Upon arriving at the Windhoek airport you’ll be transferred to the guest house. Here, you can spend the day resting by the pool and preparing for the journey ahead. You’ll also have the chance to meet one of the workshop leaders and the rest of your group.
You’ll leave shortly after breakfast in Windhoek and begin a long drive to Etosha. Once you arrive, if there is time you will go for a short game drive, otherwise your evening will be spent on a lecture or planning activities for the coming days.
You will spend the next two days on private game drives and sessions at the sunken game hide located by the edge of a waterhole. You’ll take two days at the reserve to explore the 30,000 hectares and take in all the sights it has to offer. You can expect to find an impressive cast of wildlife including lions, elephants, giraffes, and a multitude of bird species.
As well as the pre-planned safari expeditions, you’ll have the chance to go on bush walks and visit prime bird-watching spots.
You’ll depart from Onguma for an early morning game drive through Etosha Natioanl Park. The drive will enter through the eastern gate, Von Lindequist Gate, and after a few hours exploring the area, you’ll travel towards Galton Gate on the northern border.
The drive will provide you with ample wildlife photo opportunities, then you will exit the park and travel to the nearby King Nehal Lodge.
Today will be spent exploring Ruacana Falls. Situated on the Kunene River, Ruacan Falls is Namibia’s largest waterfall with a height of 120 meters and a width of 700 meters. The river twists through a rocky landscape before plummeting into the deep gorge of Ruacana which is surrounded by lush green scenery.
The contrast of terrains coupled with the surreal veil of mist from the falls that spreads for miles around make this an incredibly exciting location for landscape photography.
From Ruacana Falls you will follow the Kunene river through some of Namibia’s most beautiful, untouched parts of Namibia towards Epupa Falls. As you travel along the river, the scenery will grow greener and more densely vegetated providing new landscape photography possibilities. Also, you’ll stop at small villages and settlements along the way where you can experience some of Namibia’s local customs and traditions.
Once you’ve arrived, you’ll spend some time walking along the river bank and taking in the series of cascading waterfalls which drop over a height of approximately 1.5 kilometers.
Your day will begin with an early morning shoot of the Epupa Falls capturing the breathtaking beauty of the site in ideal lighting.
Then, after a quick breakfast, you’ll begin your long journey to Purros. The vast expanses of Namibia mean that this journey can’t be done in one day and so you’ll stopover in Opuwa for the night. Though technically a stopover, Opuwa has its own opportunities for interesting photography, especially at dusk, when you’ll arrive.
Another day on the road will show yet more of the diversity that Namibia’s scenery has to offer. Terrain will get rockier as you travers unpaved roads, dry river beds and twisting mountain passes. Again, whilst this is a travel day, you’ll pass incredible vistas and unique, desert-adapted flora and fauna, providing you with exciting photo opportunities as you go.
You’ll approach Purros and see the distinct red sand dunes of the Hoarusib River Valley, home to the Himba people with their visually striking customary clothing.
Having spent the night in Purros, you’ll travel along another scenic drive to Twyfelfontein providing you with more rocky and rugged landscapes to train your camera’s sights on. From arriving in Twyfelfontein, you’ll already be in the shadow of the behemothic Brandberg mountains. You’ll capture a few shots of the mountainscape from a distance before stopping here for the night.
It’s a short drive from Twyfelfontein so you’ll take a scenic detour through the park area at the base of the mountain before stopping at the Painted Lady Lodge for lunch.
Brandberg Mountain, or the Burning Mountain, is Namibia’s largest and provides a host of photo ops, and so the workshop dedicates a few days to taking advantage of all the region has to offer.
Primarily, there’s the mountains themselves. Set against the changing colors of the sky, the silhouette of the mountain’s peaks and valleys present the opportunity to create magnificent images. Then, there’s striking rock formations caused by erosion, a variety of endemic species of desert-adapted flora and fauna, remarkably clear views of the stars at night, and ancient artwork painted onto the rockface.
On the final day of photography, your day will start with a boat trip out on the waters of Sandwich Harbour in Swakopmund. This is hands-down the best way to view the huge populations of pink-backed Pelicans and Flamingos in the area as they fly alongside the boat.
After lunch you’ll take a guided tour of the Skeleton Coast and then a sunset shoot of the dunes as they glow pink and orange against the deep blue of the Atlantic ocean.
Early in the morning, you’ll return from Walvis Bay, then say your final farewells before heading to the airport for your flight home.