Wild at Mattikoko Kenya Maasai Mara Photo Safari – The Great Migration

Come on the wildlife photography safari of a lifetime with us!

We’ll be based at the fantastic Mattikoko Safari Camp in the heart of the Maasai Mara plains of the Lemek Conservancy. From this friendly, family run camp, we have access to Lemek, Ol Chorro and Enonkishu Conservancies where we can off-road, plus the National Reserve and Mara Triangle.

This is a safari designed for wildlife photographers by wildlife photographers. It isn’t a box-ticking tourist safari. We’ll spend much more time with the animals, photographing them in the best light and from different angles, looking for interesting behaviour and interactions.

We’ve been running African photo safaris – tailor made for all levels of photographers – since 2012. The atmosphere is always fun and relaxed, as well as being a place to learn more about your camera settings, fieldcraft and theory, and how to take fantastic photos of Africa’s incredible wildlife. Join us round the campfire with a beer / glass of wine to discuss the highlights of the day.

In between safari drives we relax, continue learning in small groups or individually, as well as working on post-processing techniques (Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One).

We contribute to local conservation with approx. £800 per person going directly to the wildlife conservancy areas, plus the Mara Predator Project and Ol Chorro Rhino Sanctuary.

Kaleel is also a professional filmmaker, so if you’re interested in learning your camera’s video functions, he’ll be happy to help.

Kenya’s wonderful Maasai Mara… it almost needs no introduction. Made famous by multiple BBC and National Geographic TV natural history series for its incredible abundance of exotic wildlife, this is where lions roam free, and wildebeest and zebra perform the epic Great Migration. Majestic elephants and stealthy leopards call the Mara their home and hundreds of species of colourful birds abound, such as eagles and the beautiful lilac-breasted roller.

All the Big Five – lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino – are in evidence, as is a cast of innumerable other species such as cheetahs, giraffes, gazelles, crocodiles, wildebeest, zebra, kingfishers, storks and vultures. The list is endless and we’ll be right in the middle of it! Kenya’s Maasai Mara… The wildlife heart of Africa.

Unlike almost anywhere else on Earth, you’ll be spoilt for choice with the breath-taking abundance of wildlife to photograph. The Mara is truly a spectacle of nature’s finest animals and they’re just waiting for your camera.

Every year, we team up with our superb and highly qualified Maasai guides: Moses and Boston.

The conservancies are usually the best places to see the wildlife, because it is quiet and often feels like we have vast areas to ourselves.

We’ve timed the trip to coincide with the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebra between the Mara and Serengeti. You can never tell exactly when this natural phenomenon will happen, but this is a perfect time to try and we’ve so far seen it every time we’ve been.

The majority of our photography safari days out will be in the Maasai Mara Lemek, Ol Chorro and Enonkishu Conservancies. These are community-based conservation zones set up to protect wildlife corridors and habitat while offering economic opportunity and benefits to the Maasai people.

Conservancies offer much greater benefits for wildlife photography safaris compared to being based in the National Reserve. Tourist and vehicle numbers are much more tightly controlled, so there is no over-crowding at wildlife sightings and we can responsibly drive off-road. Our guides have very good relationships with other guides and local conservancy rangers, which helps to share information on wildlife sightings quickly.

The conservancy network contributes to keeping the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem’s wildlife corridors and migration routes open and free from habitat degradation, while providing an income for the land owners: the Maasai people.

A significant proportion of the costs of this photography safari are re-invested in the local wildlife conservancies, enhancing the habitat, creating revenue for local Maasai community projects and conserving the wildlife.

Our vehicles are large 4 wheel-drive Landcruisers with plenty of space for photography equipment and camera bags. Each vehicle also carries a cool box or fridge, so there are plenty of cold drinks available throughout the day and for sundowner drinks.

Each person will have a window seat at a large over-sized window or open side and the roof of each vehicle is also easily accessible, where we can stand up and shoot from a higher vantage point.

Remember, we can go off the normal beaten track when we are in the conservancies and get very close to the wildlife.

You’ll have room to use a monopod, bean-bag or if you wish, hand hold your camera and lens.

If you’d like a room to yourself, please book the Deposit (with single supplement) option.

The Conservancy charges the camp per tent, so unfortunately, we can’t arrange single occupancy of a double room without a supplement.