Deserts of Namibia Photography Tour

Namibia combines great African wildlife with some of the planet’s most stunning desert scenery. Unlike many other iconic photographic locations around the world, it is still entirely possible to experience the solitude of the desert in this magnificent country.

We begin at Okonjima Nature Reserve with an evening game drive in search of Africa’s carnivores and the possibility of encountering other rarely-seen nocturnal species. In Etosha National Park, the tour will concentrate on photographing mammal behaviour of species such as elephant, black rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe and lion around the most productive waterholes. The renowned Skeleton Coast provides a unique experience, with opportunities to photograph shipwrecks and a huge colony of Cape fur seals.

In the Namib desert, we will photograph the iconic dunes and dead trees around Sossusvlei and Deadvlei at dawn and dusk (staying at Dead Valley Lodge, enabling the dunes to be reached before sunrise and after dusk). We will seek opportunities to capture images of oryx and other desert wildlife in their evocative natural settings. We then proceed to the charming town of Luderitz in the south of Namibia, where we will photograph the evocative ruins of a deserted diamond mining town and look for flamingoes at sunrise.

The final stage of the tour will stay at the Quiver Tree Forest in southern Namibia. Here in some of the world’s darkest and clearest skies, we will make outstanding images of the night sky, including the Milky Way and star trails, using as foregrounds quiver trees and dolerite boulders at Quiver Tree Forest and private access to other dark sky sites. The tour is scheduled around moon phases to optimise conditions for astrophotography.

This is a specialist landscape, wildlife and night sky photography tour, suitable for photographers with an understanding of how to use their cameras in aperture priority and manual exposure modes. Most photography locations are reached by easy day walks. To get the most out of the outstanding opportunities offered by this tour, you need to be comfortable walking for up to a mile over sand and up to a few hundred metres over undulating, rocky ground at night. The tour includes specialist advice and lectures on astrophotography, desert landscape and mammal photography.

Led by professional outdoor photographer Robert Harvey, who has travelled throughout Namibia over the last 20 years and will give full guidance on techniques for wildlife photography, landscape photography and astrophotography. This tour will give you fantastic experiences, develop your photography to the next level and enhance your understanding of the natural world.

Particular highlights of this tour include:

• Photograph classic African wildlife, including elephants, lions and giraffes, in Etosha - Namibia's premier national park

• Make dawn and dusk images of the world's highest sand dunes in the Namib Desert

• Capture the iconic landscape of Deadvlei at sunrise

• Desert wildlife including chameleons, geckos, snakes and highly engaging meerkats

• Photograph Namibia's iconic Quiver Trees at dawn, sunset and at night

• Make images of the stunning southern hemisphere night sky, including the galactic centre of the Milky Way, Large and Small Magellanic Clouds

• Urban exploration at the deserted mining town of Kolmanskop, where civilisation is being reclaimed by wilderness

• Led by wildlife, landscape and astrophotographer photographer Robert Harvey BA ARPS EFIAP MCIWEM CSci CEnv