Arctic Photo Safari
From $13,950
10 Days
Norway
April 2027
Charl and Sabine invite you to join them in Svalbard for an exclusive Arctic Photo Safari in 2027. Aboard the R/V Kinfish and limited to just 12 guests, this trip offers exceptional opportunities to photograph polar bears, walruses, Arctic foxes, and dramatic frozen landscapes.
Timed for early spring, when snow still blankets the land and the sun casts perfect light 24 hours a day, we’ll explore the icy fjords and pack ice in search of wildlife. With expert guidance from Charl and Sabine and a crew ready to alert you to sightings at any hour, this is one of the best chances you’ll have to capture polar bears in their natural habitat.
Upon arrival at Longyearbyen Airport, you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel in town, located on Spitsbergen Island, which will be the main hub for this Arctic Photo Safari. This former coal-mining town is now a charming, well-equipped gateway to the high Arctic, with unique shops, museums, and cafes to explore depending on your arrival time.
Your hotel offers a comfortable and quiet place to rest after your journey north. In the evening, you’ll gather for a welcome dinner with your Photo Hosts, Charl and Sabine, and your fellow travellers. It’s the perfect chance to get to know the group, review the plan for the days ahead, and enjoy your first taste of Arctic hospitality.
If you’d like to arrive a day or two earlier to explore Longyearbyen or acclimatise, our Safari Planners will be happy to assist with extra arrangements.
PLEASE NOTE: Embracing the unexpected is part of the legacy and excitement of expedition travel. When travelling in extremely remote regions, your expedition staff must allow the sea, the ice, and the weather to guide route and itinerary details. This itinerary is a tentative outline of what you’ll experience on this voyage; please be aware that no specific itinerary can be guaranteed.
After breakfast, you’ll board the R.V. Kinfish, your home for the expedition. Originally built in 1958 as a Norwegian research vessel, the Kinfish has been carefully refurbished into a classic, ice-capable expedition ship, small, agile, and packed with character.
With just six twin en-suite cabins, the Kinfish offers an intimate and comfortable base for exploring the remote fjords and icy waters of Svalbard. The ship features 360° viewing decks, spacious lounges, a dining area, a bar, and an open bridge, making it ideal for wildlife viewing, photography, and relaxing between excursions. Its low engine vibrations and advanced stabilisation systems also make it a favourite among photographers.
As we leave Longyearbyen behind, enjoy sweeping views of the Arctic landscape and keep your eyes open for your first wildlife sightings.
You’ll cruise around this magical island in a constant search for wildlife. Your expedition will cover western Spitsbergen as well as stunning fjords and outlying islands to the north. From polar flora to immense glaciers, the natural landscape here is just as varied as the wildlife. Each expedition presents new opportunities and different weather and ice conditions, so there is no fixed itinerary. The destinations visited will be selected for optimum wildlife viewing with an appreciation of the landscape and geology of Spitsbergen. We will base our daily travel on the captain’s experience, his contact with other ships, the weather, and ice conditions.
You’ll spend time cruising through the ice in search of polar bears as they hunt for seals, which often hitch rides on the passing ice floes. Make sure to look out for walrus colonies basking on beaches in the Arctic sun and watch for whales in the icy seas. On shore landings, you may come across the Arctic fox or the Svalbard reindeer with its impressive antlers and witness the beauty of Svalbard’s flora.
The small size of the ship allows you to explore even the smallest and most secluded fjords and provides opportunities for up-close wildlife photography. The deck space of the M/V Kinfish is spread over different levels, which is perfect for avid photographers who want to capture wildlife and scenery from different perspectives. There are two Zodiacs on board, each carrying up to six passengers, to allow even more flexible photo opportunities when we come upon wildlife.
Your ship is likely to arrive in the harbour the night before you disembark to ensure you are in Longyearbyen ready for your onwards flights. Enjoy the Captain’s dinner and your final night together with your fellow travellers.
The time to say goodbye to your Expedition Team and shipmates has come. Your adventure ends as it began, in the historic frontier-style settlement of Longyearbyen. Having arrived at Longyearbyen in the middle of last night, we will this morning be disembarking as our incredible photography expedition sadly comes to an end! From here, we’ll transfer you to the airport for your return flight home.
One of the nicest-looking small ships, the Kinfish is a vessel with history and character that is usefully purposed during the winter months to embark on exciting research quests such as uncovering the history of Norway and scouring the seabed to find Viking remains.
Built in 1958, the Kinfish has recently been transformed from a Norwegian research vessel to a classic passenger ship, ready to explore the icy waters of the Spitsbergen archipelago. Small and manoeuvrable. In the words of her owner, “This ship can dance.” Perfect for navigating the most inaccessible reaches of the Svalbard archipelago.
There are six twin guest cabins on board, all with ensuite bathrooms. Four of these twin cabins have two lower berths, and two have an upper and lower berth.
The Kinfish has two bright and spacious lounges, a dining area, and a bar, as well as an open bridge and ample deck space from which to admire the stunning Arctic landscapes. We will make use of these communal spaces for group image review and editing sessions as well as talks by your hosts and the onboard naturalists.
All meals are included during your stay on the Kinfish, which will consist of a range of European-style dishes. Almost any dietary requirement can be catered for, as long as you have given sufficient notice to your safari planner. The food is warm and plentiful, and more importantly, flexible when it comes to delayed eating when a sighting is on!
2027 Prices
28th of April – 7th of May 2027
Welcome meet-and-greet at the hotel with Charl & Sabine
Transfers to/from the local airport and to/from the ship
Port and Passenger landing fees
1-night lodging in Longyearbyen
8 nights of accommodation aboard the ship
Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea/coffee and a two-course dinner (three-course dinner on the last evening)
Water, coffee and tea – available 24 hours a day
Alcoholic beverages and sodas
Photo assistance from Charl and Sabine throughout
Regular excursions by Zodiac (only six guests per Zodiac)
Lectures, briefings and shoreside interpretations by Expedition Guides
Magnificent scenery and wonderful wildlife encounters
Pre-expedition materials related to recommended camera gear, packing, etc.
International flights: please contact our office for any assistance on routing
Clients must obtain comprehensive travel insurance for this trip.
Any required visas.
Customary tips for guides and crew.
Anything else not specified as included
EXCELLENTVerified Simply the very very best This was a one month, multi faceted, trip to Southern Africa. Whilst not all of it was with Pangolin, it was all organised by their outstanding Safari Planner Daniella Bruwer. We began our planning with a call with Daniella, where she discussed our aims for the trip and outlined our options. Although this was our first safari, from the beginning it was clear we were in extremely safe hands. Our trip covered 4 distinct phases: CAPE TOWN Our first 3 nights, staying in the very impressive Victoria and Alfred Hotel, were just what we needed to start the holiday well. Cape Town is a lovely city, the people were friendly and extremely welcoming. We visited Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. MADIKWE GAME RESERVE Our next stop was in north east SA (on the border with Botswana) at Madikwe Game Reserve. We spent 6 nights at the gorgeous Last Word Madikwe where we were treated like royalty. We’d paid extra for a private game vehicle, this was a really good investment as it allowed us to dictate our own pace around the park (particularly helpful given we’re both photographers). Our guide, St John Gunn, was simply outstanding. Hugely knowledgeable and worked extremely hard to ensure we got the most out of our visit. Whilst not chasing any specific species or targets, we did see the ‘Big 5’ as well as many many other species. PANGOLIN PHOTO SAFARIS CHOBE Our next stop was Kasane where we undertook Pangolin’s ‘Best of the Chobe’ trip. This consisted of 3 days onboard the Pangolin Voyager houseboat and 3 in the equally impressive Pangolin Hotel. Each day consisted of two 3-4 hour game drives, mostly by boat but we did have 3 land based drives in Chobe. We had extremely high expectations of this part of our trip and Pangolin exceeded them. From our photo host, Walter Aaron, to our drivers (Ray and Richard), to the manager of the Voyager (Nickita) to every single member of staff, we have never been so well looked after. This part of the trip involved some photo tuition with Walter, we consider ourselves to be reasonable photographers but improved considerably due to Walter’s patience, know how and sense of humour. Highlight of the trip (difficult to pick amongst the Lion’s, Cheetah’s and Jacana’s) was an interaction with a bull Elephant that approached our boat and just hung out for 10 minutes. It was close, intimate and extremely moving (my wife wasn’t the only one in tears). VICTORIA FALLS This could have been an anticlimax after Chobe, but Daniella chose a stunning hotel (The Palm River Hotel) and booked us a helicopter flight over the falls. A wonderful end to our best holiday ever. So, thanks to everyone at Pangolin and Madikwe. One more huge shoutout to Daniella, St John and Walter. Would we do it again? Well, we’ve already booked two more trips with Pangolin and are actively planning a return to Madikwe and Chobe.Posted onVerified Wonderful Safari Product! Another great visit! Staying at Pangolin Hotel in Kasane is a great way for my groups to start their safaris. We stay at Pangolin for three nights, Pangolin lends cameras and lenses to my guests and the photo hosts help with settings. After lunch we have a session in the editing room, further teaching inpsiring photographers how to improve their photography skills. It is brilliant.Posted onVerified Pangolin provided a "one of a kind" India experience beyond just tigers I just returned from the Pangolin India Tiger Safari. It was an amazing experience. Before the trip Daniella at the office was very helpful and answered any email question promptly. The tour Hosts, Sabine and Charls, are very knowledgable regarding wildlife photography, both how to properly photograph the animal and then processing techniques. This old curmudgeon was able to learn and retain a couple of new techniques from them. The lodges are some of the nicest that I have stayed in. They were Bagh Tola, Pench Tree Lodge, and the Bori Safari Lodge. The were Bandhavgarh NP, Pench NP, and the Bori Wildlife Sanctuary at Stapura NP. I liked the first and last parks the best, but had incredible Wile Dog sitings at Pench. One important items that I learned is that unlike some lodges in other locations that allow you to include gratuities on your credit card in India that was not possible and currency exchange outside of the airport or ATM use was not convenient. The local "handler", and lodge owner of Bagh Tola, Jason Fernandes, was an extremely gracious and made the trip one of a kind by providing a life altering experience during the "Holi" holiday. Almost all of the naturalists/drivers were great, but my personal favorite was TK at Bori Safari Lodge.Posted onVerified Professional, Luxurious, Safe High quality experience that left me wanting to experience Botswana again. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable about both the wildlife and photography. Hands on experience was next level as they guided us on how to use camera equipment properly and capture the best shots. I’m profoundly grateful for my time there and will return with more friends/family. We were treated with respect, and our group felt very safe.Posted onVerified Experience of a Lifetime for everyone - Must do for Photographers Booking: My wife and I went on the Pangolin Chobe, Delta, Kalahari (CDK) photo safari in September 2025. The best way to describe the experience is SURREAL! I am a nature photographer and visiting Africa and photographing the wildlife was a bucket list trip for me and my wife. I have followed Pangolin photo safaris through their YouTube channel and website for a few years. When we decided to go on this trip, I filled out the form and Samantha McDonald, a lovely agent contacted me via email. After several weeks of email & phone conversations wit Sam, I booked us for the 10 day CDK safari experience a full year in advance! Sam was an amazing resource of knowledge, tips and patiently answered all our questions for the next whole year and throughout the trip! I highly recommend her! Experience: Pangolin is a first class operation. It is run by photographers for photographers. If you are a photographer, don't think twice - Book this trip now before they fill out for 2027. If you are not a photographer, don't worry. Just simply watching these animals and birds in their natural habitat is breathtaking. Their goal is to send us home with world class wildlife photos which your family and friends will think are worthy of being in magazines! To that end, they have an experienced Canon photographer with us offering excellent coaching on exposure, shutter speed and angles to get the best shots for that particular scenario. They give everyone interested a professional camera (Canon R6 MKII in 2025) and a great lens (Canon RF 100-500 in 2025) and abundant training. Our coach Sara Jenner was amazing and her energy and enthusiasm was infectious. Accommodations: The places where we stayed were 5*! The new Pangolin Voyager houseboat, The luxurious and spacious tents at Shinde Footsteps and Dinaka camp were incredibly well appointed for a place in the middle of wilderness! The food was amazing with a lot of local fare and it catered to everyone's needs, which included some Indian curry for me and many dishes for the guests who were vegetarians. Wildlife: The guides at Chobe, Delta and Kalahari were amazing! They knew where the animals and birds were and what the best locations for getting the best photos! They are expert trackers and follow footprints to locate the wildlife! We got to see so many varieties of birds and mammal species. Every day we did two game drives that were 4 hours in duration. The day starts with a 5:30 am breakfast, 6:30 am game drive for 4 hours, 11:30 lunch, a short break, 3:30 tea, 4 pm game drive, 8 pm dinner. The days are jam packed with opportunities to see wildlife. We saw a leopard, cheetahs, a rhino, so many hippos, lions & cubs, Hyenas, the endangered wild dog, wildebeest, elephants, elephants and elephants, giraffe, baboons, and hippos to name a few. Cost: This Chobe, Delta, Kalahari trip is not inexpensive. At $13,500/person for this and the round trip airfare from the US costs a good chunk and required a lot of planning and saving. I thought that it was expensive. Having completed this trip, I will confidently say that the experience was worth every penny and you'll end up with amazing memories and so many awesome pictures. I am an extremely value conscious, comparison shopper and I highly recommend that you do your own research about these safaris. I did mine. There is NO ONE that provides such an exclusive small group 5* experience at this price. I found that even those through Costco (We travel a lot through them) were almost twice the cost for a similar length and those did not include such intensive game drives. We are looking forward to booking our next Pangolin Safari in 2027. Hope to see you there!Posted onVerified I cannot recommend more highly this wonderful week - immersed in the wildlife of Botswana. We had an incredible week on the Chobe river with Pangolin Photo Safari. The wildlife was astounding and we were given excellent instruction and detailed description of all the birds and animals we were seeing. The Riverboat was wonderful - so comfortable and quiet (all electric). We then moved to the Chobe Hotel, which was first class with excellent food and delightful staff. In fact the staff throughout the whole week were amazing - so friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Thank you all for making my holiday such a happy and memorable one.Posted onVerified Pangolin Photo Safaris - the very best! An unforgettable experience. I recently completed the Chobe River/Okavango Delta/Kalahari with Pangolin. The trip exceeded my hopes and expectations. Excellent accommodations at every step. The brand new (July 2025) houseboat on the Chobe was extremely comfortable, and the staff/service was excellent. We saw an amazing amount of wildlife almost constantly, and the river guide, Laskey, was fantastic. The river experience was uncrowded and we were able to go where we wanted without having to compete with other tour boats The Ker & Downey camp on the Okavango was very comfortable, and again excellent staff/service/food. The drives through the delta were an unforgettable experience, with plentiful animal and bird life. A great guide again, Bobbie, who really added to the experience, and we saw a tremendous amount of wildlife throughout the visit The Kalahari visit was at another Ker & Downey camp, this time very luxurious and comfortable. The same excellent experience, plenty of wildlife, good food and service at the camp, all in all another great stay. Our local guide, KLB, was again absolutely first-rate. The overall trip management by Pangolin was first rate. They had people to help us at every stage on the tour, to ensure we had the best possible experience. Our trip host, Karolina, was fantastic - her friendly and positive approach contributed greatly to the group experience, and she gave all of the guests, regardless of experience level, really useful photography pointers. I can’t recommend Pangolin highly enough. If you are looking for a photo safari outfit, look no further!Posted onVerified Best Trip We've Ever Taken This trip, by far, was the best trip my wife and I have been on. Everything was top notch. From planning our trip with our Pangolin Safari Planner, to the photo host, guides, and staff on the Pangolin Voyager II and the Pangolin Hotel, everyone was friendly, courteous and helpful. We felt that an African Safari would be a once in a lifetime experience, but I'm already thinking about a return trip. Our photo host and guide worked to position us to get the best positioning for photo's, offered suggestions on composition, and assisted in whatever questions we had. Back at the Voyager II and hotel the food was great, and accommodations very comfortable. I highly recommend Pangolin Photo Safaris!Posted onVerified Fantastic Chobe, Delta and Kalahari Photo Safari Tour My husband and I utilized the services from Pangolin Photo Safaris who arranged the details for a pre-excursion visit to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwa and then joined our fabulous tour leader, Janine, and spent 10 days on their Chobe, Delta and Kalahari Photo Safari tour. Their attention to detail was fantastic. And Janine's guidance to hobbyist photographers on taking wildlife pictures was phenomenal. I know her voice will be in my mind whenever I look to take any fast action pictures to note the lighting, adjusting your exposure, and always remembering to check my ISO. Thanks Janine! Needless to say, I would highly recommend Pangolin for your future wildlife photo trips.Posted onVerified All round winner of a tour Wow! I am so glad I did this safari. After a Covid delay of five years we finally made it to the "Chobe, Delta and Kalahari" 10 day safari. My partner and I started this trip as "phone photographers" basically, and after the ten days tuition and guidance on provided cameras we are hooked. This tour has three nights on the Voyager houseboat , four nights at Okavango Delta, and two nights on the edge the Central Kalahari. These two camps were at Ker & Downey establishments and every place was fantastic. The Pangolin houseboat is a little bit old and is getting replaced soon, but on board everything was clean and comfortable. The staff were amazing - so friendly and meals were delicious. Up early for morning river trips or game drives with our wonderful photo host Will, for whom nothing was trouble, we were astounded by the wildlife and the skill of our driver/guides. Their placement of vehicles to get good shots, and Will's technical guidance helped us come home with memorable good photos. Afternoon brought another trip out for photographs and sundowners as the magical African sunsets coloured the sky. All arrangements booked through Pangolin were well planned and communication with our consultant was always timely. I have no hesitation in recommending Pangolin Photo Safaris and hope I can return one day.
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