuti is in seven large comfortable walk in tents with en-suite facilities. Each tent is raised off the ground on platforms and has its own bathroom with a shower, hand basin and flush toilet. There is a separate dining room and pub under reed and thatch, also on raised platforms, as well as a plunge pool. All of the new tented rooms have indoor showers and loos and the tents all provide views of the now-flowing Savuti channel waters. One of the seven tents is a family room, configured using two tents side-by-side, each with its own separate en-suite facilities.  Complimentary laundry services are provided.

In 2008 the Savute Channel once more became a deep, clear waterway harboring hippo and aquatic life with myriad varieties of water birds. Wildlife, from plains game to a plethora of predators, has had to adapt to a new source of water and all the opportunities and menaces it has brought with it. For different species the Channel has become a place of refuge, an obstacle, an unrivalled food source, a navigational aid, a larder, a playground, and a graveyard. It is impossible to say yet whether the waters will persist or begin to recede in earnest as much of this will depend on the next summer rains - but while it lasts, at Savuti there are front-row seats for each drama that is played out.

Game concentrations here are high. All of the plains game are prevalent, as well as good concentrations of Roan, Sable and Giraffe. All the predators also occur in the area - Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Wild Dog and Hyena. We have already identified 40 different Lion along the Savuti channel around the camp. The Chobe/Linyanti area is renowned for its dense Elephant population.

We have sole use of this camp throughout our stay, including all the safari vehicles, professional guides and camp staff.

OPTIONAL ADD-ON (PRE-TOUR)
20-24 July 2010; (4 Nights)
LITTLE VUMBURA CAMP - Moremi Reserve, Okavango Delta, Botswana             Jump to Little Vumbura Camp

We are making reservations at Little Vumbura Camp for those who wish to extend their safari for a an additional 4 nights. This extension occurs prior to the main safari, is optional, and has an additional cost associated. This extension is limited to only 6 guests If opting in for this extension, the overnight in Johannesburg will be on 19-July.

Little Vumbura is situated about 25 km's north of Chief's Island in the neighboring northern private reserve of nearly 130,000 acres, within Botswana's Okavango Delta. Vumbura offers perhaps the best combination of water and land activities anywhere in the Delta. The area also boasts a wonderful variety of habitats and a great diversity of wildlife, including large numbers of Sable Antelope (rarely seen elsewhere in Botswana) and offers excellent fishing.

Little Vumbura accommodates ten guests on a wonderful private island, typically reachable only by boat.  Little Vumbura has five tents under an enormous canopy of ancient Okavango forest. Each tent is large and roomy and has en suite facilities, as well as an outside shower for those who want to be even closer to nature. The dining room and pub are under canvas and have been built in and around the existing trees. There is a pool for relaxing by in the quiet of the day. One of the camp's attractions is the outdoor dining area. Wooden decks have been built on the floodplains and dinners under the stars are a wonderful experience.

The main activity at both camps is game viewing in wonderful and varied countryside. Open 4x4 Land Rovers allow close proximity to animals in the savannah and forested areas. Lion, Leopard, Wild Dog, Elephant, Cheetah and Buffalo along with all the plains animals make Vumbura an excellent all-round wildlife experience in a remote and private part of the Okavango.  Birding too is great with large varieties and quantities. Walks, mekoro’s and boating give Vumbura's guests the opportunity to enjoy Africa from a different perspective.