Kalahari Rare Mammals Photo Tour
- Photo Tour
- October 19-November 2, 2025
- October 18-November 1, 2026
- Chobe, Botswana Extension
- November 2-7, 2025
- November 1-6, 2026
In addition to photographing large mammals such as Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Cape Buffalo and lots of birds and antelope etc, this trip also focuses on photographing the rarer and nocturnal type mammals. We will likely see and photograph Aardvark, Aardwolf, Black-footed Cat, African Wild Cat and other difficult species. We have a chance to photograph Ground Pangolin (difficult), Caracal (fairly often seen in the Kalahari), Honey Badger and many others. We will be staying at a lodge for 5 nights which specializes in night safaris for Aardvark and others, but we will also be out at dawn and dusk each day there hoping to get those animals before dark. There is also a nice small bird blind there and nice antelope species such as Roan as well as tame Meerkats that live near the house. We will spend 5 nights in Kalaghadi National Park, this is a great park for large mammals such as black-maned Lions, Leopards, Oryx, groups of Meerkats are often encountered and it’s a fantastic location for raptor photography, with raptors preying on other bird species at waterholes, the action is amazing. In addition to the tour leaders we will also be working with an excellent South African guide, Wayne Stanley.
Participants: Maximum of 6 photographers plus nonphotographer spouses/companions.
Cost and Logistics
$8,850 per photographer with a $900 single supplement. Nonphotographer spouse/companion $7,950. Deposit is $3,000. Cost includes all meals, lodging, drinking water, guiding, domestic flights, transportation. It does not include international flights, drinks other than water, tips and items of a personal nature such as phone calls and laundry. Balance is due 90 days before the trip. 2026 costs: $8,950 photographer, $8,450 nonphotographer, $900 single supplement.
Itinerary
October 20th – Morning flight to Kimberley, South Africa, transfer to Marrick Safari Lodge, afternoon/evening game drive for birds, mammals, and nocturnal mammals. Most evenings our game drives will start about two hours before sunset and continue about two hours after sunset.
October 21st-24th – Early morning and late afternoon/night game drives each day, photography from the binds or rest during the days. Small birds such as Violet-eared Waxbill, Green-winged Pytilla and others frequent the birds blind. Blue Cranes are often at Marrick and if the pan is full of water Greater and Lesser Flamingos. This is one of the best locations in the world to see and photograph Aardvark, Aardwolf and Black-footed Cat. Roan Antelope, Giraffe, Buffalo etc are common on the ranch.
October 25th – one more morning at Marrick then we transfer to beautiful Augrabies Falls National Park where we will arrive in the late afternoon. Chalets inside the park.
October 26th – We will have a full day in the park. The landscapes are spectacular here. This area is good for antelope such as Oryx and Klipspringer. Caracals are seen regularly in the park. We will have another night drive here to look for nocturnal mammals. Chalets
October 27th – Morning photography at Augrabies followed by check out and transfer to Kalaghadi Transfrontier Park. We will have an afternoon game drive here.
October 28th-31st – We will have four full days of photography here. We are staying in comfortable National Park chalets inside the park, there is a restaurant at the camp we are at. Each morning we will be out early looking for mammals such as Leopards, Caracals, African Wild Cat, Elephants and more. Around 9 each day we will generally switch to bird photography, this is when flocks of birds start coming in to the waterholes. They are followed by large numbers of raptors. Lanner Falcons coming in low, Gabar Goshawks ambushing flocks, Tawny Eagles participating as well. In the afternoon we will go out on game drives also, it’s a good park for large terrestrial birds such as Kori Bustard and Secretarybird. We will be looking for the Kalahari black-maned Lions as well. In the evenings if the park is offering night drives we will do those a couple of nights as well. Due to coivd they had been suspended the last couple of years.
November 1st – Morning photography in the park, then check out and drive to Upington, South Africa, check in for our afternoon flight to Johannesburg. Transfer to a nice hotel near the airport or you can fly home that evening.
November 2nd – Transfer to the airport for your return flight home.
Chobe, Botswana extension
Ken Archer
Ken Archer has been a professional wildlife photographer for the last 25 years. His work is widely published and he is a former first place category winner in Nature’s Best Photo Contest and an overall winner of the Wyoming Wildlife Photo Contest. He has spent a great deal of time photographing wildlife in the American West. Ken uses Canon.
