Hi, I've spent some time in Ethiopia, South Africa and Zanzibar. In Tanzania I haven't been outside Dar-es-Salaam.
For photography there I have used at various times MXs, Super A and LXs. On safari I used mostly a 400mm lens and a 2X extender. Assuming you're phorographing from a vehicle, you really do need long lenses, and the faster the better. This is where I think the small format of digital cameras is probably a great advantage over film. I used beanbags rather than tripods as support, usually. When I did use a tripod I found a ball head was better than a pan/tilt head because it's easier to track things. I didn't have any particular problems with dust, but I was careful to clean all my equipment every evening. You have to get up very early to get the best light. The sun rises at 6am sharp, so try to get where you want to be well before that. I found that by about 9am the sun was getting too high and things were becoming washed out, so I had midday siestas, then went out again to be in time for the late sun from about 4pm to 6pm, when it goes down again, very quickly. Animals have enough sense not to go out during the day. If you get the opportunity of a night drive in one of the parks, take it. Zanzibar is a small place, and very enjoyable. You can get around pretty easily by taxi to anywhere on the island. There are 2 or 3 PADI dive shops in Stone Town who can take you out for the day, or to one of the smaller islands. They were quite well equipped when I was there, but I didn't use them because my ear problems had already started by then. You might want to be a bit careful where you swim. I picked up an ear infection swimming off Stone Town, and later learned I'd been swimming near a sewage outflow. Here are 3 of my photos from Zanzibar: http://www.web-options.com/Zanziweed.jpg http://www.web-options.com/Zanzibike.jpg http://www.web-options.com/Zanzidive.jpg You'll probably find it easy enough to get around Kenya and Tanzania by bus (this is guesswork based on my experience in Ethiopia), but I should think you'll almost certainly need a specialist company to get you into and around the national parks. John Forbes is an old Africa hand - with luck he'll be able to give you some pointers about this. As for packing, I've found that I have to have 2 bags, unfortunately. Even though I pack extremely minimalistically, the camera equipment forces me to take 2 bags. One of them is a Pelican 1550, which I wouldn't be without. I keep all my photo equipment locked in it except for the stuff I have on me at the time. Make sure you take plenty of spare batteries. I've seen people in tears because they've spent thousands on their holiday, run out of batteries, and can't get any more. -- Cheers, Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: Jon Paul Schelter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 22 October 2005 19:41 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Advice on travel to East Africa > > PDML, > > I was off-line for a while, but I'm back, with a query: > > I'm planning a last minute trip to Kenya and Tanzania, (I > found a KLM seat sale from Toronto to Nairobi, for 1300$CDN > taxes in) and was wondering if any of you have good advice > both on the subject of things to do, and how best to get > around, as well as on photographic techniques/equipment. > > We're leaving in a week, for 3 or 4 weeks, and I'm most > interested in seeing and photographing wildlife, and doing a > bit of treking, possibly diving in Zanzibar. It'll probably > be into the small rains when we get there, and we're looking > into a safari of some sort in either or both of the Rift > Valley + Masai Mara (Kenya) or Ngorongoro Gorge + Serengeti > NP (Tanzania). (this looks like a good toor company: > http://www.intoafrica.co.uk/comexpken.htm ) I have a friend > who's travelling seperately, and is looking to climb > kilimanjaro while we're down there, so that 's also an > option. I want to pack as light as possible, since I'll be > carrying everything on my back. > > My equipment: ist DS, 1G SD card, FA35/2, A50/2, DA18-55 kit > lens, Tamron 70-300/5.6-6.3, a decent tripod, a couple > smallish camera bags. > > I need: spare batteries, charger, 1 or 2 spare 1G SD cards. > something to store more pictures on (iPod, portable HD)? > > My wish list: a bigger camera bag, a wide lens (DA16-45, > DA14), a faster long lens ( would the DA 50-200 be long > enough? ), a monopod (instead of the tripod)? > The 16-45+50-200 would be a decent minimalist kit, covering > most of what I'd need, but not giving me much in terms of > lower-light ability. > I don't think I can afford or carry anything like a pentax or sigma > 200/2.8 or 300/2.8. > > I'd like to spend as much of my money as possible doing > things, rather than buying gear, but I don't want to be > kicking myself because I'm missing something critical. > > Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated. > > JP > > > >
