Photographic Tour to Kenya and Tanzania
with
Marty Blackmore

Departure Date: June 7, 2003

Itinerary (Kenya)
Have you dreamed of photographing the great Wildebeest Migration on the Serengeti Plain?
Have you pictured yourself walking across the Kenyan Savanna with your Warrior Guide?
Have you imagined filming a great pride of Lions in the early morning light?

Then, our Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania may be your dream come true. In addition to your DreamCatchers tour guide, you will be accompanied by Marty Blackmore, photographer and cinematographer. Daily workshops will be available for tips and instruction in the art of photography and video photography.

Your Kenyan safari adventure begins in Samburu, in the northern plains. The delicious warm days gives way to cool crisp evenings in this arid region. Your days will be filled with game drives, hiking and swimming in one of the most exciting regions in Kenya. From Samburu, we fly south to the fabulous Masai Mara. The lush savanna of the region is home to large lion prides, herds of elephants and elegant Masai giraffe. The huge nile crocodile will be sharpening their teeth for the crossing the wildebeest.

Your Tanzanian adventure begins at Lake Manyara and Mto wa Mbu. You are then off to the Ngorongoro Crater, a caldera filled with the great animals of the plain in a lush setting. Then you are off to the magnificent Serengeti Plain. Spring in the Serengeti is the ultimate safari experience. The Wildebeest mass in the area of our lodge and it is not uncommon to see a million or more in a day!

Included Activities:

 

Day 1

DEPART U.S. (Meals aboard flight)

Day 2

ARRIVE NAIROBI, KENYA. EAST AFRICA. NORFOLK HOTEL
Evening arrival. Transfer from Komo Jenyatta Airport to our Nairobi lodgings at the famous Norfolk Hotel, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. (Meals aboard flight)

Day 3

NAIROBI TO SAMBURU - SAMBURU INTREPIDS CLUB
After an early breakfast at the hotel we will depart for Wilson Airport and our flight to the Samburu Game Reserve. We will be met by safari cars and drivers at the airstrip. Enjoy your first game drive en route to your lodgings at the Samburu Intrepids Club, a luxurious tented camp. Your tent is equipped with a ceiling fan, four poster beds, and en suite bathroom with double sinks and hot shower.
Lunch is served buffet style on a lovely deck overlooking the river. After lunch, don't miss the photo seminar. At 3:30 p.m. get your cameras ready for your afternoon game drive, watch for elephants, zebras, kudu, baboons, monkeys, giraffe, leopards, cheetahs and lions.
After your game drive, you are off for a sundowner. You will be transported to a mesa which overlooks the savanna, watch the sun set over the African plain while enjoying drinks from the full bar and hot hors d'oeuvres grilled over a bar-be-cue. Marvel at the African sky with the Big Dipper, North Star and the Southern Cross in full view before being transported back to the Intrepids Club for a candlelight dinner. As you fall asleep in your luxurious tent, listen to the sounds of the Kenyan night. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 4

SAMBURU
Your day begins with hot coffee or tea brought to your tent by your steward. Watch the sun rise over Africa while sitting on your private veranda. Then we are off on our morning game drive. You will see elephants, zebra, baboons and perhaps a leopard as you drive across the magnificent landscape. After an English breakfast, our photo seminar will be given while on a walking safari. Our walking safari, led by warriors will take us into the savannah. Learn about the indigenous plants and their medicinal uses, your guide will tell you about the Samburu people and the animals of the northern frontier.
After lunch, we will visit a Samburu Village. You will be able to photograph the warriors as they dance. When we leave the village we will continue on our afternoon game drive.
When we return to camp, you will have time to shower before our candlelit dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 5

SAMBURU - MAASAI MARA - MARA INTREPIDS CLUB
Your day begins with hot coffee or tea on your private veranda. After breakfast, our early morning game drive will take us to the airstrip where you we will board our flight for the MAASAI MARA. We land at the Mara Intrepids Club's private airstrip and are transferred to this luxury tented camp. On your way to your lovely tent, equipped with canopy beds and modern en suite bathrooms with tiled floors, stop for a look at the beautiful pool area and bar. After lunch, meet at the pool for our photo seminar.
Your afternoon game drive begins when the lions begin to stir. After they have slept all day in the warm African sun, they prepare for a night of hunting. Expect to see large prides of lion, cheetahs, elephants, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and antelope. Perhaps your driver will find a leopard hiding in the shadows of the river. At sunset, the cars return to camp. Stop off for high tea and barbecued snacks by the pool before you enjoy a steamy hot shower. Then meet at the bar to talk about what you have seen. Watch for the leopard that snatches his dinner from a tree across the river, and the hippos that leave the river at dusk for their night of grazing. After a candlelit dinner, return to your tent where your steward has placed steaming hot water bottles in your beds. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 6

MAASAI MARA
Your day begins with early morning coffee or tea served on your private veranda, followed by your early morning game drive. The cheetahs are active while the lions sleep, watch for these magnificent cats hunting the delicate Thompson's gazelle.
The game drive is followed by breakfast and the morning photo seminar. Then we are off to visit a Maasai Village. Feel free to photograph the warriors.
After lunch relax by the pool or take time to write in your journal before our afternoon game drive.
Tonight, after dinner take some time by the night fire to discuss your experiences with the Maasai people. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 7

MAASAI MARA
After your early morning coffee, you are off for another exciting game drive on the Mara. Your wildlife driver/guide will look for the animals that you especially want to see. The young lions are playful in the morning , hours can go by as you sit and watch them wrestle with each other.
After Breakfast take time for a swim or write in your journal before lunch.
After lunch on the patio we will meet for our afternoon seminar. Then spend a little time bird watching. The birds of Kenya are magnificent, look for the kingfisher and the superb starling, the red bishop and the weaver, the swifts, the eagles and the lilac-breasted rollers.
At 4:00 it is time for your afternoon game drive. Look for the regal leopard lying in wait on a branch of a tree above a river. Stop by the Hippo Pool and watch the hippos as they wake and prepare for a night of grazing. Be very quiet if you watch a bull elephant protecting his young. Try to get a picture of a zebra's face. Perhaps you will see giraffe as they gallop in slow motion across the Mara. You will return in time for a hot shower and a stop at the patio bar to compare drive notes before a late candlelit dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 8
MAASAI MARA - NAIROBI
Enjoy your early morning coffee or tea served to you on your veranda before your early morning game drive. After breakfast we will transfer to the airstrip and your flight to Nairobi. Upon arrival in Nairobi, transfer to the Norfolk Hotel. Enjoy lunch at one of the Hotel's patio or pool side restaurants.

This afternoon relax at the Norfolk Hotel or take a souvenir shopping trip into Langatta .

This evening we will have dinner at the world famous Carnivore Restaurant. (Vegetarian meals are available.) (Breakfast, Dinner)*

* If your Safari ends tonight enjoy dinner in one of the Norfolk's five gourmet restaurants. Your hotel room will be available until time for your transfer to the Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your onward flights. Your driver will meet you in the hotel lobby and take you to your airline's entrance door. (Breakfast)



Pricing (Kenya)
Kenya Double Occupancy $3065.00
Single Supplement $305.00

Kenya & Tanzania

Double Occupancy $5230.00
Single Supplement $355.00


Itinerary (Tanzania)

Day 1

NAIROBI - KILIMANJARO - LAKE MANYARA - LAKE MANYARA SERENA
This morning, after an early breakfast, we will transfer to the Wilson Airport and board our flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. As we approach Kilimanjaro, we will fly between Mt. Kilimanjaro and her sister mountain Mt. Meru.
After passing through customs, we will meet our private cars and drivers. Lunch today will be at Redd's African Grille House. After lunch we begin our journey west en route to Lake Manyara and Mto wa Mbu for a cultural safari. People of many tribes live in harmony in Mto wa Mbu, we will find members of the Maasai, Chagga, Angi, Sandawe and Kingoma tribes. This afternoon we will visit Balaa Hill and the Banana Farms, 30 varieties of bananas are grown in the area. If you want a good walk, climb Balaa Hill "the hill of misfortune", our guides willl explain how the hill got its name. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 2

LAKE MANYARA - NGOROGORO CRATER - NGORONGORO SERENA LODGE
This morning we take a trip into the green oasis created by the Miwaleni waterfall. We will meet members of the Rangi tribe who collect materials at Papyrus Lake for the weaving of their beautiful mats and baskets, and Sandawe families who make traditional bows and arrows for hunting.
We then continue west and begin the drive up to the lip of the Ngorongoro Crater. The rainforest around the crater is home to monkeys and buffalo, watch for them on the way up the mount. You will need a sweater, so keep one handy. As you reach the lip of the crater, stop for a view of the vista below you. The huge crater floor with its streams and lakes stretches for miles.
We will arrive at the Ngorogoro Crater in time dinner. Each room has a private balcony which overlooks the Crater below us. Tonight, after dinner, visit the bar, the huge fire and live music are inviting. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 3

NGOROGORO CRATER
After breakfast we will descend into the crater for a full day game drive. In the crater you will find baboons, elephants, lions, cheetahs, rhinos, hippos, wildebeest and antelope. We will have a picnic lunch in the crater at a spot safe from lions, but stay in the car, the Kites will snatch your food. When we have all finished lunch, our photo seminar will begin. As the afternoon draws on, shadows creep down the sides of the crater. Lions begin to stir as hunting time grows near. By six o'clock we must be out of the crater. You will have time for a hot shower before dinner. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 4

SERENGETI PLAIN - SERENGETI SERENA
We leave early this morning for the Serengeti. We will stop to see the Olupai Gorge, the birthplace of mankind. It is here that the Leakys found Australopithecus Bonsei. We continue west into the magnificent Serengeti Plain. Our route to the Serengeti Serena will take us into the heart of the Serengeti plain. Keep a look out for the incredible amount of animals you will see at this time of the Great Migration. We will check into the Serena in time for lunch. After lunch, we will set out on another game drive. Keep your cameras loaded.
After dinner, don't miss the photography seminar.
Our rooms each have a private balcony, tonight sit out on your balcony and listen to the sounds of the night. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 5

SERENGETI
Today we will have a full day game drive with a packed picnic lunch in the Serengeti. June is the time that the Migration Herds gather around the Serena. Take plenty of film and water, you will probably want to stay out all day. If we catch the migration just right you will see thousands of wildebeest and zebra with lions and leopards following along. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

Day 6

SERENGETI
Tonight, after a full day of game drives, is our special Farewell Dinner. Long pants and sleeves is the dress of the evening. This is the time to talk about all we have seen and done in Africa.

Day 7

SERENGETI - KILIMANJARO - NAIROBI
We start our day with an early morning game drive on our way to the Seronera Air Strip. Here we board our plane for Kilimanjaro. We will fly from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi where we will be transferred to our hotel for a comfortable afternoon in our day rooms. This evening we will be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta Airport where we will board our planes for onward flights. (Breakfast)

Day 8
Arrive Home


Pricing (Tanzania)


Tanzania

Double Occupancy $3365.00
Single Supplement $118.00

Kenya & Tanzania

Double Occupancy $5230.00
Single Supplement $355.00



What's Included
All Accommodations
All Meals as Shown
All Domestic Flights (Exclusive of round trip airfare to Nairobi)
All Activities as Shown
Private Cars and Drivers as Shown
Tips

Not Included
Round Trip Airfare to Kenya
Travelers Insurance
Visas
Drinks
Personal Laundry
Personal Sundries