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A great experience that offered everything we hoped for and more. Game drives were great, with plenty of time spent with individual/groups of animals to ensure opportunities to take the best possible photos. Quite different from a traditional safari drive, where there is often emphasis on seeing as many species as possible, rather than observing behaviour including spending an afternoon with a leopard and its young cub, and improving our photography. John is an outstanding tour leader - very knowledgeable about the local wildlife as well as photography techniques. We learnt so much about camera settings, approaches to wildlife photography, framing pictures and editing. John was always encouraging, patient and helpful. We would be delighted to travel with him again. It was good to have a night in Nairobi to recover from the flight so that we could start our safari fresh, hotel there was good. Also having time at a hotel close to the airport between our flight back from the Mara and the international flight was much better than just sitting in the airport.
S.W. West Yorkshire, Sep24
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Kenya's Maasai Mara - Photo Safari
Tour Code: KEN06Join an exclusive group (maximum 6 people) for expert tuition from naturalist and wildlife photographer, John Haskew, who has spent more than 10 years living and working in East Africa, and is now based full time in the Maasai Mara.
£8,595
£7,845
Highlights
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Summary
Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve is one of the world’s most famous wildlife destinations – home to iconic African wildlife including African Elephant, Maasai Giraffe, Lion, Leopard and Cheetah, along with more than 450 species of bird. This 10-day holiday includes a 7-night stay at Mlima Cottage, a private residence located near the northern border of the reserve, where we will have a safari vehicle for our group (maximum of four per vehicle). We will enjoy game drives in the early morning and late afternoon, when soft light is optimal for photography, and rest back at the camp during the heat of the day. Each evening, we will return to the camp after sunset to enjoy dinner, share stories, and download our photos for reviewing and editing. Throughout our stay we will be hosted and guided by expert naturalist and wildlife photographer, John Haskew, who has spent more than 10 years living and working in East Africa.
- Stay at Mlima Cottage, a private residence
- Hosted and guided by expert naturalist and wildlife photographer, John Haskew
- Mlima Cottage is situated adjacent to prime Leopard and Lion territories
- Birds include Ostrich, Kori Bustard, Ground Hornbills and elegant Secretary Birds
- Maasai Giraffe, African Elephant, Burchell’s Zebra, Eland Topi and Blue Wildebeest all commonly seen
Grading
Grade A. This is a traditional African safari, and therefore suitable for anyone of any age, without any great necessity for extreme fitness.
The Masai Mara in Kenya is one of the world’s most famous wildlife destinations – home to iconic African wildlife including the big cats (Lion, Leopard and Cheetah) as well as browsing and grazing animals including Masai Giraffe, African Elephant, Hippopotamus, Burchell's Zebra, Eland, Topi, Wildebeest, and many, many more. Smaller mammals include Black-backed Jackal, Bat-eared Fox, Warthog and Serval. The Mara is also home to more than 450 bird species including the largest of all birds - the Ostrich - and the largest flying bird – the Kori Bustard. Huge Ground Hornbills and elegant Secretary Birds stride across the grasslands along with Grey Crowned Crane and smaller species such as Temminck's Coursers, Wattled Lapwing, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Yellow-shouldered Widowbird and Capped Wheatear. Lone bushes or dead trees provide lookout perches for a variety of bee-eaters and rollers, including the beautiful Northern Carmine Bee-eater, whilst above them soar Martial Eagles, Lappet-faced, African White-backed, Hooded and Ruppell's Vultures, the latter four always on the lookout for a recent kill. Our photographic safari is scheduled in the ‘shoulder’ season in the Mara, when the number of vehicles is less than peak season but with still excellent opportunities to photograph the wildlife and resident big cats.
After a flight to Nairobi and an overnight stop, we take the short flight down to the Mara where we will spend seven nights at Mlima Cottage, a private residence located on the northern border of the main reserve and immediately adjacent to prime leopard and lion territories. Our typical day will target the early morning and late afternoon, when encounters with wildlife are most likely and soft light is optimal for photography. There will be an emphasis on the big cats, but also plenty of opportunities to photograph a wide range of species. We will be flexible during the day to adapt to the activity of the wildlife and photographic opportunities; depending on our preferences, we can stay out all day or return to the cottage during the heat of the midday sun for lunch and to rest. We will resume our safari in the mid-afternoon, staying out until sunset, again the optimal time for observing and photographing wildlife behaviour. We return to base after sunset to relax for the evening dinner and to share stories. The cottage has facilities to charge batteries and download photographs to your computer for reviewing and editing.
Throughout our stay at Mlima Cottage we will be hosted and guided by expert naturalist and wildlife photographer, John Haskew, who has spent more than ten years living and working in East Africa.
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
We spend the first night at a comfortable hotel in Nairobi, followed by 7 nights at Mlima Cottage. This private residence is situated on the northern border of the Maasai Mara Reserve, in a prime location for wildlife viewing, close to renowned leopard and lion territories.
- Food:
All food is included in the price of the tour.
Reviews
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This was a superb trip. John was a great trip leader. He has the unique mix of great local knowledge of the area and wildlife along with huge photographic expertise which he was wager to educate us on. He was good humoured and dealt with the mix of people well. The two guides were equally excellent, often managing to find great photo opportunities when other safari vehicles seemed to be failing. The ability to get so close to so many different animals and seeing them interact with one another was truly magical.
I.S., Cambridgeshire, Nov '21 -
John is not only a great source of guidance with the technical side of photography, but his knowledge, experience and fieldcraft really allowed us to focus on taking photographs in great light and/or capturing photographs of the animals’ behaviour. Not only that, he was also able to support everyone’s learning, despite us all having different abilities and interests, and he made sure we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the process. The staff at Mara Olapa Camp and the food and accommodation were nothing short of a constant joy. The drivers/guides were some of the best I have met. It was a really enjoyable, fun week of constant highlights; the wildlife and photography opportunities were second to none. Everything about the trip was brilliant - I have travelled with Naturetrek many times now and have always enjoyed my trips - but this one was really special.
L.H., Renfrewshire, Nov '21
Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: John Haskew
John is a wildlife photographer and filmmaker and has filmed on natural history productions for BBC, Netflix, Apple, Disney and National Geographic, including Planet Earth 3 and Our Planet 2.
He has travelled all over the world in search of wildlife, including Western Lowland Gorillas in the Congo, Lemurs in Madagascar and Orangutans in Sumatra, and has filmed in Antarctica and on the summit of Everest.
John has spent more than ten years living and working in East Africa and has an intimate knowledge of the wildlife of the Mara. He hosts and guides our photo safaris there, which highlight the very best wildlife and photography opportunities that the Mara has to offer.
2026
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
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Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
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