ABOUT THE PACKAGE
NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK
Kenyan Photo Tours specialise in guided tours of Nairobi National Park, the best place to get up close and personal with the big 4 - lions, leopards, rhinos (both black and white), and buffalos, and all the wildlife that calls it home. We believe that dedicating all of our attention to this one location allows for a more fulfilling and personalised experience, allowing us to spend all day every day out in the park photographing, instead of spending hours on the road travelling between different parks. However, we can arrange a day trip to Nakuru and/or Hells Gate (approximately 3hrs - 4hrs drive) and now have the option of several different park tours. Our expert guides will take you on an adventure of a lifetime, showcasing all the beauty that the parks have to offer, whilst keeping your safety and comfort in mind.
Continue scrolling to see our new itinerary options!
Where availability permits, we like to use the Ibis Styles hotel in Nairobi Westlands. The Ibis is perfectly located for both the park as well as the airport, being about 20-30 minutes from both.
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The Ibis provides modern comfort, with clean and stylish ensuite rooms, on site dining, coffee shop, as well as a roof top bar and more formal restaurant for unwinding after a day out in the park. For your peace of mind, the hotel is gated with 24 hour security and metal detectors on the entrance.
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For the multi park trips, we try to use a lodge within the park where available, however these can fill up fast even a year in advance. Where there is no availability within the park, there are several safari style lodges just outside of the perimeter that are only 10 minutes from the main gates, and still have views of the parks.
These lodges give an authentic safari feel, whilst maintaining modern comfort and security, full board meal options, and a bar to relax at the end of the day.
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Package Options
Package 1:
Nairobi National Park
A more budget friendly, but not less fulfilling option. Spending the full week visiting Nairobi National Park, really dedicating our time to fully exploring this park and honing our photography skills. This option is perfect for those wanting an introduction to Kenyan wildlife photography, without breaking the bank, and spending too much time on the road.
Prices from £3200pp based on minimum 2 persons
Package 2:
Tsavo East - Tsavo West - Amboseli
A perfect option for those looking for dramatic landscapes and huge herds of elephants.
Depending on flight arrival times, we will spend the night in Nairobi to freshen up, before setting off at dawn the next morning to make the 5 or 6 hour drive to Tsavo east where will search for Kenya's famous red elephants. Following a night in one of the lodges, we will spend a final morning photographing before heading across to Tsavo West.
After 2 nights in Tsavo West we will make the 3-4 hour drive further West into Amboseli, where will spend another 2 nights. Here we will have the opportunity to capture the stunning sunrise and sunset over Mt Kilimanjaro.
Depending on flight times, we will either have a morning game drive before heading directly to the airport, or spend a final night back in Nairobi.
Prices from £4800pp based on minimum 2 persons
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Package 3:
Samburu - Ol Pajeta - Maasai Mara
Ideal for those seeking the less common wildlife of Kenya and conservationists alike. This option takes in the wildlife only found in the Northern regions, as well as the worlds only surviving Northern white rhinos and of course the famous Maasai Mara.
Depending on flight arrival times, we will spend the night in Nairobi to freshen up, before setting off at dawn the next morning to make the 6 or 7 hour drive North (depending on road and traffic conditions this journey can take up to 8 hours). We will stop along the way for lunch and convenience breaks, as well as at the town of Nanyuki, sat right on the equator. Here will spend 2 nights, finding some of the animals only found in the Northern most parts of Kenya.
We then head down to the private conservancy of Ol Pajeta for one night, home to the worlds 2 last surviving Northern White Rhinos. There may be the option of a night time game drive booked separately at the lodge. Following a morning game drive, we depart for the next part of this adventure.
Due to the travel time between Ol Pajeta and The Mara, we will stop en route at Lake Nakuru for the night, where we have the option of a morning game drive around the park, including the Lake which gives it its name, or we can head off early directly to the Maasai Mara.
We spend 2 nights at the Mara, one of the most famous parks in Africa. Here we can track lions and cheetahs, and stop for a photo opportunity at the land border between Kenya and Tanzania.
Depending on flight times, we will either have a morning game drive before making the 5 or 6 hour journey to the airport, or spend a final night back in Nairobi.
Prices from £5200pp based on minimum 2 persons
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CAPTURING THE BEAUTY OF KENYA, STEP BY STEP
During the Nairobi tour, our day will start early, with a quick buffet style breakfast, usually packed to take away, and some much needed caffeine, Kenyan tea and coffee is some of the best we've tasted! Then we'll aim to be on the road for about 7-7:30am, making a quick pitstop on the way to pick up some refreshments for a picnic lunch in the park (there will be a cool box in the 4x4). En route to the park we can discuss if there is any particular animal/bird you want to photograph that day (or you can sit back and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Nairobi suburbs passing by), and Kim will use his expert knowledge of the different ecosystems within the park to try and locate them for us. Whilst we can never guarantee specific sightings within such a large park, he has a pretty good success rate!
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The next few hours will be spent traversing the park, when I'm not talking photography and setting you up for the best shots, Kim will be telling you about Kenya, the park and everything about the animals we are looking at, there isn't much he doesn't know about the African wildlife, and for any bird lovers on the trip, my knowledge of birds is none too shabby either!
We can be pretty flexible with lunch time depending on how hungry you are, but we usually aim to stop at around 1 or 2pm in one of the picnic sites in the park, most have benches and eco toilets, and one site usually has a ranger who will take you for a walk into the bush for a small gratuity.
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Whilst we are stopped for lunch, we can have quick flick through some of the photos we have taken during the morning and share some feedback to implement in the afternoon drive.
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Following our lunch stop it's back onto the park tracks to see what the afternoon will bring us. From about 3pm the lighting in the park will start to change as the sun gets lower in the sky (sunset and sunrise in Kenya is around 6:30 due to being right on the equator). This gives us the opportunity to play with different lighting scenarios as it shifts from the harsh overhead mid day sun, to a more warm orange afternoon/evening light. The ever changing sun, and moving from open plains into deep shaded forrest areas will give us plenty of time to put into practice the exposure triangle, constantly adapting to the changing light.
From around 5pm we will start making our way back towards the gate, this can take a while depending where in the park we are (locals call Nairobi National Park 'small', but at 117sqkms / 29,000 acres its pretty big by UK standards). The drive out of the park usually provides some opportunities to practice lower light photography, and depending where we find ourselves in relation to the setting sun, you might find some nice silhouette shots.
We should be back at the hotel somewhere between 6:00-7:30pm, and after a quick shower we can have some dinner, and then the option of looking through our days captures with some guidance on basic editing using Lightroom and constructive feedback to put into practice tomorrow, whilst we enjoy a nice cold drink. This is purely optional of course, you are also free to go upstairs and enjoy the rooftop bar, or alternatively head to bed ready to do it all again in the morning.
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For the multi park tours, timings will be slightly different depending where we are staying. If we have a lodge within the park on a full board basis, lunch is usually taken back at the lodge where a hot buffet is prepared, and if you wish, you can quickly return to your accommodation for a freshen up. As breakfast is often prepared earlier in park lodges than in hotels, we will try and organise a packed breakfast to be ready first thing in the morning so we can be out in the park at the break of dawn (6-6:6:30am) and try to get some shots of the sunrise.
We then aim to be back at the lodge for around 6pm, where another hot buffet meal will be prepared, following which we can spend some time going through the days photos, or relaxing at the bar.
It is worth noting, whilst the Ibis in Nairobi has 24/7 electricity and wifi, most park lodges operate on a solar/generator mix and electricity is frequently switched off after around 10-11pm and switched back on again around 5:30-6am. If you select the multi park option you should consider extra batteries for your camera so you can leave some to charge during the day, and a power bank for your phone if you are concerned about the battery dying during the day. The vehicle does have a 3 pin plug and USB charging socket for emergencies, however we try not to use it if possible due to the charger cables creating a trip hazard whilst moving around in the back of the vehicle watching wildlife.
Photographers of all levels are most welcome, however we are focussed on the complete novice, looking to make the move from mobile/point and shoot cameras to more advanced DSLR/Mirrorless cameras. On this basis, we aim to cover setting up your camera/lenses/menu options, camera maintenance and cleaning, the exposure triangle, progressing through the week from auto/pre-set modes, into aperture/shutter priority modes and hopefully through into fully manual mode if you feel ready. We will explore different metering modes, leading lines (where appropriate) and using the available lighting to consider the best composition. In the evenings we can cover basic editing using Lightroom and give useful feedback to put into practice on the next day if you're not too tired. Having been on a few photography courses myself early on, I found the courses were a bit too advanced for me at that point in my photography journey, and so we have opted for the easy to understand, 'establishing the basics' option for the beginner to establish a sound starting point and build your confidence without a complete sensory overload of technical jargon.
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Keeping the group size small (limited to 2 or 3 guests) means you will get far more attention and hopefully feel comfortable asking plenty of questions and stopping as often as you like to take photos without having to worry about lots of other people in the group.
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Of course, as well as photography, Kim will be on hand to give you an intimate knowledge of Kenya, The National Parks, and all things wildlife!
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Our prices are generally cheaper than others out there, whist maintaining smaller group sizes simply because we are doing what we love!
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Included are airfares (based on economy flights from Heathrow), accommodation on a half board basis (full board in the safari lodges), water in the vehicle, transportation for the week, photography guide, wildlife guide and park fees.
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Not included are additional drinks/alcoholic beverages, lunch (unless full board), additional excursions, flight upgrades, travel to/from your local airport, visas, travel insurance, vaccinations, laundry service, tips.
Depending on homebound flight times, optional excursions to the giraffe centre and elephant orphanage may be arranged and paid for locally, subject to availability. Generally the flights back to the UK tend to be overnight, so we can usually get a good few hours (sometimes even a full day) in the park before heading to the airport.
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Whilst tipping is not compulsory, it is a big culture in Kenya. As a rough guide I usually tip waiters 10-15% of the bill (service depending of course), hotel porters and room cleaners what ever smaller bills I have (usually around 500KES) and safari drivers/guides around $30USD a day. This is of course discretionary and also could be adjusted according to the level of service you feel they have provided you. As for your photography guide, tipping is not necessary as it's all done for the enjoyment of being in Kenya and getting people into photography.
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Prices starting from just £3200 subject to hotel availability, based on economy UK flights from London Heathrow direct to Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi. A final and accurate price will be provided once we take flight preference details, country and airport of origin, package option and requested travel dates.
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*Timings, animal sightings, routes and learning subjects are illustrative and are subject to change depending on many factors, including, but not limited to, weather conditions, migration of animals, road/traffic conditions, the pace of the guests learning. Please keep in mind we don't all learn at the same pace and some may require additional recaps.
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