There are many reasons to choose a Porini Camp for your safari adventure – including the unparalleled game viewing, exclusive areas of natural habitat, excellent safari guides and comfortable accommodation.

There are also numerous ecological and humanitarian reasons.

Here, in our latest video, we look at five reasons why a Porini Safari is the ideal choice for guests that want to ensure that their safari supports the environment, conservation and local communities.

On the 21st of February each year we celebrate International Tourist Guide Day!

The WFTGA (World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations) says “this is a day dedicated to the profession of Tourist Guiding and affords us the opportunity to highlight and showcase this profession on the global stage”.

This year the theme was particularly pertinent to us as it was “Tourist Guides: Our Guardians in promoting and encouraging Green Tourism”.

To mark the occasion we have a brand new video series, “Know Your Safari Guide”. In this first video you can meet Geoffrey Ketere, one of our amazing guides at Porini Safari Camps. With years of experience and a deep love for wildlife, Geoffrey brings the magic of the African bush to life for every guest.

We are delighted to announce that we have now added the exciting destination of Republic of the Congo to our expanding collection of safari destinations.

Located in Central Africa, the Republic of the Congo is wild and unspoilt and captivates visitors with an abundance of natural beauty and pristine wilderness eco-systems.

The country is comprised largely of dense lowland forest. This supports a diverse array of wildlife and is home to many rare and endangered species including forest elephants, chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas, leopards and bongo antelope. Visitors can explore by vehicle, boat or on foot, each with great opportunities for seeing and photographing wildlife.

As 2023 draws to a close, we’re taking time to look back and reflect on the past year and what it has brought to us here at Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps.

We’d like to thank our clients and travel partners for all their support during this year. This has enabled us to continue our work to protect conservation areas for wildlife and support our local communities.

Here are just a few highlights of the year:

Our team at Porini Mara Camp has been working hard with upgrading the Mess / Lounge area to ensure that it is as comfortable as possible for guests.

Take a look around the new space in this video.

For those looking for a new and different African experience, we have recently introduced a 12 day South Africa & Mozambique tour.

This comprehensive itinerary lets you explore the wonders of Cape Town and its surroundings, then enjoy the thrill of a Big Five safari in a private nature reserve in Kruger National Park before flying to Mozambique to relax on the white-sand beaches of the Indian Ocean.

In summary, the tour stays:

• 3 nights at the prestigious Cape Grace Hotel, which is situated on a private quay between Cape Town’s vibrant V&A Waterfront and the tranquil yacht marina.
• 4 nights at RockFig Safari Lodge in the heart of Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, adjacent to the world famous Kruger National Park, with Big Five game viewing.
• 4 nights at Santorini Mozambique, a luxurious property on the Southern coast of Mozambique with stunning views over the Bazaruto Archipelago islands.

The “Porini Pride” are named after our Porini Rhino Camp to which they are attracted by the bustling waterhole that is perfectly located adjacent to the camp and where a broad range of animals gather.

The pride boasts 19 members, including two adult lionesses, seven spirited cubs (about 13 months old), eight adventurous sub-adults, and two adult males.

This video shows recent footage as well as film from last year (when the cubs were very young) and we can see just how quickly they have grown.

Here, first-time Porini Safari Camps guest Todd Martin from Canada shares his thoughts on his safari experience (and some wonderful images!) following his recent trip …

My wife and I enjoyed an amazing 12 nights at four Porini Camps, having had a spectacular safari, in every possible way, from start to finish. We spent three nights at each of Porini’s Amboseli, Rhino, Mara, and Lion camps. I’ve already provided feedback to Gamewatchers as to how wonderful the camps and the staff were, the amazing food, the plethora of amazing animal sightings in the conservancies, blissfully free from “vehicle mobs”, and the unforgettable bush breakfasts and sundowners, but I wanted to provide this separate commendation for our Masai guide teams.

Being an avid hobbyist photographer, both wildlife and landscape, my “needs” on a safari go well beyond just great animal sightings. Sky conditions, light conditions, light angles, and juxtaposition of the animals and landscapes to sky and light are what matter in coming home with “keeper” photographs, rather than mere “documentary, I was here” type shots. The open game drive vehicles at the Porini camps, as opposed to the pop-up top “bubble busses” pre-dominant in the National Parks, the ability to off-road in the Conservancies, and the ability to get out of the vehicle and shoot from the ground when safe, were essential ingredients to coming away with the photographs I sought. Most important of all are guides and spotters who can find the animals, understand what photographers are looking for, and position the vehicle in exactly the right spot for keeper photographs considering light and sky conditions.

The Porini guide teams (driver and spotter) at each of the four camps we visited delivered terrifically in every sense.

At Amboseli Camp, Ben and Moses were our guide team. One morning just before sunrise, Ben spotted a giraffe, gauged its pace, and hurriedly positioned the vehicle ahead of the giraffe’s direction of travel, and stopped. A minute or so later, the giraffe arrived in front of us just as the sun broke through the clouds, yielding beautifully colourful backlit conditions, resulting in one of my many keepers.