SOUTH AFRICA
October 8-22, 2018
Photo Tour: This tour visits Zimanga Game Reserve, a photo reserve that has specialty blinds for bird and mammal photography where many award winning photos have been taken. It also encompasses the Garden Route of South Africa from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. On this tour we should have excellent photo opportunities with Elephant, Lion, Cheetah, Wild Dog, Buffalo, Hippo, Meerkats, several species of Antelope and a host of bird species including Knysna Turaco, Blue Crane, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers and several species of stunning sunbirds. We start out in Cape Town, fly to Durban, spend 4 nights at Zimanga, then fly to Port Elizabeth and work our way back from there to Cape Town over the course of a week. The accommodations are comfortable, the food is very nice, the scenery beautiful and the photo opportunities should be spectacular.
Tour leader: Nate Chappell, Nate has led 3 tours to the Cape area of South Africa. We will also be working with an excellent local birder and guide on the Port Elizabeth to Cape Town section and we will have our own guide at Zimanga as well.
Maximum participants: 6 photographers plus nonphotographer spouses/companions.
Cost $6,900 per person sharing includes all accommodation, meals, transportation within South Africa including in country flights, drinking water, guiding and park fees. It does not include airfare to and from Cape Town, South Africa from your home, tips or personal expenses such as beverages, laundry service, departure fees and phone calls. Single supplement $600. $600 Nonphotographer spouse/companion discount.
Contact: Nate Chappell at nchappell@trogontours.net or 281-778-1486 to register for the tour.
Itinerary:
October 8th - Arrive to Cape Town, South Africa. For those who arrive early enough we will have an afternoon visit to the penguin colony in Simonstown. Accommodation: Quayside Hotel, Simonstown.
October 9th - We will spend the day at various sites around Cape Town targeting a large variety of birds including the endemic Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Sugarbird. In the afternoon we will photograph the African Penguins in Simonstown. Quayside Hotel
October 10th - Morning flight from Cape Town to Durban, South Africa. Then about a 3 hour transfer from Durban to Zimanga Private Game Reserve. We will have an afternoon game drive Accommodation: Zimanga
October 11-13 - We will have 3 full days of bird and mammal photography at Zimanga. Zimanga has specially built photography hides including the amazing lagoon hide which gets you eye level with water birds, hippos and other wildlife, all while being inside a secure building with high optical quality, sound proof glass. We should have excellent opportunities at Zimanga with Wild Dog, Cheetah, Lion, Buffalo, Elephant and many birds. Our time will be split between game drives and hides. October is prime time for wildlife photography at Zimanga, activity at the blinds should be excellent. Accommodation: Zimanga
October 14th - Morning photography session at Zimanga followed by mid day flight to Port Elizabeth. We will be picked up by our guide and transferred to Addo Elephant National Park where we will have an afternoon game drive. For Cape Town and the Garden Route this is the breeding season for birds so they are active and singing. Accommodation: Chalets, Addo Main Camp.
October 15th - Full day of photography at Addo Elephant Park. As the name suggests it's excellent for Elephant but also good for a variety of small birds in camp and larger birds such as Pale Chanting Goshawk and Secretarybird on the game drives. Accommodation: Addo Main Camp
October 16th - We will spend most of the day photographing in Addo Park then in the afternoon we will transfer to Wilderness, South Africa. Accommodation: Lodge in Wilderness.
October 17th - Our lodge in Wilderness has feeders which attract Knysna Turaco, Forest Canaries, Chorister Robins and lots of other nice birds. Nate will do setups for attractive images. It's amazing being up close with these beautiful turacos. Accommodation: Lodge in Wilderness.
October 18th - In addition to photographing in the garden there are local hides which are very good for photography of Pied and Malachite Kingfishers as well as African Rail. In the afternoon we will transfer to Oudtshoorn for our accommodation.
October 19th - This morning we will be treated to photographing a Meerkat colony, these animals are habituated to humans and spend the first hour of the morning warming up by their dens. After that we will spend some time looking for birds such as the Ground Woodpecker in the Swartberg Mountains, then we will transfer to our next lodge near DeHoop Nature Reserve. Accommodation: A comfortable local lodge.
October 20th - Our lodge has feeders which attract Speckled Mousebird so closely you can photograph them with a macro lens as well as a nice variety of other species. In the surrounding fields Blue Cranes and a few species of Bustards can be photographed. Accommodation: Lodge near DeHoop Nature Reserve
October 21st - We will photograph at our lodge and DeHoop Nature Reserve before heading back to Cape Town. Our last afternoon in Cape Town will be spend at a waterbird location which is excellent for flamingos and a wide variety of ducks and other water birds. Accommodation: Quayside Hotel, Simonstown.
October 22nd - Morning transfer to the airport for your return trip home. If anyone wants to spend another day or two shooting with our local guide you can do so at a very reasonable price, please enquire.
Gallery - To see a gallery of images from our previous tours to the Cape Region of South Africa see South Africa Gallery
