Africa's first permanent photo safari operator
Traditionally there has always been conflict on the back of a game viewing vehicle between people of differing interests…. predominantly birders and non-birders and, more recently, between photographers and non-photographers. A new company operating in Botswana‘s Chobe National Park aims to solve that conflict by catering purely to people with an interest in wildlife photography.
Pangolin Photo Safaris has been set up by photographers for photographers. With specialized vehicles and boats designed with the needs of photographic clients in mind they operate every single day of the year in one of the most game-rich environments in Africa. Catering for photographers of all levels, they will even supply state of the art digital SLR cameras (Nikon D7000) and zoom lenses (Sigma 150-500mm) for clients who perhaps are only travelling with a point-and-shoot!
Packages range from single 3-hour photo safaris (where basic training is given and then the client departs with all their pictures on a disk) right up to 5-day ‘Better Wildlife Photography’ workshops with acclaimed international wildlife photographers.
This is great! Photo safaris are so much fun not to mention the memories. It is definitely a good sign that Botswana is shifting it’s focus from hunting safaris to photo tourism. Hunting in Botswana will be prohibited from the beginning of 2014, it has been announced at the end of October this year. This is great news and we hope that others will follow. We, who live in Africa and have had the privilege of growing up and having our kids growing up watching wildlife, cannot be happier! Hats off to the Government of Botswana who broke the ranks with many other African (specifically Southern African) countries and made this move.