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Greg du Toit
Greg du Toit is a professional wildlife photographer
and C4 Safari guide who is quite simply gripped by
Africa's beauty! The last decade has seen him living
in and photographing some of Africa's wildest and
remotest ecosystems. Highlights for him include
living on Maasai-owned community-land where, over a
period of 16 months, he set out to capture images of
semi-nomadic lion, eking out a precarious existence
beyond formal park or reserve boundaries. A fun
article detailing this arduous task featured in the
BBC Wildlife Magazine (June2009).
website is:www.gregdutoit.com
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Serengeti Migration and Ngorongoro
Crater Safari
Tanzania, Africa 18
February - 25 February 2012
This is probably one of the best times to view predator prey
interactions in the Serengeti and C4 Images and Safaris have
ensured that you will have front row seats on these scenes
as we cover the plains of this fascinating wonderland.
Tour leaders will be Greg du Toit and André Cloete.
André has extensive knowledge of the Serengeti, traversing
it many times in search of those locations far away from any
other people and condusive to excellent wildlife
photography. Greg is the man who knows the migration very
well. He has followed it from the Marato the Serengeti
witnessing the whole circle of life and death on these vast
open plains. You can see more of Greg's Serengeti experience
here.
http://gregdutoit.com/blog/?p=150
26 February - 5 March 2011
Spend six glorious days in the best of Tanzanias Parks, home
to what is considered the "Greatest wildlife spectacle on
Earth". Nothing can prepare you for this- Millions of
animals spread out over plains stretching to the horizon and
beyond. This is the calving season and the plains ring out
with the bleats of newborn wildebeest calves. It's a time of
new life, lots of action and stunning scenery on the classic
African plains. This Safari is designed to catch up with the
annual migration as the wildebeest return to the southern
plains surrounding Lake Ndutu. The rains have fallen;
causing the grasslands to flush green and the plains,
littered with close to a million maternal beasts, give off a
sense of blissful calm. Yet amongst all the grazing mothers
and young lurk the predators. The calves and ewes attract a
host of predators; from the cunning Jackal to the swift
cheetah and, of course lion.
Highlights to and what to photograph:
The plains of the Serengeti offer almost unlimited
opportunity for photography. It is a photographic
nirvana that ensures cameras constantly trained on
something exciting..
Some of the major highlights are:
- Endless plains scattered with the odd umbrella
thorn tree, creating the quintessential African scenes.
- This is the place to see millions of animals
crossing endless plains
- The birthing of the wildebeest calves- a serene
scene to say the least
- Unparalleled sightings of Lion and Cheetah
- Good leopard sightings
- Brilliant interaction between predators and prey-
the new born calves attract predators large and small
- Excellent birding- From small sparrows to large
raptors
- The attraction of smaller predators
- Beautiful African sunsets over the Serengeti plains
- Elephants, Giraffe and other large mammals
- Water holes filled to the brim with snorting and
fighting Hippopotamus
Day 1:
1 night accommodation Meru Game Lodge
Depart Johannesburg for Moshi- Kilimanjaro Airport. From
here you will transfer Mt Meru Game lodge and sanctuary
where you will overnight.
Day 2:
1 night accommodation Marambio Luxury camp- Tarangire
An early morning departure sees us head towards Tarangire
National Park to stay in the permanent tented lodge of
Maramboi.
As a photographic destination, Herds of up to 300 elephants
scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while
migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle,
hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It's the
greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti
ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators - and the one place
in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately
fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are
regularly observed; so it provides excellent opportunities
for good photographing the more unique and different
animals- some of which you wont see again on this tour.
Day 3
: 4 nights accommodation Nasikia Luxury camp
This morning we head towards the Ngorongoro crater into
which we descend until the mid afternoon. (Ngorongoro only
offers half-day permits int ot he crater. Afternoons are
often better than mornings, as it gets very cloudy in the
mornings).
The crater needs no introduction: it is a concentration of
animals like no other in the world. The entire big 5 are
often seen in one day as well as excellent predator
interactions. Throw in a lake filled with flamingos and the
crater walls ascending as a perfect backdrop and you have a
scene made for an artist and camera. It really is a sight to
behold. In the afternoon, you drive back out the crater and
to Nasikia Luxury camp on the southern plains of the
Serengeti.
 Day 3-6:
Nasikia Luxury camp
This morning you start out from camp onto the open plains of
the Southern Serengeti. This area is very close to the well
known game viewing areas but is better placed for the main
attraction of the area- the calving of the wildebeest. The
Wildebeest move south to these wide open plains for two
reasons: They are attracted by the short, fresh, sweet grass
to graze on, and they can see potential predators from a
fair distance away. So it is here that the animals drop
their calves by the millions.
Of course the predators are never far off as they are always
nearby for an opportunistic meal. Sightings of cheetah, lion
and black backed jackal are all common relatively common and
there is a strong possibility of seeing a hunt or even a
kill.
Day 7 :
Serengeti Sopa Lodge
You move from Nasikia to the central plains, where many of
the wildebeest will be. This is classic Serengeti, with its
rocky kopjes and lonely trees on the plains. Sopa Lodge is
in the middle of the rocky Kopjes area and shows off the
Serengeti in its grandness. Just sitting on the deck one can
see for miles and miles.
Day 8
After a morning breakfast at the lodge, you catch the
transfer flight back to Arusha, from here you transfer to
Moshi and catch the international flight home.
This is unfortunately the end of the safari.
Order of safari:
The Serengeti offers a variety of options to the nature
photographer.
- We will employ the technique of early mornings and late
afternoons in which to drive out on the plains. These hours
are the most productive for animal and predator movement and
also for photography.
- As is often the case in East Africa, all day game
drives are a common. Some days might be all day affairs- with
packed lunches, of course.
- Midday hours of the day are generally used to rest, talk
about various sightings, behavioural theories and
photographic techniques.
- Your hosts will also conduct informal discussions on a
few of the evenings, using previous images and images taken
on the trip to discuss various techniques and results.
- There will be opportunity for feedback and technical
discussions whilst back at camp.
We will be combining all these methods throughout the Safari
to enable us to achieve maximum results from our time there.
Upon deciding to book a Safari with us, please contact
www.c4images-safaris.co.za via telephone, facsimile or e-mail
us
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