8 February 2024

Serval and Caracal Photo Tour 2023 – Trip Report

During our inaugural Cat Expedition’s serval and caracal tour, we saw five different servals, including watching an extended hunting session. No caracals despite our best efforts, but we had incredible other cat sightings that made up for it. Check out the report for details and some of the photos of the trip!

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Cat Expeditions Serval and Caracal Trip Report 2023

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Sebastian Kennerknecht
My wife, Rachel, and I own and lead tours for Cat Expeditions and Whale Expeditions, bringing people eye-to-eye with wild cats and cetaceans. We care deeply about providing extraordinary experiences for our guests, prioritize small group tours for intimate interactions, insist on ethical photography and tourism, putting the welfare of the wildlife first. Conservation is the backbone of our beliefs and our business, and we give 10-20% of our tour costs to local conservation projects. We select tour locations in places that provide and support economic incentives for local communities to own and steward long-term conservation. When I am not leading tours, I work as a conservation photographer for NGOs, telling stories about wild cats and their threats.
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4 Comments

  • 8 February 2024
    Traveller68

    Sounds a great trip great pics. Off to South Arica this year on safari in Kgalagadi again. Never been to Tanzania do you go regularly? Would be interested to see what trips you do dates and associated costs 2025.

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    • 9 February 2024
      Sebastian Kennerknecht

      Nice, the Kgalagadi will be amazing! Yes, we go every year for our serval/caracal tour, as well as our cheetah tour. Most of Tanzania can be overcrowded, but we go to areas with no other vehicles besides the other lodge cars. You can see all the tours and pricing at catexpeditions.com. Happy to answer any questions if they come up!

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  • 11 February 2024
    Nathan Myhrvold

    Great serval shots! Too bad you didn’t see caracal – I have glimpsed one in past but don’t have a picture, so I have been looking but there don’t seem to be a lot of sure-thing caracal spots. Any recommendations that anybody has would be welcome. Meanwhile, a South African guide I know has teased me with photos of a caracal on the road near a half mile from his house on the outskirts of Cape Town. The best serval viewing I have had is in Ngorogoro crater. It isn’t my favorite place in Africa – it is full of vehicles, and just about the opposite profile of where I usually go. But in 2 days we had 9 serval sightings. Most of which lasted at least 30 min, including 4 sightings close to the car and one great hunting sequence. We had a good guide who thought we were crazy to look for serval, because most guests go there for the Big 5. But he was diligent about scanning and he found them.

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    • 11 February 2024
      Sebastian Kennerknecht

      Yeah, caracals for sure make it difficult, but always worth the challenge. A couple of weeks after we left, our local guide and driver Moinga texted me a beautiful caracal photo he has taken at a sighting. One can only try! And totally agree, always love it when the guides give you that look of you are looking for what?! In my experience, and I am sure you agree, they get excited to look for something different for once!

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