Having been home and adjusted to the ten hour time zone change I wanted to try to provide a review of this African Safari while having the luxury of writing the commentary on a computer and not on my phone!
Neil Zeller is a professional photographer with whom I have worked in the conference and event industry. I always found Neil to be an engaging personality and a photographer who thought outside the box to deliver amazing photos even when he might have had ‘dull' subjects to work with at conferences! His photos made the ordinary look extraordinary.
Over the years, I followed Neil on social media and kept aware of his professional work and knew he offered photo tours. So I knew that he had escorted a few groups on an African Safari. A year ago, Neil Zeller posted a link about an information session for his next photo tour to Tanzania. The timing was right. Suzan McEvoy, another event photographer who owns Photos with Finesse, was interested in taking the trip too. I believe by intermission of the information session, Suzan said something like, “I am ready to book this right now.” My reply was, “I am too, but I think we should check with our husbands before we commit to such a big trip without them!” Within a half hour of returning home that night, we were texting each other, saying we had the full support of our husbands and we were ready to pay a deposit! I believe my DH J said “Yay, you get to go to Africa with Suzan, and I don’t have to!” Everybody has their own personal bucket list - and an African Safari was mine!
Before I go any further, let me share with you that Neil Zeller is having an information session about the 2026 Tanzania African Safari, on Thursday, February 6th, 6:30 PM to 10 PM MT. The session is in person and virtual so you can register to see the presentation if you live across North America! Go to Neil Zeller Photo Tours and select the 2026 Tanzania Open House to register. Let me emphasize that you do not need to be a photographer to enjoy this safari - I am firmly in the cell phone photographer camp (though I appreciated the professional photographers sharing their amazing pictures) - but the trip was enjoyed by ALL who attended. The journey (safari means journey in swahili) was an experience that is difficult to capture in words - the comraderie, the laughter, the excitement of seeing an animal for the first time, the amazing accommodations - all of it was magical. It was an experience I don’t think I’ll be able to repeat in my lifetime.
In addition to Neil Zeller, we had Chris Fisher, a speaker, writer and ecologist who shared his insight every day and amplified the knowledge we gained on this trip. Chris was an inspiring speaker who elevated our safari experience, with his patient answers to our many questions and his ability to share his vast knowledge of the landscape, birds and animals and historical significance of various areas of the country.
Each day, we had either Neil or Chris in our truck as our guide, and Cornel or Thom as our driver. Cornel is the owner of Wild Media Safaris. Cornel had a lighthearted disposition and was delightfully engaging. Cornel knew his business and had a firm handle on the travel times required each day and what hour we needed to be departing each morning. Each night he would tell us what time we needed to eat breakfast and depart by (One particular day it was 6:30 AM and we did not knew not the reason), but then we learned he and Neil had scouted a location and they wanted to catch a sunrise to get a superb photograph!
Cornel's brother, Thom was the driver of the second Land Cruiser Vehicle. In his 20 years as a guide, he has probably had visited the Ngorongoro Crater 300 times - and Thom showed just as much enthusiasm in spotting a black rhino for us, as if it was the first time he visited! He was amazing at identifying the 220 plus birds that we spotted on this trip too! Both Cornel and Thom were safe drivers who navigated some really rough roads. They knew how to position our vehicles to get the best views and angles of wildlife - especially when there were other safari vehicles work around. They happily obliged to many requests like, "STOP!" or "Move back 3 feet!" when a person wanted to get a better vantage point for the photo!
Neil Zeller worked with Wild Media Safaris to create our itinerary that you can see below:
We started in the city of Moshi (near Mt Kilimanjaro), traveled to Tarangarie National Park, Lake Natron, Central Serengeti, South Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and back to Moshi. Each day, the experience just kept getting better and better so a lot of thought went into our curated package.
So this African Safari was the trip of a lifetime for me. Should you have the opportunity to travel to Tanzania, I would highly recommend you consider booking with Neil Zeller Photo Tours. Neil provided us with all the details like how to complete the Tanzanian visa application or our packing list or how rough to expect the roads to be. But he also made the experience fun! Laughter was evident each and every day, but Chris brought an element of earnest learning opportunities. It was simply an unforgettable experience. Thanks to Neil Zeller partnering with Wild Media Safaris, we felt safe and prepared every step of the way in Tanzania.
