Date: September 9 -19, 2025
Group Size:
- Group Size – 8, This trip is fully subscribed and we are now starting a waiting list. Please feel free to contact buddy.eleazer@gmail.com to be added to this list.
- Cost: $9,950 Sharing. For a single supplement, an additional $2,900
Registration: To secure your spot, use contact buddy.eleazer@gmail.com .
Leader: Buddy Eleazer
It’s a bit bold to call this an excellent safari combo, but over the years, these two destinations have never failed to deliver amazing sightings BIG TIME! We love to combine these two destinations because:
- Johannesburg, South Africa – September 9 – Our trip begins and ends in Johannesburg. Upon arrival into Johannesburg, we have you in lodging near the airport. Depending on your arrival time, we often have a ‘meet and greet’ informal dinner get together on the arrival night so you can meet your fellow travelers. This is just an overnight stay, but we make sure accommodations are clean, safe, convenient and with good internet so you can check email and let folks back home no you arrived safely. We will depart this hotel mid morning the 10th of September.
- Chobe National Park – IN September 10, 11, 12, OUT September 13 on a private houseboat – Chobe National Park has some of the best game viewing in all of Africa. At any given time, you can see numerous species of animals. Chobe is especially great in September as the rains in the area ceased back in April. This means all of the wildlife must come to the river to drink. Staying in a houseboat optimizes this viewing. The only downside you will read about Chobe is that there are a lot of tourists staying in Kasane (nearby town) and visiting the park. Most of these are land vehicles. In the afternoon there are also ‘booze cruise’ boats that go into the river areas near Kasane. We overcome this shortcoming by staying up river on a houseboat away from the crowds.
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- You have an exclusive, private experience. The houseboat has a total of only 4 guest rooms and we intentionally locate the boat each day upstream from the common tourism locations to allow a very special feeling to your trip. Each of the guest bedroom have a private en-suite bath.
- Staying on the river, we are allowed to go out earlier than the lodges and, most importantly, stay in the park later in the evening when the lighting is really special for shooting. Lodge based boats must be out of the park waters by sunset.
- From the water, we will shoot from a specially designed photo boat. We will use a custom eight-seat photo boat with fully rotating chairs and fitted with state-of-the-art camera mounts. Each morning and afternoon, you would see the wildlife from a specially designed flat bottom viewing/photo boat. This flat bottom design allows a very shallow draft allowing us to get into shallows that would be difficult with traditional boat design. The photo boat has the seats all in line and swivel 360° so everyone always has a great view. You get the chance to get very close to the wildlife and shoot at amazing low angles.
- Chobe National Park is home to the largest population of elephants in the world. During the dry season, the waterfront supports over 50,000 elephants. There is more to Chobe than just these pachyderms, with more than 75 mammal species and 450 bird types, you will also encounter buffalos, impala, giraffe, zebras, impala, sable, waterbuck, puku, warthog and predators such as lions and leopards. Chobe wildlife is bonkers! It is common to have 3 to 5 species of animals in sight at all times. The challenge is to pick what to photograph first – the elephants swimming across the river, the Cape buffalo on the river’s edge, the kudu drinking or maybe the fun of baboons playing in the mahogany tree … or maybe the yawning hippos!
- Flat out, Chobe is the most dependable wildlife photo destination in southern Africa!
Timbavati Private Reserve – September 14, 15, 16, 17, OUT September 18 – We really wanted you to see Timbavati Private Reserve on your trip and we just got a break! The Kruger National Park and its neighboring private game reserves deliver incredible game viewing, thanks to the large concentration of animals that live within this vast wildlife area. Remember, because there are no fences and the animals are free to roam as they please, sightings in both the national park and the Kruger private game reserves can be equally sensational. The difference is in how you experience those sightings. The problem is that it is a national park with many tourists and you must stay on the paved roads. At major sightings, many vehicles will crowd in for a view. Let’s NOT go to the public Kruger National Park! As an alternative, I go to the private reserves. Timbavati is one of the best of those. When you’re on safari in one of the Kruger private reserves, you are privy to special activities like:
- Crowd-free game viewing is probably the biggest perk of a safari in the Kruger private reserves. Seeing Africa’s iconic animals up-close in their natural environment, undisturbed by a fleet of safari vehicles, is a richly rewarding experience.
- Off Road Tracking – When your guide sees leopard tracks going off into the brush, your chance to see wildlife does not end. Instead, it is just beginning. In Timbavati, guides are allows to go off-road for any of the Big Five (leopards, lions, elephant, Cape buffalo and Rhino) as well as for cheetah, wild dog and many other special species. I can’t imagine a true safari that doesn’t include off road tracking..
- Night game drives. Most national parks require all vehicles to be off the roads by sunset. In Timbavati Private Reserve your guide can finish up the afternoon game drive at a scenic viewing spot (with a sundowner drink in hand) and then head back to the lodge slowly, sweeping a spotlight from side to side, catching the eyes of Africa’s nocturnal creatures.
- Timbavati is known for excellent leopard and lion sightings. There are also white rhino large herds of Cape buffalo in the reserve. Combined with Chobe, this virtually ensures you will have great sightings of all of the ‘Big Five’
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- Timbavati also has wild dogs and cheetah. While no guarantee, these are always a very special sighting.
- We work with top rangers that know how to position the vehicle to get clean, unobstructed views. The group leader will work with the rangers to allow a variety of lighting situations when shooting, including side lighting, rim lighting and other photo techniques
- We allow a maximum of 2 people per row to optimize viewing and allow space for camera gear.
For Timbavati, We are staying at Kambaku River Sands Lodge. There are several reasons I like staying in this . First and foremost, the game viewing in this area is off the charts. It is a great area for leopards and lions. In addition, general wildlife like giraffe, kudu, waterbuck and impala are plentiful and the guides are excellent The other reason is because of the lodge itself. The staff is well trained and the food is excellent. When I first tried booking this for your group, I was told by the agents that it was full. The owners, Bryce and Nicola Nadeer know I am a regular and cleared the existing provisional bookings to make room for you.
My spouse/friend doesn’t shoot. What about non-photographers?
We openly admit that we’ve designed this Africa trip for photography. However, for the non-photographer, this trip will also be extremely entertaining and enjoyable. The wildlife is there for everyone and we will give you a front-row seat. In addition, our guides are expert at identifying the various species and also at answering any questions you might have related to the wildlife. We’ve taken many non-photographers to this destination and all have enjoyed the trip. By the way, if a non-photographer wants to try their hand at shooting, we will provide a camera and lens for you to give it a try!
The planned schedule is as follows:
September 9, 2025 – Arrive in Johannesburg, lodging near airport and arrival meet and greet dinner included
September 10, 2025 – Morning flight to Kasane, Botswana where we will board our private houseboat on the Chobe River. That afternoon, we will go out in a specially designed photo boat to catch the wildlife as it comes down to the river’s edge to drink.
September 11 and 12, 2025 – Each day, our ‘floating hotel’ will change mooring locations so we have a variety and landscapes and waterscapes to shoot from. We will have morning and afternoon excursions onto the water to photograph in our special photo boat.
September 13, 2025 – After our morning activity on the water and lunch, we will be transferred to the nearby Kasane Airport for our flight out. Here is where the schedule may vary slightly. Currently, the plan is to fly back to Johannesburg and the following morning to fly to our next safari destination; however, one airline has announced direct flights from Kasane to that next destination, which could save us an additional ½ day on safari. For budget purposes, let’s assume we fly back to Johannesburg and overnight there.
September 14, 2025 – You will have a morning flight into Hoedspruit, South Africa and short ground transfer to our lodge in Timbavati Private Reserve. After lunch and time to freshen up, we will head out on an afternoon game drive followed by ‘sundowners’ at a photogenic location and a night game drive back to the lodge for dinner.
September 15, 16, 17 2025 – We will have morning and afternoon game drives with brunch and high tea in between and a lovely dinner to finish each evening. Each game drive allows off road tracking of lions, elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, wild dogs and leopards. These game drives are approximately 3 hours in length with the time varying depending on the time we wish to stay at wildlife sightings.
September 18, 2025 – All good things come to and end and on this morning, we will have our last full game drive. We return to the lodge in time for a nice brunch and plenty of time to pack. Our flights back to Johannesburg are typically scheduled for around 2 pm to allow easy connection to evening flights back to the United States or Europe.
What is Included:
- Three-night lodging on the Chobe River in a 5-bedroom houseboat
- Three nights lodging in Timbavati Private Reserves
- 6 outings on the Chobe River to see and photograph wildlife
- 8 game drives in Timbavati Private Reserve
- All required flights and ground transfers from Johannesburg to Chobe National Park and from Chobe National Park to Timbavati Private Reserve and from Timbavati Private Reserve back to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.
- All meals
- Relevant Park Fees
- Alcoholic drinks such as beer, wines and liquors on the houseboat
What is NOT included:
- International airfare between your home and Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB)
- Required Namibia visa for houseboat stay on Chobe River (there is an on-line form and the cost is about $90)
- Laundry
- Personal purchases in gift shops
- Discretionary gratuities for guides and lodge/houseboat staff
Trip Deposit and Payments
The trip has a non-refundable initial down payment cost of $3,000 per person. The remaining cost of the trip ($6,950 for sharing) will be broken into 2 equal payments with the final payment due 90 days before the trip. The general cancellation policy for this trip can be found at THIS LINK.
Necessary Fine Print:
Botswana is a stable country, but the world is changing and Africa is changing with it. We will attempt to adhere to this itinerary as much as possible. However, certain conditions (political, climatic, environmental, cultural, or wildlife migrations) may necessitate changes in the itinerary. We reserve the right to alter any itinerary at any time, if necessary. We will attempt to notify participants of changes as far in advance as possible. Costs incurred by such changes will be the responsibility of the participant.
What Do I Do Next?
Contact Buddy.Eleazer@gmail.com
Participant Information, Waiver, and Release – Participants will receive their actual waivers after making their deposit.
Trip Insurance
All participants are strongly advised to purchase travel protection insurance. Travelinsurance.com and InsureMyTrip.com are two companies that offers many different options from various vendors and allows for product comparison.
