Lessons from a successful safari

Hello and Happy Holidays,

As I mentioned last time, we had a great time on our trip, but there are a few things we got right out of sheer luck, and a few things we would do differently next time. In case you are planning on heading on safari sometime soon, here are some things to keep in mind:

• We went during the dry season, but we still encountered a few days of significant rain. Plan for it and your trip will be much better. We had some issues getting to camp one day due to a flash flood, but overall the rain was nothing more than an inconvenience. If we hadn’t had appropriate layers and quick drying clothes, it could have been a long couple of days.
• We spent more time at Lake Manyara and in the Northern Serengeti than we needed to. Lake Manyara is relatively small, and should be visited, however a single day would be plenty. The claim that this is the only place where you can see tree-climbing lions is not true. We saw lions in trees in many locations, but not there. While there were plenty of grazers (zebra, wildbeest. topi, etc.) in the northern part of the Serengeti, we didn’t see many of the more exciting animals (cats). While the north may be worth visiting during the migration to watch the river crossings, during the dry season we would prefer to spend additional time in the south.
• Definitely pack for the worst. We brought an extensive first aid kit, which we fortunately didn’t use much, but simply having it around was reassuring. (More details later.)
  Though we were well taken care of at camp, we were fed traditional American food. Apparently, had we specifically requested it when we booked our trip, we could have obtained African food at mealtimes. This was our major disappointment, as we would have preferred to eat more of the local cuisine. Unfortunately, we were unaware of this issue in advance.
• Bring lots of hand sanitizer and bug spray. While the tsetse flies seem to be attracted to deet, the rest of the insects appear to be deterred.
• Because you are not going to be able to head off-road in Tanzania, it is important to bring a couple of very good lenses to get shots from a distance. A good pair of binoculars doesn’t hurt, either.
• In the southern Serengeti, our camp was pretty far from the major animal viewing areas, so we spent an hour or so each way just going to and from the park. This is one of the areas where it may make more sense to stay in a lodge, since they are much closer to the prime viewing area. This is especially true if you include a hot-air balloon ride, as the take-off site is only minutes from a major lodge.
• Because we wanted to focus on photography, we were on a private safari. Much to our surprise, the additional cost was minimal, and the flexibility provided was definitely worth it. We were able to customize the time spent in each camp, and since it was just us in the car, we were able to spend as much or as little time as we wanted viewing various animals. This is definitely worth exploring, and not nearly as expensive as you would think.
• If you shoot digital, bring a way to store images from memory cards. We took over 7,000 pictures, and while we had a lot of cards, we needed a huge amount of space to hold everything. We used a Hyperdrive Colorspace, and were very happy with the unit. We will be writing up a product review on it later.

Terence
http://www.cityescapesphotography.com/

Choosing a safari company

Good afternoon,

Once we picked the location that we were most interested in, we had to determine with whom we were going to work. Choose the right company and you ensure that your trip will be memorable and fun; choose the wrong one and you could be in for a miserable experience. We spent a lot of time talking to various travel companies, including AAA and Costco, to see whom they recommended. We also researched companies on the web to get feedback from people who had actually been on a trip. Unfortunately, no one we know has been on a safari, so we couldn’t count on personal recommendations. Based on initial findings, we were able to fairly quickly narrow the field down to two companies: Thomson Safaris (http://www.thomsonsafaris.com/ ) and Micato Safaris (http://www.micato.com/ ). We ultimately chose Thomson because 1) of their established history -- they have been in business for 25 years; 2) they exclusively serve Tanzania (though they are part of a larger travel network that serves other destinations as well); and 3) they hire only local Tanzanian residents in-country. (It is important to us that the local populations benefit from wildlife preservation efforts, wherever we are.) Thomson was also more affordable than Micato, while still providing the amenities and activities we were interested in. Based on the little bit we saw in Tanzania, however, Micato would also be a good choice (nice vehicles, similar guides, and good camps, as well as a favorable impression of them held by our guide).

We were very pleased with our experiences with Thomson. The service was everything we had hoped it would be, and then some. Right at the outset, they were very helpful in establishing our itinerary. They worked with us to accommodate our luggage requirements (i.e., a very large and heavy camera bag in addition to the normal safari gear), and once they understood what we were trying to do, there were no problems at all getting things set up. The camps were far more luxurious than we had been expecting, with each tent holding a queen-sized bed, two nightstands, and two bookshelves, as well as an attached bathroom, with vanity, shower and a flush porta-potty. The meals were truly extravagant, and the staff was always exceptionally friendly and helpful. For instance, the camp guards would stand with Jodi when she was taking sunrise or sunset shots to keep any wandering cape buffalo or elephants at bay. Finally, our guide Mustafa was wonderful. While he was conservative and conscientiously followed the rules, ensuring, for example, that we were back at camp before the park officially closed, he was extremely knowledgeable about the area and gave us a lot of insight into both the wildlife and the local culture. He also had a knack for getting us into the right position to take great shots from the Range Rover – an especially important talent given that Tanzania requires you to stay in your vehicle in its national parks..

Based on our experiences, we would highly recommend Thomson Safaris. However, as with every trip, we would do a few things differently, as well. Next time, some of our lessons learned.

Terence
www.cityescapesphotography.com

Choosing a safari location

Hello again,

In early September we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take a photo safari. This was an outstanding trip -- many would say once-in-a-lifetime, but I am an optimist. However, it required a huge amount of planning over the course of several months to make sure everything came together. (Don’t worry, while we don’t have any safari photos available for sale yet, they will be coming soon.)

Our initial plan was fairly vague – we wanted to do a safari in Africa. That left a lot of room for interpretation. So, the first decision we needed to make was where we were really going to go – and then, which travel agent / tour company we should go with. We looked at South Africa, but really wanted to go on a more traditional East African safari, and ideally be able to see the big cats – Jodi really likes cats. :)

Kenya is the customary choice for photographers, since it has historically allowed the maximum flexibility for taking pictures – you can stay in the park after sunset and enter before sunrise, and the vehicles can go off-road, making it easier to pick the perfect spot for pictures. Unfortunately, Kenya had two major problems. The first was that it has recently been relatively unstable politically, with serious problems arising in late 2007. The second is that, because Kenya has not been fully aware of the impact of vehicles on its wildlife, the wildlife is suffering, with, for example, cheetahs becoming increasingly rare (safari vehicles surround them at all hours of the day, preventing them from hunting). While the rules are changing, because conservation is very important to us, we did not want to reward bad behavior, even though it would make our job (taking great pictures) easier.

Instead, we focused on Tanzania - Kenya’s southern neighbor. Tanzania is where the Serengeti is located (it is called the Maasai Mara when it reaches Kenya), as well as Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Most of the animals we wanted to see are available in Tanzania, and with 25%-30% of the country dedicated to national parks, it is clear the government takes its environmental stewardship role seriously.

Even within Tanzania, however, there was too much for us to see and do given our time constraints. We had to prioritize our trip, and chose to focus on the northern part of the country. This meant that we missed out on several cultural activities, as well as visiting the chimpanzees in the Mahale. Because of our timing, we weren’t even able to make it to Kilimanjaro, which was our only major disappointment. However, we did visit four of the national parks, saw a tremendous amount of wildlife, and had an outstanding time.

Next time, I’ll talk about our tour company.

Terence

Welcome to our blog

Hi,

My name is Terence, and I am the co-founder and tech support person for a small nature photography company called City Escapes Nature Photography (http://www.cityescapesphotography.com/ ). My wife, Jodi, and I started this company about two years ago as a way to share some of the wonder and awe we feel toward nature with others, and to bring a bit of nature into people’s homes.

It has taken a while for us to go from agreeing to the idea of starting the business, to getting the web-based storefront running, which happened in 2007. We are still learning a lot about all aspects of the business. I am currently fixated on improving our Google page ranking, while Jodi continues to learn more about the capabilities of her new camera and the subtle nuances of various framing techniques.

Over the past year, we have used the internet to support our research in a wide variety of ways. We have found much useful information, but often we needed to pull things together from a variety of sources to come up with the picture that we needed (pun intended J ).

This blog is our way of providing something back to the broader community. We will be posting lessons learned, product reviews, and general observations about a variety of things we have found important. Hopefully, this will provide you at least part of the information you need to make informed choices.

Terence