MASAI MARA

Masai Mara, Kenya’s most famous national park, is located in the southwest of the country and is popularly called just Mara. This gigantic and beautiful park continues from Kenya across the border into neighbouring Tanzania. There, however, the park changes its name from Masai Mara to Serengeti. About 10% of the area is located on the Kenyan side and the rest in Tanzania. To a large extent, the Masai Mara consists of open land and large grasslands. The park also has two rivers that cut through the landscape, the Mara River and the Talek river. It’s at a number of places along the Mara River that millions of wildebeest and zebras cross each year in what is known as ”the Big Migration”. Every year large herds of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti arrive in the Masai Mara to stay and graze for a couple of months. In autumn, the herds leave the park to return to the Serengeti before calving. In addition to this great attraction, the Masai Mara also offers an extensive variety of other animal species. Among other things, the park has a large population of lions, usually considered the park’s greatest attraction. There are also several other large felines such as leopard and cheetah. From the Jeep you will also have the opportunity to see everything from hyenas, jackals, giraffes, and gazelles to various kinds of antelopes, baboons, and other animal species. The rivers in the park are inhabited by hippos and the fascinating crocodiles and thanks to the vegetation adjacent to the river, it is possible to see elephants, ibex and kobus moving near the water.

PHOTOGRAPHY JEEPS

The vehicles we will use during the trip are Arnfinn Johansen’s private jeeps, modified four-wheel drive Toyota Landcruisers for photography purposes. The jeeps are spacious with a total seating of eight per jeep. They have three rows of seats for seven people behind the front seats, and thus six “window seats”. In order for us to get as good photo opportunities as possible, we will be no more than four people per Jeep.
The large open sides without windows also have very low frames. This is a great advantage, both when panning and low-perspective action shots and also gives us a good overview of everything that is moving around the jeep. The roof of the jeep can be folded up if you want to stand up to take pictures. Since we have the car to ourselves, we can choose to take out rows of seats to get more space or lie on the floor and taking pictures through a ”photo slot” in the door, to get a lower angle view. You can also remove two front seats, which makes it possible to lie on the thick rubber mats that cover the floor. This gives very good opportunities to photographing the animals at eye level. The car has six 230-volt electrical outlets, which allows you to easily charge batteries for cameras and computers. Given the design of the Jeep, it is also easy to use a tripod, monopods, and bean bags in the car. There are several small and large bean bags fastened in the car.

FULL-DAY GAME DRIVE

All of the days will be full-day game drive in the park. This is to ensure you get as much out of your photo week as possible. Full-day game drive give you extra photo time as we don’t have to leave the park in the middle of the day for lunch but can follow the animals all day. We bring breakfast and lunch and eat it out on the savannah.

TOUR ITINERARY 14-21/9 2024

During the week Arnfinn will give us lectures and you will do image editing while Arnfinn provides you with constructive criticism.

DAY 1, (SEPT. 14) – ARRIVAL AT MASAI MARA
Gathering at Nairobi International Airport at 07:00 where a driver meets us for transport to Masai Mara. There’s a five-hour bus ride before we arrive at the park. When we arrive at our camp, Oltepesi Tented Safari Camp, we will be met by Arnfinn Johansen and after check-in, we share lunch together. Then it’s time for the first game drive in our specially built jeep that will give us unique photo opportunities in the coming days. After our first game drive in Masai Mara we have dinner at the camp. (L, D)

DAY 2-7, (SEPT. 15-20) – FULL DAY IN THE PARK
During the days we will explore the surroundings of Masai Mara with the help of our talented Masai guides and our driver and under the guidance of award-winning photographer Arnfinn Johansen. As a result, there will be a lot of time for conversations, personal guidance as well as advice and tips.

The main goal during these days is the great migration. Already on the way to the river you will meet thousands of wildebeest who are practically marching in formation towards the water to cross the Mara River in search of new and greener pastures. To see thousands of wildebeest and zebras waiting at the river’s edge for the right moment to venture into the dangerous river where the crocodiles are waiting is an exciting experience. Suddenly, the pressure becomes too great, and the first animal takes the step into the water, and what then follows is one of the greatest spectacles of the animal world, giving you almost endless compositional possibilities for your images.

Maybe you choose long shutter speed to focus on the crowds of animals moving down towards the river or maybe you zoom in on the zebra fighting its way across the water; Regardless, you get photography and nature experiences that you will not find anywhere else. The dangers are not over after crossing the river; in the tall grass above the steep slopes, lions lay in wait for easy prey.

To make the most of the day and the photo opportunities, we start before sunrise and continue until after sunset. With over one hundred different mammal species and 570 bird species, the photo opportunities are endless with our offroad permit allowing us to get very close to the animals. Our photo jeep also gives us the opportunity to shoot from a low angle, at eye level with the animals. We bring breakfast and lunch and eat it out on the savannah. Back at the camp, we have dinner by the campfire while discussing the day’s photography. (B, L, D)

DAY 8, (SEPT. 21) – RETURN HOME
This day too will have a game drive before we return back to camp for lunch. From here, the bus departs towards Nairobi International Airport for onward flight home.

PHOTOGRAPHER

ARNFINN JOHANSEN – Wildlife photograper

OLTEPESI TENTED SAFARI CAMP**+

PRICE

Price per person: £ 4 460 or USD 5 525

Included:

• All ground transfers and luggage transportaccording to the itinerary.
• Accommodation in shared double room.
• Meals according to itinerary: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner.
• Gaem drives according to the itinerary.
• Special photojeeps.
• Participation & workshops by Arnfinns Johansen during the trip.
• Local rangers during all game drives.
• A tour leader from Zoom Photo Tours.
• Various conservation activities and lectures during the tour.
• Hotel taxes and other local fees.
• Travel documents and other travel information.

Excluded:

• Single room supplement. £ 575 or USD 695
• International flights to Kenya.
• All expenses of personal nature like drinks, laundry etc.
• Tips to the rangers. Approximately USD 10 / day.
• Cancellation & travel insurance. For more details, click here.
• Any other item not mentioned as included.

FLIGHTS

You should arrive in Nairobi no later than 07:00 on September 14 and do not plan your return trip earlier than 20:00 on September 21.

If you wish, we are more than happy to help you with your flight arrangements. Just send an email to info@zoomphototours.com and we will respond with flight suggestions and prices.

INFORMATION

Target group: photographers interested in developing their skills in animal and nature photography.

Physical challenge: Level 1 of 5

Min/max number of participants: 6/8

Other: for more information about Zoom Photo Expeditions, delivery conditions, etc. see our web under ”other”.

GROUP SIZE

In order to for you to get personal photo guidance and the best experience with our photographer our groups are always small. On this tour the minimum and maximum number of guests are 6 / 8.

PHOTO GEAR

• A DSLR Camera
• Telephoto lenses, at least 300mm and up
• Wide-angle lens, like a 24-70mm
• A monopod – easy to have in the jeep
• A Laptop computer with any of the Photoshop or Lightroom software.
• Extra batteries, chargers,

TOUR LEADER

Apart from an award winning photographer, our tours are always accompanied by a tour leader from Zoom with good photo knowledge. Our tour leader will handle all logistics and general matters and make sure your having the best possible experience in Selous.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

For more information about Terms & Conditions click here.

BOOKING

You can book the trip by clicking on the button below. You are also welcome to call us on the phone +46 470 466 40 or email us at info@zoomphototours.com