Dates: April 14 to 23, 2024
Short Description: This workshop starts in Maun, Botswana and travels through several parts of the Kalahari Desert and adjoining area. Unlike many Botswana trips, we're targeting a special time of the year, just after the rains end, when the animals tend to be very active and the pans in this area still have water. We first drive to a remote tented camp in the Nxai Pan National Park, where we use our Land Cruisers to explore the area for three days. Next, we drive to a luxury lodge in the Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve, and again explore the area with our vehicles. Finally, we drive still further into the desert areas of Deception Valley, located in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and where we are reunited with our mobile tented camp for several additional days of exploration. When we’re done, we’ll fly you back to Maun in a private charter in time for your flight home.
While rhinos are a rarity in this region, you'll likely encounter pretty much everything else sub-Sahara Africa has to offer on this workshop. We usually only put three students in each of our three vehicles, so there's generally plenty of room for your gear. Every vehicle has a very experienced driver guide, and Thom will be in the front seat of one vehicle, while Tony Medici (Thom's teaching assistant for the last ten years) will be in another. In other words, you'll have excellent help both photographically as well as in spotting and identifying animals and birds throughout most of this workshop. We travel with laptops, projector and screen on this trip, so even in our downtime Thom and Tony are teaching pretty much every day. This isn't a short workshop with a photo tour afterwards. It's a full-on multi-week workshop.
Cost: Africa is not inexpensive. We provide first class food, lodging, and facilities throughout, as well as top-level instruction and guiding. We’ve worked hard to keep our prices from experiencing the same inflation you’re probably encountering at home. US$13,995, plus US$400 in park entrance fees and US$435 in internal flight costs.
Other: This workshop is limited to nine students. Only one single tent is available at an additional cost; all other tents are shared.
Signups: Call Lisa Laferte at Wilderness Travel (800-368-2794). One opening for a female willing to share the big tent.
