Don't Forget Your Camera

At Khaki and Dust Safaris, we are photographers ourselves. We are well placed to advise you on the best safari options to maximize your opportunities to take pictures of wildlife.

Most lodges in Botswana do cater for general photographers with good infrastructure for charging batteries, camera rests and window seats in vehicles. However, if you are a serious photographer, please ask us for advise on options that best suit your needs. Remember, we do provide specialist photographic guides, vehicles and boats.

For now, do consider the following guide when planning:

  • At most lodges, you will be put into safari vehicles with other guests that may not be serious photographers – this may hinder your time spent at sightings and they may shake the vehicle.
  • Private vehicles for photographers are available at most lodges – costs vary but it is generally quite expensive to do this, although well worth it!
  • Generally, most guides are trained to position their safari vehicles in optimum positions for photography. However, some (general) lodge guides may not be adept at doing this well.
  • You may not be able to charge your camera batteries in your room at lodges – rather in a central area.
  • Lodges that use generators may not run them 24 hours a day – limiting your opportunities to charge
  • Charter flights, when flying between camps, have strict luggage restrictions. Make inquiries if you plan to carry a lot of gear
  • Bring lots of spare batteries and memory cards (unlikely you will be able to buy more)
  • Bring correct adapters for your charging devices. Lodges do usually keep good international adapters but cannot be relied upon

NOTE: Currently, there are many lodge companies and mobile safari outfitters that are making big advances with facilities available for photographers. Please email us for more information.

At Khaki and Dust Safaris, we have some excellent concepts and ideas for photographic clients and groups -please do let us know if you are a serious wildlife photographer.

Photographers should also look at the idea of a private mobile safari with a specialist photographic guide. This type of safari means you can keep the same guide throughout your stay and you won’t have to share the vehicle with any non-photographers.