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August 28 - September 6, 2025

The Mara Crossing!

It’s a classic natural event to witness – and an amazing and challenging photographic opportunity.

 

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View our article from Wild Planet Photography Magazine on the Mara Crossing

2025 Rates

Double Occupancy $13,400
Single Occupancy (each) $14,600

Deposit $2,000

2nd Payment - 15 Jan 25
Double - $4,000
Single - $5,000

Final Payment 1 Apr 25
(to include extra room nights)

 
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This has all the hallmarks of a great wildlife photography event!  Drama abounds – will they or won’t they cross?

 

There is the sinister predator – the Nile Crocodile. 

Mothers and babies get separated and make costly mistakes looking for each other. 

The action is frenzied – the crossing suddenly begins and there is a huge amount of splashing, leaping, slipping and falling, and fear!

You have to be ready – because the opportunity comes with no warning.  It takes a great guide to get you to a good position – and you’ll want all the help you can get for exposure and focusing strategy!

 

Two to three million wildebeest, including a lot of 6-month-old youngsters, and half a million zebras, split into groups of 100 to more than 1,000, following the noses of the wildebeest, find themselves at the edge of the Mara River. 

There are cliffs to go down and come back up.  Slippery rocks in the river.  Deep holes.  Crocodiles lie in wait for their annual banquet.  And, often, the same rains that draw the migration to the river have swollen the river and created turbulent rapids.

There are no leaders.  Wildebeest are followers.  They don’t develop a matriarch or dominant bull which is followed by the others.  Rather they follow their noses toward rain.  And, when confronted with an obstacle, like the river, wait to see which direction the others are going.  They often stand there for hours, driven to cross but afraid to start.  Sometimes they see a crocodile or something else scares them and they all walk away.

Sometimes they spot other wildebeest on the other side of the river, eating grass, and the herd begins to move toward them.  Other times, as the group gathers along the river, one gets crowded off the edge and elects to start across.

Once one is in the river, others join, then everyone follows.  Sometimes they jump down the cliffs and fly from the bank out into the water.

Some slip and panic.  Others suddenly find themselves unable to reach the bottom.  Moms and calves get separated.  There is lots of calling out – in panic, or to try and find a mom.  And a tremendous amount of splashing!

All of that attracts the crocodiles, which have been waiting for just this moment.  They glide silently against the current.  Sometimes on the surface and then sometimes invisible in the murky waters.  They look for a wildebeest struggling – or one isolated from the flow of crossing wildebeest. 

When they attack, their immense size and huge mouths easily dominate.  They don’t usually crush their prey – but seek to pull them down.  The victims may put up valiant efforts, but the outcome is usually in the crocodiles’ favor.

The Great Migration is driven by wildebeests’ unique ability to smell rain falling several days walk away.  They walk toward that smell – and, by the time they get there, grass has grown enough to be eaten.  The zebras travel with them, knowing the wildebeest know how to find forage.  Zebras are much better at detecting predators and alerting the herds to danger.  A symbiotic relationship.

The rains vary, year to year and week to week.  The Great Migration can encounter the Mara any time starting late July and lasting well into September.  Sporadic rains can draw herds north across the Mara and up into Kenya and then turn around and lure them back to the river for green grasses to the south.  Some days one herd crosses to the north while another is headed south.  It can get crazy.

 

A lot of tours get it wrong.  You can say, “we’ll show up the morning of the 25th, watch the migration, and then move on to find some lions”, but it won’t work that way.  We’ve heard travelers tell us their operator got them to the river and said the wildebeest aren’t crossing today – referencing the same day we photographed over a thousand crossing.

Our strategy is different.  We’ll fly from Arusha to the northern Serengeti and set up a base camp in a fantastic lodge a short drive from a spot where the wildebeest like to cross and close to a bunch of other great locations.  Each morning we’ll start by scouting where the action seems to be building and put ourselves in a good position to get to a great crossing point, once it starts.  Our great guide will be touching base with comrades who are watching other spots – to cover our bases.

We have five and a half days to work the crossing action from several different angles and in different light conditions.  Some days there may not be any crossing action – others we may be hard pressed to look away! 

If there is no action – we know where to find lions and giraffes and other wildlife – all the while keeping an ear tuned to those who are waiting by the river. 

Evenings, we’ll have time to download and review images (to alter strategies for the next day).  Our arrangements include laundry, soft drinks, local beer, house wine, and non-premium spirits). 

And, once we’ve exhausted ourselves, we’ll hop on another plane and move down to Tarangire National Park, where the river is low, and all the animals are sticking close to the water source.  We expect to find many herds of elephants along the river and in a great marsh in this outstanding park.  It’s also an excellent place to find giant baobab trees, raptors, lions, and hooved animals.

We’ll have a day and a half to photograph in Tarangire – at the end of the park least visited.  And our lodge is a brand-new lodge, operated by the same great company the first lodge is – with the same arrangements for laundry and drinks!

This will be a great wind down – and a chance to make some more great images!

Our 2025 Mara Crossing Wild Adventure will put you where the action is – and provide you a great support system with a photography guide and a great base camp.  We’re limiting the group size in each vehicle – to ensure everyone has a good vantage point when the action is fast and furious.

 

Bottom line:

Every night we'll have opportunities to download and recharge.

Our lodging is always close to the action.

We (Diane and Bob) will work closely with the guides to assure that we get to great places in great light and take the time to work quality compositions and action.

We're not there to fill a checklist - we're there to create amazing images. This safari is designed to accomplish that.

  • This adventure begins and ends at Kilmanjaro International Airport near Arusha, Tanzania
  • Internal flights included with 40 kilograms of luggage per person (hand plus check)
  • Group size is 4 minimum, 8 maximum with no more than 4 clients plus one photography leader in each safari vehicle
  • Every photographer has a window and an open roof with an unobstructed view toward subjects on his/her side. We reposition vehicles to give everyone a great view
  • Most meals included, most drinks included, laundry included outside Arusha
  • We have worked to include electricity for recharging and downloading at every lodge
  • Limited number of single occupancy spots on this safari

Nature Photography Adventures

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