Leopards, Lions, Cheetahs, Hippos, Giraffes – To Name A Few

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Posted on by Michael

We just returned from 13 days (Jan 21-Feb 3) on a clockwise trip by land from Arusha to Tarangire (Swala), Ngorongoro (Crater Lodge), Lake Masek, then to Serengeti staying at the Four Seasons and finally Kusini Tented Lodge.

We were four couples with two great driver-guides: JP and Ellson. We experienced the amazing wildlife diversity (lions, cheetahs, leopards, hippos, giraffes—to name a few). And we were delighted with the abundance and variety of the birds (Tawny Eagle, Grey-crowned Crane, Secretary Bird, African Spoonbill, Kori Bustard, Golden-breasted Starling, Grey-headed Kingfisher, and Northern Masked Weaver).

Pictures were taken with a Nikon D600/28-300mm Nikkor and a Nikon D300S/18-300mm Nikkor lens. We found in most instances these zooms met our needs. We recommend bringing a GPS camera adaptor (we used Nikon GP1) because it identifies photo locations (see last picture).

We enjoyed the variety of lodging with various overnight visitors (buffalo, giraffe, zebra, and competing lions), the good food, and attentive service. One of our high points was seeing the migration both from our vehicles as well as flying out on our final day. Zebra and Wildebeest as far as the eye could see.

Dawn Anderson’s planning and pre-trip suggestions and answers to our many questions helped make this a wonderful life-time experience.

Mark D. and John O.
Altadena, California

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  1. Would like to take a trip and include a 1 – 3 day hunt to take back 1-2 animals, if possible along with a regular tour of country. Is that possible?

  2. great photos ! did you take any video or just stills?
    were most of the photos taken from inside the vehicle or were there opportunities to get down on ground level ? any suggestions for taking photos or video?

    1. Jeff,
      We took both video and stills. We’re still trying to figure out how to post the wildebeeste stampede video. Almost all photos were from inside the vehicle with the choice of window seat or from the top. Getting to ground level, desirous as it may be, is not always safe.

  3. Hi Jeff,

    We have a good write up on photography recommendations while on safari including general photo tips at this link here: http://www.africadreamsafaris.com/blog/?p=9502

    There are some instances where you can exit the vehicle and take pictures from ground level but certainly most of the photography takes place from the vehicle given the inherent dangerous nature of large animals.