Busch Gardens Photo Safari Tour

I had the privilege of visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa Florida and being the “guinea pig” for a new tour designed for nature and wildlife photographers. For those of you not familiar with Busch Gardens, it is a theme park with an African theme. The park consists of several areas, and attractions range from animal viewing exhibits to hair raising roller coasters. Busch Gardens offers many different “tours” that provide visitors with up-close experiences with their animal attractions. From the giraffes and rhinos of the Serengeti Plain, to the Gorillas and Chimpanzees of the Myombe Reserve, Busch Gardens cares for an amazing diversity of animals.

Our tour began at 9 am at the education center of the park. There we met our guides David, Matt and Beth. The trucks used for the Serengeti plains portion of the tour are large open trucks where passengers stand along the edges of the vehicles. There are benches for those who cannot stand for the duration. We entered the Serengeti though a north gate. Although our driver did her best, the ride is not necessarily smooth. Expect to be jolted around a bit. The tour is not a textbook drive through a savannah. The guides discuss the animals their habits, while communicating with the driver to move the vehicle into better positions for the photographers.

Shadows, lighting and other aspects are also taken into consideration. You can expect animals such as the giraffe to get close to your vehicle, so a ultra-zoom lens is not always needed. Although some of the animals are allowed to get close, others, such as the rhinoceros are not. As we were told, the rhinos can actually lift the vehicles. The vehicle makes many stops, which means you don’t have to compensate for the bumpy ride. The guests are given adequate time to photograph the animals and the tour guides communicate with the guests to make sure everyone is ready to move on. On the Serengeti Plain portion of the tour you can expect to see giraffe, rhinos, zebra, water buffalo, ostriches, and a wide variety of birds including Egyptian geese, storks, and more.

The visitors disembark the truck for the walking part of the tour. With our tour, we chose to see the great apes, lions and other inhabitants of the Myombe reserve. Many of these sites we were joined by the keepers. The keepers are the people that the animals are the closest to. When a keeper appears, the animals usually perk up, and head over in their direction. In one exhibit, for the lemurs, the keeper shouted, “Leme, Leme, Lemur!” and the lemurs came swinging in towards us. By including the keepers in the tour process, the photographer is treated to an enhanced encounter with the animals.

During the entire tour process, the tour guides offered tips, and information to the visitor to help enhance the photographic process. Along with facts about the animals, the keepers and guides painted a vivid picture of how the animals would act and react to their presence. This is a great opportunity to have foresight into how and where to get that ideal shot.

Since this was a beta test for this new tour, I will not discuss pricing for the tour. It is possible the price of the tour may change as further testing moves forward. But I will tell you this, the knowledge and photographic opportunities set forth by this tour is well worth the price.

As for equipment, I brought an 18-200mm VR lens, along with a 150-500mm lens. This combination allowed me to get those far off shots, as well as close-ups of the giraffes and other animals. I also used my “Pod” beanbag for stability. With the tour expected to include from 12 to 14 people, a tripod or monopod may not be allowed on the truck tour. Although many of the areas are open, some of the animals are behind glass. Take this into consideration when choosing your equipment.

If you are on the west coast of Florida, where a variety of bird photography opportunities exist, consider contacting Busch Gardens for Photo Safari tour. The tour is handled through their education department and they can be reached at 813 987 5210.