3 premier Destinations
September 5 – 14, 2019
This exclusive Botswana Safari is designed for the serious wildlife photographer who wants the best opportunities for award winning images!
Botswana is one of the most sought-after premier wildlife photographic destinations in the world. This safari has been meticulously planned to cover three of the best wildlife locations, giving you the most diverse environments and the best variety of wildlife photographic opportunities in Botswana, including the Okavango Delta, Savuti, and the Chobe River. We have selected each location for its uniqueness; you will have the opportunity for night photography, driving off-roads without restrictions, photographing out of but near the vehicle for incredible perspectives, and at eyelevel with the wildlife on the banks of the Chobe.
On this exclusive safari, there is a maximum of only 6 photographers, split into two vehicles, each with an expert African wildlife photographer that specializes in African wildlife photography; each has spent thousands of hours in the field. You will benefit enormously by having a professional wildlife photographer on-board for every game drive. While on land, we will use private, custom open vehicles; you will have your own row to spread out all your gear to have it ready at a moment’s notice and an unobstructed view from both sides of the vehicle. You will NOT have to shoot over or around another photographer, who would be sitting next to you on most other safaris offered. On the Chobe River, we will use custom photo boats with innovate customer features, such as seats with a custom designed mount for your big lens that rotates a full 360 degrees.
THE LOCATIONS
The Okavango Delta is one of the most spectacular natural wildlife phenomena on the planet, supporting an ecosystem that sustains one of the highest concentrations of large game animals in Africa. Remarkably, it is a matchless wetland paradise in the arid Kalahari Desert. Our luxury accommodations are waterfront with some of the best opportunities to see a pack of wild dogs, lions, leopards, hyenas, elephants, buffalos, and more. We can drive off-road, enabling us to follow predators and improve our vehicle positioning for photography. Since we are just outside the Moremi National Park with no gate restrictions, we can extend our game drives well into the evening when the big cats are on the move. This is where having only two vehicles, each with an expert to light up big predators, can really pay off.
Savute achieved international fame from documentaries, such as Eternal Enemies by Dereck and Beverly Joubert, with unbelievable lion and hyena interactions, and the numerous documentaries filmed in the area by the BBC. This semi-arid area harbors one of the densest dry-season concentrations of elephants in Africa. Due to drought conditions in the past few years, the canal is dry, but water is pumped into a few select areas, drawing all the animals across this dusty environment. Imagine all the drama that is certain to unfold as all the animals cross the expansive savannahs to gather at the same water hole. The dust and light will make spectacular photographs, images that get to one’s soul.
The Chobe River is one of the most incredible wildlife experiences offered on the continent, where animals congregate along the river to drink and to feed on the lush greenery. The custom photo boats we will use have a shallow draught, enabling us to access shallow water to make near-silent, drifting approaches to our subjects, getting eye-level perspectives that are much more difficult to achieve on land. Don’t be surprised when you are face to face with battling hippos and elephants swimming! Elephants will not only come to drink from the river, but will also swim across it; if we are lucky, they will stop in the middle to play, which is an unbelievable sight. This is also a birder’s paradise with a wide variety of species, including African fish eagles, colorful Malachite Kingfisher, the largest heron in the world – the goliath, skinners, kingfishers, and colorful bee-eaters. With our custom photo boats, these birds are more approachable on the Chobe River than anywhere else in Africa.
YOUR LEADERS
Wim van den Heever
Born in South Africa and coming from a family who loved nature and photography, Wim practically grew up roaming the wilds of the bush. With over 25 years of experience and winning numerous awards, including placing in the prestigious BCC wildlife photography of the year and Natures best photography contest several times, Wim has established himself as one of the top wildlife photographers in South Africa. His eagerness to teach and friendly nature ensures workshop participants a wonderful experience. He uses Nikon equipment.
Piper Mackay
Focusing her work in Africa for the past 14 years, Piper Mackay has traversed the continent to some of the most remote regions few others have been. She became a resident of Kenya in 2015. Her work is widely published from covers to featured articles and interviews in top wildlife and travel magazines worldwide, winning many awards. She is known for her passion in striving to help her participants capture dramatic images. She uses Canon equipment and shoots with an infrared camera.
SAFARI HIGHLIGHTS
- 3 locations to maximize every photographic opportunity in one of the world’s premier wildlife destinations, the delta, Savuti, Chobe River
- Small group of only 6 participants, giving you more flexibility, freedom, and better group dynamics.
- Luxurious accommodations
- We will have private open game-viewing vehicles with only 1 person per row of seating
- One professional photographer leader per vehicle
- Specially designed photographic boats have individual swivel seats, with mounts for our cameras attached to each chair. The photo boats enable us to make quiet approaches from interesting angles
- An increased luggage allowance to 35KG on the in-country flights
- This safari focuses on getting quality images. We will push hard to spend most of our time in the field. This trip is about giving you incredible opportunities to create an amazing, diverse portfolio of exceptional images from just one safari.
Itinerary
September 5, 2019 (1 night)
Upon your arrival at the international airport in Kasane Botswana, you are met by the members of our ground team and transferred by private vehicle to our lodge situated on a hill overlooking the Chobe River. The lodge was designed with photographers in mind. The walls are adorned with amazing wildlife images to inspire you; an editing area in the lounge, a room for slide presentations and stations for editing, and rooms with plenty of counter space to spread out all your gear, plenty of plugs for charging, and enough room to spread out for downloading. Each of only 14 rooms has a private balcony with a view across the Chobe floodplains and air-conditioning. We will also have the flexibility of working our meals around the best light, unlike most of the traditional lodges.
Once checked in we will have a briefing and head down to the river for our first boat safari along the shores of the Chobe; one of the most unique safari experiences in Africa.
Accommodations Pangolin Chobe Lodge –BLD
September 6-7, 2018 (2 nights)
We will spend the next two days cruising along the Chobe River in search of every incredible photographic opportunity from a unique perspective. During the mornings and afternoons, we will go out on our private, custom-built photo boats with fully rotating chairs, fitted with state-of-the-art camera mounts. You will have a highly specialized boat guide, along with your professional photography guides, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the river and its inhabitants, who will seek any specific photographic subjects requested.
Accommodations: Accommodations: Pangolin Chobe Lodge –BLD
September 8-10 , 2018 (3 nights)
After an early morning boat safari and breakfast, we will depart the lodge and fly to the renowned Savuti Reserve, a surreal landscape in the dusty plains with skeletal trees that make for some striking photographic opportunities. This area is renowned for its elephants and multiple species that gather at the water holes, such as lion, antelope, hyena, zebra, wart hogs, etc. Cheetahs can often be seen on the plains around the marshes, and the many rocky outcrops mean leopards are common. This is also a great area for the lilac breasted roller, and we have often witnessed their rolling. If we are lucky, we should also see the wild dogs.
You will stay at the five-star Savute Elephant camp, with 12 luxurious rooms raised on wooden platforms, each with an outdoor lounge shaded by a traditional thatch roof.
Accommodations: Savute Elephant camp
September 11-13, 2019 (3 nights)
After our early morning game drive and breakfast, we have a short drive to Khwai; located in the renowned Okavango Delta, which rarely needs an introduction, because it is one of the most sought-after wildlife destinations in the world. It is a unique environment of floodplains and woodlands, filled with diverse and exotic wildlife. Not only will we be able to game drive along these floodplains, where the animals will migrate, but we have no gate restrictions, can drive off-road, and can drive well into the evening in search of the big cats. This is one of the best areas for evening and night wildlife photography.
We will stay at the five-Star Khwai River Lodge, designed to blend into the surrounding environment that overlooks the vast Khwai River floodplains. It comprises of 15 luxury tents housed on raised wooden platforms, offering great views, and shaded by a traditional African thatch roof. The large private decks are furnished with easy chairs and a hammock, ideal for viewing wildlife. Its exceptional location makes it a regular host to elephants, buffalos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogs.
Accommodations: Khwai River Lodge – BLD
September 14, 2019
We will have one last, final morning game drive and breakfast before we catch our flight to Maun, Botswana and bid our farewells.
Important Details
The Price
The price of this premier wildlife photographic safari based on double occupancy is $10,495.00
The price of this premier wildlife photographic safari based on single occupancy is $12,590.00 for private accommodations
Single accommodations are extremely limited.
If a solo guest wishes to share a room, we will do our best to match them with another guest of the same gender. If we cannot match a solo guest with another guest of the same gender, then the single supplement of USD$2,095.00 will be charged.
***This cost of this safari is based on a minimum of 6 participants. If there are less than 6 participants a small supplement fee of $795.00 will apply.
A USD $3,000.00 Non-refundable deposit is due at the time of registration to secure your spot. We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance to cover your deposit.
Price Includes:
- two In-country flights with extra weight allowance (Total of 65lbs)
- Transportation from Arrival until departure
- 9 nights first class accommodations
- Guaranteed row in private 4X4 Land cruisers
- All National Parks fees, Game Reserves entrance fees, and taxes
- Premium exclusive photo boats
- All meals except on arrival and departure days
- Water, soda, coffee, tea, domestic beer and wine at the camps
- Two professional African wildlife photographer guides
Price does Not Include:
- Visas
- Travel Insurance
- Personal purchases (such as curious, spirit liquors, telephone calls, internet, laundry…)
- Gratuities for the guides, staff at accommodations, and airport transfers
- Optional extra activities not listed on the itinerary
- International flights to and from the African Continent
- Airport tax $15
Payment Terms
- USD $3,000.00 non-refundable deposit to confirm your place on this safari
- 2nd payment of USD $3,000.00 + single supplement if applicable, is due January 15, 2019
- Final payment/Balance is due June 5 , 2019
REGISTRATION AND DEPOSIT
If you are excited to join this premier exclusive safari now is the time to secure your spot as these 6 spots usually go quickly. Use the buttons below to fill out your online e-registration form and to make your deposit. We must receive both your completed registration form and your deposit/s to confirm your spot.
Registration form – Please complete all the required fields. At the end of the form you will be asked to confirm your email address, which will complete the registration. A copy of your registration will be emailed to you and to Piper Mackay Photo Safaris.
Deposit– Use the button below to make your deposit. You do not need to have a Paypal account to use this payment service. You may make more than one deposit at a time by changing the quantity on the purchase details.
