BACKGROUND

 

Designed and built by the same wildlife photographers who built the world famous underground photo hides at Mashatu. The PhotoMashatu vehicle is a fully customised vehicle built exclusively for Mashatu Game Reserve. Its design and concept stem from wanting to give clients unparalleled access to the excellent wildlife of Mashatu and allow them to photograph uninhibited and unconstrained. Our many thousands of hours on safari vehicles have been the best research and combined with our photographic experience we have produced a specialist photo vehicle that is simply the ultimate experience in photographing from a vehicle.

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Shem Compion has been hosting photo safaris across Africa since 2005. Over this time we have seen thousands of game drive vehicles, each one with its advantages and pitfalls. No one vehicle was ideal for photography, so we went forth and built the definitive photo vehicle that caters perfectly for wildlife photographers. Using our extensive experience of driving on vehicles in the field whilst taking photos, we used this knowledge to design a vehicle that is unique in its kind and that offers you unparalleled photographic ease, speed, stability and comfort. No element of design was left out. We designed this vehicle to be our perfect photographic vehicle and we demanded perfection based on our many years photographing in the field.  Only once it was good enough for us, did we allow it to be enjoyed and used by our clients.

 

WHAT IS IT?

 

The vehicle is a totally customised design, equipped with sliding gimbal heads allowing for comfortable, quick and well-supported photography in a 270-degree radius for each photographer. Beanbag arches allow you even faster access to get the initial shot. Cushioned, dust and waterproof bag storage compartments allow for fast access to your lenses and other photographic equipment. The vehicle comes with your specialised photographic guide and a Mashatu field ranger. There are two rows of seats in the back of the vehicle, one row for each photographer.

 

THE CONCESSION

 

Using our many years of game drive experience and photographing from vehicles we bought a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser, which we then proceeded to design and customize into the best photographic vehicle possible. We then went to the top vehicle conversion company and got them to build the vehicle to our exact specifications. The end result is a vehicle that offers an enriching photographic experience maximizing all the photographic opportunities on a game drive.

With the expert knowledge from the photographic guide you will be assured that the vehicle will be positioned with expert consideration for the best light and perspective. The vehicle offers all the perks of a private vehicle, coupled with a unique, top of the range, personal photographic experience.

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SOME POINTS

 

• PhotoMashatu and its professional photographers have been photographing at Mashatu since 2005. We also know the exact demands of what is required to build the perfect photo vehicle for this environment.

• The environment offers high quality sightings of wildlife, which has made it one of the best photographic destinations in Africa. The next step was to develop a dedicated photo vehicle that maximizes the wildlife photography potential in Mashatu.

• First we designed the world famous PhotoMashatu hides and now we have a dedicated PhotoMashatu vehicle designed by the same very experienced, award winning wildlife photographers who built the hides and who have spent thousands of hours on countless safari vehicles. Using this empirical knowledge, we set out with the sole purpose of building the best photo vehicle possible.

• We chose a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser to withstand the environment of Mashatu. We then had it custom converted to our exact specifications, with a number of visits to the workshop to oversee and measure out the design of the photo customization.

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WHERE DOES IT OPERATE?

 

The PhotoMashatu vehicle only operates on the predator rich Mashatu Game Reserve and is available for all lodges and syndicates within the Mashatu property.

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WHEN CAN I GO ON A DRIVE?

 

The game drives will be as per normal to lodge game drive times.

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HOW DO I BOOK?

 

The PhotoMashatu vehicle can be booked through the reservations office (reservations@photomashatu.com). Clients in camp can book on an ad hoc basis at the lodge subject to availability. Please click here to view the pricing.

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Per day – maximum 4 pax, but ideally suited to 2 pax. Includes 1 optional tutor session per day & 1 x hide session subject to availability upon booking. For dates 1 December - 1 June each year : “book 3 days, pay 2” and  "book 4 days, pay 3” special on photo vehicle.)