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
