Should I Bring a Macro Lens to Africa?

David,

I brought a tripod, with a Kirk BH-1 ballhead and Wimberly Sidekick. I was fortunate in that I was in a small group of four persons including the guide had our own vehicle. That meant that we each had a whole row of seats to ourselves so setting up the tripod was not a problem. I shot with a Nikon D3 on a 200-400VR and a 1.4TC and a Nikon D300 with a 70-200VR for most of my shots. I would put the D300 on the big lens if we were focusing on birds or I really needed the extra reach.

I also had a D200 with an 18-70 in a backpack for wider shots. I brought a 12-24DX wide angle that I used a lot in South Africa for land and seascapes during a auto tour but rarely used once I got to the camps in Botswana.

I also brought a flash and a better beamer but rarely used it.

We also had two seats booked on the flights to and between camps. I do not know how you could get all your gear there without doing that.

The other advantage we had was our group was totally dedicated to photography. We always made sure that the canopies were removed from the open range rovers for better visibility. All the vehicles had bean bags in them so you probably don't have to bring your own (of course your experience may differ and an empty bean bag is pretty light).

Thanks for all youre help chuck, yes i do have an extra seat booked on all the planes in botswana for all my gear, i am only going with my family so i should be fine with the space. Thanks. What camps did you stay in, also how many seats were in each row of the vehicle? Thanks again

David,

I was at Little Mombo, Chitabe, Little Vumbura and Savuti. I have sorted my photos that way on my photo.net page. The vehicles used at all the camps I was at in Botswana are open Range Rovers not the through the roof type vehicles that are used in East Africa. There are four rows of seats including the drivers position with three seats across. It was rare to see a vehicle fully loaded. Like I said we had the canopies removed from our vehicles and that helps visibility a lot.