Photo Safari
Tour for photographers – Kenia “Kenya’s world-famous and best-kept wildlife sanctuaries”
This tour is specially designed for versed nature photographers. The accommodation in the camps directly at the happening guarantees enough time and the best lighting conditions. Your professional driver-guide has several years of experience in working with international photographers. He knows exactly at which places of the national parks the best pictures can be taken, where the animals currently are, at what time of the day optimal lighting conditions prevail, and how the light can be used. The new land cruisers which are used for the round trip will carry four persons maximum.
The photo tour is a combination of Kenya’s world-famous and hardly known sanctuaries. Apart from Kenya’s classics such as Masai Mara and Samburu National Park you also visit rarely frequented parks such as Solio Game Reserve or Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
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Last chance to see Ethiopia & Kenya Photo-Safari
Day 1: Arrival in Addis Abeba
Today we welcome you to the airport in the late afternoon. Transfer to Saro Mario Hotel. (B)
Day 2: Awash NP & Hamadryas Baboons
In the morning we drive to Awash NP via Debre Zeit and Nazareth. Around noon time we will stop at a nice lake restaurant for a break. After we arrive in the park we check into our camp. We will build our camp right at the bottom of the Baboon cliffs to spend as much time as we can with these animals. We will follow them on their daily tour and join them when the feed. (B)
Day 3: Hamadryas Baboon and Awash Falls
We will leave very early in the morning. This is the most exciting moment when 1000 animals start to leave the cliffs where they sleep at night. They start to move to get to the water and the food. Their preferred food is the fruits of the Dum Palms. We will travel with them and be in the middle of them. These Baboons are not aggressive and when we behave quit and calm they will allow us the be part of their group. Later we will visit the Hot springs. (B)
Tag 4: Awash – Addis
We wake up in the early morning and have another meeting with the Hamadryas baboons. After this meeting, we will drive back to Addis for overnight. If we arrive early enough you will have the chance to explore the city with your driver. In the evening, you will be taken to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant to taste a variety of Ethiopian cuisine and enjoy the traditional dances and coffee ceremony. (B / D )
Day 5: Via Gonder to Simien Mountains
At 07:00 our flight leaves from Addis Ababa to Gondar. There we meet our driver for transfer to the Simein Mountains NP. We will stay in the highest Lodge in Africa with an altitude of 3.250 m above sea level. This is the kingdom of the Gelada Baboons and the Lemmergeier. After our arrival and a lunch break, we depart to get the first impressions of nature, stunning views, and the incredible Gelada Baboons. (B)
Tag 6: Gelada Baboons
Today we will spend our day with the Gelada baboons around Sankaber. We will join them and learn about their behavior, see interactions, and feeding. Also, we will look at ours for Lemmergeier and other Birdlife which is impressive. There are special points that the Lemmergeier used to break bones. The Lemmergeier feeds only on bones and not on meet. But also many other birds will come very close to our lense like the endemic thickbill raven, Toni eagles, and various vultures. This is a wildlife photographer paradise because besides the animals we see breathtaking landscapes. (B)
Day 7: Geladas Walia Ibex and Lemmergeier
Today we will drive to Buit Ras. We will try to spot some of the last living Walia Ibex. They share this habitat with Gelada Baboons and often we can observe the 2 species together. Late in the afternoon drive to Gondar for overnight. Our Hotel is located on a hill where we have an overview of this historical city where Heile Selassie built the church called, The light if Trinity. If there is time the driver will take those of you who are interested in the cultural sites. (B)
Day 8: Travel to Gonder
In the afternoon we explore the city of Gonder. We visit the Heile Selassie church ” The light of Trinity “ Our Hotel is located on a hill where we have an overview of this historical city where Heile Selassie built the church called, The light if Trinity. If there is time the driver will take those of you who are interested in the cultural sites. (B)
Day 9: The journey to Kenia
In the morning you depart from Gonder and travel via Addis to Nairobi. Your driver will take you to your guest room where you relay the afternoon. For the evening we have planned another cultural event. (B)
Day 10: Transfer to the Rhino Watch Safari Lodge
After breakfast, we will start our journey into Kenya´s central highlands. Several stops on our way to the Rhino Watch Lodge are planned for. We will also visit one of the numerous colorful fruit and vegetable markets, where regional farmers offer their fresh produce. This is a good location to capture the colorful life of the local people. At noon we will arrive at the Rhino Watch Safari Lodge, where you will be accommodated in exclusive safari tents. (B/L/D)
Afternoon Program:
Located only 15 minutes from the Rhino Watch Lodge is a small private reserve that offers the opportunity to go on a game walk with giraffe, zebra, and antelope. Being able to get up close to these wonderful creatures will create the opportunity for some excellent close-up shots. Back at the lodge, you can spend the afternoon photographing and watching the great diversity of birds that use the property as their habitat. Up to 200 bird species have been recorded here, such as the beautiful sunbirds, which feed on the nectar of the Aloe Vera flowers. (B/L/D)
Day 11: Safari in the Solio Game Reserve
The Solio Game Reserve is a fenced, privately-owned wildlife conservancy geared towards rhino conservation. Only minutes away from our lodge, the park plays a major part in the protection and breeding of black rhinos in Kenya. There is no better place in the world to observe and photograph rhino. Other wildlife except for elephants includes buffalo, zebra, giraffe, Oryx, antelope, Thompson’s gazelle, impala, waterbuck, and warthog. The park also offers some of the best leopard viewings in the country, and lion and cheetah can also be found. Besides wildlife, you will find an amazing variety of birds.
Our safari jeeps all have experienced driver guides behind the wheel and are set to meet the needs of nature photographers. (B/L/D)
Day 12: The last northern white Rhinos in Ol Pejeta Game Reserve
Ol Pejeta is a mosaic of grass plains, wooded grassland, Acacia woodland and evergreen thicket extending for over 350 square kilometers. This extraordinary reserve is East Africa’s Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary. Besides black AND white rhino, the park boasts an astounding variety of wildlife including non-indigenous chimpanzees that can be visited in the Sweetwater chimpanzee sanctuary, the Big Five, and some of the highest predator densities in Kenya. The combination of amazing wildlife and stunning views across the open plains will guarantee amazing photographic opportunities.
The highlight is our meeting with some of the last individuals of the northern white Rhino. (B/L/D)
Day 13: The Aberdares
The photo safari continues into the Aberdare National Park that allows for splendid photography of a wide range of impressive landscapes and a great variety of wildlife. The main ecosystems within the mountain range are rainforest, one of the last intact rain forest refuges in Africa, giving way to dense bamboo forests and then moorland. Some wildlife more easily observed is the forest elephant, buffalo, the giant forest hog, and some of the big cats, including the leopard! The park also contains a large population of black rhino. And even the bird viewing is rewarding, with over 250 species of birds observed. (B/L/D)
Day 14: Samburu
Samburu National Park is a rugged, semi-arid park in the Northern Province of Kenya. The reserve is located a two and a half-hour drive from the Rhino Watch Lodge on mostly well-maintained roads. After passing Mount Kenya and climbing over 2,600 m, the journey takes us down to the Samburu plains where huge blue mountains serve as a backdrop to this game reserve. Despite the aridness, the scenery is breathtaking. The Uaso Nyiro River is the lifeline of this area and is bustling with a huge population of crocodiles. The presence of the river and its shady trees has resulted in a rich flora and fauna. The game reserve is renowned for its rare species of animals that can be found in this park, like the long-necked gerenuk, Gravy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, and the Beisa oryx. Giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck elephant and zebra trek from the surrounding savannah plains to the water. Samburu is also considered
one of the best areas to observe leopard, lion, and cheetah. For the birders, around 365 species have been recorded and the river area is particularly rewarding. The park is considered a paradise for bird viewing by ornithologists.
We will be staying at the Elephant Bedroom Camp on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River. Rhino Watch Lodge has been working together with the Elephant Bedroom camp for years. This exclusive tent camp is considered a jewel in Samburu National Park, rightly carrying its name. (B/L/D)
Day 15: Elephants and Leopards
The park is home to large herds of elephants that come to the river to drink and bathe themselves and snack on the fruits of the doum palms surrounding the camp. Besides elephant, the pride of lion or the solitary leopard amongst other games are regular visitors around the camp providing excellent game viewing from the luxury of your tent and with the spectacular scenic background of rolling hills. Needless to say that rangers are present at all times to provide for the safety of the visitors. (B/L/D)
Day 21: Travel back
Today a fantastic photo tour is over. We drive back to Nairobi and drop you at the airport according to your departure time.
Price:
- 5.490.- US $ per person in a double/twin room
- single supplement::1.290.- US $
included: all rooms, transfers, safaris, and meals as mentioned above, English speaking tour guides
not included:
– drinks
– food not mentioned above
– Park Fees in Kenya
– flight and insurance
– tips