Mira 9 : Information : Namibia

Photo workshops in Namibia will usually take place during the drier months of April through September, but not during the Namibian or South African school holidays.

At this time of the year, especially during June and July, daytime temperatures can be above 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit), while nighttime temperatures can drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

Wear cool, light-coloured clothing during the day, and warm cold-weather clothing at night, especially for Etosha. Plan to 'layer' your clothing when visiting an Etosha waterhole at night.

Suitable protection from the sun is considered essential. Bring adequate sunscreen lotion with a high protection factor, and a hat with a reasonably-sized brim: "baseball"-type caps don't always shield the ears or neck. Sunglasses are recommended.

Bring comfortable but durable footwear: hiking shoes or boots are recommended. Soft-soled or "open" sandals may be alright when in a bungalow, or even for the harder surfaces in the restcamps, but are not really suitable for gravel areas, or for the soft (and possibly quite hot) sand found near Sesriem and Sossusvlei.

The Erongo Mountains are situated northwest of Windhoek, Namibia's capital city. The area we visit is roughly 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the town of Usakos. Many rock formations are within a short distance of nearby parking areas.

Etosha National Park is in a malaria area. Although the greatest risk is during the wet summer months of November through February, it's a good idea to discuss the use of anti-malaria medication with a medical doctor, pharmacist, or personnel at a travel clinic. For Namibia in general, you may also wish to obtain advice regarding the applicability of any vaccination/s which may be recommended.

At times, the areas we visit can be very dusty. Photographic equipment should be well protected from dust. A blower-brush is essential.

As with most photographic trips, a range of focal length lenses is recommended. However, for large wildlife, a reasonable guideline is that a 200mm lens (35mm film equivalent) is the minimum focal length lens which should be used, and the faster the better. Fixed focal length lenses or zoom lenses in the range of 300mm to 500mm are likely to be used most often. For the Erongo area, a short zoom (24mm to 70mm) is the guideline. Similarly for the Sossusvlei area, and also consider a wide-angle lens of 20mm (or even wider), which could be useful for desert landscape shots.

Plan on taking lots of photographs. If you plan to use a digital camera, ensure you have enough storage; if you're using a film camera, bring along enough film of your choice. Although the ISO 50 'standard' film for wildlife and landscape photography may be your favourite, you may want to bring along some faster film as well, especially for early morning and late afternoon wildlife shots. You'll need to be able to select the aperture (according to the depth-of-field you want), and at the same time use a fast enough shutter speed to get a sharp picture.

Don't worry too much about flash for 'normal' wildlife shots. Unless you have a very powerful flash unit (or a set of flash units), you'll most likely be too far away from your subject for a flash to be of much use. Can be useful, though, for fill-in if you happen to come across small(er) creatures (or flora) which remain still enough for a closer shot.

In Etosha, you may use a tripod at the waterhole in the restcamp/s. At all other waterholes outside the camp/s, photography must be done from within the vehicle. A beanbag, or sandbag, is useful for stabilising the camera, so if you have one, bring it along.

Electricity (220v) is usually not a problem, but it's a good idea to bring along at least one additional camera battery, or set of batteries, and keep it charged at all times. A suitable adapter plug may be necessary.

If you're using film, you may want to have it ready for customs/security inspection when leaving the country by air, rather than letting it be x-rayed. (Any film in a camera will need to be x-rayed with the camera).