Big Cat Photography

Private Southern Africa

These world-class journeys are exclusive to Guided Safaris® in partnership with our private game reserves: Explore our finest safari areas in Botswana and South Africa with excellent Big Cat game viewing and close-up photography opportunities. With incredibly well-established game, these private game reserves are exclusive to our guests at camp. Our finest professional guides personally host you and offer decades of expertise in these areas with their hands-on knowledge of daily wildlife patterns. Enjoy individual stories, expert photography tips and a personal insight on the family groups seen.

At a glance

Custom

Private tailored trip
View itinerary

Premier Lodges
Five Star Luxury

Highly-personalized
Custom travel options

What you’ll love

Inquire Online

Guided Safaris® Reservations

(415) 814-6676

Call for complete help in planning your perfect safari

What you’ll love
- Africa’s Most Exclusive Private Reserves & Big Cat Interaction
  
  Spend a week or more with Guided Safaris® with fantastic front-row photography of Africa’s beloved felines in completely wild, private and authentic settings. These are the regions where Africa’s most notable wildlife documentaries have been privately filmed, providing images with an authentic flavor of the wild.
  
  Our collective area of almost a million acres is private access to just a handful of guests journeying to our private game locations. Experience Southern Africa far from the crowds and public parks, in a completely authentic wilderness with excellent wildlife.
  
  Our fully tailored luxury safari means you will never travel as part of a “group” with Guided Safaris®.
  
  A leopard in repose © Beverly Joubert. All wildlife photography featured is from actual safari locations explored on your Guided Safaris® journey.
  
  The most exclusive Big Cat adventure.
  Close up to Big Cats. Early morning game drives position you on the track to seek big cats at their most active time in the bush. The afternoon drives leading into spotlit evening returns to camp offer a chance to go in search of more nocturnal species - and stalking the predators at their hunt! Being away from the over-run public parks affords a relaxed environment where the game is more visibly habituated and never disturbed by crowding or threat. As a conservation company, Guided Safaris® is renowned for eco-luxury. Stay at our luxury camps, owned and operated by Africa’s biggest names in documentary making. We’ll even provide you with pro-camera equipment with lens at select camps.
  
  Highly-experienced professional guides to lead your safari. Set out in custom-designed photography landcruisers with some of our most experienced professional guides who are prominent rangers in these private areas.
  
  Lions confronting Buffalo © Beverly Joubert. All wildlife photography featured is from actual safari locations explored on your Guided Safaris® journey.
  
  Enjoy absolute privacy, away from it all.
  With over 20 years of privately-hosted journeys, Guided Safaris® are partnered with the absolute finest private game reserves on the continent for our specialist journeys. With each itinerary custom-designed to your taste and travel dates, we ensure that our utmost personal care carries forward at our luxury settings on safari. We know luxury safaris intimately and feature only the most special, truly authentic, luxury safari lodges; Some even with heated plunge pools on your private suite’s viewing deck. Gourmet meals are included at our safari lodges from start to finish while in our care. Prepared from the freshest ingredients and an organic farm to table approach, our menus will impress the finest palate on a global level with its simplistic and wholesome approach to safari dining. Award winning wine cellars, with fine wine pairings also inclusive of your safari: In Cape Town, we offer special visits with winemakers. A truly indulgent stay!
  
  A photographer’s paradise with prolific viewing of Big Cats in their natural environment, our wilderness projects are also contributing to crucial research and support for anti-poaching monitoring and funding. The private families and individuals traveling annually with Guided Safaris® have acted as valuable donors in funding several Big Cat Initiatives while on safari. Your visit helps support Lion, Leopard and Cheetah conservation. We invite each guest to learn more about our efforts and lend their hand.
  
  Your Guided Safaris® journey supports Big Cat Conservation and Research with Great Plains Foundation

Why travel with us
- The Guided Safaris® difference
  
  Learn what sets our Big Cat Photography safari a world-apart in luxury adventures
  
  Day 1
  
  VICTORIA FALLS
  
  ‘THE SMOKE THAT THUNDERS’
  
  Visit a World Heritage Site, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The largest sheet of falling water in the world is a spectacle to behold; twice the height of the Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of the Horseshoe Falls. Retrace the early explorers’ quest to find the source of the Nile with dramatic settings that have little changed from the time of David Livingstone‘s visit in 1855. Mosi-oa-Tunya "The Smoke That Thunders" is a local name for Victoria Falls because its sound can be heard from 25 miles away.
  
  What you’ll love
  • Scenic Helicopter Flight of the Angels over the Victoria Falls for a dramatic aerial excursion
  • Guided walks around the Victoria Falls with a naturalist to learn what makes the Falls so impressive
  • Romantic sunset cruises with wine and canapés over the Zambezi River
  • Guided tour of the historic Victoria Falls town with market explorations
  • Stay at our luxurious secret hideaway located upstream of the Falls
  
  Our stay in Victoria Falls covers all guided activities, meals and drinks at our luxury safari lodges.
  
  Day 3
  
  SELINDA & OKAVANGO DELTA
  
  PRIVATE BOTSWANA
  
  Iconic leopards and large prides of lion. An adventure of a lifetime: we indulge in the action packed moments of a prey stalking as much as the quiet reflection of simply observing these magnificent creatures at ease in their wild environment. Our private settings in Botswana are some of the largest and most established private reserves, arguably the finest leopard and big cat viewing hotspots on earth, bringing us eventful sightings of these perfect predators: The thrill of tracking prints and sounds to the great satisfaction of finding these amazing creatures in their unaltered environments is something truly special to witness on safari. Our wild locations in the Okavango Delta offer phenomenal game viewing with some of the largest prides of Lions in the region. Some 20-strong individuals have been sighted on drives here with magnificent black-maned males at play with their little cubs in the spring. These Lion prides were made famous for their surreal Buffalo hunting with the Relentless Enemies documentary filmed on location. Also of note is the specialized Okavango Delta location where the famous Legadema documentary intimately followed a female leopard in the wild from cub to adulthood as she learned to hunt and carry on her own legacy.
  
  What you’ll love
  • Some of the most epic luxury safari lodges on earth with dramatic locations
  • Aerial safaris by helicopter over a game-rich topography of land and water vistas
  • The largest herds of Elephants and Buffalo in season
  • Specialized Rhino reintroduction conservation work had led to elusive sightings of the animals
  • The most knowledgeable guides in all of Botswana with localized expertise in tracking big cats
  • African Wild Dogs have been seasonally creating their dens close to our camps!
  • Photographers will revel in our specialist hides for discreetly observing Elephant at the waterholes
  • A birder’s paradise: Incredible diversity with over 400 species of resident, endemic and migrant birds
  
  Our luxury safaris in Botswana cover all guided safaris, meals and drinks at our luxury safari lodges.
  
  Day 9
  
  CAPE TOWN & WINELANDS
  
  SOUTH AFRICA
  
  A vibrant experience of South Africa’s rainbow culture. We fly you out to South Africa for a luxurious escape amongst the Art and Culture of the Cape. Stay in a vibrant and exclusive part of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront with our Signature Silo Hotel and the adjacent Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAA) housing the largest collection of Contemporary African sculpture and artworks. Sample globally-renowned cuisine at our exceptional list of Cape restaurants. Our private guides take you on a scenic tour out to the Cape of Good Hope to see the Penguins and coastal towns and onward to the wine country to meet the winemakers behind our leading estates.
  
  Our Cape Town getaways are on breakfast basis, with an eclectic list of dining options in the city.
  
  What you’ll love
  • 5 star luxury accommodation with panoramic suites overlooking the Atlantic
  • Private Guided Safaris® Signature touring in a luxury car customized to your interests
  • Visit Simons Town and Boulders beach to see the lovely penguin colonies along the coast
  • Private wine tasting tours of Stellenbosch and beyond in the Cape Winelands
  • Guided excursions to Table Mountain and Robben Island
  
  Day 13
  
  PRIVATE GAME RESERVE
  
  SOUTH AFRICA
  
  As a final chapter to this photography adventure, we venture out to our beautiful location in the north of South Africa. A meeting point of three major safari frontiers, the private game reserve offers ample opportunities to seek out the famous big game renowned in African plains: Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and even the occasional Rhino, getting rarer to spot in Africa, are provided with a safe haven in a true wild environment. Rarer species such as packs of African Wild Dog and Cheetah are also frequently sighted in the peak seasons. Each season, the game reports from our head rangers document a flourishing and successful environment for seeking big and rare game. We work closely with the local Shangaan communities: Through children’s literacy programs, providing healthcare, education, employment opportunities and rural agricultural support, we partner with neighboring communities to help sustain these regions and wildlife through real care for the land. Our Shangaan trackers at lodge offer our guests a personal welcome to their wilderness home.
  
  Our luxury safaris in South Africa cover all guided safaris, meals and drinks at our luxury safari lodges.
  
  What you’ll love
  • Private plunge pool with deck in your private villa in the bush
  • Twice daily game drives in custom open-top 4x4s outfitted for photographers
  • Exceptionally qualified guides, considered the finest in all of South Africa
  • Guided walking safaris through the reserve for birders
  • Wine tasting experience at our luxury bush cellars
  • Scenic excursion to the Blyde River Canyon, available on request
  • Hot Air ballooning over the Drakensberg Mountains, available on request
  • Luxury bush spa to draw your safari to a relaxing finish
  
  Day 16
  
  DEPART
  
  After a morning game drive and breakfast at camp, bid farewell to our staff family. Your guide will help transfer you to the airstrip to board your flight to Johannesburg. Depart this beautiful part of the world with the fondest memories of your safari experiences and friendships.
  
  We look forward to seeing your stunning photographic souvenirs from this journey and cannot wait to share this luxury safari with you!
  
  Questions?
  Start a conversation with our Guided Safaris® specialists: (415) 814 6676 ext 5
  
  LuxurySafariLodges.com
Rates + Seasons
- Signature Southern Africa Safari
  
  An exceptional safari experience with the signature Guided Safaris® journeys:
  
  Stay at our award-winning Luxury Safari Lodges
  Outstanding private game reserves with year-round interest
  Terrific wildlife viewing with upclose photography
  
  Call a Guided Safaris® expert
  for complete help in planning your journey:
  415.814.6676 ext 5
  + Book now
  What’s included?
  
  Personalized Guided Safaris® meet & assist on arrival
  
  Luxury accommodation at our Signature lodges
  
  Local safari air on our highest-rated carriers
  
  All meals and drinks on safari; Breakfast only in the Cape
  
  Professional guided game drives and safari activities
  
  Private guided touring in Cape Town and winelands
  
  Complimentary in-room minibar and cocktails
  
  Your visit directly supports Big Cat conservation
  
  All applicable local taxes and reserve fees
  
  Your Guided Safaris® package includes pretty much everything from start to finish once you arrive in South Africa - including all local flights, transfers, meals, drinks and guided activities. We also have private options for families seeking exclusive accommodations and camp charters. Please contact us to customize your safari.