In no particular order, these are our eight favourite photographic safari lodges in Africa. All of these camps have a culture of photography and have teams, equipment and a mindset aimed to help you get your shot. They understand patience, perfect light, and why you might want to skip sundowners for one last silhouetted elephant at dusk or have dinner brought out to you in the bush so that you can stay with a pride of lions on the hunt.

Explore our reasoning below, be inspired by our curated Look Book HERE, and let the creation of your next great image begin now.

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1. Londolozi (Sabi Sands, South Africa)

The team: With expert guides and trackers, the team at Londolozi are exceptional at finding animals. The guides are also adept at reading animal behaviour and positioning the vehicle to help guests get the best shots.

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The area: The diversity and relaxed nature of the wildlife in the Sabi Sands offers ample photographic opportunities and the area promises some of the best leopard viewing on the planet.

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Photographic Studio: They also have an on site photographic studio for post-processing, organising and printing of your images with a professional photographic tutor on standby to help.

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Equipment rental: A bonus is the ability to rent a variety of photographic equipment so as to avoid lugging it all the way from home. We highly recommend you pre-arrange this to avoid disappointment. Gimbals and bean bags can also be rented to help with the stability of your shots on the vehicle.

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Flexibility: Breakfast baskets and dinners to-go can be arranged so that you don't have to miss a minute of the action. The team are aware of your priorities and do everything they can to support that.

2. Kicheche Valley Camp (Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya)

Positioning in the Mara region: Located in one of the private conservancies bordering the Maasai Mara, Kicheche offers a very low vehicle density compared to the national park. This means you can enjoy a more exclusive experience, with longer, uninterrupted time at sightings. If you’d like to see something specific - like the wildebeest crossing the Mara River - you can do a day trip into the park, then return to the privacy of your concession.

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Public-private partnership: These conservancies are collaborative efforts between local Maasai landowners and tourism operators, designed to balance conservation and community development. In Mara North Conservancy, for example, the partnership includes eleven member camps and over 800 Maasai landowners. Together, they’ve secured more than 74,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat - ensuring low-impact tourism, steady lease payments to landowners, and meaningful employment opportunities. Your stay helps grow the land set aside for wildlife while directly benefiting local communities.

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Specialised vehicles: Outfitted 4x4s come equipped with camera mounts, bean bags, and open sides for clear shooting angles. Guides are trained to work with photographers and understand how to position for light and behaviour.

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Off-roading and night drives: These are not permitted in the national park but are allowed in the conservancy - giving you greater access to unique photographic moments, especially during the golden hours of dawn and dusk.

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Wildlife viewing: Expect exceptional sightings of a wide variety of wildlife, including high densities of big cats and a chance to witness the Great Migration - without the crowds.

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Habitat: High animal densities naturally keep the grass short, offering clear, unobstructed shots. The open terrain and big skies also make it ideal for silhouettes, dramatic backlighting, and richly layered compositions.

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‍3. Wilderness Mokete (Mababe Depression, Botswana)

Prime location: The Mababe Depression is a unique ecosystem nestled between Chobe and Moremi, known for attracting exceptional concentrations of wildlife. Especially during the dry season (June - October), the area becomes a magnet for animals, leading to intense predator-prey interactions. Anecdotally, it’s currently home to the largest mega herd of buffalo on the continent. Photographers here have the rare chance to capture lions hunting not only buffalo, but also other large prey like giraffe and even elephants weakened by the dry conditions.

Photographic focus: There is a National Geographic team stationed on the concession due to its incredible storytelling opporunities. Mokete Camp has seen this opportunity and has appropriate open 4x4 vehciles for unobstructed views and guides who understand light, positioning and animal behaviour.

Landscape: The rugged, dry terrain and short grasses - particularly during the dry season - create ideal conditions for clean, unobstructed photography.

Exclusivity: Accessible only by helicopter, Mokete is the sole camp on a vast 50,000-hectare (123,000-acre) concession. That means dramatic, high-impact wildlife encounters with no other vehicles in sight - just you, your guide, and the wilderness.

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4. Mombo (Okavango Delta, Botswana):

Dreamy light and landscapes: There is nowhere quite as beautiful as the Okavango Delta. Grey-green palms lit by the setting sun, enormous sausage trees for leopards to rest in and no one else around makes for the perfect safari destination.

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Abundant wildlife:  Called the Place of Plenty, Mombo is renowned for its consistently fantastic wildlife viewing. Due to the shape of the island groupings of peat are carried down by the annual flood waters and deposited on the northern tip of Chief’s Island, on the Mombo concession, which creates the extremely fertile top soil. This soil allows highly palatable grasses to grow, which in turn attracts many grazing species that the predators then hunt. It's a place where truly remarkable sightings occur.

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Relaxed wildlife and amazing storytelling: There is a long history of film and photography on the concession. The documentary Eye of the Leopard, featuring the leopardess Legadema, was filmed on Mombo and one can still see her progeny today. Another amazing story to come out of Mombo is the story of a wild dog that lost her pack to a pride of lions. She joined forces with a pair of black backed jackals and was even seen regurgitating for their pups. Her story provided incredible insight into the social nature of wild dogs.

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Year-round action: Where we'd encourage guests in some wilderness areas to only visit at certain times of the year, Mombo is fantastic year round.

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5. Mashatu Euphorbia (Tuli Region, Botswana)

Diverse landscapes: The area is rugged and semi-arid and is characterised by open savannah, riverine bush along the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers, beautiful granite outcrops and iconic baobab trees.

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“The Land of Giants”: An area renonwed for large elephant herds as well as excellent leopard viewing amongst other high profile species.

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Sunken photographic hide: Designed with photographers in mind this hide is particularly productive in the dry season when huge numbers of elephants and other species are drawn to the limited water. In a comfortable setting, with your gear set up, you can enjoy wildlife coming to you. The design of the hide means that you can get excellent close up, eye level shots.

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New overnight hide: The Lala Limpopo Hide is a new, unique underground sleep-out hide that allows you to observe and photograph the nocturnal species. With innovative lighting and a comfortable suite to relax in - you can now create incredible never-before-seen images from dusk till dawn (4pm to 9am). There are beds in the hide so you can take a nap when energy levels wane and night time sensors around the waterhole alert you to animal presence, so you can hop up and take some photographs if something exciting happens. Custom lights enable you to capture the nighttime scenes, with a control panel to adjust light strength as well as side, front or back light options so there is no need for special flashes or other equipment. The hide has a kitchen so the lodge sets dinner up for you and gives you an excellent opportunity to get some new photographs and a completely unique experience.

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6. And Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge (Sossusvlei, Namibia)

Colours and lighting: The red dunes of the area are like nowhere else I've seen. This contrasted against blue skies, stark trees and white salt pans makes for incredible imagery.

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Hot air balloons: Take to the skies at dawn in a hot air balloon to capture the beauty from above.

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The night sky: Due to very little light pollution, the stars are utterly remarkable and for those interested in capturing night scenes, this is the place to do it.

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Abstract imagery: Sossusvlei is ideal for creative, minimalist compositions - a photographer’s dream for experimenting with scale, negative space, and simplicity. Wind-sculpted ripples in the sand and isolated trees offer endless opportunity for detail shots and abstract frames.

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Ideal climate: Due to it being in the desert, there is very little to no annual rainfall meaning that you're very unlikely to be impacted by poor weather.

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7. Chikwenya (Mana Pools, Zimbabwe)

Interesting animal behaviour: Mana Pools is one of the best places in Africa to see elephants displaying the curious behaviour of standing on their hind legs reaching for Ana tree branches.

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Private concession: Chikwenya is on a private concession on the eastern edge of Mana Pools, meaning you can escape to your exclusive traverse or head into the national park depending on animal movements and what you wish to see.

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Epic landscapes: Situated on the banks on the mighty Zambezi River and set amongst Albida and Kigelia forests with very little undergrowth, the landscape makes for a very dramatic scenes in which to photograph the wildlife. The environment dwarfs the wildlife, embuing the images with an incredible sense of scale.

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Unique light: There is an unmistakeable blue-grey light in the Ana forests, distinct for that exact spot on the planet. The lighting is ethereal and inspiring for photographers.

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Viewing the wildlife on foot: Mana is one of very few national parks in Africa where you can freely walk among big game with expert guides. Tracking lions or wild dogs on foot is a thrilling and humbling experience and leaves you with incredible eye level images, tough to capture elsewhere.

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8. Chula (Lower Zambezi, Zambia)

The camp: The camp looks out onto vast floodplains, river channels, and ancient winterthorn forests - a dream landscape for wide-angle, moody, and layered shots.

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Excellent guides: The guides are used to working with photographers and camera crews and are willing to be flexible, patient and creative. Their understanding of animal behaviour and vehicle positioning helps them to pre-empt shots and get you into the right place at the right time.

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The light: The interplay of mist, dust, sunbeams, and shadow on the floodplains creates a dreamlike, cinematic quality to every scene.

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Low angles: Walks are central to the Chula experience, giving photographers low-angle, immersive opportunities to capture wildlife, tracks, textures, and intimate moments.

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In case you missed it above, check out our Look Book HERE for a deeper dive into each of these lodges. Which of these camps appeals to you most and what photograph are you dreaming of creating?

Written by Amy Attenborough