Nearly everyone takes photos when they are on safari, but a safari for a serious photographer is a different story. Depending on what you want to capture, you need the right setup in a vehicle – if not a specially designed photographic vehicle or a private vehicle; charging points: an expert guide with photographic experience so that they can position you for your shots; to travel in the ‘right’ season and more.
At AAC, we are accustomed to accommodating photographers’ needs. We can help you book the right trip at the right camps with the best guides to help you capture the shots you are traveling halfway across the world for. When you start planning your photographic safari with your Journey Specialist, be sure to let them know your equipment needs and the kinds of wildlife and landscapes you hope to capture on your trip.
Here are some of our favorite camps in Africa for photographers. This is a list to inspire – when you are ready to plan your own photography safari, your Journey Specialist will customize it to your photographic wish list, considering species, season, vehicle configuration and other important details.
For an East African photography safari, Serian The Original in Kenya is hard to beat. This intimate camp has just four tents and sits in a private conservancy, giving you a more exclusive wildlife safari experience. Each booking gets exclusive use of vehicle so it is an ideal choice for photographers. They have photo experienced guides who can position vehicles well and even give advice on photography. They also have photographers in residence.
Kicheche Camps are also located in four private conservancies in Kenya, including the Mara North. They offer tailored vehicles – spacious, open sided, open roof land cruisers complete with charging points. Lens platforms and bean bags are also provided. For ultimate flexibility, we recommend that you book a vehicle on an exclusive use basis. Some camps offer vehicles with one side of the vehicle dropping down, allowing photographers to lie flat and capture eye-level images in comfort with soft padded flooring. These vehicles must be booked as exclusive use.
Jaci’s in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve offers a photography hide with a truly unique vantage point with uninterrupted 270 degree views from water level. Accessible via a tunnel, the submerged photographic hide is open to guests 24-hours a day. Jaci’s also offers photographic equipment to rent. Whether you would like to try new equipment for a day or would like one for the duration of your stay, they can help with Canon 7Dii’s, 100-400mm lenses, memory cards and Gimpro game viewer mounts. The newly rebuilt Jaci’s reopens to the public July 1, 2026 – book your photographic safari now to be one of the first to take advantage of the updates.
Selinda Camp, along with sister camp Zarafa Camp, is owned by wildlife photographers and filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert. These intimate Relais & Chateaux camps in Botswana offer a pair of high-quality binoculars as well as a professional camera set (including a camera body and lenses) in each suite for use during your stay. Photos will be downloaded to a memory stick on your departure. Zarafa Camp also provides a telescope on each suite’s private deck.
Botswana’s Pangolin Chobe Hotel specializes in safaris for photographers. Both game drives and boating safaris are available on customized equipment. The 8-seater photo boats have customized gimbals and 360 rotational seats, while their 8-seater vehicle (all ‘window’ seats) offers built-in bean bag camera mounts. The use of Canon DSLR cameras, telephoto lenses and memory cards are included in your safari.
Thinking of a safari destination that isn’t on this list? Your Journey Specialist can help with that! We have partners all across Africa that offer everything from specially designed photographic hides and expert-level workshops to vehicles that can be customized for your trip. Think removing the windows; removing seats to make room for better mobility in the vehicle; and equipping the vehicle with bean bags, floor padding and multiple charging ports so that you can stay out all day without a worry.
Contact a Journey Specialist to start the process and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter below for more travel ideas, inspiration and great photography.
Photos courtesy Serian The Original, Jaci’s Safari Lodge, Kicheche Laikipia, Great Plains Conservation, Pangolin Chobe Hotel, AAC Livingstone Club member Kari Z. and AAC Marketing Director Beth McCabe