Africa Photo Tour 2010
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Transcript of Africa Photo Tour 2010
AFRICA 2010PHOTO TOUR
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Photo Challenge!! Think you’re lucky?!?
Try & see if you can spot me & all of the BIG FIVE!!
We offer a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience
that will challenge and excite you!
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TheBIG 5
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Day OneOn arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, and having cleared the customs and immigration formalities, the guide will meet us and convey us to the hotel. By the time we reach the hotel there is time for a quick meal before turning in for a good nights sleep in preparation for an early start on day two.
Day TWOAfter an early breakfast and lodge check out, we will depart for the Serengeti. The route takes us through a “mixed” small holding area before reaching the town of Arusha. This town has a population that has rapidly grown over the past 30 years and is colourful and busy.
Having passed through Arusha the road heads west towards Lake Victoria passing through some coffee farms and then the more marginal rainfall areas of the Masai Steppe. It is possible that Masai Herdsman will be seen herding their cattle sheep and goats dressed in their traditional and colourful clothing.
The further we get from Arusha the more rural the country side becomes. The road gradually drops down into the Great Rift Valley and passes through a few roadside settlements before bypassing Lake Manyara. This lake which will be seen in the distance, enjoys a beautiful resident Flamingo population.
The road winds steeply out of the Rift Valley and into an area of farming. We will then pass into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, climbing up to an altitude of over 7000ft above sea level. The road passes round the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater allowing a quick stop and viewing into the crater providing an insight of what can be expected on the return visit.
Thousands of animals, birds, reptiles and insects live in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Crater, which is a photographers’ paradise. Each day is filled with interest and delight.
The countryside and vegetation changes rapidly as we drive up the outside of the crater. As we decend the far side of the crater it changes again. The Ngorongoro Crater is unique in many ways and is a deep, volcanic crater, the largest unflooded and unbroken caldera in the world.
About 20kms across, 600 metres deep and 300 sq kms in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. The rich pasture supports over 25,000 animals, predominantly grazing animals, including some of Tanzania’s last Black Rhinos. Big tuskers roam the floor and there is also a resident population of Lions and Cheetah. Animals are free to leave or enter the Crater. Fortunately, most remain because of the plentiful water and food available on the Crater floor throughout the year.
After leaving the Ngorongoro Conservancy we enter the Serengeto Conservancy and ultimately the Serengeti National Park. This day is about convering a “chunk” of Africa but there will be ample opportunities to spend the time taking breath-taking images of the National Park. A variety of animals and birds will be seen and the guide will do all he can to provide the best photo experiences as time permits.
Finally, we arrive at the luxury tented lodge where we will be based for one night.
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After breakfast we will checkout of our lodge, and move onto our next accommodation for two nights. These days will be spent exploring the central and southern parts of the park. The programme for the days will be set by the guide to maximise the potential of seeing particular animals and to make your adventure as enjoyable and as photographically profitable as possible. This flexibility in necessary and depends where for example, the Wildebeest herds are, sighting of lions etc as well as local knowledge of the Serengeti generally. The Guides may decide that it is necessary to travel a long way in order to see something unusual or of particular interest and plan the days accordingly.
The guides know these parks very well, they will be doing all they can to help us see as much of the parks as possible and will endevour to give us the best photographic opportunites.
Day Three & Four
Day five & SIXToday we will checkout of the hotel and depart for our third lodge in the northern part of the Serenteti. The day will again be at the descretion of the guide and will culminate in arrival at our lodge where we will stay for two nights. All movements in the park can be considered as wildlife viewing and photographing opportunities as there are a wealth of animal life to be seen. This lodge is what could be described as a high quality tentage camp consiting of a number of tents each with their own bathrooms and a central reception and eating facility.
A typical sixth day, dependant on the guide, might be an early start from the hotel before sunrise. First stop could be a pool on one of the rivers which is usually occupied by a very large pod of Hippo. This would be followed by a game drive arriving back at the lodge for a late breakfast.
After breakfast there could be a short break allowing for some photographic instruction prior to an early lunch. Todays’ plans may evolve at the discretion of the guide as new sightings and information comes available. After our meal we will depart for the very northern sector of the park close to the border with Kenya on an afternoon game drive. Then returning to the lodge in time for dinner.
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Arusha national park
The closest national park to Arusha town, northern
Tanzania’s safari capital, Arusha National Park is a
multi-faceted jewel, often overlooked by safarigoers,
despite offering the opportunity to explore a
beguiling diversity of habitats within a few hours.
The entrance gate leads into shadowy montane
forest inhabited by inquisitive blue monkeys and
colourful turacos and trogons – the only place on the
northern safari circuit where the acrobatic black-and-
white colobus monkey is easily seen. In the midst of
the forest stands the spectacular Ngurdoto Crater,
whose steep, rocky cliffs enclose a wide marshy floor
dotted with herds of buffalo and warthog. Further
north, rolling grassy hills enclose the tranquil beauty
of the Momela Lakes, each one a different hue of
green or blue. Their shallows sometimes tinged pink
with thousands of flamingos, the lakes support a rich
selection of resident and migrant waterfowl, and
shaggy waterbucks display their large lyre-shaped
horns on the watery fringes. Giraffes glide across
the grassy hills, between grazing zebra herds, while
pairs of wide-eyed dik-dik dart into scrubby bush
like overgrown hares on spindly legs.
Size: 552 sq km (212 sq miles).
Location: Northern Tanzania,
northeast of Arusha town.
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Although elephants are uncommon in Arusha
National Park, and lions travel altogether, leopards
and spotted hyenas may be seen slinking around
in the early morning and late afternoon. It is also at
dusk and dawn that the veil of cloud on the eastern
horizon is most likely to clear, revealing the majestic
snow-capped peaks of Kilimanjaro, only 50 km away.
But it is Kilimanjaro’s unassuming cousin, Mount
Meru - the fifth highest in Africa at 4,566 metres
(14,990 feet) – that dominates the park’s horizon. Its
peaks and eastern footslopes protected within the
national park, Meru offers unparalleled views of its
famous neighbour, while also forming a rewarding
hiking destination in its own right.
Passing first through wooded savannah where
buffalos and giraffes are frequently encountered,
the ascent of Meru leads into forests aflame with red-
hot pokers and dripping with Spanish moss, before
reaching high open heath spiked with giant lobelias.
Everlasting flowers cling to the alpine desert, as
delicately-hoofed klipspringers mark the hike’s
progress. Astride the craggy summit, Kilimanjaro
stands unveiled, blushing in the sunrise.
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Day sevenAfter a late breakfast we will check out of this lodge and relocate
to the Ngorongoro crater. The guide will take us through the
Serengeti, viewing the wildlife prior to anafternoon exit out of the
park. We will travel to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and check
into the lodge for two nights. This lodge is set on the edge of the
crater and has the most spectacular view over the soda lake and
the whole crater.
Day EightAfter an early breakfast, we will descend into the crater with a
packed lunch. Nothing is certain but it is expected to have good
sightings of Flamingoes. A good telephoto lens will be most
valuable. The day is spent in the crater including a lunch stop. We
will return to the lodge in the afternoon. The floor is an interesting
place and has a number of different areas as well as soda and fresh
water supporting a range of animal and bird life.
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An extraordinary photo adventure
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Day NineAfter breakfast and having checked out of the
lodge we will head back to Arusha along the same
road that we travelled a few days previously. The
ascent down the side of the crater will be taken at
a slower pace enjoying the vegetation, bird and
animal life. Lunch will be included on the way back
to the lodge east of Arusha where the first night
was spent and we stay here for two more nights.
Day tenToday we head out to the Arusha National Park
with a packed lunch. This National Park is a very
different type of Park as it is at a higher altitude
than the Serengeti it has a higher rainfall. The trees
are magnificent and dense in places with very little
ground cover. There are areas where there are soda
lakes and also fresh water where one can expect to
see some animals and birds. There are rare Colobus
monkeys and also the Blue Sykes monkeys. You may
also see a variety of rare bird that are found here.
There’s a good vantage point and cloud permitting
the breathtaking Mt Kilimanjaro can be seen.
Day elevenAfter a leasurly breakfast and a quiet time allowing
one to Photograph the hotel surrounds and pack
up for final departure, we will check out of the
hotel and travel back to the Airport with the Guide
prior to departure.
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Serengeti National Park
Size: 14,763 sq km (5,700 sq miles).
Location: 335km (208 miles) from
Arusha, stretching north to Kenya and
bordering Lake Victoria to the west.
A million wildebeest... each one driven by the same
ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the
inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied three-week
bout of territorial conquests and mating; survival
of the fittest as 40km long columns plunge through
crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus
north; replenishing the species in a brief population
explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves
daily before the 1,000 km pilgrimage begins again.
Tanzania’s oldest and most popular national park,
also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed a
7th world wide wonder, the Serengeti is famed for
its annual migration, when some six million hooves
pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra
and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s
trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration
is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most
scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of
buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and
thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni,
impala and Grant’s gazelle.
The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates
Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides
feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary
leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera
River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the
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southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three
African jackal species occur here, alongside the
spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small
predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf
to the beautiful serval cat.
But there is more to Serengeti than large mammals.
Gaudy agama lizards and rock hyraxes scuffle around
the surfaces of the park’s isolated granite koppies.
A full 100 varieties of dung beetle have been
recorded, as have 500-plus bird species, ranging
from the outsized ostrich and bizarre secretary bird
of the open grassland, to the black eagles that soar
effortlessly above the Lobo Hills.
As enduring as the game-viewing is the liberating
sense of space that characterises the Serengeti
Plains, stretching across sunburnt savannah to a
shimmering golden horizon at the end of the earth.
Yet, after the rains, this golden expanse of grass is
transformed into an endless green carpet flecked
with wildflowers. And there are also wooded hills
and towering termite mounds, rivers lined with fig
trees and acacia woodland stained orange by dust.
Popular the Serengeti might be, but it remains so
vast that you may be the only human audience
when a pride of lions masterminds a siege, focussed
unswervingly on its next meal.
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This African Photo Safari is a unique
experience. It is one of the few places
in Africa where you could see the
“Big Five” . With some luck one could
see 30 to 40 different species of animals
and over 150 different types of birds.
The Serengeti Plains are memorable and
the Ngorongoro Crater just has to be seen!
The guides are highly skilled, helpful and
passionate about doing as much as possible
to give us the best opportunities available.
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