Arrive into Kasane International Airport from Johannesburg for the start of this safari where you will be met by a member of the Pangolin Team and driven the short distance to our award-winning 14 room Pangolin Chobe Hotel perched on the plateau overlooking The Chobe River and the Caprivi floodplains below.
Built around a wildlife photography gallery once you have checked in and settled in your room you will meet the Pangolin photo host who will be taking care of you on your land and water-based activities while in the Chobe. If you don’t have a camera and telephoto lens then we will be able to lend you one, free of charge, for the duration of your time at the Pangolin Chobe Hotel along with as many memory cards as you can fill.
There will still be large mammals around such as elephant, buffalo and hippo as well as resident crocs and antelope so all in all an excellent time to photograph with lots of bright green backgrounds and baby animals everywhere. The (African) winter months, between May and October, will see larger numbers of elephants as the water becomes more scarce inland and the river becomes more popular.
The reason we chose to start Pangolin in the Chobe is there is always something to photograph in The Chobe. No matter when you decide to join this safari, throughout the year, you are sure to start with a bang and plenty of “keepers”.
In-between game activities there will be hosted image review and group editing sessions in the editing room. For this to be truly effective you will need to have your own laptop with you with the latest version of an editing program installed and updated to the latest version. Our software of choice is Adobe Lightroom and we have a free online course you can start before your arrival so that you are familiar with its functions if you haven’t used it before.
On day three of our stay with us, there is the option to visit Victoria Falls for the day – one of the seven natural wonders of the world. If you elect to do so you will be collected in the morning from the hotel in an air-conditioned minivan and driven across into Zimbabwe and to the “Falls”. The journey takes around 1.5 hours. You will have time to see The Falls, have some lunch (we have a couple of recommendations), perhaps take a helicopter flight for an aerial view and quickly stop off at one of the many craft stalls before heading back across the border to Botswana.
after the morning activity and a quick bite to eat, we will transfer you back to Kasane Airport to meet your charter flight into The Okavango Delta.
Upon arrival, you will have time to settle into your en suite tent and unpack before a high tea and then your first game drive. We have a policy of no more than four guests per vehicle in the Delta. Hopefully, after four days of shooting in The Chobe, you will be shooting with confidence and understanding of your camera and its settings. All the vehicles have beanbag mounts rather than gimbals. The two vehicles are in radio contact to help with locating sightings…..and here is the main reason why we love Bushman Plains so much!
The camp is a good old fashioned, down to earth, honest bush camp. There are no frills but everything you need for a very comfortable stay. What is does have, however, is some of the best trackers in the business in one of the best safari destinations in Africa and if you are like us that’s what really counts!
The guides AND trackers on each vehicle have called this area home for generations and are some of the most enthusiastic and passionate safari guides we have encountered. They love nothing more than finding great subjects such as lions, leopard, cheetah, and especially wild dogs and also encourage our guests to get out of the vehicle (when its appropriate to do so) to look at the tracks and signs to fully understand the tracking process. It’s safari as it should be without the unnecessary frivolity that is pervasive on so many standard safaris these days. It’s all about the wildlife here!
In between drives, there is an opportunity for some downtime to enjoy being in this pristine part of the world or you can pop into the editing tent and get cracking on some post-production.
Game Drives
Night Game Drives
Walking Safaris
Mokoro (dugout canoe) excursions
Bushman Culture
Hot Air Ballooning - Optional Activity at Added Cost
Chopper to Creation: Visit to Tsodilo Hills UNESCO World Heritage Site - Optional Activity at Added Cost
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 which makes it the perfect location for some hide photography. Dinaka, the camp that we have chosen to partner with, has an excellent waterhole hide with more in the planning phase.
As a camp, Dinaka is very flexible with their timings and earlier starts or later finishes to game activities are all accommodated for to make the most of your time there. One activity not to be missed is a walk through the bush with the resident bushman guides where you will learn about their traditional subsistence way of life from what at first sight appears to be such a stark environment, culminating in a demonstration of traditional fire making techniques and some storytelling as the sunsets.
Again during the day, there will be the opportunity to have some downtime by the pool or on a snooze with a good book on the deck…..with your camera close at hand in case something appears at the camp’s waterhole of course!
After the morning activity & breakfast, you will be transferred by light aircraft to Maun Airport for your departure
