THE TRIP:

Have you dreamed of taking the ultimate photography trip, by going on an African safari, to visit the countless and varied wildlife, combined with vivid landscapes? If asked, most photographers would tell you that an African photo safari would be their dream destination for their photographic interests.

This adventure packed photographic safari will feature all the stunning wildlife viewing opportunities that the region has to offer, with one special bonus: you will be travelling in the company of a professional photographer. Suitable for all levels of photographic experience, these safari “workshops” 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.

Livingstone town, named after missionary and explorer David Livingstone, is located about 10km from the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. Livingstone acts as a gateway to the magnificent attractions of the Falls. The noise sounds like thunder and the air looks as if filled with smoke. With a lip spanning one km, more than five million litres of water per second plunge over this edge, at the height of the floods, down into the chasm 100 meters below. The best views of the magnificent Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, are seen from the Zambian side. And it just viewing the Falls is not enough, the area boasts a myriad of adventure activities through which the visitor can fully appreciate the real Africa at its finest. Livingstone itself is the Adventure Capital of Africa, offering a range of activities for wildlife and adventure enthusiasts, as well as access to the best views of Victoria Falls. However, the old architecture and charm of Livingstone, the former capital of Zambia, should not be overlooked in the excitement of entering the gateway to the falls.

Chobe National Park, in northwest Botswana, has one of the largest game concentration in Africa continent. By size, this is the third largest park of the country, after the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Gemsbok National Park, and is the most diverse. This is also the country's first national park. The park is probably best known for its spectacular elephant population: 50,000 elephants today, it is actually the highest elephant concentration of Africa. Moreover, most of them are probably part of the largest continuous surviving elephant population on Earth. Notwithstanding the elephants, Chobe has some of the finest game viewing in Africa. It is notable for huge herds of buffalo and zebras, lechwe, Chobe bushbuck and being the southernmost point where puku antelope can be seen. Where there are buffalo, lions are never far away and there is a good chance of seeing large prides who laze around in the shade all day and only yawn themselves awake at dusk. Hyena and leopard also hunt at night while cheetah are diurnal predators. Chobe is rich in bird life with the Pel's Fishing own a favourite for bird watchers and the peculiar strangely beaked African skimmer another speciality. African fish eagles are common and their distinctive cry is as evocative of the African wilderness as the roar of the lion.

Then on to Ngepi Camp, situated in the unspoiled upper reaches of the Okavango delta panhandle in the western Caprivi strip, Kavango region, Namibia.  With clean Kalahari desert air, the camp is set on an island under amazing trees with permanent river frontage and surrounded by seasonally flooded swamps. It is a paradise of flooded plains and secret swampy backwaters, teaming with wildlife, as we are nestled between Mahango National park, a few km’s to the south, and Bwabwata National Park directly opposite across the river. This region is region teeming with wildlife - elephant, lion, leopard, hippo, buffalo, the African Wild Dog and the rare Sable and Roan antelope abound in both the Bwabwata and Mahango National Parks. Ngepi is renowned as one of the best birding spots in Namibia, so camera's and binoculars at the ready!

ITINERARY:

• Day 1 - Arrival into Livingston group meeting and dinner at 6pm. Please arrive before the group meeting, check in is at 12pm.

• Day 2 - Start the day with a half day workshop and walk around the falls with Andrew. The rest of the afternoon is free to wander the falls and practice your new photo skills. We will all meet up that evening for a dinner cruise.

• Day 3 - Optional photo workshop in the morning-otherwise a free day to experience all the sites and adventure sports available in the area. Optional Activities include: helicopter around the falls, speed boat tour, ultra light flying, walking trails, swimming

• Day 4 - Transfer to Chobe National Park (all day and boarder crossing into Zambia)

• Day 5 - Chobe National Park home of the largest population of elephants in Africa. We will take a 2 day guided safari around the park.

• Day 6 - Chobe National Park

• Day 7 - Transfer to Ngepi Camp in Namibia

• Day 8 - Ngepi Camp will be the base of our Okavango Delta experience. Take a day to float down the delta on a dug out canoe, bird watch, white water raft and camp, and relax at the rustic camp.

• Day 9 - Ngepi

• Day 10 - Ngepi

• Day 11 - Departure Day/transfer back to Livingston.

instructor(s):

South African born Andrew Thomasson, has a passion for Africa and adventure, wildlife and nature photography. As director of his company Focus 10, Andrew spends his time co-ordinating and teaching a series of training courses throughout Australia and running photographic workshops around the world. Andrew has led many photographic tours for World Expeditions including recent trips to Western Australia the Flinders Ranges and the Red Centre.

Andrew has travelled extensively in Africa and has led many photographic tours to the region including wildlife canoe safaris down the Zambezi River, trekking the Wild Coast of Lesotho, pony trekking and climbing in the Drakensburg Mountains, Ngorongoro Crater and plains of Tanzania, wildlife parks of Kenya and exploring Morocco.

On this tour, not only will you learn everything about your film and digital camera, you will be picking up invaluable tips and technique from a mastertrainer.

Andrew will impart the professional tips and help create the right opportunities so you can take stunning images of the stunning flora and fauna of Namibia. For Andrew’s African wildlife gallery, please contact him directly on andrew@focus10.com.au .

Pre-requisite:

Nil

requirements:

To maximise your photographic adventure, we recommend bringing along the following:

• A quality DSLR camera such as a Canon EOS 1, 5D,  50D, 450D, Nikon D80, D200, D300, D700,  D3 etc.

• At least two quality lens such as a Nikkor 18-200mm or a Nikon /Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Nikon/ Canon 70-200mm f2.8, Nikon 80-400mm and at least one fast prime lens (50mm f1.4 or 1.8 and/or a 85mm f1.8)

• At least one zoom lens of 300mm or more or a 10x zoom on your quality compact

• Memory Card(s): We recommend at least 10GB of memory cards

• Any camera accessories - such as a tripod, polarizing filter, digital storage wallet is also useful

• We also cater to film camera users and highly recommend you'll be using transparency (slide) film such as Fuji Provia 100, Fiji Velvia, Kodak Ektachrome etc

dates:

Departs 25 June 2011 (ex Livingstone, Namibia) - 11 days

course price
& inclusions:

To be advised