2011 Tanzania, Africa Safari
with
Greg Downing and Unique Safaris

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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.

Each location has been hand picked by Greg Downing as offering the best photoraphic opportunities for the season and luxurious accommodations with Ndutu being Greg's personal favorite.

This is the ultimate all-inclusive photographic safari - and probably the best value around for an African photo safari! - Greg Downing

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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.

Loliondo Game Controlled Area, The Serengeti is much larger than just Serengeti National Park. The park is actually just the center of a vast natural ecosystem, which includes the area known as Loliondo, or more specifically, the Loliondo Game Controlled Area. Loliondo encompasses a vast area, from the north to the south, along the eastern border of Serengeti National Park. Although it is part of the Serengeti ecosystem, it is not subject to the same rules and regulations of the National Park system. This offers many benefits to visitors because there is more freedom of activities here, such as night drives, escorted walking safaris, and more intimate interactions with the Maasai. This magnificent area contains breathtaking scenery and a vast diversity of landscapes, including beautiful mountains, deep gorges, rivers, acacia and riverine woodlands, rolling hills and lush valleys, grassy plains dotted with rocky outcrops (called kopjes), and even a volcano (Ol Donyno Lengai). There is abundant resident game which enjoys the region’s many waterholes and river areas, as well as seasonal migratory herds, which pass through on their annual trek to and from Maasai Mara in Kenya. Visitors who are here when the herds decide to cross the Mara River are in for a memorable sight, as thousands of wildebeest and zebra swim for their lives while crocodiles lie in wait for them to try to make this very dangerous crossing. In addition to the luxury of being able to enjoy walking safaris and night drives, visitors also enjoy the fact that there are fewer tourists in this more remote region of Tanzania. People who venture here experience a more private and intimate experience with the wildlife, and people, who live in this spectacular region. One other bonus of visiting Loliondo is that there are two packs of wild dogs that appear to be thriving here, producing puppies for the last three years. While there is never a guarantee of seeing wild dogs, one of your best opportunities for finding these rare and fascinating animals is in Loliondo.

Day 4 - Serengeti National Park

Depart with lunch boxes and game drives to the Central part of the Serengeti. The central area of the Serengeti is always excellent for cats of all kinds. Dinner and overnight at your luxury mobile camp in Serengeti.

© Greg Downing, all rights reserved.

Day 5 - Serengeti

This one of a kind program will allow you to explore all areas of the Serengeti, a national park the size of the state of Rhode Island. You will spend some days entirely in the bush with a picnic lunch and other days with very early morning game drives with an afternoon siesta, returning for game drives in the late afternoon.

Day 6 - Serengeti

After breakfast, game drive as you travel to the southern plains of the Serengeti, focusing on the cats of the central Serengeti. Enjoy a picnic lunch along the way.

Ndutu Lodge: www.ndutu.com

Day 7 - Serengeti

Enjoy the next three full days on the southern plains, which should be the perfect location for the wildebeest calving. You will enjoy a special permit to visit the Gol Kopjes on these days, in search of cheetahs.

Serengeti National Park is one of the most famous wildlife areas in the world. The park’s 5,700 square miles are part of the 9,600-square-mile Mara- Serengeti ecosystem, home to incredible herds of wildebeest and other grazing animals. It is the largest national park in Tanzania, with a staggering animal population of about 4 million within 14,763 km sq. It is the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the world and the site of one of the most breathtaking events in animal kingdom-the migration of more than a million wildebeest. The area consists of treeless central plain, savannah dotted with acacia and granite outcroppings called kopjes, and riverine bush and forest in the north. The park’s name is derived from the Maasai language “SIRINGET” which means endless plains. The famous “Migration” that people dream to experience, is actually a dynamic process taking a full year to complete. There are different ‘events’ that happen at different times of the year and in different locations in this park. The basic migration occurs in a clock-wise direction, but it is guided by rain and the growth of grass, so at any time the animals can ignore “tradition” and just follow rain clouds in a more haphazard direction. There are three “seasons” in the Serengeti. They are short rains, long rains and dry season. During the start of the “short rains” of November and December, the large wildebeest and zebra herds leave the northern part of the Serengeti Eco-system (the Mara in Kenya) and travel east and south around the Gol Mountains and into the short grass plain of the southern and eastern Serengeti. The female wildebeest need to be in this area to begin the calving, as they rely on this particular kind of grass for calving and milk production, that is high in calcium and magnesium. Wildebeest calving can begin anytime between January-March. More than 750,000 females will drop their calves within a 3-week period of time, so predator/prey activity is at a peak. The short grass plains also offer some of the best protection against predators, as they are more visible to the herd animals. Herd animals will remain in this area as long as there is decent rain that continues in the following months, although they only need short bursts of rain to be happy. April is usually the month of long rain, meaning it rains fairly constantly and heavy. At this time, the herd usually begins to move to the Central Serengeti and begins to prepare for the wildebeest rut of May and June. These are some of the most amazing herd sightings, as the male and females herd reunite for breeding. The herd movement continues both west and north between May usually to the end of July. At this point, the herd disperses a bit and males without females may migrate directly north to the Mara and some may move to the famous Western Corridor and remain year round in the Serengeti. If rains are normal, we can expect the majority of the herd to leave the Serengeti by the middle to the end of July. The dry season of July-October still remains excellent for viewing cats of all kinds. In fact, some cats are easier to locate because they must remain more active during the daytime to search for dwindling food. During these months, clients usually stay in the Central Serengeti or the Western Corridor. The famous “river crossings”, which everyone hopes to see, are hard to predict and can occur in a short number of days. But, there are herd that cross at a few different locations on the Grumeti River in Tanzania and the Mara River bordering Keny and Tanzania. Crossings typically occur October-November on the Mara River and July on the Grumeti River in Tanzania.

Ndutu is by far my favorite of the lodges - small and quaint and with access to the park as well as the conservation area we have the most flexibility - in 2009 we were right in the middle of the migration. Reservations are made more than a year in advance as this place is special and sought after. - Greg Downing

© Greg Downing, all rights reserved.

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 9 - Serengeti

Full day of game drives in the park.

Day 10 - Ngorongoro Crater

Game drive out of Serengeti and drive 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.

http://www.serenahotels.com

Day 11 - Ngorongoro Crater

Full day down in the Crater. Be prepared to leave the lodge just before 6 am to be one of the first vehicles down on the Crater floor.

Ngorongoro Crater is one of seven World Heritage Sites designated in Tanzania, and it is the world’s largest unflooded caldera. This means the entire rim of the old volcano is intact. The Crater is a memorable experience, while only 100 square miles in total, it also offers six distinct habitats: acacia forest, swamp, short grass, long grass, riverine and woodland. Each habitat attracts a variety of animals. NCA is also the world’s first multi-purpose land use experiment, combining tourism, research, archeology, wildlife management, grazing rights and farming. The rim of the Crater sits at 7,800 feet in altitude and the Crater floor descends to 5,000 feet above sea leave. The Crater is home to almost 30,000 animals in an area naturally enclosed by the slopes of the volcano. The Crater is the best location for viewing black rhino and the huge old bull elephants. There is not enough vegetation to support the large cow and calf herds, but the old males “retire” to the Crater for the wonderful swamp grass and acacia forest. The only animals you will not see in the Crater are the impala and giraffe. It is not known why impala do not inhabit the Crater, but giraffe are unable to descend the steep grade without lowering their heads, which raises their blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Day 12 - Arusha depart or Tarangire extension

Drive back to Arusha. Arrive in time for shopping and lunch at Cultural Heritage Center. Dayroom and dinner at Arumeru River Lodge. Transfer to JRO at 6:30 for KLM return flight to 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 access to both sides of the vehicle at all times and ample space for your equipment), and we will spend each night in comfortable safari lodges or luxury permanent camp. 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? All of the accommodations are clean, and provide private en suite bathroom facilities. On our luxury tented camp location, each private tent comes with beds and bed sheets, private restroom facilities (with a real toilet) and a permanent hot shower. All lodging is extremely safe and luxurious, 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!

© Greg Downing, all rights reserved.

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