This summer a group of us traveled to Africa for a photo safari. We started out in Victoria Falls for a few days and then headed to Kasane, Botswana where we embarked on the first leg of our safari - by boat on the Chobe River. Our safari company, Pangolin Photo Safaris has perfected the concept of a "photo boat". We traveled the backwaters of the Chobe and were rewarded with a non-stop supply of mammals and birds to photograph.

The boat is basically a very long Johnboat with 8 seats that swivel 360 degrees. Each seat has a superbly designed camera mount that adjusts for any size person. The mounts worked with our arca-swiss plates to make all-day photography quite pleasant. Pangolin said each mount costs over $2000 and I believe it given the full ball-bearing swivels and intricate machined aluminum.

But the real magic of the photo boats was our guides Fabian left rear who spotted so much wildlife and put us in perfect position to photograph it, and Charl an accomplished professional photographer who spent full time teaching us new techniques and helping us hone our skills. (They also mix a mean gin and tonic "sundowner" at the end of the day.)

Two fellow UHH members were with us - Plessner (Katherine - forefront in the first photo) and Durango (Lou in the widebrimmed hat at the back). And me.....(behind the camera where I wouldn't ruin the photo.)

By design...kind of. Pangolin told me if I could put together a full 8-person group we could pretty much create our own itinerary. My wife and I and another couple were the first on board. My friend brought another couple. That left two spots. I knew Katherine from UHH since we are both farmers so I contacted her. She said yes, but her husband couldn't make it so she then contacted some of her "traveling buddies" from UHH. Fellow hogger Cosmo signed on but later had to cancel (missed you Cosmo).

I sure wish I could have gone too, but I'm glad Lou did! From all the photos you guys have posted, it looked amazing.