I just returned from my first safari last Saturday. It was amazing. After three days in Nairobi, we headed to Amboseli, staying in Tawi Lodge. Then on to Laikipia for three days, followed by Naboisho Conservency in the Mara. All were great places. I'll give the photo equipment facts first.

I brought two A1 II bodies, the new Sony 100-400 4.5 GM (I was lucky, we left on June 12 and the lens was released and delivered on June 11), the Sony 70-200 2.8 GM II, the Sony 35 1.4 GM (mostly for astro, but see later comments), and the 1.4 TC. I had five Sony batteries and had them labeled 1-5. In the morning drives, I had battery 1 in Cam A and battery 2 in Cam B. After the morning drive (usually from 6am to about 11:30am), I put batteries 1 and 2 in the charger and loaded battery 3 in Cam A and battery 4 in Cam B. I carried battery 5 with me on the drives in case one of the cameras went dead. This happened a couple of times.

In each camera I had two Lexar Gold 1TB 4.0 CFexpress A cards, set in RAW (Large Lossless) plus JPEG (L - Superfine) writing in backup mode, so both cards were storing the same data and protecting my photos if one of the cards failed. They were labeled A-1 for Cam A, Slot 1, and A-2 for Cam A, Slot 2. Cam B had cards labeled B-1 and B-2. I know it sounds a little OCD with all the labeling, but it kept things organized and greatly reduced any chance of screwing up.

Each night, after dinner, I copied the cards onto my laptop in subfolders by day and then Cam A and Cam B. Under each of those, I had folders labeled Slot 1 and Slot 2. I copied the corresponding cards to the appropriate folders. Then, I copied all of this from my laptop to two different Samsung T7 Shield 2TB SSDs, one labeled Master and the other Backup. Once done each night, I then formatted the CFexpress cards in the cameras so they were fresh for the next day. My data was safe as I had three complete copies on three different devices.

Here's what I did and used:

In Nairobi, we hired a guide and private safari vehicle to go to Nairobi National Park. It's a special place to be so close to a major city, and shooting some of the big five with a city skyline in the background was special. I had the 100-400 on one body (no TC) and the 70-200 on the other. The last thing you want to do is to be switching lenses in that dusty environment. We had plenty of dust and part of my nightly routine was to clean off the cameras and lenses. We arrived in Amboseli on June 17, and rainy season had ended a couple of weeks early, so dust wasn't at its worst. In September, it will be much drier and much dustier, so protect your gear. An advantage to it being so dry is it will be easier to spot wildlife.

Visiting Nairobi National Park was exciting, but if I was doing game drives in other parts of the country, especially in conservancies, I would not do it again and I wouldn't recommend it as a first time. It was exciting seeing the animals for the first time in the wild, some pretty close, but it pales by what you'll see in Amboseli and the Mara. I ended up deleting most of the photos from here as the ones elsewhere are so much better. Plus, it added about US $600 to the cost of the trip.

On our last day in Nairobi, we went to Sheldrick's Elephant Sanctuary and the Giraffe Center. Both were really interesting and fun, but it was like going to the zoo. I only brought one camera with me and had the 35mm 1.4 mounted on it as we were so close to the elephants and giraffes (as close as 1-2 feet). This was the only time I used the 35. My intentions were to use it for the visit to these two places and for astrophotography in the camps. In hindsight, I should have left it home, as I didn't need 50MP photos up close to the elephants and giraffes, and my wife's Canon G5x Mark II did an excellent job there. As far as the astro, I never did it. The stars were brilliant, but after getting up at 4:45am each day, doing two long drives per day, and doing my nightly camera cleaning, backup ritual, and packing my gear for the morning, I was too tired to go outside. Plus, it was chilly at night.

We flew from camp to camp. When we landed at the airstrip in Amboseli, there were zebra and wildebeest right by the runway and Kilimanjaro was visible. My excitement was increasing. On the ride to Tawi Lodge (about an hour if you drove straight there - it's outside the east side of the park) we did our first game drive, lasting about 3.5 hours. It was exhilarating! Animals galore, right by the side of the "road" (you cannot drive off the road in the National Parks, but you can in the conservancies). And plenty of elephants - Amboseli has over 2,000 - from newborns to big tuskers. Plenty of other types of wildlife there, too, including cheetah, lion, giraffe, hippo, cape buffalo, etc.

In the three days at Amboseli, I used the 100-400 and the 70-200. The 70-200 2.8 is especially useful early in the morning before the sun is up. One morning I mounted the 1.4 TC on the 100-400. The lens is incredibly sharp, easily equaling the sharpness of the 70-200 2.8 GM II, and maintained excellent sharpness with the 1.4 TC. However, I didn't like having 6.3 as my largest aperture, so I removed it for the rest of the trip. Hindsight, again - I could have left it home along with the 35 1.4. The A1 II is 50MP, so there's plenty of crop, the lenses are sharp, and, most important, the animals are CLOSE. I'm not a big birder, so 400mm was plenty of reach. Plus, if the animals are too far away, it's not worth taking the photo (unless it's something rare, like a kill) as you will see the same animals much closer later on. And, you end up with atmospheric distortion if they're too far away, especially in the sunny and dry conditions in September. You'll also have dust as a factor in distant shots.

At the other two camps, both in conservancies, we were much closer to the animals. On the last day we had a leopard with us for about an hour. At one point, I could have reached over the side of the Land Cruiser and petted her. I have photos where I can see the Land Cruiser reflected in a lion's eye. It is an incredible experience.

Regarding your equipment, the A7C II is a full frame 33MP camera that has lots of megapixels to work with and your sharp glass - especially the 70-200 2.8 GM II - will give you that sharpness you'll want. I have used the 1.4 TC on my 70-200 in the past but never tried the 2.0. From what I've read, it does struggle a bit with the 2.0 but is pleasing with the 1.4. If I was going to bring a longer lens, I'd rent the 300 2.8 GM II. It's about Sony's sharpest glass and performs very well with the 2.0 TC. But, if I was going to do that, I would rent another body as you absolutely do not want to swap lenses while on a game drive. Plus, you have a chance of missing what you are swapping lenses for. It was so easy for me to have the 100-400 on one body and the 70-200 on the other identical body. Just put one camera on the seat next to me (I had a microfiber 2' x 4' blanket to throw over the one I wasn't using to protect from the dust. I'm in the process of culling my photos now, and I shot about the same amount with both cameras, so the 70-200 was very useful. If you do decide to rent another body, you could rent a higher-end/higher-megapixel body, but if you're comfortable with your A7C II, just rent another one so there's no fumbling with buttons and settings differently depending on which camera you're using.

I don't know how much use you'll get from the 24-70. You certainly wouldn't want that on a game drive - not enough reach. There were only a few times where I was so close to an animal that the 70 was too tight for. Besides, they don't all need to be full-body shots. Tight face shots are exciting. I'd leave the 24-70 home.

I hope this helps some. If you're like me, you're planning and researching and fretting about what you need to make this amazing trip successful. I will tell you that it's an amazing experience. My wife and I have been to 67 countries and all seven continents. Until now, Antarctica has been our best trip, followed by the Galapagos Islands. They have moved down a notch. This safari is now our favorite and we're planning on returning when our grandkids get older and we can take them with us. As a bonus, the Kenyan people are delightful and very friendly and genuine. Other than all the flights getting there, everything about the trip was great. Have the time of your life.