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Tanzania Photo Safari

Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
- Learn how best to work with movement and light as you frame dazzling herds of zebra, lolling lions, and a colorful spectrum of birds.
- Spend time with the Maasai in their village and enjoy a rare chance to shoot portraits and photograph the traditional way of life of these iconic pastoralists.
- Head out on safaris, walks, and other activities designed to maximize photographic opportunities.
- Go on a photo shoot at a coffee plantation, and fill your lens with scenes of lush fields, bright coffee beans, and local culture.
Short Description
Set out on a photo safari amid some of East Africa’s most spectacular landscapes and hone your skills while photographing an ever-changing tableau of wildlife. Learn how best to capture movement and light as you frame dazzling herds of zebras, majestic lion prides, and wildebeests on their annual migration across the Serengeti. Spend time with the Maasai and document their traditions in the Ngorongoro Highlands.
Destinations
TanzaniaAttractions & Cities Visited
Arusha Lake Manyara National Park Ngorongoro Crater Serengeti National ParkActivities & Interests
Bird watching Festivals & Special Events Game drive Nature Photography Safari Wildlife viewingItinerary
Days 1 & 2: U.S./Arusha, Tanzania
Depart on an overnight flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport, and arrive the following evening.
Arusha Coffee Lodge
Day 3: Arusha/Lake Manyara National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Plantation Lodge
Drive to Lake Manyara National Park, famous for its elephants, hippos, giraffes, flamingos, and tree-climbing lions. Get your equipment ready for our first safari this afternoon, and train your lens on giraffes or Cape buffalo against the stunning mountains of the Rift Valley.
Day 4: Lake Manyara National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Plantation Lodge
Rise early for a morning game drive, heading to the shores of Lake Manyara to photograph the numerous bird species and other wildlife that congregate here. Visit a coffee plantation this afternoon, and document the coffee production process and the culture of the local people
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater
Meals: Breakfast,Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Travel into the Ngorongoro Highlands after breakfast for a very special opportunity to visit with a Maasai community off the beaten path. With your camera in hand, pay a visit to a school, witness an initiation ritual, and learn about this fascinating culture from the village chief and his wives. Capture the spirit of traditional song and dance, and enjoy time to work on portraiture and photographing daily life with these proud people. After lunch, descend 2,000 feet to the base of the Ngorongoro Crater, where volcanic slopes shelter almost 25,000 animals. Document the interactions of predator and prey; zoom in on birdlife from marabou storks to rainbow-hued lovebirds; and test your wildlife photography skills on elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, and more.
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Return to the crater floor at sunrise for breakfast and a morning photo safari. Take the afternoon to relax and, look over your images. Listen to a talk by our National Geographic photographer, and ready your camera to catch the sun set over the crater this evening.
Day 7: Olduvai Gorge/Serengeti National Park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Drive to the Olduvai Gorge where, on a National Geographic-sponsored expedition in 1960, Louis and Mary Leakey discovered Homo habilis, one of the earliest members of the human genus. Take a private tour of the site and learn about recent finds before continuing west to Serengeti National Park. In order to provide travelers with the best opportunity to witness the wildebeest migration, the Serengeti days differ by season. The March departure coincides with wildebeest calving season, when the animals move south to give birth to tens of thousands of calves. Travel overland to our luxury tented camp on the southeastern border of Serengeti National Park, stopping to photograph lions, cheetahs, and leopards along the way.*
Days 8 & 9: Serengeti National Park
Meals: Breakfast,Lunch, Dinner
Embark on an off-track safari in the Ndutu area in search of resident lion prides, giraffes, and bountiful herds of wildebeests, elephants, and zebras. On morning and afternoon game drives, photograph magnificent birds, hippos, packs of hyenas, and pairs of jackals lurking around the surrounding marshlands and lakes. For the ultimate photo experience, you may choose to soar over the plains on an optional early-morning hot-air balloon ride, photographing magnificent scenery and distant herds from the air.
Days 10 & 11: Serengeti/Arusha/U.S.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Rivertrees Lodge
Take a final morning photo safari before we fly back to Arusha. Enjoy the afternoon to take a photo walk in town or just relax at the hotel. We transfer to the airport tonight for evening flights home.
Availability
30 National Geographic Expeditions Travel Reviews & Ratings
Tanzania Photo Safari
Company Reviews
Inconsistent information, No Refund
How to Ruin a Trip to Norway
TOO MUCH TOO FAST
We arrived in Luxor, were taken to the hotel, deposited our luggage (the room wasn’t ready), had breakfast, and then met our tour guide at 10:00 AM for our first tour. We were exhausted, but mustered our energy for the occasion.
Is there a good reason why Cairo wasn’t the first city on our tour? In retrospect, it should have been for many reasons, not the least of which was the logistics described above.
All right, so now we’re in Luxor, and by afternoon we’re ensconced in a luxurious hotel with a magnificent view of the Nile River. There’s a swimming pool that we’re looking forward to relaxing by the next day during some much needed down time during the free time described in the itinerary; exactly what we expected from National Geographic. But instead, that evening we were told by our guide that we needed to have our luggage ready to check out of the hotel the next morning to relocate to the Nile River ship Minerva (coincidentally, owned by the same company as the hotel). We obliged, and in the morning we were taken on a tour with the luggage in the car, and then brought to the ship in the early afternoon. Our four suitcases were put in a room that was barely large enough to contain the bed, but the view of the river from our room was good enough to overlook this inconvenience, at least for the moment. I looked forward to resting in our cabin in the afternoon because I was exhausted. In fact, I was so tired that I have little recollection of that morning’s tour until I look at the photos to affirm that I was actually where the itinerary said I would be.
We went to lunch in the ship’s dining room and returned to our cabin to find that our view of the Nile was obliterated by a ship that had tied up alongside our own. This is now our view (see photo) and the blackout drapes that were drawn to hide it made the small cabin a crowded, dark dungeon.
Furthermore, that ship’s bunker oil fumes were now in the air conditioning system of our ship and flowing freely into our cabin making me nauseous and giving me a headache. I complained but there was nothing to do about it.
And if this wasn’t bad enough, the sound of the neighboring ship that accompanied the smell was intolerable.
Other issues I had with our cabin on the ship included;
- The bypass closet door wouldn’t stay shut
- There was a leak under the bathroom sink
- The carpet in the area near the bathroom was wet
- The toilet seat lid came off repeatedly
- Wifi on board the ship was only in the main lobby area, and was poor at best
I talked to the ship’s desk clerk, and he assured me that things would be taken care of shortly. They never were.
This doesn’t take into consideration that the buffet style food served on board was repetitive if you didn’t take the offered main course, which was usually meat (I don’t eat meat).
Oh, and I didn’t yet mention that our ship wouldn’t be leaving its mooring until the next day! We had traded a luxurious hotel for this!
With that said, it begs the question of why we were taken out of a luxurious hotel 24 hours in advance of the ship sailing away from Luxor? No pool to sit by, no view of the sunset over the banks of the Nile, no quiet room in which to sleep, and no dinner of delicious food. Certainly not what we expected from a Nat Geo Private Tour for which we had paid a premium price!
Unrelated to these issues, NatGeo’s survey asked if we felt that our health was well-protected. “No” is the short answer. A fuller reply is that we both got Covid on this trip; my husband first, then inevitably, myself three days later. We had avoided catching it for more than 2.6 years, and now we had it. I realize that one takes risks when going out in the world, and I certainly don’t blame NatGeo for our getting sick. But their people weren’t wearing masks until I asked them to, mostly to protect themselves from us. One agent who met us at the airport when we arrived back in Cairo from Aswan, now openly sick with Covid, disappeared for 10 minutes to purchase a mask when I told him in no uncertain terms that he needed to wear one around us.
Overall, NatGeo profited from our illness as we were too unwell to utilize the dining allowance at the Cairo Ritz Carlton or to go to out for most meals offered with our guide. The one restaurant I was taken to for dinner without my husband was a touristy place with fake grapes leaves hanging from fake arbors. When a 35 person tour group trouped in past us it told me all I needed to know. My bowl of pasta with a tomato sauce not much thicker than tomato juice certainly couldn’t have cost more than $10, if that much. Then, the next day I was too sick to go out at all, my husband, who was feeling better by then, went out alone with the tour guide for the day, but it’s my understanding that they skipped all meals.
All in all, there were many aspects of the trip that were memorable for all the right reasons, but also memorable for the above mentioned wrong reasons. For us to have paid as much as we did begs the question, “Was it worth the expense for this private tour experience?” As seasoned world travelers, I’m hard pressed to reply in the affirmative.
Best Part of Trip was Cancelled
Cancel my trip but no refund
DO NOT BOOK WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - LOST MY TRIP MONEY
They have not refunded any portion of my money. They said the airfare was non-refundable and that I couldn't even have a flight credit. But they are the ones that canceled the trip. However Delta told me that a refund check was sent to the agency. Then they said they would refund the other portion of the trip expense, but it may take 6 months. It is completely unacceptable. The entire 100% of the trip should be refunded and should have been refunded the day they canceled the trip.
The business is not responsive to this. I filed a complaint with the BBB and they did not respond. I sent a 30 day demand letter in preparation of filing in court against them. So far no resolution.
I expect a 100% refund AND I share this story to strongly advise against anyone ever booking a national geographic trip of any kind.
I will be posting this review online in every spot I can find.
Details
Optional Activities
- Rwanda Gorilla Tracking - Post-Trip Extension, 6 Days
- Ruaha National Park - Post-Trip Extension, 4 Days
Flight & Transport Inclusions
All internal ground transport
Trip ID#:
tanphonat
What's excluded
- The “Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner” notations apply to the period during the expedition only and do not include any meals on flights to/from the Trip
- International airfare
- Optional gratuities
- Personal items
Meals Included
8 Breakfasts, 9 Lunches and 9 Dinners
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