A dry-season photographic safari from a camp built for photographers. Low-angle adapted vehicles, Maasai guides who read the light, and days shaped around staying with a moment rather than collecting sightings.
Booking is handled securely by WeTravel.
A 20% deposit secures your place; the balance is due 45 days before departure. WeTravel payment plans let you spread the balance in monthly instalments at no extra cost. Places are held in the order deposits are received.
Oltepesi Tented Safari Camp was established in 2017 on a shared photography concept developed by Arnfinn Johansen and John Siololo: an eco camp made for professional wildlife photographers and nature photo enthusiasts. Set within a genuine Maasai village minutes from the reserve, it is very different from a conventional safari lodge.
Days are shaped around the wildlife, the light and the photographic moment. From pre-dawn departures to long afternoons on the plains and dramatic light at sunset, you have the freedom to stay with a sighting, wait for behaviour to unfold and work the scene.
We travel in September, when the dry season concentrates animals around the remaining water and grazing, and the wider Mara ecosystem can offer exceptional concentrations of plains game and predators.
Great wildlife photography is rarely about how many sightings you collect. It is about how long you are willing to stay with a moment.
Come for the wildlife. Stay for the light. Leave with a story.
A warm welcome from your tour leader or a Wildlife Dreams representative, then transfer to your hotel to relax and settle in. If time permits, a pre-arranged local excursion offers a first introduction to Kenya. Overnight in Nairobi.
After breakfast at your Nairobi hotel, transfer to Wilson Airport for the flight to Mara Olkiombo Airstrip, where your Oltepesi guide meets you for a game-drive transfer to camp, arriving in time for a relaxed lunch. The first afternoon drive looks for lions in the grass, elephants on the plains, giraffes against the sky and cheetah where conditions allow, then golden hour, worked for backlight, silhouettes and clean backgrounds. Review your first images back at camp.
Out before dawn in the low-angle vehicle for a morning devoted to behaviour. Your guide assesses light, background and positioning, sometimes moving only a metre or two to transform an image. A picnic lunch on the savannah gives time to download, recharge and discuss compositions before the afternoon’s most magical light.
A full day for the big cats, with no rigid checklist. Your guide follows tracks, alarm calls, bird activity and fresh kills in search of lion, leopard and cheetah. The art is in the waiting: an hour with a single animal until everything comes together. Picnic lunch in the wilderness, then the Mara’s golden light: dust around a lion, a cheetah disappearing into glowing grass.
The wider story of the Mara: elephants across the grasslands, giraffes against distant horizons, zebra and wildebeest herds. Experiment with environmental portraits, wide-angle wildlife, reflections and birds in flight. Where conditions and local guidance allow, there may be a chance to photograph on foot. The final evening is all about the light, followed by a celebratory dinner.
One final, unhurried dawn drive, free to follow whatever the wilderness offers. Return to Oltepesi for breakfast and packing, then farewell to camp, your guides and the Mara. An extra night in Nairobi can be arranged on request if your international flight makes it more convenient.
Pre-dawn: coffee, light breakfast, cameras ready
Morning: behaviour and first light from the vehicle
Midday: picnic lunch, download and review
Evening: golden hour, then dinner and image review
Five days. Hundreds of frames. Thousands of moments. One unforgettable way of experiencing the wild.
In September the dry season concentrates animals around the remaining water and grazing, and the wider Mara ecosystem can hold exceptional numbers of plains game and the predators that follow them.
Your guide reads tracks, alarm calls, bird activity and fresh kills, then positions for the light. A lion rising from the grass, a cub approaching, a leopard descending a tree, two predators interacting: these are the moments we wait for.
For photographers who prefer to travel light, especially with strict bush-flight weight limits, a 100–400mm or 100–500mm zoom can be an exceptional single-lens safari solution. It covers a relatively close lion or elephant through to a distant cheetah, and lets you recompose quickly as the animal moves.
The advantage is speed and simplicity: no lens changes, less to carry, more time with your eye on the action. Starting at 100mm gives far more flexibility than 300mm when a large animal approaches the vehicle.
The trade-off: these lenses are slower than a 70–200mm f/2.8 or 300mm f/2.8, so they may not perform quite as well in the very low light of dawn and dusk.
f/2.8 matters when you are chasing those magical first- and last-light images.
For many guests, a 100–500mm-type zoom is our one-lens recommendation over a 300mm+ prime: going from a wide environmental frame to a tight cheetah portrait without a lens change is invaluable when the action is unpredictable.
The camp sits in Oltepesi Village, a genuine Maasai village about five minutes from the border of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, so alongside the wildlife you experience the Maasai people’s traditional culture.
Comfortable safari tents, a welcoming boma, good food and the warmth of the local Maasai team make it the place to relax, recharge batteries and relive the day’s encounters.
The restaurant at the heart of camp. Safe, delicious western-style food from a skilled chef; any dietary requirements accommodated.
Chairs around the fire facing the western sunset, for a drink before dinner.
Download and edit, charge batteries, or relax. A large screen for tutorials, presentations and sharing images.
Built in 2017 specifically for wildlife photographers.
Arrive into Nairobi on 10 September, where you are met and transferred to your hotel for the night. The next morning, transfer to Wilson Airport for the bush flight to Mara Olkiombo Airstrip, followed by a game-drive transfer to camp.
Embakasi, Nairobi, Kenya
Aitong, Kenya
Scheduled: 15 kg total per person, everything included (Safarilink / Air Kenya)
Charter: usually 15–20 kg, still strict
Bag: soft duffel only; hard cases are often refused
Carry-on and camera gear count toward the total, and bags may be weighed at Wilson Airport. Aim for 12–13 kg packed to give yourself margin, wear your heaviest items, and leave spare luggage in Nairobi storage.
Soft bag and light packing. See the Lenses tab for a one-lens setup that keeps you inside the limit.
Our team has over 100 years’ combined experience in guiding, photography and conservation. Getting the shot is rarely as easy as it looks — in nature, things happen in their own time. We show you how knowing your subject and having patience reaps its rewards.
