For the Best of Botswana, we have two options for The Okavango Delta – Shinde and Kanana – both of which are owned and operated by Ker and Downey Botswana. The camps are on private concessions with Shinde sitting just to the northeast of The Moremi Game Reserve and Kanana to the Southwest. Being on a private concession means you can offroad for special sightings and also conduct night drives.

Both concessions are similar in size, and they offer excellent game viewing from the vehicles…which is far more productive in The Okavango Delta than on boats.

The camps are also similar in size with 8 rooms in each. There is a policy of no more than four guests per game viewer and the vehicles themselves are fitted with beanbag mounts and deep trays in front of each seat where you can secure your camera while driving.

We work very closely with Ker and Downey Botswana training their guides to understand the specific needs of wildlife photographers such as positioning for the right light and anticipating animal movements and behaviours. You will be in good hands.

The Shinde and Kanana concessions have very healthy populations of the big cats with several resident lion prides in both. There are also regular sightings of leopard, wild dogs and cheetah as well as the other iconic Delta species like red lechwe grazing in the shallow waterways and an abundance of other plains game like giraffe, zebra, kudu, waterbuck and some very impressive buffalo.

There is an option to do a mokoro (dug out canoe) trip along the channels at both places but be aware this is dependent on water levels at the time of year that you are wanting to travel.

Unlike the Pangolin Chobe Hotel there is no Pangolin Photo Host in residence on this safari, after The Chobe, as it is designed as more of a wildlife photography holiday rather than a workshop. If you are looking for a more structured safari with a Pangolin Photo Host in attendance throughout then perhaps have a look at our Chobe, Delta and Kalahari Safari.

After lots of early starts and long game drives, The Kalahari by its very nature tends to be a slightly more relaxed environment and the perfect third destination for this safari. As a desert, the animals tend to congregate more around the waterholes which makes it the perfect location for some hide photography. Dinaka, the camp that we have chosen to partner with, has an excellent waterhole hide with more in the planning phase.

Dinaka sits on a private reserve bordering the massive Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Here you will find an environment very different from what you have experienced in The Chobe and Delta before. The bush is slightly thicker and thornier and the animals seem to be a little different too as you would expect based on the ecosystem. Oryx, springbok, brown hyena, black-maned lions, black-backed jackals as well as cheetah do well here.

The camp is owned and managed by safari legends Ker and Downey and is certainly the most luxurious of the three and by now you will have earned a little pampering. The communal areas of the camp are fantastic and the rooms spacious with private verandas long towards a popular waterhole. The vehicles all have beanbag camera mounts and again is maximum four per vehicle for the game drives.

The waterhole hide at Dinaka is a sunken “bunker type” hide and can seat up to eight photographers at a time. Normally though it’s used by four at a time. You will be photographing out at water level as the animals arrive to slake their thirst right in front of you. It’s a very special place to be and photograph from.

As a camp, Dinaka is very flexible with their timings and earlier starts or later finishes to game activities are all accommodated for to make the most of your time there. One activity not to be missed is a walk through the bush with the resident bushman guides where you will learn about their traditional subsistence way of life from what at first sight appears to be such a stark environment, culminating in a demonstration of traditional fire making techniques and some storytelling as the sunsets.

Again during the day, there will be the opportunity to have some downtime by the pool or on a snooze with a good book on the deck…..with your camera close at hand in case something appears at the camp’s waterhole of course!

On the last day, you will fly to Maun airport, which is an excellent hub, but that need not be the end of your safari. There are daily flights between Maun and Cape Town and even Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, from where it’s a short transfer across the border to South Africa and the wonderful Jaci’s Tree Lodge in Madikwe!