Cheesemans Ecology Safaris

We were somewhat late discovering Cheesemans Ecology Safaries, http://www.cheesemans.com/, but made up for it over the past decade: Antarctica 1998, Tanzania and Kenya 1999, repeat Antarctica 2000, Svalbard 2003, Galapagos 2007, and my wife of 51 years and I are just getting ready for a July 2009 repeat of the African Safari. Each of these was a ' trip of a lifetime, ' perfectly executed with impeccable style. Great logistics, long itineraries, expert guiding, never hurried, with plenty of time for photo- and videography.Longer transits were filled with lectures by some incredibly qualified (yes, ' famous ') photographers, wildlife experts, geologists. It isn ' t often that you have the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with three professional photographers, each fielding 6-8 inch diameter lenses. Or being driven about in a Zodiac by a Popular Photography columnist whose pictures hang in the Guggenheim Museum and who just taught you about creative use of Photoshop. Or having the ship move in a tight circle for 3 hours while a couple of humpback whales performed a veritable water ballet right under our feet in clear water, like guppies in a tank. In Africa our safari vehicles carried four passengers per pop-top, so we each had an unobstructed sweep of a whole quadrant. Yes, the engine was off at every photo stop! And those drivers and guides knew where to go for incredible wildlife sightings. Like that lion sleeping atop a tree branch, unperturbed by a staccato of camera shutters. (It is well known that lions don't climb trees, this one didn't seem to know that.)