From
$9,880(USD)
Group size
4 Guests
Location
Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana
Safari date
11 Sept – 17 Sept 2026 (Francois Fourie) )
Explore
Wild Botswana
Join us on an unforgettable photo safari to Mashatu, Botswana, a place where Africa still feels truly wild. Known as the Land of Giants, Mashatu is a photographer’s paradise, where open landscapes, golden light, and extraordinary wildlife encounters come together in perfect harmony.
Here, vast savannahs stretch beneath ancient baobabs, and each day brings the possibility of witnessing raw, untamed moments, lions on the hunt, leopards draped in the shade of a Mashatu tree, cheetahs scanning the horizon, and massive herds of elephants moving through the dust. The predator density in Mashatu is exceptional, offering rare opportunities to capture intimate and dramatic scenes of Africa’s apex hunters in action.
For photographers, the opportunities are endless. From golden-hour portraits to fast-paced action and beautifully composed landscapes, night photography in Lala Limpopo over night hide, Mashatu provides a canvas where every frame tells a story. Whether you’re an avid photographer or simply passionate about Africa’s wilderness, this experience will immerse you in the rhythm of the bush, its silence, its sounds, and its soul.
This is more than a safari. It’s an authentic African adventure, wild, raw, and deeply rewarding, set in one of Botswana’s most captivating and untouched corners.
Itinerary
Johannesburg - Mashatu Lodge
The safari starts in Johannesburg. Please connect with us to arrange any travel/accommodation prior to this point.
Board your flight from Lanseria International Airport to Limpopo Valley Airfield. This airport is situated within Mashatu Game Reserve less than an hour’s drive away from our destination – Mashatu Lodge. You’ll arrive at camp and be welcomed, after which we’ll all enjoy lunch together. You’ll have the opportunity to settle into camp and then we’ll regroup at 3:00 pm for our afternoon safari. The game drive will take us into the early evening where we’ll look for active predators and nocturnal wildlife with the help of artificial light. Get back to camp around 7:30 pm, enjoy drinks around the campfire followed by a hearty dinner and quality conversation.
DAY 1Full days at Mashatu Lodge
Game drives start early in Mashatu. We’ll head out 30 minutes before sunrise, at first light. Mashatu is known for incredible sightings of predators and our first focus for the mornings will be exactly that – locate the big cats and enjoy quality time with them while they are most active. This area offers some of the finest predator viewing in Africa and our first goal of every day will be to spend as much quality time with them as possible. The ability to follow the predators off the road means we get to double down on possible action and viewing experiences, a very unique opportunity not offered in most national parks and game reserves. Once it gets hot predators will settle down. That’s a great time to visit some of the waterholes in search of general game such as impala, zebra, giraffe, and buffalo, and also be on the lookout for elephants.
We’ll get back to camp around 10:00 am, and then will enjoy a delicious breakfast. There’ll be time to relax a little in camp. There’s also time for you to connect with your host to ask photography-related questions and to enjoy some post-processing.
By 3:00 pm we’ll head back out on afternoon game drive. If we found predators in the morning we’ll likely follow up on the last position in the afternoon. This gives us a great opportunity to spend time with them during their most active period, around sunset. We’ll enjoy an evening game drive and return to camp before 8:00 pm. We’ll share a fireside conversation after which we will enjoy dinner together.
One of the evenings will be spent at the overnight Photographic hide - Lala Limpopo, here we will arrive at sunset from game drive and settle into the hide to get ready for low light night photography, the lodge will give you a Bag to pack prior for the night. The hide is very well equipped and everything we need is there, our food will brought to us from the lodge for dinner, there is a coffee machine as well as drinks and fully equipped kitchen.
DAY 2-3Full days at Tuli Safari Lodge
We’ll head out 30 minutes before sunrise, at first light once again. We will however enjoy a full morning safari at Mashatu before departing for Tuli Safari Lodge, which is about an hours drive from Mashatu Lodge. We’ll arrive at Tuli Safari Lodge around 12:00, where we will settle into our rooms before having lunch. We will meet again at 3:00PM for afternoon Game drive. Our game drive schedule at Tuli Safari Lodge will be the same as before.
One of the evening here will also be spent at Lala Limpopo Photographic hide, a second session is important to maximise our chances of getting great low light photographs.
DAY 4 - 6Departure - Johannesburg
We will have a full day at Elephant Pan. The day again will start early and due to the camp's location on an active waterhole, we will stick around a little longer here waiting and watching to see what comes down for a drink. Sometimes predators wander over and our day's game viewing could begin right in camp itself before we head out on our morning game drive.
There will be time to relax in camp, enjoy lunch and also to sit and watch what comes down to the waterhole for a drink.
Spend an afternoon in the underground hide, a favorite amongst photographers, and capture some shots that you’ll remember for life. It's a unique opportunity to see elephants from the ground up, get close-up shots of many different birds that come and drink, and just to enjoy the experience of being this close to nature.
After a hard day’s game viewing, settle down in the open air boma to watch the fire crackle and listen to the sounds of the night.
DAY 7
If you would like more information on this trip, please provide us your name and e-mail and we’ll gladly send you a brochure.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
