Photographic Safaris 2016
We are running a series of Photographic Safaris in Masai Mara with world renowned photographer, film maker and wildlife guide Warren Samuels. This is a safari staying at Governors Private Camp where you will get the chance to hone your wildlife photography skills under the expert guidance and tuition of Warren Samuels.
6 & 7 night Photographic Safari at Governors Private Camp
Includes:
Photographic instruction given in the car each day.
Evening slide shows on wildlife photography illustrating some examples of how to take good wildlife pictures,
Client Image Appraisal sessions
Screening on wildlife documentaries that Warren have been involved in, which he will present together with a brief lecture on the "making of" of each particular film. For those that would like it, Warren will be available to provide extra photographic coaching outside of game drive hours in the camp photographic gallery.
Dates and Costs
26th June 2016 for 7 nights - US$ 4892 per person sharing
3rd August for 6 nights - US$ 6012 per person sharing
18th September 2016 for 7 nights - US $ 6928 per person sharing
2nd October for 7 nights - US$ 5948 per person sharing
26th November 2016 for 7 nights - US $ 5808 per person sharing
11th December 2016 for 7 nights - US $ 5808 per person sharing
This Safari Package Includes
Transfers in Nairobi from International Airport to Domestic Airport, flights to Masai Mara, 6 or 7 nights on safari at Governors Private Camp hosted by Warren Samuels, Participation on the Photographic workshop, Park Fees in Masai Mara, daily game drives in shared 4wd vehicle, breakfast, lunch and dinner in camp,
soft drinks, beers, house wines and local spirits, laundry, return flights to Nairobi and a transfer to the international Airport for your flight home.
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2016
A juvenile black eagle takes off from a waterfall � Ernest Porter
A male lion greets a new day in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya �Bj�rn Persson
A jackal plays with its food in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park �Lynne Kruger-Haye
A portrait of a male mandrill in a rainforest in south-eastern Gabon �Giovanni
It's time for a drink near the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Namibia �Rian van Schalkwyk
A lone elephant takes the first steps towards a new day in the Maasai Mara, Kenya �Bj�rn Persson
A giraffe in Nairobi National Park, Kenya �Paras Chandaria
Reflections at Zimanga Game Reserve, South Africa �Charlene Bacchioni
A crested barbet in flight at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, South Africa �Ernest Porter
Meerkats on the lookout at Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa �Johan van Zyl
A portrait of a lion in Kruger National Park, South Africa �Bjorn Persson
Elephants of Etosha National Park, Namibia �Yael Graicer
The eye of a leopard in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa �Sean Cresswell
A flat-headed agama in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania �Tomer Razabi
Fishing at Lake Awassa, Ethiopia �Diane Bateman
Greener pastures for a rhino �Mark Winckler
A praying mantis eats a bee in Durban Botanical Gardens, South Africa �Pierre Bassani
The king of the continent at Gondwana Game Reserve near Mossel Bay, South Africa �Mark Winckler
4 wonderful facts about baobabs
Written by: Fausto Ciardo, camp manager at Selous Impala Camp
The African baobab (Adansonia digitata) is one very special tree on the continent, and here's just 4 reasons why we treasure this majestic arbor at Selous Impala Camp.
Baobab in Ruaha �Flo Montgomery
Baobab at sunset in Ruaha �Rebecca Phillips
1. They have amazing longevity
As the oldest natural things in Africa, they are living monuments; outlasting every plant and animal around them. These trees have evolved to have formidable resilience in order to survive in some of the driest, rockiest areas of this continent. Despite this hostile habitat African baobabs live longer and grow larger than most other trees in the world - this is the great paradox of their existence. Carbon dating has confirmed that some very old baobab trees have been around since the Great Flood, which took place up to 5 000 years ago.
The huge gap in the trunk of this baobab was made by foraging elephants, who love the bark as well as the fruits of the tree. �Rebecca Phillips, manager of Mdonya Old River Camp in Ruaha
2. Baobabs have many medicinal and spiritual uses
In Africa, the baobab fruit has been used medicinally for centuries to treat everything from vitamin C deficiency, fevers, malaria and gastrointestinal problems to heart disease, varicose veins and liver problems.
The fruit from the ancient baobab tree is an extremely rich source of polyphenals, which are known to be beneficial in reducing the glycaemic response - the rate at which sugar is released into the bloodstream. Now scientists from Oxford Brookes University have established that these polyphenals can be transferred into food products, raising the possibility of creating a range of 'functional foods' produced specifically to reduce the effects of Type 2 diabetes.
Wherever baobabs grow, they are central to traditional healing practices. Medicinal compounds are extracted from fruit, wood and leaves. Even today, the trees and the ground around them serve as stages for treatment rituals. Baobabs are vital in sustaining local people both culturally and nutritionally. They are often revered as homes of spirits or at least conduits to the ethereal world. Animists still also imbue the tree with its own spirit. And many Africans, whose spiritual lives remain uncluttered by the constraints of modern religion, find the base of a huge baobab a good place to pray to an omnipresent god.
Baobab flower �Andrea Pompele
Baobab flower �Rebecca Phillips
3. Baobab fruits are a super food
As more scientific research on the remarkable nutritional value and health benefits of the baobab fruit emerges, people across the world are beginning to show an interest in products made from this up-and-coming superfood. Pure baobab fruit powder made from the dried fruit and baobab seeds are just a few examples of baobab products that can now be found in health food stores in the UK and the US.
The baobab fruit is being billed as king of the superfruits, and it has just been given EU approval to be used in smoothies and cereal bars.
The fruit is not only low in sodium, sugar and calories, but it has:
� six times more anti-oxidants than blueberries;
� six times more vitamin C than oranges;
� six times more potassium than bananas;
� more magnesium than coconut water;
� twice as much calcium than milk;
� 66% more iron than spinach when calculated by the gramme.
4. They provide shelter to man and animals
Baobabs undoubtedly dotted the African savanna while our ancestors still lopped along on four legs. The trees would have provided them with easily gathered fruit, while branches gave shelter from rain, sun and predators. As man gradually started to stand upright, his hands began to shape tools and he may have begun to harvest honey from bees' nests in the trees, to appreciate the goodness in the leaves and to use hollow trees as cave-like homes.
Leopards adore the wide branches of baobabs �Rebecca Phillips
Lions take shelter under a baobab in Selous Game Reserve
An open air safari vehicle from Selous Impala Camp finds shade under a baobab
Baobab trees in Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania currently show green leaves and good health. It appears that they have appreciated the recent rains and we are grateful to them for hosting bush breakfasts during game drives or providing shade for a lazy afternoon nap! If you're interested in exploring the Selous and seeing these majestic trees for yourself, contact Adventure Camps Tanzania.
A baobab on a walking safari from Lake Manze Camp in Selous
A picnic in Selous �JW Nielsen
Mother warthog takes on leopard
As a lodge manager in the Timbavati one of my duties is to routinely check the roads are clear of branches left by elephants. While on one of these checks, we spotted some warthogs coming out of their burrow. We slowly drove past, counting them as they were running out, and it was then that we saw a leopard behind us with a piglet in its mouth.
We slid to a halt and I grabbed the camera, which was lying on the floor of my vehicle. I had no time to change the settings as I aimed the lens at the leopard, which was still on the ground with the piglet.
As I pressed the shutter button, the warthog mom smashed into the leopard to save the piglet.
The leopard shot off to safety with the piglet, but the mother warthog was not giving up and smashed into the leopard a second time. They both took a tumble in the dust, but the mother warthog was unfortunately defeated and ran off.
The leopard sat for a few seconds with his meal before moving off into the thick bush.
I have lived in the bush a long time and have seen some amazing things, but I was extremely privileged to see something like this is and it is an event that I will not easily forget.
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