PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS

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AFRICAN Photo Megafari: Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda (15 days, 18 with extension) Despite being short, this trip takes in the most photogenic places and creatures of East Af-rica. At a private floodlit waterhole, we shoot Elephants and Buffalo at ridiculously close range. Dropping into the epic Great Rift Val-ley, we take one of the world’s best boat trips for waterbird photography. Moving south into Tanzania, we visit the legendary Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. This is the Africa of National Geographic, where countless wilde-beest litter the landscape, stalked by a bevy of predators. We also offer a short extension to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park for the wondrous Mountain Gorilla.

MADAGASCAR (17 days, 20 days with extension) This is our only photo tour that you could do with only a macro lens. There are endless fascinating things to shoot, from endemic birds and lemurs, to a bounty of crazy bugs and endless reptiles, and almost everything is approachable. In the mornings, we concentrate on birds, reptiles during the day, afternoons are often spent on primates, and at night everything goes wild! There are fantastic frogs, cryptic chameleons, and big-eyed owls and mouse-lemurs. Our main guide for this tour is the author of an upcoming photographic guide to the country’s wildlife riches.

ETHIOPIA (14 days)Simply put, Ethiopia is the best country in Af-rica for bird photography. Ethiopian culture includes a strong respect for life of all kinds, and there is so little persecution of birds that they sometimes feed right at your feet. You could easily shoot good photos of 200-250 species on this tour. These range from the towering storks and glittering kingfishers of Rift Valley lakes, to handsome waxbills and barbets of arid thorn scrub, to bizarre high-land endemics like Thick-billed Raven and Wattled Ibis. Like you would expect from an African destination, there are approach-able mammals too, like Gelada Baboon and Abyssinian Wolf, arguably the easiest of the world’s wolves to photograph.

SOUTH AFRICA (15 days, 18 days with extension) Beautiful landscapes, abundant birds, and plentiful big mammals make this country a photographer’s dream. Our tour starts in Cape Town, with spectacular wildflower displays as well as endemic birds and ruggedly beautiful scenery. Visits to African Penguin and Cape Gannet colonies ensure stunning images of these marquee species. Flying to the eastern side of the country, we take in some lovely mountain scenery and wildlife before drop-ping into Kruger National Park, with its abun-dant big mammals and conspicuous birds.

For those who want to hone in on big cats, an extension virtually ensures close encounters with Leopard and Lion.

NAMIBIA (15 days) Huge and empty, the sheer and beautiful vastness of Namibia is mindboggling. Un-derstandably, many people come here only to photograph landscapes. But because we know how the wildlife fits into these land-scapes, we ensure that you also leave with cards full of charismatic bird and mammal

species. We kick off this tour among the tow-ering red sand dunes of Sossusvlei, then jour-ney up the coast through flamingo-encrusted bays, and on into the ancient mountainous heart of Namibia. The tour ends in Etosha, at the time when mammals are most concentrat-ed, and 5,000 individuals can sometimes be seen at a single waterhole, one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth. Some of the best lodges in the continent have everything you need, from electricity for charging equipment to delightful cuisine.

Africa Photo Journeys

Burchell’s Common Zebras • Ken Behrens

E-mail us at info@tropicalbirding.comGive us a call on 1-800-348-5941 or 1-409-515-0514

Eurasia and Australia Photo JourneysFINLAND (8 days)

On the far reaches of Europe, the Siberian wilderness sneaks over the Russian border and enters eastern Finland. Here, the wil-derness has not been tamed, and we have a great opportunity to spend time with Europe’s most charismatic wildlife. In particular, we will use a series of new and productive blinds to get close to, and photograph, both Brown Bears and the Wolverine. We also hope to get these animals in some action poses, and we can expect some real keeper images. How-ever, there are also a slew of interesting bo-real forest birds in this realm, and when the mammals are not behaving, we may be off attempting to photograph grouse, woodpeck-ers, or well staked-out owls. Local conditions will impact what we choose to do with our time, but we will head home with a treasure chest of boreal wildlife images.

INDIA (17 days) India is perhaps the best country in Asia for photography. The human culture is diverse and endlessly photogenic, and the wildlife is not persecuted, and is very approachable. We begin at Bharatpur where easy photogra-phy will result in memory cards jam-packed with images of storks, herons, ducks, jacanas, plus many passerines and day-roosting night birds. Next comes a cultural diversion to the Taj Mahal, followed by a cruise on the Cham-bal River, with lots of birds and the menacing-looking Mugger Crocodile and bizarre-yet-

elegant Gharial on the banks. Heading south into central India, we enjoy a safari-style adventure seeking out Tigers and other ani-mals in game-rich forests. We finish off at Ka-ziranga NP searching for Asian One-horned Rhinoceros and Sloth Bear, among others.

AUSTRALIA (16 days) We have cherry-picked picked the very best photographic locations from this continent to create a packed tour where hardly an hour passes without another sensational subject appearing. At times we shoot opportunisti-cally, on the fly, but also visit stake-outs for birds like Regent and Satin Bowerbirds, and king parrots and rosellas. We’ll also visit fruit feeders that attract birds-of-paradise and honeyeaters near Cairns. Again and again, we will encounter Australia’s bounty of parrots, some of which will even feed from your hand at O’Reilly’s, and we’ll try to photograph cas-sowaries right in the eye. This trip is not just about birds though; we also visit the most spectacular scenery on the continent in Tas-mania, where mammals will also be at the forefront, with wombats, platypus, quolls, and plenty of kangaroos and wallabies all likely.

We can also run photo tours to other parts of Europe, including Spain; while for the more adventurous photographer we can set up trips to the island of New Guinea for exciting photo shoots with Birds-of-Paradise.

Spotted Pardalote • Iain Campbell

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BORNEO (13 days, 18 days with extension)The Malaysian state of Sabah in the north of the island of Borneo is graced not only with unique wildlife endemic to this island, like the comical Proboscis Monkey, and its famous wine-colored great ape, the Orang-utan; but also a world class set of lodges in which to be based while viewing them. Sabah has gone

to great lengths to establish itself as a world leader in ecotourism, with great success. We will stay at the luxurious Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley and Sukau Rainfor-est Lodge beside the Kinbatangan River, as well as a high-end lodge in Sepilok, while we pursue photos of stunning birds like hornbills, Crested Fireback pheasants, Blue-eared King-fishers, and animals like Bornean Pygmy-Ele-phants and Red Leaf-Monkeys. An extension

runs before the main tour to Fraser’s Hill on mainland Malaysia, where a series of quiet roads cut through hill forest, and allows great chances to photograph the likes of Fire-tufted Barbet, Streaked Spiderhunter, and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush in one of the most famed birding areas in all of Asia.

TAIWAN (8 days) Taiwan is, point blank, the best place to pho-tograph forest birds in Asia, and it is absurd that it is not more famous for being so. A booming scene of local photographers un-derstands this, so there are good set-ups in

many locations, with spacious platforms and well-planned feeding areas. The island has many colorful endemics such as Flamecrest, Swinhoe’s Pheasant, Taiwan Blue-Magpie, and Collared Bush-Robin. We also make a special effort to photograph the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill. In spite of a healthy economy, this truly beautiful island still pos-sesses 60% forest cover, and has some rugged mountain scenery to combine with the great bird shoots throughout.

JAPAN (11 days) We start in Hokkaido, the “Alaska of Asia”, where pack ice and jagged snow-clad moun-tains form the backdrop for some of the most amazing wildlife photography opportunities in Asia. We will watch courting Red-crowned Cranes dancing in the snow at close range, which is just as spectacular as it sounds. We explore the icy sea by boat to find up to 100 White-tailed Eagles and goliath Steller’s Sea-Eagles fighting for fish, where birds swoop-ing at each other with bared talons promise to yield epic images. We will also be within arm’s reach of hundreds of crisp Whooper Swans gliding past on a thermal lake with warm water vapors rising around them. At Nangano, we interact with the unforgetta-ble Japanese Macaques or “snow monkeys”. Covered in frost, they sit in the hot springs to warm themselves, their bright red faces and icicle-encrusted fur standing out against the snow, making for classic portraits.

Asia Photo Journeys

Steller’s Sea-Eagle • Keith Barnes

E-mail us at info@tropicalbirding.comGive us a call on 1-800-348-5941 or 1-409-515-0514

ECUADOR (10 days)There is no tour conceivable that is better for photographing hummingbirds than this one; you should end up with shots of nearly 30 species. This is not a workshop where you just sit on the balcony all day; our guides know the whole range of tropical birds in-credibly well, and we will chase photos of colorful toucans, fruiteaters, barbets, and tan-agers along with good chances at shy species like antpittas, antshrikes, woodcreepers, and even seedsnipe. We’ll visit both sides of the Andes, staying at two of the best humming-bird lodges in the country, where our subjects are often literally at our doorstep.

BRAZIL (11 days) This is the closest thing to an African safari experience in South America. Perhaps no-where else on the continent can you get more “keeper” photographs in such a short time. There are charismatic mammals like Jaguar and Giant Otter, and fantastic num-bers of waterbirds. Some of South America’s most spectacular birds are here, including the massive Jabiru, and the world’s largest par-

rot, the gigantic blue Hyacinth Macaw. Boat rides allow close approach to birds that might otherwise be wary, like Sungrebe and Agami Heron. When searching for Jaguars, we use high-powered speedboats to cover large are-as and maximize our chances at photograph-ing this elusive beast. This is one of the least physically demanding tours that we offer, and the lodges are memorable and excellent.

FALKLAND ISLANDS (15 days)What strikes you most about the Falklands is just how free it makes you feel. Most of the time we will have the impressive bird colo-nies all to ourselves allowing us plenty of time to get the shots we seek. The birds are so approachable they seem almost tame, and

we’ll have unforgettable encounters with King, Magallenic, Rockhopper, and Gentoo Penguins, which are regularly harassed by caracaras and jaegers, making for excellent action shots. Combine this with enormous El-ephant Seals, Sea Lions, and Orcas, and you have one of the very best natural experiences possible. On this tour we cover four differ-ent islands, including East Falkland, Sea Lion, Carcass, and Pebble islands, where their re-spective bird colonies will provide numerous treasured images.

COSTA RICA (11 days)Costa Rica is world famous for its sky-high diversity of flora and fauna relative to its tiny size, and the world-class lodges allow you to enjoy it in comfort and style. With more than 25% of its land protected, the country boasts

an extraordinary number of national parks, ecological reserves, and private sanctuaries in which to seek encounters with wildlife. We have cherry-picked the very best of these, visiting Caribbean and Pacific rainforests, the dry forest of the northwest, the Tarcol estuary, and the high mountains, ensuring a varied list of birds photographed. Spoonbills, herons, hummingbirds, trogons, toucans, parrots, tanagers, oropendolas, and orioles, are just the beginning, and of course, no photo shoot in Costa Rica would be complete without spending time with the Resplendent Quetzal.

We also run custom photo tours to Panama.

South and Central America

Photo Journeys

Montezuma Oropendolas • Nick Athanas

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OHIO WARBLERS (7 days)Magee Marsh, on the shores of Lake Erie, has been dubbed “The Warbler Capital of the World”, and it is hard to argue with that if you have ever visited in May, when these prized songbirds decorate the woods in great num-bers. The moniker was given as a reflection of both numbers and variety that occur in this season, and for photographers, it means un-

rivaled opportunities to photograph these celebrity species. During this peak time,

we will use our extensive knowledge of the local hotspots to ensure that birds like

Blackburnian, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Bay-breast-ed Warblers all feature prominently on your memory cards. This tour will be led by a pho-to guide with over five seasons of intimate experience of the area; expect to head home with great photos of around twenty species of warbler!

TEXAS (10 days) This tour covers everything from the Mexican border to the Upper Texas Coast, resulting in a wealth of birds not possible anywhere else within the US or Canada. Down in the Rio Grande, well-designed feeders should yield species like Crested Caracara, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Audubon’s Oriole, and Green Jay. On the northern section of the tour, a wealth of shorebirds, terns, skimmers, and gulls carpet the coastline of the Bolivar Pen-insula, and the adjoining woodlots play host to waves of migrants like orioles, tanagers, and America’s “celebrity” birds, the warblers. The crowded rookery on High Island offers tantalizing subjects like Roseate Spoonbills

and Great and Snowy Egrets performing fas-cinating courtship displays. Tropical Birding has been working in High Island for the past seven springs, ensuring you will be guided by a keen photographer with comprehensive experience in the area, who knows where to find the best birds and how to take advantage of the best lighting conditions.

FLORIDA (5 days)The Sunshine State has become a perennial favorite among bird photographers, and with very good reason. In early spring the beaches and wetlands are packed with photogenic herons, egrets, terns, shorebirds, gulls, and waders, many of which are preparing to breed. The sheer number and variety of sub-jects will allow for terrific photo opportuni-ties, from gangly-legged Reddish Egrets danc-ing in the coastal shallows, to curious Florida Scrub-Jays scampering around our feet, to pink flushed Roseate Spoonbills lighting up coastal estuaries; we will not struggle for subjects! This is a short tour, perfect for those with limited vacation time or anyone looking for a quick getaway. It packs in multiple sites each day; so expect long, bird-filled days, and to leave with impressive numbers of photos of caracaras, ospreys, eagles, gallinules, peli-cans, storks, plovers, curlews, skimmers, and much, much more. The tour starts in Jackson-ville and ends in Tampa; it is timed for early spring when behavioral photos of birds gear-ing up for the breeding season will be a big highlight.

Tropical Birding can also run photo tours to Arizona and winter trips to Florida.

North America Photo Journeys II

Blackburnian Warbler • Iain Campbell

E-mail us at info@tropicalbirding.comGive us a call on 1-800-348-5941 or 1-409-515-0514

ALASKA (13 days; 19 days with extensions)This Alaska tour is all about getting great pho-tos of North America’s most charismatic birds along with big mammals such as Muskox, Grizzly Bear, and Moose. We include Nome for the handsome breeding plumage loons and golden plovers and head to the northern-most tip of mainland North America to pho-tograph eiders and jaegers at close quarters; it’s easy to lose track of time with 24 hours of shooting light available in Barrow! On the extensions, we get personal with bears hunt-ing salmon at Brooks Falls, the premier bear photography venue in all of North America, and get cards full of puffins on the Pribiloffs. This is, without doubt, our photo guides’ fa-vorite trip to lead anywhere in North Ameri-ca, and you may find that you want to do it all over again.

POLAR BEARS (7 days, 9 days with extension)Polar Bears are one of the undoubted holy grails for wildlife photographers; this fear-some white bear offers candid portraits that no other animal on earth can, and they roam through stark snowscapes that lend them-selves to scenically spectacular photo shoots. We will be based in a high-end, remote, lodge in the Canadian state of Manitoba, where it is the only building for many miles, and where only small groups are permitted at any one time. Also, unlike many other Po-lar Bear tours on offer, the bears are located

by taking well-managed guided walks from the lodge, under the watchful eye of experi-enced guides, who know the habits of the lo-cal bears very well. This allows ground-level photography of the bears and an absolutely incomparable experience. This is very differ-ent from the buggy-based photo tours, and it cannot be rivaled for the guarantee of world-class images without the crowds. Aside from our main subject, the area has ghostly white Arctic Foxes, ermine-colored Arctic Hares, and Caribou. The tour starts and ends in Win-nipeg, from where a post-bear extension visits Riding Mountain National Park, where loons, grebes, and grouse combine with Beavers, Elk and Moose for yet more subjects to capture.

COLORADO (7 days) This tour is about photographing amazing bird displays at very, very close range. Each spring, grouse and prairie-chickens perform bizarre, fascinating, and near ridiculous displays at traditional lek sites. Blinds will be used where necessary to give you the very best shots that can be taken anywhere of these photogenic birds at their display grounds. Colorado is also blessed with incredible mountain scen-ery, extensive prairies, and a corresponding set of other desirable birds. Feeders in the Rockies will be visited to get close-up studies of rosy-finches and grosbeaks, and vast prai-ries have Mountain Plovers, sparrows, and Pronghorn, among others.

We can also run tours to Minnesota in winter for close-ups with owls and more.

North America Photo Journeys I

Greater Sage-Grouse • Iain Campbell