Want to do a photographic safari in Africa early next year. Will be travelling solo. Any recommendations of a tour that focuses on the photography part (rather than hunting?). Thanks.

Don;t know about safaris purely for photography but I haven't come across any for hunting. I'm looking at S. Kenya and N. Tanzania ones for next year. E-mail me if you want to discuss.

I am not sure you could find a hunting safari any more. They are virtually all photographic. We used Bushbuck Safari Ltd out of Arusha, Tanzania, and had a fabulous experience. They do all of the major parks, and all of the guides were terrific. Ours was Thomas, whom I highly recommend, although it has been a few years ago now. If you allow 10 days or so you can do the Sererngeti, Ngorogoro, Tarangire, and Lake Manyara, etc. KLM flies to Kilimanjaro Airport from Amsterdam, and Bushbuck will meet and help you. See: www.bushbuckltd.com (http://www.bushbuckltd.com)

Very reasonably priced and wonderful staff. Try to get a Land Rover rather than a Toyota Mini Bus!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SOMA1K:
I am not sure you could find a hunting safari any more.</font>

You can find plenty, and then some. Try www.africanhunting.com (http://www.africanhunting.com) for starters.

There is a lot of hunting in Africa, including quite a bit of really unethical stuff such as canned lion hunts. Personally I disapprove of recreational hunting, but in many African countries it is an important source of income, especially in rural areas.

johan

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ldsant:
Want to do a photographic safari in Africa early next year.</font>

Do you mean a general game viewing safari, or a safari for serious amateur photographers? The latter are accompanied by a professional wildlife photographer, and are specifically intended for those who want to hone their wildlife photography skills.

General game viewing safaris are available for all budgets in a host of countries from Uganda down to South Africa. The topic is far to extensive to cover in any detail here.

I suggest you initially do a thorough internet search on a number of relevant keywords, and then perhaps borrow a couple of (guide) books from your local library.

johan

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by johan rebel:
Do you mean a general game viewing safari, or a safari for serious amateur photographers? The latter are accompanied by a professional wildlife photographer, and are specifically intended for those who want to hone their wildlife photography skills.

General game viewing safaris are available for all budgets in a host of countries from Uganda down to South Africa. The topic is far to extensive to cover in any detail here.

I suggest you initially do a thorough internet search on a number of relevant keywords, and then perhaps borrow a couple of (guide) books from your local library.

johan

</font>

I am looking for a photographic safari where I can hone my skills. I have already done the internet search and guide books route. Was looking to see if anybody has actually done one and could recommend a specific place.

Thanks everybody for your responses! Especially the poster above with the suggestion of the safari tour place - it looks great! I appreciate your assistance.

Follow up: hunting is officially banned in Kenya. Supposedly allowed in other countries.

Our safari was wonderful. It was part of a safari/cruise. After the safari, we cruised to the Seychelles from Mombassa. I was extremely impressed by the safari tour operator. Our time in the Masai Mara was unforgettable. I highly recommend this tour operator. The safari was organized by Micato.
Please see the website: http://www.africansafari.org/micato/

For me, DIY is the best. Rent your own vehicle and you can camp out as long as you want to shoot the animals. On a tour, you are subject to someone elses schedule.

I also generally prefer doing it on my own, but this may be the exception. Not at all sure what the situation in Kenya and other places is, but I think the national parks in Tanzania and the camps in Botswana require guides. At least that is my recollection of Tanzania.

Incidentally, guides in Tanzania are required to undergo a reasonable amount of training and are normally very knowledgeable about the wildlife. Another advantage to guided tours is that the guides all have radios and tell each other where the game are congregating, where the rangers are so that you can get off road for the better picture, etc. It might also be hard to find some things on your own (the occasional view, albeit rare, say of a Black Rhino) par example.

Again, I think you can book locally in Arusha and have a guide and Rover for just you and your immediate party pretty reasonably priced. Make sure you know where you will stay and look out for poor vehicle quality and you should be ok.

Thanks guys! These are great suggestions. As far as doing it on my own. . .perhaps if I were an experienced camper or travelling non-solo that might be an appealing option; but I think I'll go with one of the suggested tours here. Ya'll are the best! Thanks again for pointing me in the "right" direction.

I just returned from a safari in Botswana run by www.wilderness-safaris.com (http://www.wilderness-safaris.com) which I highly recommend. Check out their website because they have a special safari which emphasizes photography.