Page 7 - 5 Critical Things
P. 7
- Your Vehicle -
• There are many different types of safari vehicle and some are much better suited to serious photographers than others so if photography is your aim, pay special attention to the vehicle being offered. It goes without saying that a private vehicle is essential as is 4WD capability. Some of the vehicle that may be offered include:
• Completely open sided 4WD vehicles without a roof. (Illustration 6)
• Open sided vehicle but with a high canopy for shade. (Illustration 4)
• If you are participating in a safari with road transfers you will be using a fully closed safari adapted vehicle due to local transportation rules. These vehicles have been altered to have very large, fully opening windows that you can photograph through as well as roof hatches so that you can stand and view or photograph out of. The downside to photographing out of the roof hatch is the high angle of the viewpoint.
• Avoid minivans. Despite having viewing hatches, these are the least desirable vehicle to nd yourself in. Apart from the logistics of working inside one, they are 2WD and not able to access some of the more interesting areas and are, in fact, banned from some of the best private conservancies.
• Even more important is the amount of space each participant is allocated in the vehicle. At the very minimum you require a window seat, and although this seems obvious it is surprising how many vehicles have every seat occupied including the middle seats where tted. The best provision for photographers is to have a complete row available so that you can shoot from both sides as well as have plenty of space to store your camera bag. If you are travelling with a non-photographer companion, saving money by having your companion occupy the other window seat on your row is an option, but you might not end up talking to each other!
All this comes at a signi cant price but safaris are expensive and if you are going with the speci c purpose of taking wildlife then it is worthwhile spending the extra to give yourself the best opportunity of success.
