Wild Light: Kenya Photo Expedition — Shompole, Lentorre & Amboseli, 12-21 September 2026

Embark on a Visual Odyssey: Kenya Photo Tour

This 10-day photographer-first journey blends raw wilderness, dramatic landscapes and unforgettable wildlife encounters. This unique trip focuses on the unique and personal way to see animals in wildlife, from the spesially designed hides on the water level. This way you can photograph them up close and personal. Perfect for personal experience, prints and such a fun way to observse wildlife. We will use wonderful hides of Lentorre and Shompole as well as the 5 star private game drives experience.

There are still a few places in Africa where nature feels completely untouched — where silence stretches across the plains, and wildlife appears as if you are the only person on Earth. Shompole and Lentorre belong to those rare places.

Just a short flight/drive from Nairobi, the Shompole Wilderness sits at the heart of the Great Rift Valley, between the dramatic soda lakes of Magadi and Natron and the open systems linking to Amboseli and the Mara. Here the landscape feels ancient and wild — soft pastel sunrises, endless horizons, dramatic escarpments, and wildlife moving through open country without disturbance.

Shompole Lodge is a quiet sanctuary built with respect for the land. The highlight for photographers is the ground-level hide overlooking a natural water source. You sit almost at the same level as the animals, watching them approach in complete silence. At night, carefully designed lighting reveals behaviour impossible to see in daylight — a rare chance to photograph life in the African bush when most safari camps sleep. You can spend as much time as you like there, waiting for that perfect still moment, for the soft breath of a leopard in the dusty air, for the reflection of a zebra under the stars.

From Shompole we explore the extraordinary textures and tones of the soda lakes. Optional open-door helicopter flights offer a chance to photograph flamingo formations, abstract desert patterns, and the soft mirror of pastel light on mineral flats — one of the most surreal aerial landscapes in Africa.

Lentorre sits under the Nguruman Escarpment, surrounded by wilderness and far from any crowds. It is peaceful and personal — a place to slow down and work quietly with light. The hide here offers eye-level reflections and controlled night photography, allowing you to experiment with low-angle wildlife portraits and creative lighting. Mornings are calm, evenings are warm and golden, and clear nights invite stars over the valley. Each villa has its own plunge pool, and everything is designed for rest, comfort, and focus.

Throughout this journey we have exclusive use of both lodges, so the rhythm of each day is ours. We create in quiet conditions, without rushing, spending time where the light and wildlife guide us. It is a trip for those who appreciate patience, atmosphere, and personal connection with wild places.

A chance not only to photograph Africa — but to feel its heartbeat, and bring that emotion home in every frame.

Guided by Daniel Kordan. Some of photos are by Jeffrey Wu Photography – Lentorre lodge guide used with permission from Lentorre lodge and copyrighted to Jeffrey Wu (c)

Day 1, 12 September 2026

Arrival in Nairobi and transfer to Shompole

We meet in Nairobi in the morning and transfer southwest into the Rift Valley toward Shompole Conservancy; after arrival and a quick kit check we settle into camp and spend the late afternoon scouting composition zones around the camp water points so everyone knows sightlines for the hide sessions that start tomorrow. (Shompole has purpose-built ground-level hides and a carefully managed water source designed to attract wildlife in close and natural ways, which makes the first evening’s scouting especially useful.)

Day 2

Reflections!

Dawn is reserved for the Shompole hides where you will sit at water level and work clean, reflective compositions as animals come to drink; the day then moves into short guided walks and vehicle drives that reveal the conservancy’s quieter species and riverine vegetation, with mid-morning and mid-afternoon image review sessions to refine exposure, AF strategy and sequencing for close encounters.

Day 3

All night

Today we focus on patient, prolonged hide sessions and night-aware shooting; Shompole’s hide system was created specifically to allow extended, low-angle portraiture and low-light work, so we practise long-burst techniques, backlit rim-lighting and subtle lighting control while remaining respectful of animal behaviour and conservation rules. We stay at the hide from sunset to sunrise – there are beds and food inside and it is very comfortable, and many animals will come overnight to drink from the waterhole.

Day 4

Rotation

We split the day between a morning hide rotation for those who want another extended water-level session and a game drive-focused afternoon exploring the escarpment viewpoints and ephemeral river channels that give the Rift Valley its layered light and texture; there’s time for a focused edit clinic so everyone leaves Shompole with a clear plan for their Lentorre hide work.

Day 5, 16 September

To Lentorre

After a final sunrise session at Shompole we transfer to Lentorre Lodge where the camp’s intimate setting and award-winning hide reframe expectations: the Lentorre blind sits within the lodge grounds, offers eye-level land- and water-level views, and allows photographers to wander down at will to check angles, lens lengths and light. We use the afternoon to orient to the hide and plan overnight rotations so each guest gets prime, uninterrupted time in the blind.

Day 6

Lentorre hide immersion occupies the morning and evening while midday is reserved for technical workshops and optional aerial briefings; Lentorre has developed backlit hide techniques and offers supervised optional helicopter options (booked in advance, I will offer in email to the group) to capture the salt lakes and flamingo formations from above, so today we prepare settings and shoot lists for both hide and air. All night at the hide!

Day 7

Lentorre day and night

This day is all about creative variation: backlight and silhouette experiments from the hide, a short heli sortie for those who opt in, and a lakeside golden-hour session to capture colour, texture and the great pink flocks at first and last light; and of course signature photography in the hide!

Day 8

To Amboseli

After one last Lentorre hide session at first light we transfer toward Amboseli; arriving in the park in the afternoon we use the late light to frame elephants against wide, open plains and to test long-lens compression techniques that capture tusker scale and expression—Amboseli’s elephant concentrations and mountain vistas offer a different vocabulary from the hide work, and the change of pace is deliberately restorative and image-rich.

Day 9

Amboseli full day

We spend a full day in Amboseli following elephant family groups and seeking environmental portraits of tuskers at dawn and dusk, alternating long drives with in-vehicle editing and discussion so technical lessons from the hides (exposure control, backlight and composition) are applied to open-plain shooting and to sequences showing behaviour, dust, and scale with Kilimanjaro as background when weather allows.

Day 10, 21 September

Departure

A final early shoot captures any last silhouettes or intimate portraits, followed by packing, final image backups and a short workshop on captioning, exporting and print preparation; we then transfer to the airstrip for charter or drive back to Nairobi for onward flights, leaving guests with a clear plan for post-trip processing and competition/print submissions.

Price: 11750 USD per person

Where do we stay

5 star awesome lodges Shompole and Lentorre with world class comfortable hides!

Photography Level

Beginners and advanced photographers
DSLR / mirrorless / drone support in some areas

Tour Include

Accommodation as per itinerary: Shompole Conservancy (12–16 Sept), Lentorre Lodge – exclusive use for your group (16–19 Sept), Amboseli (19–21 Sept). Rooms and bedding arranged for 8 adults max. Twin / double based accommodation (Shompole and Lentorre booked for our private use only to make sure of exclusive use of hides).
All meals, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages while at the lodges and camps.
All scheduled game drives and guided activities described in the itinerary (morning and afternoon/evening drives).
Full access to the photography hides at Shompole and Lentorre, including scheduled hide rotations and overnight hide sessions where arranged.
Professional safari/photography guiding throughout the trip plus local lodge guides and trackers.
Daily practical workshops and image-review sessions (composition, backlight technique, AF/settings, sequencing and basic post-processing advice).
Park, conservancy and entrance fees for the reserves visited (Shompole, Lentorre conservancy areas and Amboseli National Park) as required by the standard itinerary.
All ground transfers shown in the itinerary (Nairobi meet-and-greet and transfers between lodges by private 4×4).
Coordination and administration: full trip planning, on-ground liaison with the lodges, hide bookings and schedule management.

Tour Exclude

International flight
Single supplement +30% of the tour total fee
Entry visa if applicable
Travel insurance private
Alcoholic beverages, personal expenses, tips
Scenic flight on a heli
Services and transportation are for listed activities only
Tips

Cancellation and Refund Policy

We strongly recommend you to get a Trip Cancellation & Travel Insurance after booking your trip. If you cancel and the Workshop is otherwise filled, we will refund you the full amount you have paid towards the tuition, minus a $300 service charge. If you cancel and the Workshop does not fill, then you will be refunded according to the following schedule, based on the full fee of the Workshop:

Greater than 90 days from the start date of the Workshop:

full refund minus $300 service fee.

75 days or more :75% refund 60 days or more: 50% refund

Less than 60 days: no refund Refunds will be paid by the same method that the original payment was made.

What to bring

Gear:

2 camera bodies (one as backup)
400–600mm (or 300+TC), 70–200mm, 24–70mm (or 14–24mm), 50–85mm
Sturdy tripod (gimbal head) + monopod or beanbag
4+ batteries total, multi-battery charger, 6–8 fast memory cards
1–2 TB portable SSD and card reader for nightly backups
Lens cloths, blower, rain covers/dry sacks, gaffer tape
Neutral, layered clothing (long trousers, sun hat, light jacket), sturdy shoes
Sunscreen, insect repellent, personal meds, small first-aid kit
Passport, travel insurance, USD cash, chargers & Type G adapter

Wear:
– Waterproof and windproof jacket (light, will be around 20-35 C)
– Waterproof pants
– Warm down-jacket and thermal pants
– Casual clothes for dinners and lunches and photography workshops