What an awesome trip you have planned! I'm chiming in with my experience...I've been on 4 safaris...2 in Kenya, 1 in Tanzania, and 1 in Botswana.

I also shoot Nikon. I used the D500 and D7100, both pretty much equally. I put my 18-300 (my favorite all-around lens) on the 7100 and a 70-200 with 1.4 teleconverter on the D500. I took one other smaller lens for a back-up but never used it. Never changed lenses and brought back fantastic photos!

I took the advice of our Botswana travel planner about the teleconverter and it worked wonderfully and saved a LOT of extra weight. I did take off the converter a few times in the evenings when the lighting was low, because you do lose a couple of stops of light, which isn't a big deal in the daylight. I do have the Tamron 150-600 but it is very cumbersome and I can't handhold it very well. So didn't bring it. Also toyed with the idea of a monopod and glad I didn't mess with it. The Land Rovers were great, tiered open seating so all had great views (we were on private safaris, so only 2-4 people per vehicle) but really a monopod would've gotten in my way many times. The great thing about Botswana (and I think South Africa as well) is that the concessions you visit are private and your driver doesn't have to stay on roads so you can literally drive up right beside a lion. Or leopard. Or pretty much anything. Many, many times we were WAY too close for my long lens! You will be amazed how you can drive right up beside animals and they are not spooked, even by your talking.

So my advice is go as minimal as you feel comfortable. We were on lots of small airplanes and only allowed a medium-sized duffle bag plus a couple of regular-sized backpacks. No room for extra stuff that you probably won't use. All the camps had plenty of electrical outlets for charging. And it is a plus if your cameras use the same battery...take extra batteries, plenty of memory cards, and have a BLAST!!!

Botswana is all sand. So it is dusty, but never a big issue. I kinda kept my camera under my jacket until I was ready to use it. I had plastic bags available, but never used them. I brushed my cameras exterior clean and washed off my lenses each evening.

Such a fabulous trip! I'm jealous! :) ENJOY!!!

Here are a FEW (so hard to choose!) of my favorite photos from Botswana (September 2016)...

No, don't take a tripod. In Kenya and Tanzania, many of the safari vehicles have bean bags you can use to stabilize your camera in the Land Rover. While many of the animals will be close, the drivers have to stay on the roads in the Kenya and Tanzania national parks, so it's nice to have a decent reach. I suggest putting a telephoto on one camera and a normal range lens on the other. You will find a telephoto is too much lens many times, but sure is nice to have one when the leopard is 100 yards away and you can't get any closer! :) You won't be getting out of the vehicle to photograph animals, and it's just too cumbersome to deal with in the Rovers. I've never taken a tripod with me and never wished I had.

South Africa may be a different story, depending on where you are going. Some are national parks...same comments as above. But many are private reserves, and the Rovers go off-road and can get very up-close and personal with the animals.

I concur that you should try to avoid changing lenses in the bush. So the best solution for me has been to put a different lens on each camera.

I've done 4 trips to Africa....Tanzania (Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara), Kenya (Masai Mara, Tsavo), and Botswana (Linyati, Okavango Delta, Kalahari). You will have an INCREDIBLE time!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to message me! :)
Terry Gray

The rose is lovely, but the background is what makes this photo for me! So beautiful...and mysterious.......

The reach you need depends on where you are going. In east Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) we were in national parks and had to stay on the roads, so while many animals were very close others were often a ways off. In that case, renting a 500m lens was a very good option. We did Safari in Botswana this fall, all in private reserves where the drivers went off-road and we were very close to the animals. I used Nikon 70-200 with 1.4 teleconverter and it was plenty (often too much!) of reach. You're in for an incredible experience!!!

Thanks xman! Another reason we like to avoid crowds of people... I will be vigilant. And I appreciate your thoughts on the teleconverter. My reasoning for choosing that combo is simple...less weight and room than a larger lens. I had great captures using that lens/TC combo in Botswana. (See a few below, all taken with the 70-200/TC combo on my Nikon d500). I've got some time to decide on the lens dilemma. Appreciate your input!

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I appreciate your thoughts, Bill. And I use Trip Advisor all the time. Different strokes for different folks...I'm sure Machu Picchu is a jewel and perhaps we'll take it in on another trip. 😊

Wow. Thanks for sharing that, Steve! Makes me so excited to go!!! I love birds! If you think of any more nuggets of advice/wisdom (I can use both!), please message me. Thanks again for taking time to respond.

Thanks for the reply, rdfarr! I searched your photos on the site...some great candid street shots! We don't like people (ha ha!), so avoid crowded places as much as possible. But I enjoyed your photographs of Iquitos. Did you have some good wildlife ones from the Amazon?

Thanks so much, sb! Yes, much of the time we will be on boats so your advice is very helpful. May look into a longer lens option as well. And I know the humidity will be high, so thanks also for the link for the silica gel packs. Those would also be very useful for other scenarios. I doubt we'll encounter much air conditioning during our Amazon time.

We've traveled a lot in Africa and a couple of times to India, so we are totally onboard with all the vaccinations. I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Where did you stay on your Peru travels? Still working out itinerary details.

Thanks so much for your help!
Terry

My husband and I are planning a September trip to Peru, mainly for the Amazon River experience. We are skipping Machu Picchu this time, wanting to focus on the wildlife of the rainforests. Tentatively planning to go to Iquitos area, Manu, Paracas, and end at Mancora for a couple of days of relaxation. I welcome suggestions and advice from anyone who has been there. My two cameras are Nikon d7100 and d500...and I will probably rent a 70-200 lens and use with a teleconverter. Thoughts/ideas from some Peru-travelers out there???

I bought the D500 this summer and absolutely LOVE IT...took it to Botswana on safari in September, and it performed amazingly!!! Great for outdoors...wildlife and sports especially! I got some fantastic BIF photos as well...the tracking focus is really good!

The only downside, which can be a biggie if it's your only camera, is that there is no pop-up flash. I know it's not the best lighting option anyway, but for random shots of the grandchildren indoors I do use mine a lot in the winter. So make sure you're okay with that if you go the D500 route. It does have great ISO range, but still...I do miss the convenience of the pop-up flash sometimes. I have Nikon's D7100 as well, so that's my indoors camera.

If you can live with the no flash, you'll LOVE the D500!

Excited for you!!! I purchased the D500 a couple of months ago and just got back from using it on a Botswana safari. INCREDIBLE camera...and I was very pleased with the great photos! ENJOY!!!

My husband and I are headed to Botswana in September. We've done 2 safaris in East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya) but this is our first in South Africa. We also have the 44# total weight limit...makes one prioritize in packing! Our travel agent, who's been to southern Africa many times and is an avid photographer, told me that I would not need my super-zoom lens this time as we will be able to drive much closer to the wildlife in the private reserves. He uses a 70-200mm with a teleconverter, as well as a wide angle lens. I am taking the 70-200 mm/2.8 (for low light needs) with 1.4 tc on my Nikon D500, 18-300 mm on my Nikon D7100, as well as my 20 mm/1.8 for some night sky photography. Plus a monopod (he recommended) and a table-top tripod for the night sky as well as perhaps to use as a chest pod. Beanbags I think are pretty useless in most seats of the open-topped vehicle. We shall see how my plan works out...we need to compare notes after our trips! I know we'll both have an awesome time and some incredible photographs!!! Enjoy !!!

I totally understand your frustrating dilemma! We just got back from a week on the beach at North Carolina and here's what I did to combat this problem.

First of all, a few years ago I bought a small cooler that I JUST use for bringing my camera down to the beach. Put a couple of hand towels inside for cushion...you can also stick in your cell phone, book, etc. I read this tip somewhere...not only does it keep the sand and occasional wayward wave off your camera, it also is less tempting for thieves to snatch since it's just a cooler. So this year, I took 2 camera bodies. One I left in the beach house all the time, used for photographing the grandkids, etc. inside. I put the other camera with lens inside the cooler. When I first got up in the morning, I'd set the cooler out on the porch and by the time I was ready to use the camera the fog was gone. When we weren't at the beach, the cooler stayed in the shade next to the house on the porch. At night I'd bring it back in.

Worked great! And for the first time ever, I never had to deal with the foggy lens situation. :)

Maybe worth a try? Enjoy the beach!!!

Hi Wolfi! My husband and I have been on 2 safaris (Tanzania and Kenya) in recent years and are headed to Botswana in September. I have a Nikon d7100 and d500, and plan to take both my Nikkor 18-300 (I concur with others...a terrific lens for everyday use and also for safari...) as you will need the wide angle more often than you realize as you are often very close to the wildlife and don't need a super-zoom. Plus you'll want to take photos of the camps and landscapes, etc. as well. But you may want to think about renting or purchasing a longer zoom, either 500 or 600 reach for those animals that are more elusive (in our experience, leopards are often in distant trees, for example) and you'll appreciate very much the ability to zoom in on them. But I'd guess for 90% of your shots, the 18-300 will be your lens!

Just curious...where is your safari and with what tour company??? I know you'll be incredibly amazed and want to go back!

Terry Gray