Piltdown1952

I went to the Maasi Mara in Western Kenya a few years back. My best tip is that if you don't own a really long telephoto or zoom and can't afford the one you want you can always rent one. Be sure to get the insurance.

Kingman

Who arranged your private guide? How much was this compared to a shared guide? I hadn't heard that a private guide was available. I guess I hadn't thought about it.

philo Loc: philo, ca

wish i was going along. have a great time.

williejoha

Take a good blower to clean your lens in the field. DO NOT change your lens outside.Every evening give your camera a good cleaning, follow your users manual.
Enjoy the trip, it will be fantastic. I have been to the Serengeti and had a blast.
WJH

rosjan

Make sure everything is weather sealed. The dust is terrible. Don't take too much equipment. You won't use it all and it's a drag to drag around. Have a great time. It's a wonderful experience.

fecraly

One more tip not seen yet. Been on 2 safaris--great experiences and photo ops. BUT; take along the voltage converter plugs and a voltage converter (a type of transformer). Local voltage is 240 and different plug prong configuration in nearly every country. Don't fry your batteries or charger.

gary northrop

I've been on 5 African safaris and the best thing I can advise is to bring a
pillow case to protect your camera while in the field -- effective and provides
a faster quickdraw when you see that shot.

jaycoffman Loc: San Diego

Welcome to the forum. You're in for a treat--African safaris are one of the ultimate wildlife experiences and photo ops. I think you're set with what you have. My very first safari I had a Nikon p600 and I got a lot of great shots but also missed a few mostly because the camera did not start up fast enough or because it couldn't change focus fast enough. After that I used d7100 with a Tamton 18-400 lens and that worked very well. Your d7500 should wok even better.

One word of advice-- make friends with the other traveler's and share rather than competing. We've made life long friends from our trip.

Last thing--I'm not sure how fast your lenses are but one fast lens (low f-stop like 1.4 or 1.8) is helpful because you may go on night drives. I took a 50 mm 1.4 lens and found it very useful(I didn't need the reach at night). You can change lenses in camp before you go ( unless you need to...)

Also, don' forget the people and landscapes because they become a major part out your experience. Most of all--enjoy...

Kingman

I agree that being friendly would certainly be better than competing. I am just concerned that someone might think they paid big dollars will decide he or she will gets their monies worth. On other non safari photo expeditions, there is typically not a limited or prime location for a shot. I would hope most people are considerate and not ruin other people's trips. I have yet to hear of of any such incidences.

CWGordon

We used Kensington Toours in Toronto, but much of what they told us, re: costs was untrue. The Emergency contact did not want to be called later in the evening and hung up on us. The balloon ride we paid for turned out to be much more expensive than they said and had to be paid on site. There were many things where they “misled” us. We would never use them again. Even our flights and arrival times were incorrect. We arrived late for scheduled meals. Hours late.
All that said there were numerous companies that also were on-line. Many offerred private guides. Even in the back of photo magazines, numerous companies were advertised. We could have scheduled with the camps where we stayed to get guides. Having only a spouse to share the vehicle with was a huge advantage. I do not remember cost, but it was not prohibitive compared to a group tour. The group vehicles were crowded and from what I heard, made it difficult to stop, stay, go and shoot what YOU want w/o bothering others. We were dissatisfied with the hotel in Zanzibar, but had the time been available that was easily rectified.
Kichwa Tembo was absolutely the greatest and looked straight out onto the Masai Mara. We had our own Butler there! Much food grown on site. At night lions and hyenas could be heard under our tent. We were about 10 ft off the ground. We also stayed at a couple of other lodges earlier in trip at different parks. The Mara was our favorite. Our guide was super knowledgeable. Well-educated to be a guide. He would also be a great choice. You can fly into and out of the Masai Mara. Do not get conned into driving there. It is a waste of a day each direction. I can provide more info if you actually need or want it.
Trip of a lifetime. It was not that hot. Elevation is pretty high up. Had hot water bottles in bed at night. I would go again in a heartbeat. Super telephoto not necessary. Took 80-400, 70-200, teleextender and mild wideangle. More than enough. Good luck.

rhdoshi

I wouldn’t list any equipments since many have responded. I was there last year. You will have many opportunities to shoot ( with camera) but it is important to look at the god’s creation directly and fill your heart and soul. When you return home those images will respect back. Good luck and enjoy and post few pictures. BTW: We had pride of lions lying about 15 feet from jeep.

Kingman

Yes, indeed! A friend of mine took a picture of the Jeep behind then full of people pointing their long lenses off to the distance with three lions walking right next to them on their bumper and fender.

international architect Loc: Venice FL

You're in for a REAL treat! Bring a bean bag to stabilize on the roof of your vehicle. Great for getting quick shots with a long lens.

Bill P

[quote=Buckeye73]Buy a Buff. It is a t-shirt like piece of material in a round configuration that you can wear around your neck and bring up to cover your nose in a dusty location.

Or when robbing a liquor store. Think about old TV westerns.

Dossile

Have a great time. The accommodations and food are great. The scenery spectacular. Hopefully you will be in the middle of the migration. I have been on 4 safaris in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. The most important thing I captured in all of them was new, dear friends. Some photographers seemed so competitive that they were, frankly, jerks. Leased big prime Canon and Nikon lenses held by people who didn’t seem to know a ton about photography and were frustrated by the bulk and complexity of their camera and lenses were the worst. Enjoy your fellow travelers, the scenery and the beautiful animals, and relish the opportunity to get them on camera.

Travel light, the accommodations all have relatively inexpensive laundry.

I never felt the need to have a lens longer than my 200-500 and had a second camera with a 70-200. I’ve lately shot Fx, currently a D850. My first safari years ago was with a manual Fuji and a 50 mm lens and I got great pictures on kodachrome Slides.

Never change lenses in the field. I shot all of my panoramas at lunch and in the evening with a 16-35 wide angle. I wish now I had used the 70-200 and spliced the images.

Of course, like with humans, focus on the eyes.

Encourage your guide to watch the animals for awhile before saying “Saba, Saba” and moving onto the next area. We saw a very amazing tussle between male rhinos because we sat and waited, and then had the large group of rhino babies, females and males come running across the road in front of our vehicle.

Remember the birds are amazing too. We fell in love with the beautiful plume on the male Somali ostrich.

Take good binoculars.

Take twice as many memory cards as you think you’ll need and an additional extra battery (at least 3) and charger. Occasionally a charger will ‘disappear.’ When you are close to a major animal, let the camera keep on shooting. Fill those cards. Animals do surprising things and you’ll capture them if the camera is already engaged. It all happens fast. BTW, Baboons are hardly worth a dozen shots after the first day.

At lunch and at night I always brushed off my lens and camera before wiping with a cloth and then changing lenses, batteries, cards etc. It is dusty. Of course blow and brush off your glass before cleaning to prevent scratches.

Enjoy the amazing vistas, plants and animals with your camera occasionally at your side.

Take a seat pad to sit on. We got an Eagle Creek self inflating seat pad and a corrugated closed foam sitting pad for backpacking both from REI. The corrugated closed foam seemed to work best. You sit down traveling on bumpy roads for a long time. A Buff is also a good idea to keep dust out of your nose and mouth. Also from REI or your local sports/backpacking store.

Have a great time. I look forward to heading back to Tanzania for humanitarian work and of course a Safari early next year. You will be there for the migration, I will see the births that start it all.