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Three Camp Safari in Botswana
Bulldoggie
Registered Users Posts: 19 Big grins
A few months ago my wife and I went on safari. We visited three camps in Botswana: Vumbura Plains, Mombo, and Abu.
Vumbura was the first camp. It's embedded in the tree line.
The bungalows were very modern. Amenities included an outdoor shower and plunge pool. In-room power made battery recharging very easy, but there was only one socket that was 120.
As with all three camps, views from the room/lodge, food, and service were great. View from the shower followed by a view from the lodge area
We stayed at Vumbura one night. It was supposed to be two, but problems with Air Botswana shaved off a day. Apparently, Air Botswana has history of snafus. Following are some of the shots from Vumbura.
Mombo was next up. It was the best by far. The abundance of wildlife was incredible. Our tent was huge, probably larger than my first apartment. Its amenities included an outdoor daybed and shower.
The view from our tent.
We were there for three nights and took well over 4,000 photos. An African Buffalo, we named him Bubba, slept under our tent and we were visited by an elephant one afternoon.
Some other shots from Mombo:
The following shot was taken from the helicopter as we traveled to the next camp, Abu,
Abu was the most unique camp we visited. We rode elephants for game viewing, mokoro canoes to see the delta waterways, and bass boats on a fishing trip. The tents, while small, were comfortable. The patio deck was smaller than the other camps, but more inviting.
Power was not in-tent for recharging, which proved a significant hassle. There was substantially less wildlife than the other two, but the real point of the trip is elephant back riding, and it was fantastic.
The mokoro canoe rides (in the old days these were dug out logs) and "bass" fishing provided some welcome variety. This was also a three evening visit. Following are a couple shots from the mokoro canoe vantage point:
Info for photographers:
Equipment included D200 with vertical grip, D70, 70-200 VR, 80-400 VR, 18-200 VR, 12-24, 50 f1.8, 1.7 tele, Canon Close-up Lens 500D, SB800, 3 16 gig CF cards, 2 8 gig CF cards, and 2 160 Gig Nexto backup drives.
Stuff I we wish we had with us: a small extension cord so we could recharge multiple things at once. If Abu camp had been full of photographers, we might have needed a solar charger for batteries.
Everything we brought was used, but we would have been fine without the 12-24 and the close-up lens. We didn't bring a tripod or monopod. There were a ouple shots that would have benefited, but nothing major.
Critical Equipment, since 2 of us were shooting: 70-200, 1.7 tele, 80-400, 50 f1.8 (for night game drives), and the D200 vertical grip (the D200 eats batteries)
We went in early May and were blessed with some odd weather occurrences before we got there that left the whole place pretty much dust and mosquito free.
Photos can be found at
http://www.photockie.com/Travel/564608
Vumbura was the first camp. It's embedded in the tree line.
The bungalows were very modern. Amenities included an outdoor shower and plunge pool. In-room power made battery recharging very easy, but there was only one socket that was 120.
As with all three camps, views from the room/lodge, food, and service were great. View from the shower followed by a view from the lodge area
We stayed at Vumbura one night. It was supposed to be two, but problems with Air Botswana shaved off a day. Apparently, Air Botswana has history of snafus. Following are some of the shots from Vumbura.
Mombo was next up. It was the best by far. The abundance of wildlife was incredible. Our tent was huge, probably larger than my first apartment. Its amenities included an outdoor daybed and shower.
The view from our tent.
We were there for three nights and took well over 4,000 photos. An African Buffalo, we named him Bubba, slept under our tent and we were visited by an elephant one afternoon.
Some other shots from Mombo:
The following shot was taken from the helicopter as we traveled to the next camp, Abu,
Abu was the most unique camp we visited. We rode elephants for game viewing, mokoro canoes to see the delta waterways, and bass boats on a fishing trip. The tents, while small, were comfortable. The patio deck was smaller than the other camps, but more inviting.
Power was not in-tent for recharging, which proved a significant hassle. There was substantially less wildlife than the other two, but the real point of the trip is elephant back riding, and it was fantastic.
The mokoro canoe rides (in the old days these were dug out logs) and "bass" fishing provided some welcome variety. This was also a three evening visit. Following are a couple shots from the mokoro canoe vantage point:
Info for photographers:
Equipment included D200 with vertical grip, D70, 70-200 VR, 80-400 VR, 18-200 VR, 12-24, 50 f1.8, 1.7 tele, Canon Close-up Lens 500D, SB800, 3 16 gig CF cards, 2 8 gig CF cards, and 2 160 Gig Nexto backup drives.
Stuff I we wish we had with us: a small extension cord so we could recharge multiple things at once. If Abu camp had been full of photographers, we might have needed a solar charger for batteries.
Everything we brought was used, but we would have been fine without the 12-24 and the close-up lens. We didn't bring a tripod or monopod. There were a ouple shots that would have benefited, but nothing major.
Critical Equipment, since 2 of us were shooting: 70-200, 1.7 tele, 80-400, 50 f1.8 (for night game drives), and the D200 vertical grip (the D200 eats batteries)
We went in early May and were blessed with some odd weather occurrences before we got there that left the whole place pretty much dust and mosquito free.
Photos can be found at
http://www.photockie.com/Travel/564608
Drink like a camel, eat like a pig, feel like a lion!
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Comments
Dave
Alpha 99 & VG, 900x2 & VG; 50mm1.4, CZ135 1.8; CZ16-35 2.8, CZ24-70 2.8, G70-200 2.8, G70-400, Sony TC 1.4, F20, F58, F60.
My Gallery
What an incredible Journey, one that I would love to have been with you on<g>. Really a great Report on everything, I especially like that you listed all the things that you took, all the things that you really used, and the things that you didn't really need to take.
I really liked the neat places ya'll camped at, I guess you could call it camping<g> what luxury digs. I would imagine the food in these Camps, equaled the places.
I just can't imagine seeing all the Wildlife in it's natural environment with such a front row seat.
The Lion jumping into the water, what was that about? Chasing prey or playing? What a great capture.
The Elephants have to be my Favorites, wonderful series of images.
I was wondering, with all your cards, and back up devices, was there ever a thought of running out of storage space?
Did ya'll book this Trip yourself or through a Tour Agency?
Thanks again for letting us share in your Wonderful Journey.
Kindest Regards,
Craig
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Craig
Burleson, Texas
Indeed it was. We spent 4 years on and off trying to decide if we'd ever do it. Once the decision was made we figured we'd go all out (at least for us all out). With no expectation we'd ever go back, the photography side took on a life (and bank account) of it's own.
We'd worked with a variety of travel agents over the years and all were unimpressive. Through a bit of a coincidence we ran into Tom Froehlich at Rudy Steele Travel in Dallas, Texas (tomf@rudisteele.com). His specialty is African safaris and he's as professional and knowledgeable as one could hope for.
In all we spent about a year planning the trip, since we did not go as part of any group (the timing wasn't right).
Some closing stuff; based on conversations with Tom and all the guides we spoke with in Botswana, the widest variety and concentration of wildlife is at Mombo Camp. It's the camp if that's what you want. If you're into the great migration, go North. The numbers of animals will dwarf Mombo, but the variety of animals at Mombo dwarfs the variety in the great migration.