Safari Drone Trip

Yes, definitely. On every trip I get participants with different experience and skills, and I coach everyone on their own level. You need to be able to fly basic manoeuvres, the rest we'll learn on the trip, through my personal coaching, by learning from each other and through the composition workshops in our villa.

Regardless of your starting point, all participants go home with a much-boosted self confidence while flying the drone and can now fly under any circumstances.

Yes, you are supposed to bring your own drone and fly your own drone. If you have a spare drone, it's always good to bring it as well. I will also bring a back-up drone in case something happens.

That being said, I guide the participants during all flights and it's very rare that a drone crashes or is lost. Really.

I know pretty much all cinematic DJI drones by heart. Most often I see DJI Mavic 2/3 series, DJI Mini 3/4 series, DJI Air 2/3 series. More and more FPV drones as well, such as the DJI Avata 1/2 or the original DJI FPV.

Occasionally, participants also bring an Autel drone, which is completely fine. However I'm less familiar with their app and settings. In the end, it all comes down to the same thing though. So don't worry.

Hi there 👋 I’m a professional drone photographer and educator from Belgium. I’m always traveling around the world to create beautiful and creative drone shots. I love taking photos of spectacular landscapes and looking for cool topdown patterns. My Tatacoa Desert photo won the 'Abstract' category in the prestigious Aerial Photography Awards 2020.

I have worked with brands such as DJI and PolarPro. You can see my videos for the launch of the DJI Mini 3 in 2023 and more recently also for the launch of the DJI Air 3. Commercially I also work a lot with tourism boards and the best luxury hotels all over the world. Atlantis the Royal in Dubai was my latest big hotel project, where I was contracted as the director of aerial photography, spanning both drone photography - with the Inspire 2 - and helicopter shoots.

When I’m not traveling, I like to educate other drone photographers through my drone trips. It's already been 4 years since I launched my first drone trip to the Azores! And ever since, I've been building on this experience to create more unique drone trips for you.

Apart from drone trips, I also do 1-on-1 coachings and run the Drone Adventurers Community.

My trips have really become very international. I attract participants from the USA, over Europe to Asia. I would say the majority is from Western and Central Europe though. Browse through my testimonials to discover the different countries!

Last time I checked I counted 24 different countries 😲

Actually surprisingly, the majority of my participants are female. About 60% vs 40% male. So you will def. not be the only one. I love having a good gender balance, it makes for the most fun groups.

No, I only accept drone photographers. No +1's. This is to ensure that the focus remains on the droning and learning aspect of the trip. And we can all nerd out about drones without any interruption or social judgement 😇

You are of course free to add some days before or after the trip with your partner, to explore the destination even more. I would even recommend that.

In the unfortunate event that you need to cancel your trip, reach out to me immediately!

• Before 3 months to departure: You have already paid your down-payment, which is not refundable.
• Within 3 months of departure: The 2nd and final payment has been made and is not refundable.
• If I still find a replacement for your spot, I will refund you 60% of the final payment and you can keep 60% of the down payment as a credit for a future trip.

In the reserve we can find the BIG5, which are elephants 🐘, rhinos 🦏, lions 🦁, leopards 🐆 and buffaloes 🐃.

Apart from these, we can also spot giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, cheetahs, hyenas, different antelopes (impalas, kudus, sables, elands, waterbucks etc...), warthogs and big vultures.

Not really. We need to approach slowly. They might look up and investigate this unfamiliar sound at first. However, after a couple of minutes they decide this weird bird is not a threat and they will continue their usual behavior. We have an experienced ranger with us at all times. If he notices weird or stressed behavior, we will back up the drones or even stop droning all together. The animals always get priority!

Secondly, the advantage of using drones is that you don't need to park right next to the animals to see them, as is often the case on traditional safaris. This ensures that the animals are actually less stressed on our game drives.

I will also teach you how to fly the drone around herd animals. When one animal panics, the whole herd goes into flight mode and they all start running. That's behavior that you see on most documentaries. Running animals look spectacular, but it means they are very stressed. So we try to to avoid this at all times.

No, the lodge is not fenced. We often see animal tracks going through the camp. Which is one of the exciting elements. However, do not worry. The animals do not enter the buildings and you will not be in any danger.

Certain regions in the Northeast of South Africa do have a malaria risk. However the private game reserve we'll be staying at is situated in the North, close to Botswana, and has very little mosquitos and NO malaria. So no need to worry about that. A good mosquito repellent is always a good idea.

There are no required vaccinations. There is no yellow fever in South Africa.

We are going to meet wildlife, so a refresher for rabies is never a bad idea. A refresher for Tetanus is a good idea as well.