2023 Masai Mara, Kenya during the Great Migration – September 6th – 13th

Date: September 6 – 13, 2023

Cost $7,950 per person sharing, $1,900 single supplement

Tour Leaders: Buddy Eleazer, Don Schroder and Andreas Knausenberger

Maximum Number of Guests: 12, with 4 clients per vehicle

Day 1 – September 6

When you arrive in Nairobi at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Airport code NBO), we will have drivers arranged to transfer you to our overnight hotel, the Tamarind Tree.  We stay at the Tamarind Tree Hotel. We have stayed at the Tamarind Tree for several years now. We really like this hotel because of the position near the domestic Wilson Airport which is where all bush planes depart to the Masai Mara. The group will meet up in Nairobi for a first night dinner and a chance to meet your hosts and fellow travelers.

Day 2 – 7 (Sept 7-12): Mara Bush Camp

We head to Wilson airport early in the morning to board our private chartered flight to the Masai Mara. We have made the decision to charter all of our flights to maximize the time that we have and also to allow for extra baggage and camera gear for the group.

The flight takes approximately one hour and then we will land at Ol Okiombo airstrip where we will be met by our team of drivers and guides in the customized game viewers. We have three vehicles with a maximum of four guests plus one guide in each. The photo hosts will rotate through the vehicles during the safari giving you a chance to learn and receive photo advise from each of them throughout the trip.

The location is ideal for getting to the wildebeest crossings for which the Mara is so famous. Please note that the crossings themselves (as well as the migration route) are unpredictable…it’s nature! We do however stack the odds in our favor by being in the right location at the right time of the year with amazing guides who know The Masai Mara intimately. Any operator who guarantees crossings is not to be trusted in our opinion which is why we don’t. We have an excellent “hit rate” and will always do our level best to get you those shots that you crave.

Our 6 nights in the Mara will be spent at Mara Bush Camp’s special Migration Wing. Chosen for its location we will spend plenty of time out in the Masai Mara National Reserve photographing in the areas surrounding the camp. During our time at Mara Bush Camp you will also have the opportunity to photograph from the air in our private chartered helicopter. This was a real highlight on previous trips with some startling aerial images being taken from the one hour allocated to each person on the trip. Each one-hour flight will be for two clients and one of our photo guides who will be seated behind you.

The time in The Mara will typically involve full day game drives each day which always prove most productive photographically. Picnic lunches will be eaten out in the field – under a tree – in between the sightings.

Along with potential crossings the big cats are always a prime photographic target in the Mara and we will spend lots of time with the resident prides of lions as well as the resident leopards and cheetah coalitions. The open plains of The Mara always deliver!

Also included in the safari package is a hot air balloon flight along The Mara River. This form of flight is fantastic and a must-do so we have decided to included it in the itinerary for everyone on this trip. Photographing hippos as we cross the Mara River or herds of elephants near the forest edge is incredibly memorable.  You will marvel at the control that pilots have in positioning the balloons for sightings. After we land in the Mara Triangle, we are treated to a full champagne breakfast at the foot of the escarpment overlooking the Masai Mara. It’s an awesome way to start the day.

Day 8 (Sept 13)

Sadly, this is the last day of the annual Mara photo safari. We will have time for a morning game drive and breakfast and then off to the airstrip for our return to Nairobi.

This itinerary is the perfect amount of time for The Mara during migration season. Should you want to add other destination we will be more than happy to organize this for you. We suggest perhaps visiting Amboseli with it’s huge tuck elephant herds, Samburu with it’s unique species like Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk and reticulated giraffe or, or perhaps hide photography in either Tsavo West or Shompole Wilderness areas.

Included:

• Meet and Greet at Nairobi Airport
• One night at Tamarind Tree Hotel (Dinner bed and breakfast)
• Flight to The Masai Mara
• 10kgs extra baggage allowance for camera gear
• 6 nights at Mara Bush Camp (MBC)
• All meals (plus bottled water and tea/coffee)
• All game activities in private vehicles (4 clients per car)
• 1 hot air balloon flight with champagne breakfast upon landing
• All game activities, bush walks, picnics etc.
• Flight to Wilson Airport and transfer to Nairobi international.

Excluded

• Gratuities, laundry and items of a personal nature
• International Flights to Kenya
• Visa fees where applicable ($51 for U.S. citizens)
• All drinks other than those specified

CANCELLATION TERMS:

• Cancellations within 180 – 30 days will result in a 50% cancellation fee
• Cancellations within 30 days will result in a 100% cancellation fee.
• No Show 100% of the invoiced amount.

PHOTO TIP: The photo leaders are all very experienced in how to shoot high key, rim lighting, pan shots and zoom blurs as well as other techniques. Make sure you push yourself to try some of these advanced techniques during your trip.