Today the safari begins properly. After an early breakfast, we head to the airport and domestic departures to catch our local flight to Lower Zambezi National Park. Our home for the next five nights is the wonderful Potato Bush Camp located deep within the Zambezi Valley.

This region of the Lower Zambezi has been carefully chosen to give photographic access to both old forest and on the famous Zambezi River itself.

Your two-bedroom Family House is a palatial twenty-one metres wide, all the better for embracing the views of the Zambezi River. It offers a huge central living area between the bedrooms, making this an ideal location private groups of four adults.

Both bedrooms have their own en-suite bathrooms with twin showers, twin basins, and a large clawfoot tub (with a view). Not to be outdone by the bedrooms, the central area boasts a wooden dining table, fully stocked bar and fridge, and a welcoming lounge area, and the balcony offers a large plunge pool.

Right from the start, your Zambia photo safari will be wild and free as you begin to take in ‘real Africa’. Arriving in camp to a refreshing drink and face towel, you will be briefed by the camp manager. Camp is set on the banks of the Zambezi River and elephants pretty much have right of way in this camp, so the briefing is important – this is not 'touristy' Africa!

With expansive views and no fences, you will be both extremely comfortable and in the wild, and on a night you'll be lulled to sleep by snorting hippo, feeding elephants and roaring lions.

After settling in to camp, enjoying lunch (and maybe a quick siesta), we'll head out on our first afternoon safari and begin exploring the wonderful Lower Zambezi.

Activities here will be a healthy mixture of game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, motorised boat safaris, walking safaris (which promote amazing eye-level photography opportunities) and also a quintessentially Zambian safari pursuit - the canoe! Highly qualified guides lead us along some of the most tranquil and picturesque channels, getting close to creatures big and small, in silence...

On the first afternoon, we will probably head out by motorised boat, going in search of swimming elephants, spouting hippos, kingfishers and colourful bee-eater colonies. Photographing silhouettes from on the river, as the sun sets behind the Zambezi escarpment, you will fall hopelessly in love with this special and wild corner of Africa.

As the day draws to an end with the sun on your back and a cocktail in hand as you watch the sun set over the waters of the mighty Zambezi River – you will be glad to be alive and really appreciate the wonderful place you find yourself!

Accommodation : Potato Bush Camp, Lower Zambezi National Park. Full board.

Four full days in wildlife photography paradise.

After an early morning breakfast around the campfire with fresh muffins and porridge, à la Zambian style (or maybe just a cup of coffee if you prefer as it will still be dark), you head off on a safari drive.

At 4,092 km² of protected wilderness, the Lower Zambezi National Park has minimal human access and the irresistible, life-giving Zambezi River as its heart. 

Simply put, the Lower Zambezi has some of the finest big game wildlife viewing in Southern Africa. This, coupled with the variety of safari activities on offer and the aesthetics of this park, make for a truly fantastic wildlife spectacle as well as outstanding photography opportunities. 

This part of the park offers an incredible mosaic of habitats and it feels ancient because it is ancient. Giant baobab trees, oxbow lakes, secret forests reminiscent of the Jungle Book (but African style), woodlands and floodplains all combine making this a photo safari for true Africa aficionados. 

There's ample space in the safari vehicle for everyone and your gear so you don’t need to leave any lenses behind for this Zambia photo safari - but remember sometimes less is more and saves constantly changing lenses and missing those key shots. The plethora of photographic subjects on offer is tremendous. From shy forest dwellers like civets and porcupines through to antelope, hippos, eagles, large herds of buffalo and lots and lots of elephants, very often bashing palm trees – releasing a torrent of falling fruit.

Large predators are very much in attendance here and you can expect lion and leopard. Even wild dog are very well represented. The most notable omissions in the area are giraffe and cheetah. However a night-time safari scouting for honey badger and aardvark should help make up for that!

Along with an exceptionally talented local guide, working as a team both they and Alex (who is a fully qualified and very experienced safari guide), will show you the best nooks and crannies in the park. You will be on pole position for both the action and light and you will also receive expert tuition pertaining to composition and camera settings for each scene and subject on your Lower Zambezi photo safari.

We'll take the sightings at our own, unhurried pace, spending time with our wildlife subjects in order to better understand their behaviour all in aid of capturing more. engaging wildlife imagery.

After a morning searching for photographic subjects, we'll return to camp for brunch but only once the light is thoroughly burnt off of course!

There will be time to download your images and take a rest looking over the languid Zambezi River from your tent before meeting for afternoon tea. By this time it will be hot and the animals of the Lower Zambezi will have been drawn to the river’s edge. We'll probably take to the river again, the boat you are in is fast enough to capitalise on any photo opportunities that present themselves. Swimming elephants, crocodiles stalking stampeding buffalo, yawning hippos, flying bee-eaters – the list of photographic possibilities on the river just goes on and on. 

In between safari activities we'll also plenty of opportunity to go through images you've taken with considered and constructive sessions offering suggestions for composition as well as editing techniques.

Returning to camp once it is dark, another delightful dinner and hot shower await. There's time to quickly download memory cards before drifting off to sleep - the good news is that you awake only to do it all over again.

Accommodation : Potato Bush Camp, Lower Zambezi National Park. Full board.

 Mood, mist and dust.

For five full days, our in time Kafue, as with the Lower Zambezi, will be filled with wildlife and photography. The differences of these two national parks complement each other perfectly making for fantastic variety for your wildlife photography portfolio.

Kafue is a spectacular example of true African wilderness with the Busanga Plains stretching as far as the eye can see. Wildlife viewing is exceptional all year round but in dry season, they become more dramatic as the wildlife condenses around the life giving waters. It’s a beautiful wildlife haven which you can’t properly envisage until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.

The area is one of Zambia’s most significant wetland resources and supports tremendous diversity. Fertile dambos (lagoon swamps) situated in the south are fed by the Lunga, Lufupa and Kafue Rivers – prime locations for viewing some of the 500 species of birds found in the park. This vast area of virgin bushveld is waiting for you to explore it and there is quite simply an abundance of wildlife and no shortage of subjects to photograph.

All the major predators present, with leopard and lion numerous. Lions hunt leaping lechwe here and often an early morning mist settles over the plains making it one of the most beautiful and ethereal photographic destinations in all of Africa. “Did you say lions and lechwe in the mist of a golden dawn?” Like I said, you have to see this place to believe it. 

Birding is top-class, with hundreds of species recorded in the area. Even if you are not a birder or bird photographer, you will find it impossible to not shoot the hundreds of birds taking off all around you.

Time spent in here will not be wasted and due to its sheer size, we'll spend most of our time exploring the area by open 4x4 safari vehicle as well as along the river in motorised boats.

We’ll be out before dawn looking for subjects to compose in the golden light, predators will still be active until the heat of the day kicks in (and when the light has burned through), which is when we will return to camp to download images. In between safari activities, there will be plenty of opportunity to go through images you've taken with considered and constructive sessions offering suggestions for composition as well as editing techniques. 

As the day begins to cool, we’ll head out again looking for subjects to frame in glorious sunset hues combined with dust which has been stirred in to the air by the wildlife. Like mentioned, Kafue is all about mood, mist and dust!

Accommodation : Musekese Camp, Kafue National Park. Full board.

Mood, mist and dust.

For five full days, our in time Kafue, as with the Lower Zambezi, will be filled with wildlife and photography. The differences of these two national parks complement each other perfectly making for fantastic variety for your wildlife photography portfolio.

Kafue is a spectacular example of true African wilderness with the Busanga Plains stretching as far as the eye can see. Wildlife viewing in the Busanga is exceptional all year round but in dry season, they become more dramatic as the wildlife condenses around the life giving waters. It’s a beautiful wildlife haven which you can’t properly envisage until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.

The area is one of Zambia’s most significant wetland resources and supports tremendous diversity. Fertile dambos (lagoon swamps) situated in the south are fed by the Lunga, Lufupa and Kafue Rivers – prime locations for viewing some of the 500 species of birds found in the park. This vast area of virgin bushveld is waiting for you to explore it and there is quite simply an abundance of wildlife and no shortage of subjects to photograph.

All the major predators present, with leopard and lion numerous. Lions hunt leaping lechwe here and often an early morning mist settles over the plains making it one of the most beautiful and ethereal photographic destinations in all of Africa. “Did you say lions and lechwe in the mist of a golden dawn?” Like I said, you have to see this place to believe it. 

Birding is top-class, with hundreds of species recorded in the area. Even if you are not a birder or bird photographer, you will find it impossible to not shoot the hundreds of birds taking off all around you.

Time spent in here will not be wasted and due to its sheer size, we'll spend most of our time exploring the area by open 4x4 safari vehicle as well as along the river in motorised boats.

We’ll be out before dawn looking for subjects to compose in the golden light, predators will still be active until the heat of the day kicks in (and when the light has burned through), which is when we will return to camp to download images. In between safari activities, there will be plenty of opportunity to go through images you've taken with considered and constructive sessions offering suggestions for composition as well as editing techniques. 

As the day begins to cool, we’ll head out again looking for subjects to frame in glorious sunset hues combined with dust which has been stirred in to the air by the wildlife. Like mentioned, Kafue is all about mood, mist and dust!

Accommodation : Musekese Camp, Kafue National Park. Full board.

This is the last day our our Zambia wildlife photography adventure and by this time, not only are your camera memory cards full but also your heart and mind. They'll be brimming with incredible memories, captivating stories to tell along with inspiring wildlife images of a wild, untamed Africa to be exceptionally proud of.

As we catch our short local flight back to Lusaka and your connecting flight home, one thing is certain, you'll be leaving remarkable Zambia having enjoyed a photo safari experience like all Africa safaris once used to be, away from civilisation and deep inside the wilderness.

No doubt you'll also leave with a yearning to return and explore further explore Africa's majesty!  You will have tasted real Africa and when you leave, all you will be thinking about is your return...