Safari-time!

Ok, I am off for Africa soon, and I will be all over the place. Here are a few places where I will be:

• Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana (1st camp on my first safari)
• Savuti Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana (2nd camp on my first safari)
• Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana (1st camp on my African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp)
• Rattray's on Mala Mala, South Africa (2nd camp on my African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp)
• Tuningi Safari Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa (to spend some time with friend Gerry van der Walt)

Unlike like most of my past safaris, I will be taking a few days off in between my first and second safari, and it will be rest that will be well used. I will have a BGAN satellite system on my safaris, which means I intend to update this blog frequently (daily?) from the bush. I did this a few months ago from Tanzania, however technology was easier there as I could update the blog from my Blackberry Bold mobile phone. I didn't upload any photos, though, as I was shooting film on that safari (long story).

The BGAN satellite is a very nifty piece of technology, as I can surf the web and send emails at 492kbps, which is plenty fast. The kicker is that it costs around $6 per megabyte, so I will only be using the system to read and send emails via a web page. I am renting the system from a friend, and this is a good way of figuring out if I should invest in the technology going forward.

If anybody has called Gura Gear or have sent us an email, you will likely be familiar with who Troy Covey is. Troy is my right hand man, and he will be coming on my second safari to shoot video. I am a video dummy, so Troy is coming to gather footage that we can use for marketing purposes. We want to convey what it is like to be on one of my photo safaris, as well as how people use our Gura Gear Kiboko bag. I know he is going to have to do tons of audio editing, as I tend to laugh a little too much. It is a personality flaw of mine, and now that I have admitted it I only have 11 more steps to go. :-)

Leslie will be joining me near the end of my second safari, and this will be the first time since 2004 that Leslie has been able to join me. Why the long wait? Let's just say that our having 2 boys in the span of 28 months can alter one's adventures in life. Leslie will be at Mala Mala and Madikwe with me, and I cannot tell you how happy this makes me to have her back on another adventure with me. Shared experiences is a good thing.

While in Madikwe, we will be spending some time with friend and photographer Gerry van der Walt, who runs Photo-Africa.com. I am not sure what kind of trouble we will find, but I am sure it will be fun whatever we end up doing. I just think that all Leslie wants to do is to sleep late and to not have little boys climbing all over her. At the same time I don't even know how to relax, as it isn't in my vocabulary. Relaxing usually means being out on game drives by myself with a guide and perhaps another friend or two.

I have tons to do before I leave next week, and near the top of that list is to update my 2011 safaris on andybiggs.com. I have a few more safaris to add, such as a June 2011 Tanzania trip with Chris Gamel, and an August Tanzania safari with Randy Hanna. If you haven't met Chris or Randy before, you should know that they are excellent trip leaders, photographers, instructors and all around good guys. I couldn't be more happy to be working side by side with them.

Availability on upcoming safaris

I you are looking for a unique photographic safari in Africa, I have 1 spot available SOLD OUT for the rest of the year on safaris that I am personally leading. Here is a quick recap:

African Wildlife Photography Boot Camp in Botswana and South Africa. August 3-12, 2010.

I have 1 remaining spot available. This is a very unique safari for me, as there is a fair amount of teaching involved on this workshop. 

This safari will be a combination of morning and afternoon game drives, mid-day lectures, evening slide shows and critiques. We will repeat the schedule each day, working one on one with all participants to foster a better understanding of wildlife photography. We will have discussion and assistance on specialized topics such as long lens technique, projection flash usage, action shooting, wildlife observation, field craft and African animal behavior. Advanced techniques will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. The end goal is for all participants to end up with new skills to help elevate their African wildlife photography, as well as coming home with excellent photographs.

This workshop is about shooting. Lots of shooting. We will be taking over the use of two lodges, which means we will have a completely private safari where we will relax, learn, photograph by ourselves and enjoy our surroundings. We also have secured private charter aircraft for this safari, with virtually unlimited weight allowances per person, allowing us to bring all of our camera gear.

Safari Highlights

• We have private vehicles throughout the entire safari, with only 1 person per row of seating (except for the sharing spouses / partners - see details below).
• A very liberal amount of weight per person of up to 100 pounds. Bring as much gear as you can! Standard weight allowance is typically only 44 pounds by comparison, but we have secured extra seats on the inter-camp charters.
• This safari offers superb game viewing and photographic opportunities in some of the best areas in Southern Africa.
• This itinerary focuses on a real wildlife experience from the surroundings of your premier accommodations.
• The reserves you will visit offer an insight to the fantastic wildlife in in both of the prime areas we will visit.
• Game viewing is done in open 4x4 vehicles and you will be led by some of the leading guides in Botswana and South Africa.