Art Safaris

An art safari is a creative journey to look at animals, nature and landscapes. It's a slow-pace safari, where you will capture images on paper by direct observation and by working from life.

See the world in a different way, creatively taking in the detail and vibrant energy of Africa. You will return with many unique images which encapsulate your holiday and help store your new bush knowledge. In addition, you will see the creativity of local artists and learn about the peoples, history and culture of our host country. Be assured of good food, comfort, style, fun, adrenaline and relaxation.

Art Tuition by Mary-Anne Bartlett
Mary-Anne Bartlett is an accomplished artist, experienced in painting and drawing in Africa. She welcomes artists of all standards - and non-painting partners who just want to enjoy the peace of it all! Non-painters benefit from the attention of the safari guide for in depth animal or bird watching while others are painting.

In her art tuition on safari she has three principal aims:
1. To give you an opportunity to draw and paint in environments which enrich your appreciation of the natural world.
2. To encourage you to paint from nature and to give you the vision and artistic skills to be able to make fast impressions of moving animals.
3. To provide you with a varied programme to stimulate you, give you opportunity to discuss your work with fellow artists and to inspire you to continue painting nature in your own time.

Quick links:

Malawi and Zambia
This is a tour for adventurous artists who want to see a great diversity of landscape, wildlife and local living. Be ready for wonder, peacefulness and charm. Liwonde National Park, Lake Malawi and South Luangwa National Park provide an outstanding wildlife experience.

Day 1
Arrive in Lilongwe, Malawi. On arrival at the airport you will be met and transferred to the Korean Garden Lodge. Lunch and dinner will be in local restaurants in the city.

Day 2
After breakfast we leave early for Mua (1½hrs) and have a guided tour around the fascinating cultural museum at Mua Mission and meet local woodcarvers. After a picnic lunch we set off for Liwonde National Park (2hrs). We then take a slow drive to Mvuu Camp in the centre of Liwonde National Park (1hr). This is your home for the next four nights, where you stay in en suite chalets by the river.

Days 3, 4 & 5
Liwonde National Park, situated on the picturesque Shire River, is rich in flora and fauna. We spend our days in Liwonde exploring the wonders of nature and how to express it. There are two art excursions per day with plenty of opportunity to sketch, watch and relax in glorious surroundings. Day game-drives are included as well as one boat safari on the River Shire and one game-drive into the Rhino Sanctuary.

Day 6
After leaving Mvuu, we have a 1hr game drive back through the park then towards northwards to Lake Malawi (3hrs). Here we stay for two nights in Senga Bay, staying in chalets at Stuart Grant's Cichlid breeding Centre.

Day 7
Our day is spent in villages along the shore and we take excursion to one of the nearby islands out on the lake. There will be time for swimming, snorkelling and relaxation.

Day 8
After an early start, we head to Lilongwe airport to fly (30mins) to Mfuwe in Zambia's Luangwa Valley. We will be able to spend the afternoon at our lodge in the Valley and may be able to go on a game drive that same day. Overnight en suite permanent tented camp, where we will be based for five nights.

Days 9, 10, 11 & 12
Our days in Luangwa consist of early morning and afternoon outings into South Luangwa National Park, with long stops to sketch or paint the dramatic landscape and to capture mammal interaction. Big cats are plentiful, as are antelope, giraffe, elephant and bird-life of all kinds. Following the same pattern as in Liwonde we will have two art excursions every day in to the Park, choosing a variety of habitats.

Day 13
After breakfast we leave Luangwa and fly back to Malawi's Lilongwe airport (30mins), where we will then drive out to Dzalanyama Forest Reserve on the Mozambique border (about 2hrs). This brachystegia forest, with its hills and streams, is home to some of Malawi's rarest bird species. We stay in the homely Forest Lodge for two nights.

Day 14
A day relaxing and sketching or painting in the peaceful surrounds of the forest. Gentle walks in the forest and visits to streams and waterfalls are part of our day, and we are always welcomed at the local school.

Day 15
After breakfast we will transfer you to the airport for your return flight.

Zambia
A chance to study elephants and other animals at leisure on a relaxing residential course in South Luangwa National Park.

Day 1
Arrive in Mfuwe airport from Lusaka (or from Lilongwe). You will be met and drive to Thornicroft, just beyond the village of Mfuwe (½hr) on the Luangwa River, facing South Luangwa National Park.

After settling into your accommodation and meeting the staff, we will have a good chat over brunch about what we are going to do during our week in Luangwa. Allowing time for a siesta, and, depending on how tired everyone is after the journey, we may go for a relaxing evening drive in the park, or stay in camp to do painting and drawing exercises from the riverbank.

Dinner in camp.

Day 2
We will make an early start after a quick breakfast, taking all our materials with us, aiming to be inside the park soon after 6.30am. For the first few hours we will sketch animals from the open vehicle, so that your sketch books open with a mass of squiggles and lines which you will be able to use as source material for later compositions. Mary-Anne will help the momentum of these sketches by giving you exercises and encouragement. We will settle down on camp stools in the shade for a landscape view later in the morning before returning to camp for lunch and a well-earned rest.

As in all our trips on later days into the park, anyone who has come to look at the view rather than sketch will be royally rewarded by what they see.

In the afternoon we could return into the park or decide to work from camp developing some of the morning's work.

Dinner in camp.

Day 3
Leaving even earlier than the day before we will travel a little further into the park for our morning of animal sketching and, after mid-morning tea, landscape painting in the shade, following the same pattern as the previous day. Days with these wild animals are governed by what is happening in their lives and by what our guide leads us to. We will hope to gather images of as many animals as we can, including lion, leopard, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, zebra and all the other antelopes, but also some of the birds of the bush.

Return for lunch and siesta. In the afternoon we will look at our work and think about textile designs for tomorrow's workshop. Using our own images we will make textile designs suitable for the item you choose - napkins, table cloth, apron, pillow etc. Design work is very useful when thinking about paintings; part of good composition is about design and pattern, so this exercise should be useful to everyone.

Dinner in camp.

Day 4
Unless we are tempted to go for an early morning game drive, I suggest we spend the morning painting in camp, to develop our landscape paintings and put any last touches to our textile designs.

After coffee we will drive to Tribal Textiles, (20mins), where we will visit this inspiring textile works before putting on aprons and watching our own designs become reality. We will take a picnic lunch with us so that we can stay longer at Tribal Textiles if we want to.

Leaving our fabrics behind, ready to be dyed, fixed and sewn, we return to camp and have free time for rest of the day, with an optional night drive in the evening before a late dinner.

Day 5
This is a good day for going out into the park all day long, taking a picnic lunch with us as well as mattresses so that we can have a rest during the heat of the day. Going out all day means that we have the time to go further and, potentially, see more and spend longer on one painting. We would drive out for the early part of the day before slowing down our pace for animal sketches and landscapes.

We would return late afternoon back to camp, doubtless very ready for showers, drinks and dinner.

Day 6
In the morning we will go out to a nearby village, to learn about local culture and customs as we sketch and paint, with the specific aim of collecting images for a composition later in the day. Many people in the Luangwa Valley continue to live a subsistence life, making their own mud and thatch huts and living from the crops they grow on their fields. The enormous growth of the village of Mfuwe (mainly through tourism) has meant that people also have access to 21st century goods. We will see a modern Africa, with all the juxtapositions of culture and style.

Return to camp for lunch and rest time. We will work from the colourful people, huts, chickens and goats of our village sketches in the afternoon.

Dinner in camp.

Day 7
Starting super early again, we will return to the park in the early light to sketch and wonder at these incredible animals. We will find another beautiful landscape spot after our mid-morning tea and stay there until leaving for lunch and a rest back at camp.

We will spend the afternoon looking at some of the work we have created over the past few days. This is a time to reflect and to plan, as no doubt many of you will want to continue working on your sketches, drawings and paintings when you return home. Our textiles will be delivered today, so we will be able to admire those too!

Dinner in camp.

Day 8
Depending on the time of your onward flight, we may have time for a last early drive in the park, leaving the packing until mid-morning if you are flying out in the afternoon.

Pack and depart for Mfuwe Airport.

Malawi
This is a slow pace safari with minimal travelling, at a stunning time of year, cool by night and sunny altitudes by day and with views to die for. We stay in simple as well as 'honey moon' destinations with all the romance, delicious food and sophistication of the African bush.

Day 1
Arrive in Lilongwe, Malawi. On arrival at the airport you will be met by Mary-Anne and by your safari guide. We will then drive to Lilongwe and to the Korea Garden Lodge where we spend the afternoon and night. Our evening meal is at a nearby restaurant.

Day 2
Early morning we set off for Liwonde National Park (4hrs), arriving for lunch inside the park at Chinguni. If possible we will stop en route at the paper-making project at Balaka (where there’s excellent Italian coffee). After lunch we take a slow drive to Mvuu Camp in the centre of Liwonde National Park (1hr). This is our home for the next five nights, where we stay in en suite chalets by the river.

Days 3, 4 & 5
We spend our days in Liwonde exploring the wonders of nature and how to express it on paper. There are two art excursions per day with plenty of opportunity to sketch, watch and relax in glorious surroundings. Day game-drives are included as well as one boat safari on the River Shire and one game-drive into the Rhino Sanctuary.

Day 6
After leaving Mvuu, we have a 1hr game drive back through the park then continue southwards past Zomba to Mulanje (2-3hrs). After lunch we will sketch and plan tomorrow’s painting. We stay for two nights at Lujeri guest house in the tea-covered foot hills under the great mass of Mount Mulanje.

Day 7
Painting on the tea estates, finding views of streams and mountains, sketches of the colourful tea pickers and tea buildings. Optional visit to the tea factory.

Day 8
Setting off early from the tea estates we make our way to Blantyre (1½hrs) to visit Mandala, the oldest colonial building in the country and home to Malawi's art gallery La Caverna and the Society of Malawi Library. After our visit here we will continue on to Zomba (1hr) and wind our way up the mountain to Zomba Forest Lodge, a quiet and homely forest house perched on the side of the mountain, our home for three nights.

Days 9 & 10
Painting from Zomba, with the choice of further exploring the mountain in the afternoons or driving to Lake Chilwa.

Day 11
Leaving Zomba we drive northwards past Liwonde to Mua which is at the base of the Dedza escarpment (3hrs). We are staying at Mua Mission and will have plenty of time to take in this inspiring environment after our guided tour of the cultural museum.

Day 12
After breakfast and the mission's Easter service (optional) we drive to Lake Malawi (1½ hrs). On arrival at Monkey Bay we take the dirt road on to Chembe village and meet the staff at Kayak Africa. Here we choose whether to kayak across to the island or go by boat with our luggage. We stay in luxury Robinson Crusoe style for three nights on one or both islands.

Days 13 & 14
Our lazy days on the Lake are spent painting the shoreline overlooking the huge expanse of azure water and walking to the top of the island to paint the extraordinary trees there. There is also ample time to swim, snorkel, potter around in boats and relax in this ideal setting.

Day 15
We will leave the island very early in order to reach the airport in good time for your return flight (3½hrs).

Kenya
This is a colour and adrenaline rush safari with wonderfully luxurious evenings and nights. Both camps are small, personal, stylish and serve exquisite food. Cool, dry and blue skies, Kenya is a stunning country at any time of year, rich in culture, landscape, mountains, lakes and wildlife, but August is best. Activities include a sketching trip in a Masai village, as well as a visit to artists studios in Nairobi.

Day 1
Arrive in Nairobi. Overnight Fairview Hotel.

Day 2
Mary-Anne will meet you early in the morning and we will drive to Malewa (2hrs). Malewa River Lodge in the Kigio Wildlife Conservancy is your base for the next four nights. Malewa is run by Kenyan artist and conservationist Chris Campbell-Claus.

After settling into your accommodation and lunch, we will walk along the river with our sketch books to find our bearings and explore colours and shapes. The afternoon should give you a chance to relax into the beautiful surroundings of this part of the Great Rift Valley and recover from your flight as you fill your first pages.

Day 3
We start the day with a colour workshop by the river, finding our own language for colour and exploring ways of using it. Later in the morning we drive to a magnificent viewpoint to sketch the hills, looking out for the wildlife below and all around us. After lunch we take a slow drive with our sketch books to work on fast sketches of animals and landscape. The techniques for making 'blink' sketches are essential for the rest of the trip and for giving you rich material for your studio on return. Dinner in camp.

Day 4
A very early start and a drive to Lake Nakuru (45minutes) and into Lake Nakuru National Park. Here we will meander through the park, stopping regularly for sketches and painting, aiming to settle in one spot after lunch so that we can spend several hours on one painting. Return late afternoon for dinner in camp.

Day 5
In the morning we will see if we can spot the white rhinos and the extremely rare Rothschild's giraffe resident in the park, sketch books and cameras to the ready for these and other animals. Doubtless our journeys will be interrupted by zebras crossing. After lunch, we will take the opportunity to work up some of the sketches in camp, relax and catch up with diaries and postcards. A late afternoon drive will take us on a final game drive around Kigio Wildlife Conservancy.

Day 6
We set off early for Lake Naivasha (40mins) for a morning of sketching on the lakeshore before taking our flight from Naivasha airport to the Masai Mara. On arrival we settle into our new accommodation at Kicheche Mara Camp for the next five nights. Dinner in camp.

Day 7
Carrying sketchbooks and sending painting gear on in a vehicle, we walk out of our secluded wood into the Masai Mara. Stopping for regular sketches we will collect many pages of visual information to tell us about our environment. Our hosts have planned a picnic brunch with a view so that we can choose to paint from here after we have eaten or move elsewhere for the next couple of hours. We return to camp to relax (or paint) for the rest of the afternoon before dinner.

Day 8
Driving out early morning we set off for the river, hoping to find a spot where the migration is crossing. The speed and adrenaline of the sights we see on game drives here will be recorded in fast sketches, both in colour and monotone. Here the 'blink' sketches will come into their own, and your fast colour choices, as you take down as much as you can in a helter-skelter of lines and wash.

Day 9
Balloon Trip over the Mara in the morning - painting optional!

In the afternoon we are invited to a local Masai village to spend some hours sketching while the local people go about their daily lives. This is a village that is not visited by other tourist groups, so that we can spend the whole afternoon with people, learning through observation about cooking, dress, traditions, architecture and construction, farming practice and rearing of animals as well as all about the village and family life. This is a rare and extremely special opportunity.

Day 10
Setting off early, we drive out towards where the migrations is crossing the river, following our guide's expert advice. As ever there are no guarantees with wildlife, so we must expect the unexpected and hope to be rewarded with Africa';s usual magic. The rest of the day may depend on what we see, however, I suggest that we return to camp at midday so that we can spend the afternoon reviewing our experiences and artwork. Dinner in camp.

Day 11
We take a mid-morning flight from the Mara, arriving in Nairobi for lunch. In the afternoon we will visit some of Kenya's most inspiring artists at the Go-Down Arts Centre, home to many visual artists and sculptors as well as radio, film and theatre.

Overnight Fairview Hotel.

Day 12
Daytime programme to be discussed - possibly to include going to Karen Blixen's house.

We have an early supper in a Nairobi restaurant before driving back the airport to check in and depart.

Please contact us for dates and prices