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NAMIBIA PHOTO ADVENTURE

MAY 30-JUNE 13, 2015PRICE PER PERSON: $12,700, SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $13,500 Limited to 8 participants Reserve Spot

Jennifer Wu and I are teaming up again. Join us for our latest photo tour of Namibia. No other country in Africa presents photographers with such a range of exemplary opportunities. The Namib Desert runs all the way up the Skeleton Coast, at 1000 miles the planet’s longest, oldest, narrowest and after the Atacama, driest desert. It contains Namib-Naukluft National Park, the largest park in Africa. We will drive or fly over the entire Namib. Near Sossusvlei we find bright orange dunes, some an incredible 1000 feet high, towering over trees dead for almost 1000 years. We book the only lodge inside the reserve, allowing us to shoot in the most dramatic light. We’ve booked helicopters for flyovers of the terrain. We’ll see how life adapts to such an extreme environment. With so little water, some animals subsist on fog. A gecko licks droplets from its eyes while a fog beetle captures droplets on its back that then run into its mouth in channels. The Namaqua chameleon is the only relatively quick member of its genus, able to snatch small vipers with its tongue. Desert elephants risk days without water, as they traverse from waterhole to waterhole. Oryx and other antelope patrol the dunes. South of Sossusvlei tall aloes called Quiver Trees grow like more graceful versions of Joshua Trees. By staying out late, we’ll capture the arc of the Milky Way above the Quiver Trees in the gigantic Namib Rand private reserve, almost half a million acres of empty, wild terrain. We’ll capture images of strange “fairy circles” in the red sand from a hot air balloon and animals congregating at waterholes. An amazing array of wildlife wanders the Etosha Pan, an unforgiving flat desert dotted with life-giving waterholes that attract concentrate the animals. One may see great herds of elephants, giraffe, gemsbok, black rhinos, rare black-faced impalas, zebras, and their attendant predators, lions, cheetahs, leopards, and with luck wild dogs. In Etosha the scarcity of water concentrates the wildlife, so unlike Kenya and Tanzania where one patrols the landscape searching for animals, we will wait next to irresistible water features for the animals to come to us, while we’ll have days to photograph wild animals, we’ll also take advantage of the chance to work closely with tame captive cheetahs and other animals in a natural environment. This is a marvelous opportunity to capture unusual angles and perfect portraits while enjoying an intimacy with the animals impossible in the wild. Although Namibia is one of the least populous countries in Africa, the human element plays a part in our tour. We’ll devote a morning to photographing members of the Himba tribe near a large desert waterfall. The polygamous Himba are one of the most interesting and photogenic tribes on the continent. The woman and most of the children cover their hair and skin in an ochre-red dust mixed with fat, endowing them with a rich hue. In the south the dunes are reclaiming the abandoned mining town of Kolmanscop one grain at a time, an oddly disquieting scene. Our accommodations range from simple tented camps and guesthouses to five star hotels and safari camps. We always choose locations and accommodations with an eye to capturing the best images in comfort. We’ve opted for four flights so we can pack as much experience as possible without wasting unnecessary time on tedious, bone-jarring roads. By having two leaders, we can deliver personal attention and assistance. Join us to experience why Namibia has become a magnet for some of the world’s greatest photographers.

Itinerary Day 1: May 30 Arrive in Windhoek, Namibia. Airport transfer to the hotel and time to relax after the long flight. We will meet in the lobby for greetings, introductions, schedule and to field questions. Hilton Hotel Day 2: May 31 Leave Windhoek and be transferred by a shuttle service to Naankuse Lodge where we photograph habituated cheetahs, caracals, baboon babies, and wild dogs (Full day photography). Naankuse Lodge Day 3: June 01 After a morning shoot at Naankuse, we drive via Okahandja and Otjowarongo to the Etosha National park and arrive at the Okaukujeo Restcamp in the early afternoon. After check-in we will undertake to first game drive inside the park. A lit waterhole waterhole attracts animals for evening and night shooting just outside our rooms. Okaukuejo Restcamp Day 4: June 02 We begin our drive across the park in the early morning to catch the best light. We stop along the way to photograph at waterholes, rest stops with views of the Etosha Pan, and groups of elephants we may encounter. After stopping for lunch stop Halali, the camp in the middle of the park, we proceed to the eastern border of Etosha and leave the park in the late afternoon to check into our next lodge. Kempinski Mokuti Lodge Day 5: June 03 Morning and afternoon game drives in our own vehicles in Eastern Etosha National Park. Lunch at the lodge Kempinski Mokuti Lodge Day 6: June 04 From the Mokuti airstrip, we board our charter flight over Damaraland to Epupa Falls on the border to Angola. Short transfer to the lodge. Late afternoon shooting at the falls until sunset. Omarunga Lodge Day 7: June 05 We photograph a Himba village in the morning and fly south over the Skeleton Coast to Swakopmund, stopping for lunch at a fueling station. Right after the landing and short transfer to the hotel for check –in, the “Living Desert Tour” starts through the dunes outside town where guides will show us sidewinders, the bizarre Namaqua chameleon, the Palmato gecko, which gets its moisture by licking dew from its eyes, and other shy creatures. Great opportunity to photograph the living creatures of the desert amid spectacular dunes. Swakopmund Hotel Day 8: June 06 Transfer to the airport for charter flight to Lüderitz. After arrival transfer to the hotel for check in and lunch. From this base we will shoot the Kolmanskop ghost town in the afternoon. Nest Hotel Lüderitz Day 9 & 10: June 07 & 08 We return to Kolmanskop for early morning light. After breakfast at the hotel, we transfer to the airport for our charter flight to the great Namib Rand Nature Reserve on the southern border of Namib Naukluft Park. This private nature reserve is one of the biggest in Southern Africa of almost half a million acres. After arrival and lunch, we drive in the afternoon and stay out past sunset to photograph Quiver Trees and the stars. Return to the lodge at about 8PM in time for dinner. The next morning we board a hot air balloon for a sunrise flight over unique fairy circles. In the afternoon a drive to a waterhole for game photography Wolwedans Dune Lodge Day 11: June 09 After a leisurely breakfast you will be met by your guides again, who drive us to Namib Naukluft park and its signature read dunes. We stay the only lodge inside the park. After lunch drive to Dune 45 for photo shooting till sunset. Part of our group can fly by helicopter over the dunes. Sossus Dune Lodge Day 12 & 13: June 10 & 11 Morning and afternoon shooting in the dunes, lunch break at the lodge. Second part of the group can do a Heli flight. We will visit Deadvlei, site of bare dead trees surrounded by red dunes, at both sunrise and sunset during our stay. Sossus Dune Lodge Day 14: June 12 After a last morning shooting and breakfast at the lodge you will travel back to Windhoek via the scenic Remhoogte Pass and arrive at the capital city in the early afternoon. Lunch packs en route. The afternoon will be at your own leisure. Meet at the hotel restaurant for a Farewell dinner. Hilton Hotel Day 15: June 13 Airport transfers are organized to the international airport in time for departure of all participants.

INCLUDED IN TRIP COST The fee covers accommodation for 13 nights, food, water, guide fees, and transport within Namibia. A scenic balloon ride and helicopter tour are included. We tip the guides and drivers. NOT INCLUDED IN TRIP COST International airfare to and from Windhoek, Namibia. Drinks. Tips for porters to your room. WORKSHOP LIMIT The workshop is limited to 10 participants. We work with each photographer individually and as a group to enhance photography skills and mastery of the equipment.

Leader:

JAMES MARTIN James Martin has written and photographed professionally since 1989 with articles and photographs appearing in Sports Illustrated, Summit, Smithsonian, Outside, Backpacker, Climbing, Outdoor and Travel Photography, Boys' Life, Ranger Rick, Outdoor Photographer, Destination, Blue, Audubon, and Rock & Ice. His most recent books are Photography Night Sky (Mountaineer Books) in partnership with Jennifer Wu, Photography Outdoors, 3nd edition (Mountaineer Books) Planet Ice (Braided River), a survey of ice that elucidates the relationship between climate and ice, and the action of ice on the landscape. In the course of shooting he hiked to Everest Base Camp, soloed across the Andes, climbed Kilimanjaro and the Mountains of the Moon, visited Greenland end to end, and led trips to Antarctica. He wrote Masters of Disguise: the Natural History of Chameleons (Facts on File), the first comprehensive book on chameleons in English. Sasquatch Press published a series of his coffee table books on the mountains of the West, including North Cascades Crest, Mount Rainier, and Sierra. Extreme Alpinism (Mountaineer Books), written and photographed with Mark Twight, concerns techniques for climbing and surviving the most difficult mountains. The book won the Outdoor Retailer Award and the Banff Mountain Festival Award in 1999. He has written books for children on natural history, including Hiding Out: camouflage in the wild and Dragons in the Trees (both published by Crown), each declared an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teacher's Association and distinguished as Selectors' Choices. They were also Booklist Editor's Choices, American Library Association Best Book selections, and ALA Notable Books for Children. Dragons in the Trees was named the 1992 Outstanding Nature Book for children by the John Burroughs Association and a recommended book for children by the Children's Literature Center of the Library of Congress. Crown published Living Fossils and Frogs in 1997. Getty Images represents his photography. His travels led him to Africa, Madagascar, Antarctica, Europe, Borneo, Indonesia, Burma, and all the other S.E. Asian countries. He leads photography tours around the world for Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris and leads workshops for the Phase One Digital Artist’s Series. JENNIFER WU Jennifer Wu, a professional photographer for over 15 years and one of Canon’s Explorers of Light, is best known for her nature and landscape photography. Before focusing on the nature’s elusive beauty, she specialized in journalism and portrait photography, publishing hundreds of images in newspapers, including The Sacramento Bee. She is well-known as a night sky photography innovator and expert. Mountaineer Books published Photography Night Sky in 2014. Her images, featured in magazines and books, have won dozens of awards. Canon uses her spectacular sky photographs in their professional camera brochures. She exhibits her images at numerous nationally recognized galleries. Jennifer attended CSU, Sacramento where she received a BA in Photography. She offers classes at Betterphoto.com and teaches photography at California State University, Sacramento, Aspen Photo Workshops, Afilm International Workshops (Barcelona, Spain), Lepp Institute, Canon U.S.A., and Sierra Club.