BOTSWANA
Ultimate Photo Safari
Chobe River
Okavango Delta
Kalahari Desert
Best of Three Worlds
This photo safari itinerary takes you to three of the best destinations Botswana has to offer, from the River of Chobe to the world famous UNESCO World Heritage Site; Okavango Delta, and the Desert of the Kalahari. These three very unique destinations provide some of the best and most diverse wildlife photography opportunities you can ask for. For this reason this is Karolina's personal favourite itinerary out of all the photo safaris she hosts.
This is photographic safari is hosted in collaboration with Pangolin Photo Safaris, who are specialists in Botswana photo safaris.
To reserve your seat, please reach out to Karolina on the link below or email her on karolinanoree@outlook.com and she will put you in contact with the Pangolin reservations team to reserve your seat.
QUICK INFO
DATES
PRICE
USD 5995 Single Supplement
GROUP SIZE
AIRPORTS
HIGHLIGHTS
- Three different ecosystems in one itinerary.
- The best chances to see a big range of diverse wildlife species.
- Great chances for sunset and silhouette photos.
- 30 min helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta.
- Birds, elephants, hippo, crocodiles, lions, wild dogs, buffalo, giraffe, variety of antelopes.
ITINERARY
Day 1
You'll arrive at Kasane Airport, where you'll be picked up and taken to the Pangolin Chobe Hotel for a meet and greet with the rest of the group.
The Pangolin Voyager is moored on the Namibian side of the river, so you will enter Namibia with a very straightforward and simple border experience.
After settling in, we will head out on our first boat safari on the Chobe River to get to know the area.
Day 2-3
During our time in Chobe we'll be doing two boat safaris every day, at sunrise and sunset to get the most out of the golden light.
After the morning activity and a delicious brunch, there will be time for a hosted image review or group editing sessions. For this to be truly effective you will need to have your laptop with you with the latest version of an editing programme installed and updated.
Day 4
Depending on the flight schedule we'll do our final Boat Safari on the Chobe River before departing for our chartered flight to the Okavango Delta.
The flight from Kasane takes just over an hour and is in itself a beautiful scenic flight from both sides of the aircraft. We land at our private airstrip and will be driven to our private camp.
After a delicious lunch upon arrival we head out to explore the world famous Okavango Delta in Pangolins two customised game viewers (maximum four photographers per vehicle).
Day 5-6
The days in the Delta are filled exploring the private concession of Shinde.
We start early in the mornings before sunrise with a quick breakfast before heading out in the field, and come back in time for lunch around 11-12, depending on what we find.
During the day there's options of relaxing by the pool or attending the photo review and editing session in the editing tent.
In time for sunset we head out on our afternoon safari to find photo opportunities in time for golden hour.
After sunset we come back to the lodge for a delicious dinner.
Included in the itinerary is also a complimentary helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta, as long as weather permits.
We also try our best to spend one evening doing astrophotography out in the field, as long as it's not full moon or cloudy.
Day 7
We say goodbye to the abundant water and board our chartered flight towards the Kalahari Desert.
Day 8-9
After one week of early starts and over-excitement, The Kalahari, by its very nature, tends to be a slightly more relaxed environment and the perfect third destination for this safari. As a desert, the animals tend to congregate more around the waterholes, making it the ideal location for some hide photography. Dinaka, the camp that we have chosen to partner with, has an excellent waterhole hide.
We'll spend the days with our usual schedule of early morning and late afternoon game drives to maximise on the golden light.
Depending on the wildlife's movement and activities, we'll spend some time as the bunker hide as well for some unique low angles.
Day 10
On the last day, you will depart for Maun airport and bid farewell to your fellow photographers and the host, but that need not be the end of your safari. There are daily flights between Maun and Cape Town should you decide to spend some time in the Mother City at the end of this adventure!
DESTINATIONS
The Chobe River
Separating Botswana from Namibia, the Chobe River is both an international border and a fantastic place to see wildlife. It offers many different subject matter with everything from large mammals such as elephants, buffalo and hippos, as well as resident crocodiles and antelope, and endless amounts of birds that call Chobe their home.
The reason Pangolin was started in the Chobe is because there is always something to photograph here. No matter what animals we see, we are sure to start with a bang and plenty of “keepers”.
Personally, this is also where Karolina has experienced the most beautiful sunsets in all her time traveling across Africa.
The open flood plains along the river and the low angle from the boat, create the perfect opportunity to capture silhouettes of the bigger mammals against the setting African sun.
You can look forward to one of southern Africa's best wildlife experiences when you visit the Okavango Delta. The Pangolin Photo camp, Shinde Footsteps, sits on a private concession of around 10,000ha in size and we have the freedom to explore and spend as much time at each sighting as we require. We can off-road at special sightings and also conduct night drives.
There are healthy populations of big cats on this concession most of whom are very habituated and make for excellent subjects. Wild dogs are frequently seen in the area too along with other large predators like hyenas. All the other larger animals are present in good numbers such as giraffe, wildebeest, topi, hartebeest, and buffalo as well as several herds of elephants.
The Kalahari Desert
ACCOMODATION
The Pangolin Voyager
The Pangolin Voyager has five cabins which mirror the five tents at the camp in the Okavango Delta, so the group will have exclusivity for the first week of the safari.
Alongside the houseboat is one of our eight-seater photo boats, which we will use for our morning and afternoon activities out on the river looking for subjects to photograph.
The house boat gives us the unique possibility to travel further down the river away from the other boats coming from Kasane, and we often have the sightings all to ourselves.
Shinde Footsteps
The camp comprises five walk-in Meru-style tents with en-suite showers and toilets. The tents have a good electricity supply and twin steel beds with nice mattresses and quality linen. The camp’s communal areas feature a lounge and dining tent, an editing tent for afternoon image review sessions, and a fire to enjoy before and after dinner.
The meals and drinks at the camp are all included, and the camp can cater to most dietary restrictions and allergies. You will be well fed at the camp with three delicious meals a day prepared by the expert chefs in the camp kitchen.
Dinaka
The camp is owned and managed by safari legends Ker and Downey Botswana and is certainly the most luxurious of the three, but by now you will have earned a little pampering.
The communal areas of the camp are fantastic and the rooms are spacious with private verandas looking towards a busy waterhole. The vehicles all have beanbag camera mounts and again is a maximum of four per vehicle for the game drives with the photo host alternating between the two game viewers.
The waterhole hide is a sunken “bunker type” hide and can seat the whole group together with the host. You will be photographing out at water level as the animals arrive, to slake their thirst right in front of you. It’s a very special place to be and photograph from.
INCLUSIONS & COST
Price
USD 5995 Single Supplement
Inclusions
- Photographic tuition, advice and editing assistance throughout by Karolina
- Use of a Canon Mirrorless camera and telephoto lens (if required) incl memory cards
- 3 nights onboard the Pangolin Voyager Houseboat (Full board)
- Twice daily activities on the Chobe river on a Pangolin Photo Boat
- Charter flight from Kasane to the Pangolin Photo Camp, Okavango Delta
- 3 nights at the Pangolin Photo Camp at Ker and Downey’s Footsteps (full board)
- Twice daily game drives (maximum four per vehicle)
- 30 Minute Doors Off Helicopter Flight
- Charter flight to Dinaka, Central Kalahari
- 3 nights at Dinaka (Full board)
- Twice daily game drives and use of the Dinaka bunker hide
- Afternoon image review and editing sessions.
- Charter flight from Dinaka to Maun
- All park, landing and concession contributions
- All meals and drinks
Exclusions
- Visa fees for Botswana and Namibia (if required)
