KENYA WILD
Samburu National Reserve, Lake Nakuru National Park + Masai Mara Game Reserve
》TRIP INFO
LOCATION: KENYA
DATES: NOVEMBER 17-26, 2024
DURATION: 10 DAYS
INSTRUCTOR: KRIS ANDRES + PAUL ZIZKA*
PHOTOGRAPHY LEVELS: ALL
PHYSICAL RATING: EASY
WHERE YOU’LL STAY: SAFARI LODGING + HOTELS
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 16
COST: $12,500 CAD
A payment plan is available for this workshop. See below under “Price/Payment Schedule.”
Wildlife photos by Kris Andres.
Join OFFBEAT’s Kris Andres and Paul Zizka for a photography workshop in Kenya —home to one of the world’s most magnificent and diverse wildlife populations! November in Kenya brings us optimal conditions. It’s not the peak of tourist season, but we get the tail end of the Great Migration as herds start to make their way back down to the Serengeti. Migratory birds move in, as well as the newborn animals. As we travel across the landscapes of Samburu National Reserve, Lake Nakuru National Park and the Masai Mara Game Reserve, we’ll have the opportunity to capture images of the five big game animals, as well as migratory wildlife as it passes through. All locations on this photo adventure have been selected by local safari experts and wildlife trackers to ensure we can maximize opportunities for unique encounters.
Your home base for this safari trip will be a mix of hotels and unique luxury tented camps with incredible meals to refuel each day.
》WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
1. How to anticipate and photograph wildlife in various conditions.
2. How to develop your vision as a landscape and wildlife photographer.
3. What to look for when photographing wildlife / capturing the personality.
4. How to assess a scene in order to capture both the wide, epic photographs as well as the small, intimate ones.
5. Telling a story through your photography.
》YOUR OFFBEAT INSTRUCTORS*
PAUL ZIZKA // LEADER
Specializing in photographing in difficult conditions and hard-to-reach places, Paul has a passion for shooting alpine sports and backcountry experiences, capturing the spirit of adventurers and finding unusual angles of common mountain subjects. As a landscape photographer, he particularly enjoys the challenge of capturing nature’s beauty at night and the unique features that come with a dark sky – stars, Northern Lights and dramatic silhouettes. Paul’s award-winning photos have been featured in a variety of publications, including National Geographic, Maclean’s, Alpinist, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Islands, and Climbing magazine.
KRIS ANDRES // LEADER
Based at the doorstep of the Canadian Rockies in Calgary, Alberta, Kristopher considers the mountains (along with everywhere he travels) to be his second home. Kris is always up for endless adventures with a smile—no matter how "atmospheric" the conditions are. He will be overly excited in almost everything he does in life, capturing each story with the click of a shutter, in any and all genres—from adventure to landscapes to portraiture to food and more! When he’s not out creating, Kris is a full-time yogi working to refine himself every day. [Bio Photo by Paul Zizka]
* As per our Terms and Conditions, OFFBEAT reserves the right to change, at any time, the tour leader of any workshop.
》INS AND OUTS
What’s Included:
Daily instructions/mentorship with Kris Andres and Paul Zizka.
Domestic flight from Nairobi to Samburu and Masai Mara to Nairobi Airport, and transfers.
All Meals except for Nairobi (breakfast only).
All Meals during the workshop.
All Safari transport and game drives.
All Park Entrance Fees.
Lifetime membership to OFFBEAT Community.
What’s Not Included:
International flights.
Visa, vaccinations, passport fees.
Optional Balloon Safari.
Travel Insurance.
Gratuities & tips for guides, servers, staff, etc.
Personal expenses including alcohol.
》ITINERARY
The itinerary is subject to change.
Day 1
Arrival in Nairobi. Upon arrival, you’ll be at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by a driver/guide and transferred to your hotel.
Check-in, rest of the day at leisure.
As today is an arrival day, we will meet up in the evening to connect and review the next 10 days of adventure.
Day 2
7.30 a.m. After breakfast transfer to Wilson Airport for a flight to Samburu National Reserve (09.00 – 10.00hrs).
Afternoon game drive where in addition to elephants & lions you can expect to see the unique “northern species” reticulated giraffe, Beisa Oryx, Grevy’s Zebra, and the graceful long-necked Gerenuk.
Day 3
Enjoy breakfast each morning among the local elephants.
Morning (6.30 am) and afternoon (3.30 pm) game drives to see more of Samburu’s typically northern species like the vulturine guinea fowl and the Somali ostrich. The park's vivid colours and sharp contrasts between sky, bush, and sand make Samburu a photographer’s paradise.
Day 4
Enjoy breakfast each morning among the local elephants.
Morning (6.30 am) and afternoon (3.30 pm) game drives to see more of Samburu’s typically northern species like the vulturine guinea fowl and the Somali ostrich. The park's vivid colours and sharp contrasts between sky, bush, and sand make Samburu a photographer’s paradise.
Day 5
7.30 a.m. after breakfast, drive (300kms, 6hrs) with a stop at Thompson Falls, to Lake Nakuru National Park.
Arrive at Lion Hill Lodge for lunch.
Afternoon game drive in the park, justly famous for being a birdwatchers’ paradise with its more than 500 bird species including flamingoes, pelicans, and spoon bills.
Day 6
Morning and afternoon game drives in Lake Nakuru National Park. Besides being a sanctuary for the endangered rhino, the park provides chances to see the Rothschild giraffe, lions, buffalos and if you are lucky, leopard.
Day 7
7.30 a.m. after breakfast drive (300kms, 5.5hrs) to Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Home to lion, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, impalas, and gazelles.
Arrive at Entim Camp for lunch and a stay of 3 nights. At 3:30 pm, and the following days, you will go on the morning (6:30 am) and afternoon game drives in this 1800-sq-km game reserve of rolling plains, woodlands and rivers that make up the Maasai Mara Triangle, one of the world’s richest wildlife sanctuaries.
Offering an abundance of herbivores, the Maasai Mara makes the ideal hunting ground for Kenya’s famous ‘big cats’ and hosts her largest population of lions. It also offers the best chance of spotting a leopard in the wild as well as other predators such as cheetah and spotted hyena.
Historically teaming with wildlife, the Mara is famous for the large herds of elephants and buffalo that meander its plains; also for the fat pods of hippos that wallow in its mud-brown rivers. Other stars of the reserve include the distinctive Maasai giraffe, plum-coloured topi, Coke’s hartebeest, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelle, zebra, impala, Kirk’s dik-dik, bushbuck, waterbuck, red duiker. The Maasai Mara also boasts plentiful Nile crocodiles, monitor lizards, baboons, vervet monkeys, blue and red-tailed monkeys, nocturnal bush babies, and tree hyrax plus a plethora of resident and migratory birds.
Day 8
Morning and afternoon game drives in the Mara. We can do it early morning (6.30 a.m.) and return for breakfast or 7.30 a.m. after breakfast and return for lunch.
Afternoon game drive at 4.00 p.m. Back in camp around dusk. You will also visit Mara River in search of crocodiles and hippos.
*Optional Balloon Safari at extra cost – US$450.00 per person.
Day 9
Morning and afternoon game drives in the Mara. We can do it early morning (6.30 a.m.) and return for breakfast or 7.30 a.m. after breakfast and return for lunch.
Afternoon game drive at 4.00 p.m. Back in camp around dusk. You will also visit Mara River in search of crocodiles and hippos.
*Optional Balloon Safari at extra cost – US$450.00 per person.
Day 10
After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for a scheduled flight to Nairobi (11.15 – 13.00hrs).
Day-rooms at Ole Sereni Hotel, located next to Nairobi National Park until 6.00 pm.
Later, transfer to Jomo Kenyatta Airport for your departure flight.
Ashnil Samburu Camp
Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge
Entim Camp, Masai Mara Game Reserve
》PRICE/PAYMENT SCHEDULE
Cost: $12,500 CAD
Payment options: Full payment or $2,500 non-refundable deposit to secure a space with remaining four payments as listed below.
Non-Refundable Deposit: $2,500 CAD
Payment #1 $2,500 CAD - Jan 17, 2024
Payment #2: $2,500 CAD - April 17, 2024
Payment #3: $2,500 CAD - June 17, 2024
Payment #4: $2,500 CAD - August 17,2024
Note: Failure to pay by due dates means forfeiting the deposit and the spot will be freed up and potentially sold to another interested participant (see more in the cancellation policy below).
If unforeseen circumstances arise, participants are welcome to transfer/sell their space to another interested participant. In such case, participants are responsible for handling payment for the transfer.
WHAT OUR PARTICIPANTS HAVE TO SAY
ABOUT OFFBEAT WORKSHOPS
”
“Curiosity, kindness, and light. What more could you want from your guides and other members of your community? Our trip was incredible: people, places, and personalities. From chasing the light in a ditch off the side of the road, to finding horses to rub noses with, even the most seemingly insignificant moments were memorable. And that's the beauty of Offbeat, in a nutshell: finding the impossible in the most improbable places.”
-Dave G.
“The workshop was amazing - great instruction and professionalism by the instructors. They did a great job handling the group's variety of experience and took time to help each one of us individually. They prepared well for a variety of conditions and had great locations scouted out before we arrived. Kris and Paul are excellent instructors and loads of fun!”
- Tracy B.
“I have attended a number of OFFBEAT Workshops and have loved them all. The co-founders are two of the most genuine people I have met and they are both so enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. They always ensure that you have the best time and are always willing to share their time and experience with you. My photography has definitely improved since learning from these two. I have also only meet decent and friendly people on these workshops. Everybody is there for the common goal - photography and everybody has such fun. I can not recommend Offbeat highly enough.”
— Claire C.
“I felt the level of collaboration and support among the participants in this one was exceptional and so was the size of the group. It is easier to hide in bigger groups when I feel insecure with my skills and talent. The content was timely, appropriate and exceedingly well organized. The facilitators’ presentation skills were exceptional. I came away with a little more confidence and a lot more knowledge. Thanks, Dave and Paul!!!”
-Jan L.
》IMPORTANT INFO
Please visit our FAQs for more information on What to Bring, our Physical Ratings and Photography Levels.
IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR YOU?
Physical Rating (Easy): Most locations will be readily accessible form the road, although we may hike short distances on occasion.
Physical Rating (Easy)
Hiking experience // None necessary.
Pace // Slow.
Distance/Description // <5km/day (3 miles) on well-defined trails, with slight noticeable elevation change, and perhaps slightly uneven terrain.
Footwear // Light hiking shoes or sneakers.
Photography Level (All): This workshop is open to both amateur and professional photographers.
INSURANCE POLICY
It is not only advised but required that participants have trip cancellation/interruption insurance, as well as emergency medical/illness insurance and rescue coverage (proof required within 4 months of departure).
Weather and other unforeseen factors can cause delays in travel, particularly from some of our more remote locations. It is the participant’s responsibility to cover any costs in the case of a travel delay of any length. Please ensure your trip cancellation/interruption insurance accommodates this possibility.
By purchasing a spot you are acknowledging that you accept these conditions.
Please see our Insurance page for more information about our insurance partner, World Nomads.
》OFFBEAT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Please take the time to review OFFBEAT’s Terms and Conditions, including our Cancellation Policies. You are required to agree to these in order to confirm your registration. Effective June 16, 2022.