Safari activities; The Photographic Safari

Ever wondered where those professional photographers on NatGeo go for those amazing African wildlife photos and programs? Probably not because its so darn obvious, they go on a safari trip!! There are specialty packages to offer you a full on photographic safari but those are for those are pro videographers  with tons of kit and crews. I want to focus on the lesser working guy, the hobbyist photographer in safari.

If you like taking photos you will love safari, wildlife photography, landscapes, people and even macro photography opportunities are everywhere.

What to bring?
It depends on how much you are into your photography, a smartphone is a bit too small so you may want to bring a decent point  and  shoot, one with a larger pixel count will be nice. But nice is not what you want so just bring that pro-sumer DSLR or mirrorless and a few lenses and your safari pictures will be breathtaking.

A good zoom lens is essential because you will be stuck in a car, a few prime lenses will also be handy.  Personally I prefer to carry only two lenses, something that zooms to 600mm and an 85mm prime.



All the camps have electricity so charging wont be a problem, do bring a universal charger though.

Photographing people
Generally the public doesn't mind being taken photos, kids love it but do ask first. If you are a portrait photographer hoping to get stills then you really have to ask and even offer $20.

 

 

 



Safari activities: The Game Walk

One of the most thrilling activities you can do on your safari is a game walk, yes that means walking into a jungle filled with all that wilderness, with those meat eating giant cats, short tempered buffalo and raging elephants. Okay I am sounding  a bit scary there but its that fear that sets apart those who do game walks and those who don't!!, Read on to see if you are a game walker........

What is a game walk?

A game walk is basically just a walk, you walk into the wilderness and experience game sightings in the most unaltered way. The walk involves a small group and two guides, they will take you on a track and you will nature and wildlife at a very unique perspective. Not all camps offer this activity but choose a camp with the activity and you are in for thrill.

 

Why do a game walk?

Its a completely different activity, it transforms your safari because it is filled with so much emotions you will have to let it sink in. Firstly its very frightening to do, which means all you senses will be heightened. You don't get to be relaxed and affixed to the menu settings on your camera like you do on a game drive. Your survival instincts don't care much about anything during a walk because you feel fragile, you don't have time for that  Instagram pix when you know lions loom in the shrubs behind you!! The safari walk tends to scale you down to a very minuscule being as you walk into the wild and realize you are neither faster nor stronger than any animal surrounding you. You come from a game walk with profound respect to nature.

Is it safe?

Surprisingly yes, there hadn't been any reported case of game walkers being eaten or attacked. Most companies that offer walking activities do so in game reserves that have very low numbers of carnivores, so scary as it there is nothing to fear. Camps that offer walks in zones with higher concentration of carnivores usually do so in Botswana where wildlife rarely attack people. And as a precautionary matter the guides taking you on your game walk will at all times me carrying a very powerful hunting rifles to ward off any attackers. So listen to your guide and have fun. You may as well live you camera at camp, its one of those moments that will only remain memories on your mind.

 

Caveat: Backpackers and overlanders, DO NOT ATTEMPT GAME WALKS. Walking into the wilderness must at all times be carried out in presence of a licensed guide and only on regions that have been deemed safe to do so.

 

My disclaimer; I am in Botswana and our wildlife hasn't been harassed, the parks are hundreds of miles from human settlement so the animals don't really have a problem with human, they don't even know the taste of man!! Avoid walks in parks or reserves that border or are within human settlements as those have animals that are agitated y farmers and poachers, those animals will attack you.

Why go on a safari vacation

So you have been thinking about it for a while now, the great African escape, a safari in the savanna, the Kalahari or even the Sahara. But you can’t quite understand why a safari is the best option, especially compared to that Arab escape in the plush Dubai and Abu Dhabi resorts. I mean the safari trip costs pretty much the same if not more and with all the other factors considered, a vacation to the Arabic deserts is much better. You will get there faster and the infrastructure is way better, but that itch to do safari stays persistent. Why exactly do you want to do a safari vacation?

Lets try listing some convincing points!

 

 

-          It’s a safari, just saying that makes it a must, how many friends or family do you know who has that African safari tale that they can’t stop telling?  A safari vacation has been a mainstay in the bucket lists of many a discerning world traveler. The appeal is raised by how exclusive and different it is, Paris tower and a few other destinations have been publicized so much they don't have that impact anymore, a safari on the other hand is very much mysterious, you don't really know where you will go once you arrive at your destination. every day becomes a mystery as the guides still have to scout the bush to find you the wildlife, and the experiences do not exist elsewhere.

-          Its challenging, going on safari is not as easy as going on other vacations. It takes years in planning and months in preparing documentation, you don’t just pick up and vacate as you would you on an European trip. Here you will need medical tests, VISA and even permissions on certain instances. This buildup adds to the excitement.

-          The natural beauty, possibly the main reason you want to come on safari. You have grown up seeing animals on zoos and maybe a few on a circus, and a bit of you has always been against seeing animals in captivity, the African safari offers you a chance to see the animals in their natural habitat, freely roaming and being wild.

-          Isolation and space, freedom, choose your tour provider and destination wisely and you disappear on the radar (in a good way😝). A safari destination usually involves places with no evidence of modernity, no internet, radio, TV cellphones and best of all, no noise. The silence is amazing, allowing to completely wind down and unplug. And the views are amazing as well, the skies get really dark at night so you will star gaze like never before. Its this reason that many couples come to really catch up, its serene, quite, lazy and super luxurious. But that doesn't mean you cant come solo, you can come and do as much soul searching as you want, there wont many singles though so don't get your hopes too high!!

We could go on trying to sell you the reasons you want to come on safari but as we both know, you don't need any.

 

Why is Botswana safari so expensive?

You  have seen it in Lonely Planet as the 2016 Best in Travel, the guys at National Geographic Travel keeps giving it top honors as well and careers of countless wildlife videographers and photographers  have been built on its beauty.  Now want a piece of that Botswana safari, but the moment you check for  tour packages online it becomes clear just how expensive doing safari on Botswana is, why is it so expensive?
 

Lets try explaining a few of the reasons why.

 

Its by design

The Botswana government decided to limit the amount of tourist into its wilderness, they did this by setting very high standards and barriers of entry into the market. Conservation is the major priority here, the country actually has over 30% of its land designated to wildlife preservation (almost 18% of the country's area being purely reserved as national parks and game reserves). With so much emphasis on conservation Botswana’s policy favors low - impact luxury tourism, that right there explains why the prices are so high. A majority of the camps and service providers in the country are focusing on that high end market. These are world class five star rated properties that you can find on Conde Nast and Forbes travel recommendations. At the very top of these being Zafara Camp, Abu Camp and Sandibe Camp. Offering only a maximum of eight guest at any given time you can see how high they may have to stretch that price,but for the experience you'll have, the $2000 a night price is somewhat a giveaway!!

Don't quit yet, that's a only a handful of camps at that extremely high price tag, for similar luxury and experience you have the "sister" camps of those premium ones offering half that price and a bit more rooms, but at a maximum of 30 guests its hardly a deal breaker. That means that for around .
$1000 you can have pretty much the same kind of safari.

Branding
With a few royal families and celebrities coming to safari on Botswana, the industry players realized they may as well capitalize on it. Travel agents used that to justify placing Botswana at the very top of the safari experience and add to the fact that the country is not that popular on the world stage, a safari vacation in Botswana has come to be seen as all sorts of exotic.

Part of this has been boosted by the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari, They are both unique natural wonders and the diversity of game and birds is probably the most diverse on earth. Game populations are also high, you wont see more buffalo, elephant or zebra unless you are in the best bits of Serengeti.

Another factor is how the prices are bundled, once you pay these high prices you have covered almost everything, flights to the camps, meals, drinks and activities (stay smart and ask though, a full body massage and that expensive champagne may not be included).

Not all of it is that expensive
Do a bit of research on times of year to visit you can save a lot, the rule of thumb is mid year is expensive and year end less so. This however means you may loose out on the benefits of coming midyear. Many camps now offer a reasonable $500 a night, these are still high quality, good service safaris that offer pretty much the same experience as the top ones, there are few trade offs but they are still very luxurious camps, you wont feel uncomfortable at any of these camps.

The country itself is not that expensive
Botswana itself is not expensive, this is why I have been suggesting overlanding and backpacking. For around $200 a day you wont have any trouble with anything whatsoever, a taxi ride is 40cents, a liter of fuel is 90c, a good meal is less that $20 at Nandos, or KFC and a 4 star hotel rooms is around $90.  Beer does get expensive at about $1.50 an can though and cigarettes are expensive, again due to government policy efforts to reduce smoking amongst locals.

In the proper spirit of backpacking walk into the local supermarkets and fill up on all you need. You should however avoid local eateries offering meals for around $1, don't risk it. Your highest cost will be game drive, and you may need to think ahead as a group will get discounts.

But it is worth it?
Yes, the Okavango Delta is a must see, the Kalahari is a must see, Moremi is a must see, Chobe is a must see, well you get the drift. Pretty much any side of the safari you choose to take in Botswana will not disappoint you. The national parks are also concentrated in a smaller area so spend a week in Botswana and you will see everything. The service standards are also very high, the safari service providers have mastered their craft such that it all works like a well oiled machine, the flights are in time, the activities deliver and they don't hide any costs. The cost also seem much of a bargain as a Botswana safari offers pretty much any activity you can imagine, bush walks, safari drives, Mokoro rides etc.

The main reason and true benefit of vacationing on safari to Botswana is how surreal the place is. In an age where safari means twenty cars at a game sighting, paved roads in parks, fuels stations within game reserves, brick and mortar camps on river beds, cellphone coverage and simple noisy camps, Botswana still offers the serene, quite, tented, exclusive and personalized safari. Its a proper escape from the modern world as we no it, you will lose track of time the moment you fly into the wilderness.

The high focus on conservation also means you can sleep well at night knowing your vacation didn't leave a bigfoot carbon imprint, the camps are forced by law to have a minimum  impact on the ecosystem and you will readily see that the moment you set foot in the any of the camps, they effortless blend into nature.

Plus if you are into bird viewing then you are in for a treat, or astronomy, the skies presents the stars in a way you haven't seen yet. Those who rip it all however are the photographers, pros and amateurs alike enjoy this bits of earth.

 

Safari activities: The Game Drive

Safari activities are plenty, they include game drives, safari walks, photography, hot air balloon, bungee jumping, horse back safari etc. Lets start with the very basic of the safari activities, the game drive.

Game drive

A favorite to many, the game drive has been popularized by the first ever jeeps to explore the African savanna, open top vehicles  offering a panorama of the natural beauty around you. Since then safari companies have made it a standard  to have a few of this open vans. The purpose of the game drive is game viewing.

 

Each camp has its own schedule for how often and how long  your game drive will be, usually its early in the morning, midday and in the evening. That being said, game drives will make up over 75% of your safari, it is basically what you will be doing on a day to day basis. Choose one of the high end camps located in private concessions and you can order game drives at your will, they even offer night drives.

 

 

 

One factor that makes (or breaks) how much fun you will have in your game drive is the driver and guide, these two are the information sources, the animal spotters, the pace deciders and the narrators of the foray of nature that will be getting unveiled in your front of your eyes. A high paced game drives sucks, an impatient guide is no good and if they both cant spot animals you will lose out on game sightings. That being said most of the guides and drivers are proud of their trade and love to brag about their knowledge this means that they understand well just how fundamental they are to your experience and they deliver very well (ok they also deliver well because they love your generous tips and they are actually monitored, its a career that relies heavily in referrals so crappy guides never last). Tip them well and you may spot every single African mammal, bird, reptile and insect around that camp!!

 

The only other thing that may ruin your game drives is a bad safari guests, yes you can be in a car with a snob, a loud individual or the amateur photography hogging his twenty lenses and feeling the silence with shutter noises. When this happens, endure it fully knowing that another game drive is around the corner and you wont be in that car with them again!

 

Most camps will offer refreshments alcohol even to you whilst on your game drive. They bring all kinds of food in those car, and its your to devour, remember, your are on safari, calories don't count.

 

How do backpackers get a safari drive?

The easiest way is to camp on a town close to the park you want to visit, e.g. stay in Maun if you want to visit the Okavango Delta, Kalahari, Moremi and Chobe. The next thing to do is book a day drive, there are specialist companies offering day trips into these parks as around $300 for an individuals. These trips are even better that those on bush camps because its basically a full day game drive. There are downsides to a day trip though, firstly you are going to have to wake up at very early and endure a fast paced journey from the village to the park. It does add to the experience but I cant recall anyone who likes waking up and an ungodly hour and doing a rally stage in an open safari van, its treacherous.

 

A day trip misses something very import, an overnight stay in the African wilderness. Now you can't come all the way to Africa and miss a night in the jungle, the dark skies with sparkling stars, the night howls and hunt sound, you can't. So, rather than book a day trip, book an overnight, mobile safari, at around $400 you'll be good to go. The company will do all the catering and will pitch your tents as well, you won't even need your back pack. I will cover most of this on types of mobile safari.

 

Game drive on a self-drive? 

Well a self-drive on safari is a game drive all the way through, you will be driving yourself. The only difference is that you won’t have as much freedom as the companies on private concession so you will be bound by park rules. The main one being limitations on routes, you can’t go off road (weird because you are already off-road!), this means that you cannot create a new track, you must at all times stay within that beaten track you find. Spotting a leopard a bit further from the path? Too bad, you can’t get closer to it, risk it you will get fined, evicted and banned from that park, yes the wildlife wardens are green on a whole other level.

Safety

Game drives are safe, follow the instructions given by the guide and you will be ok. the instructions are:

• stay within the car at all times.
• do not make rush movements whilst in the car.
• stay cool and collected when close to game.
• do not feed game.

 To further protect you, the guide has a gun to ward off attacks.

 

There has been a few occurrences  of guests being attacked by animals when on a game drive, some fatal but to ease you, these are few and far apart. Another fact to consider is to ask your agency if the camps you are going has had any such case. The reality of the matter is, these attacks are few and far apart and all have occurred of human error, so be cautious every step of the way, right from the camps you choose because you are trusting them with your safety in a place far from any medical assistance and even further your home. The issue of safety rings higher on those planning to bring kids with them on safari, we will cover that on another post.