Kenya – Masai Mara Signature Predator Safari 2022

I had a wonderful time with Greg. He's a great person to travel with, for his photographic expertise and for his naturalist knowledge, expertise and stories.

We had a lot of fun with Greg du Toit on this Kenya predator photo safari. His skills, his knowledge of the places we visited made this photo tour truly special. If you want a down to earth person to guide you true Africa, Greg is the man!

First I want to say I agree totally with everything that David, Kim and Bob Purcell said about our Masai Mara photo safari. As Bob said, we choose the trip because we so enjoyed our previous ORYX trip with Dale Morris to the Pantanal of Brazil; we hoped the one to Kenya would have the same superb organization and accommodations, and provide sufficient opportunities to really observe the wildlife and countryside. Not only were our expectations met, they were exceeded in each and every case.

As the main person struggling to learn how to take better photographs, I really appreciated how David and Patrick, the guides, and Greg all worked together to give me the best lighting and angles and opportunities for fantastic shots. Greg was a great teacher ,first by example and second by providing guidance on settings and subjects and always being quick to answer my questions. Best of all, he was helpful without being intrusive. As I look through my many pictures, I can clearly see that the ones toward the end of the trip are better than the ones from the beginning; thanks Greg.

I was very glad we did not have to spend time in Nairobi, and Macushla house was the perfect place to set the mood for the safari beforehand and to compare favorite memories afterwards. The number of animals, happenings, and landscapes we saw is still difficult to comprehend; each day was an adrenalin rush with something unexpected and amazing always popping up thanks to the skills of Greg and the guides. Greg is an encyclopedia of knowledge and provided lots of interesting details and observations that made the trip so much more enjoyable; we really got at least two trips- a photographic one and a nature expedition. It was an unexpected perk to find that Greg was an expert on birds so we got to indulge in one of our favorite hobbies and greatly increased the number of bird species we have seen in the wild. When I mentioned that I would like to see a bush baby, a hyrax and a hornbill, Greg and Patrick managed to find me all three and we even got to hear the hornbill’s haunting call.

This photo safari was one of, if not the best, I have ever had. There were no bad moments, it was always fun , exciting and extremely pleasant. Totally awesome. I look forward to taking other ORYX photo tours in the future.

To follow up: our Kenya photo safari was truly fabulous! While our memories are fresh, I want to touch on a few points:

1) A brief adjustment time at Macushla house before and after the safari was perfect! In particular, Macushla house was a stroke of genius for the following reasons: away from population centers and terrorists , close to the elephant orphanage and giraffe center, as well as an excellent crafts cooperative/restaurant, and close to Wilson airport. Finally, it is a very comfortable and low-key facility with excellent food and staff.

2) We were interested in the ORYX Kenya photo safari because of our very positive experience with the Pantanal photo tour rather then because it was a photography tour. We are basically naturalists and birders (okay, amateurish birders): Suzanne is the only avid photographer among us. Basically we much prefer the slower pace of photography tours instead of the hectic pace of a birders’ tour. Consequently, it was a great pleasure to discover that Greg is an outstanding naturalist and birder as well as a world-class photographer. We think that there would be even more interest in Greg’s tours if your website indicated how multitalented he is. Birders and naturalists who lack an interest in photography would certainly be interested in Greg’s other skills. Greg played a very large role in assuring the success of our Safari in many ways.

3) Both tent camps were outstanding venues. All aspects of these facilities were top notch. In particular, the staff and especially the guides were highly professional. It was wonderful to see the mutual respect between Greg and the camp guides in finding just the right places for us to go and just the right things to see and do.

4) The balloon ride was frosting on the cake. I was the only one of us who had ballooned previously. We were all thrilled by it and had a new appreciation for the vastness of the Masai Mara from the height of a balloon. The perfect place for a balloon flight!

In summary: Well done!

We had a fabulous time, the other couple, Marion and Manfred, were great traveling companions and Greg is a really great guide and a pleasure to be around. The day room at House of Waine was an inspired idea; last time we came back from the Mara through Nairobi we had a really tedious time. This was so much better. Your communications and organisation have been excellent and I truly expect that we will be in touch again in due course. Nicola and Marion have already had conversations about our future travel together.

We are safely back from a fantastic Kenya photo safari. We enjoyed every minute of this trip! We loved the Masai Mara and had a fabulous time with Greg who is not only a fantastic photographic guide but also a humorous and sympathetic personality.

We like to thank you for the perfect organisation of the trip. A special thank you again for the day room. We appreciated the possibility to spend some time at the comfortable House of Waine!

We would certainly like to do another photography tour in the near future!