2009 "Focus on the Serengeti"
Tanzania, Africa Photographic Safari

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About this Photographic Safari

This photographic safari will be conducted in the east African country of Tanzania, home to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro. It will combine an exciting photography workshop in one of the world's most outstanding wildlife, birding, landscape and cultural locations together with a luxury vacation in fascinating Tanzania.

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Tanzania

There is no doubt that Tanzania offers one of the best environments in the world for an enriching wildlife and birding experience. The country's game and bird viewing opportunities are considered by many to be the best in Africa. Its game parks are populated with many of the world's most exotic creatures, including all of the "Big Five." Its lakes are huge and bountiful with fish. Its cities are relaxed and friendly. Yet, to a greater degree than is true of many of its neighbors, this sprawling county, the largest in East Africa, remains untouched by the vacationing hordes.

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Day 3 - Serengeti - Loliondo

Full day of game drives and activities.

Day 4 - Serengeti National Park

After breakfast, game drive as you travel to the southern area of the Serengeti, a great location for this time of year for observing the herds. Enjoy a picnic lunch along the way.

You will be spending four nights at Ndutu Lodge http://www.ndutu.com/index.html

Day 5 - Serengeti

Full day of game drives in the park. During two of the days while you are staying here you will also have permits to visit the area known as Gol Kopjes, a great spot for finding cheetahs.

Day 6 - Serengeti

Full day of game drives in the park.

Day 7 - Serengeti

Full day of game drives in the park.

Day 8 - Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, enjoy one last game drive as you travel out of the Serengeti on your way to Ngorongoro Crater, stopping along the way to visit Oldupai Gorge, the site of Louis and Mary Leakey's famous archaeological discoveries. Continue to the Crater for an afternoon game drive on the Crater floor.

You will be spending two nights at Crater Serena http://www.serenahotels.com /tanzania/serengeti/home.asp

Day 9 - Ngorongoro Crater

Be prepared to leave the lodge by 6 AM to be able to be one of the first vehicles down on the Crater floor. Full day of game drives in the Crater, enjoying a picnic lunch, so that you can spend the entire day exploring this natural wonder .

Day 10 - Lake Manyara

After breakfast, drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Arrive at your hotel in time for lunch. After lunch, enjoy game drives in Lake Manyara, a small but beautiful park, famous for its elephants, tree-climbing lions, hippos, spectacular soda lake, and varied birdlife.

You will be spending one night at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

http://www.serenahotels.com /tanzania/lakemanyara/home.asp

Day 11 - Arusha - Fly Out

After breakfast, enjoy an early morning game drive in the park. After your morning visit to Lake Manyara, drive back to Arusha. You will arrive in time for some souvenir shopping and for a picnic lunch at Cultural Heritage Centre. After lunch, you will be transferred to Arumeru River Lodge where you will have time to shower, pack and relax at the lodge by the pool. In the early evening, after your farewell dinner, you will be transferred to the airport for your return flight to the US.

... OR ...

Safari Possible Extension - February 23-26.

Day 12 - Tarangire National Park

Early morning game drive in Lake Manyara National Park.

After your game drive, you will drive from Lake Manyara to Tarangire National Park. Once you get to the park gate you will be game driving as you travel to your lodge, enjoying a picnic lunch along the way.

You will be spending three nights at Kikoti Tented Lodge http://africanconservancycompan y.com/kikoti.htm

LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK is a fantastic park for birdwatchers. More than 350 species have been recorded here, and it is not unreasonable to expect to see 50 or perhaps even 100 species in a single day! Many species are found at or near the beautiful lake, such as the thousands of flamingoes who feed on the algae, as well as other large water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. In addition to the water birds, there are also those who prefer the forest, such as hornbills in the high canopy.

But Manyara has a lot more than birds to offer. It is incredibly scenic, located along the Rift Valley escarpment, nearly 2000 feet high. Ernest Hemingway called this magnificent setting, “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.

In addition to the lake, there is also a lush jungle-like groundwater forest whose residents include baboon troops and blue monkeys, which never cease to entertain.

On the grassy floodplain, buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate, along with giraffes. And, in the acacia woodlands, one might find Manyara's famous tree-climbing lions, as well as its numerous resident elephants.

There are also banded mongoose, dik-dik, klipspringers. bushbuck, porcupines, and many other species in Lake Manyara. The park is so rich and varied it has, in fact, been called a “microcosm of Tanzania's safari experience”.

Day 13 - Tarangire National Park

Full day of game drives in the park. Enjoy a night drive one of the evenings you are in the park TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK is also rich in birdlife. With over 300 species, bird watching is amazing all year round. In fact, the park boasts the highest recorded number of breeding bird species in one habitat anywhere in the world.. It is one of the best parks to spot raptors, as Tarangire is home to an incredible variety and abundance of these airborne predators, including the bateleur eagle, tawny eagle, long-crested eagle, martial eagle, fish eagle and spotted eagle owl.

Many bird species can be found around Silale Swamp, such as crowned cranes along the shoreline, and great egrets in the shallows, as well as a myriad of other species of all shapes and sizes who are attracted to the water and food found here. Some species prefer the drier areas of the park, such as Kori bustards, ostriches, ground hornbills, flocks of colorful yellow- collared lovebirds, and red-billed quelea birds, as well as the drabber rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starlings– all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.

In addition to the birdlife, there is an abundance of other wildlife to be found here. Tarangire is actually one of Tanzania's most spectacular parks, renowned for its wild landscapes and diverse habitats, as well as its magnificent baboab trees (it has been called the “Baobab Capital of the World”). The Tarangire River, from which the park derives its name, is the only permanent water source within 1625 sq.miles of protected wildlife area. So, Tarangire is a great place to find animals who come to quench their thirst here.

Some of the residents you might find in Tarangire include lion, leopard, giraffe, jackal, banded mongoose, rock hyrax, impala, baboon, vervet monkey, bushbaby dik-dik, waterbuck, warthog, reedbuck and the rare kudu and oryx. The park is also home to one of the last remaining pack of wild dogs in northern Tanzania, but they remain an extremely elusive find.

Tarangire is most famous for its elephants. There are 3,000 resident elephants in the park and another 3,000 individuals migrate into the park during the dry season of July-October. Elephants can begin to migrate into Tarangire as early as May and June as they follow the long rains and come to feed on the tall swamp grass found here. Elephant watching is excellent in Tarangire all year round.

Tarangire also has the second largest migration of animals in Africa, after the Serengeti Migration. During the dry season, herd animals of all kinds (elephants, wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and antelopes) migrate from the surrounding areas for the water found inside the park. Also occurring during the dry season, the famous giant rock pythons leave the swamp to avoid being stepped on by these herd animals, and live in the trees on the edge of the swamp. These are amazing creatures and some of the most unusual wildlife viewing is of rock pythons killing large animals of all kinds!

Day 14 - Tarangire

Full day of game drives in the park.

Day 15 - Arusha - Fly Out

After breakfast, enjoy a short game drive in the early morning as you drive out of the park and travel to Arusha (2 hours from the park gate). You will arrive in time for some souvenir shopping and for a picnic lunch at the Cultural Heritage Centre. After lunch, you will be transferred to Arumeru River Lodge where you will have time to shower, pack and relax at the lodge by the pool. In the early evening, after your farewell dinner, you will be transferred to the airport for your return flight to the US.

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"Zebra Blur" © Greg Downing, all rights reserved.

Why go on this photographic safari?

This African safari will feature all the stunning wildlife viewing opportunities that Tanzania has to offer, with one special bonus: you will be traveling in the company of a professional photographer familiar with the African landscape and wildlife and experienced naturalist guides. Suitable for all levels of photographic experience, this safari will encourage you to ask questions, try out different techniques, experiment with dramatic lighting and learn from not only your leader, but from other members of your group.

We will travel by Land Rover (with a maximum of three photographers per vehicle to ensure ample space for your equipment), and we will spend each night in comfortable safari lodges or luxury permanent camps with built in plumbing and running water. This will allow us to relax and savor our beautiful surroundings, but it will also afford us the ability to clean or recharge our gear as we go. The instruction will be casual and flexible taking into account everyone's level of skill and bearing in mind that Africa and its wildlife are by definition wild and unpredictable!

What makes this safari different from other safaris?

What are your accommodations like? We have two main types of accommodations: Game lodges and permanent tented camps. All of our accommodations are clean, and provide private en suite bathroom facilities. On our tented camp locations, each private tent comes with beds and bed sheets, private restroom facilities and a permanent hot shower. All lodging is extremely safe, and our guides and staff are there to please. All of our digital camera electrical needs are handled, as we will always have facilities for recharging our laptops, cameras and iPods!

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