Join me for an awesome photo safari to East Africa in February 2007 to see and shoot primates, specifically chimpanzees and gorillas. We will be spending three days at Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, shooting chimpanzees followed by four days at Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, shooting gorillas. This safari will be unlike most other African safaris because all of the shooting will be done on the ground after hiking to the subjects. It's a wonderful experience to be in close proximity to these close relatives of ours in their natural habitat.

Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, is probably the best place to see and shoot chimpanzees in the wild because it's a small park (the chimps can't go too far) and the chimps are habituated to humans, largely through the work of Jane Goodall. Her work, begun in 1960, is continuing and represents the longest-running study of any wildlife population in the world. On a typical day, we'll have breakfast at our permanent tented camp, then set out in search of the chimpanzee troupes. Our chimpanzee encounters are largely at the whim of the chimps, because if they're ready to move on, they'll soon be out of our site and we'll start looking for another troupe. We'll return to camp for lunch and possibly a short siesta, then have the option to return for more chimpanzee trekking or go snorkeling in Lake Tanganyka. While at Gombe Stream, we'll be about 25 mi (40 km) from the spot where Henry Morgan Stanley uttered his famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," when he found David Livingstone in Ujiji who was searching for the source of the Nile River.

Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, is quite different. After breakfast at our lodge, we'll drive to the park entrance and find out which habituated group of gorillas we'll be visiting that day. (The habituation began with Dian Fossey's research work.) There are four groups of habituated gorillas open to visitors, and with four days of gorilla trekking we should be able to see all four. Each group of habituated gorillas gets visited by only one tourist group per day, and the visit is limited to one hour. The one hour visit is usually very productive, and for first-time visitors the emotional impact is immense! We'll usually find the gorillas after hiking for one to two hours while they're resting and feeding during the late morning. While the humans are instructed to get no closer than 7 m (about 23 ft) from the gorillas, the gorillas don't quite understand the rules, and it's common for the younger gorillas to approach quite close and even try to touch a human before they're encouraged to move away by the local guides. After our hour is up, we'll head back to the lodge in time for lunch there or at a restaurant in the nearby town. Then we'll usually head out into the countryside to shoot landscapes and locals.

This safari is intended for photographers, or serious naturalists, who want to spend some amazing quality time with some of our closest living relatives. The safari is limited to 6 participants, and is physically demanding. At Gombe Stream, we will be hiking all morning, and optionally all afternoon, in search of chimps. At Volcanoes, we will be hiking for a shorter length of time for the gorillas, but the hikes are steep and at elevations of 7500 to 8700 ft (2250 to 2650 m). So, couch potatoes living near sea level would have a hard time even with porters carrying our gear. Electricity will be available at our accommodations to power laptops and charge camera batteries.

Several airlines fly to Arusha and Nairobi. KLM/Northwest provides reliable service from Amsterdam, and has a generous carry-on policy. Many people find it useful to arrive in Arusha a day before the safari starts in order to recover from jet lag.

This safari is scheduled to mesh with my Tanzania in Feb 2007 safari, so join me for both to make the most of your air travel.

to book or inquire about this tour.

Day 1	Feb 17	Arrive in Arusha, Tanzania Transfer to the Arumeru River Lodge for (dinner) and overnight
Day 2	Feb 18	Breakfast at the Arumeru River Lodge Fly to Kigoma Lunch Boat to Gombe Stream National Park Dinner and overnight at Mitumba Camp
Days 3-5	Feb 19-21	Breakfast at Mitumba Camp Chimpanzee trekking Lunch at Mitumba Camp Chimpanzee trekking, siesta, or snorkeling Dinner and overnight at Mitumba Camp
Day 6	Feb 22	Breakfast at Mitumba Camp Boat to Kigoma Fly to Kigali, Rwanda Lunch Drive to Ruhengheri (just outside Volcanos National Park) Dinner and overnight at Gorillas Nest Lodge
Days 7-9	Feb 23-25	Breakfast at Gorillas Nest Lodge Gorilla trekking Lunch Tour the countryside Dinner and overnight at Gorillas Nest Lodge
Day 10	Feb 26	Breakfast at Gorillas Nest Lodge Gorilla trekking Lunch Drive to Kigali Visit the Kigali Memorial Center, a genocide museum Dinner and overnight at Novotel
Day 11	Feb 27	Breakfast at Novotel Fly to Nairobi, Kenya Depart for home