Drone to a foreign country?

Why would I risk bringing a drone to a foreign country, risk having it taken away from me, or risk losing it to the jungles in Africa and never seeing it again? The answer is simple: so I could take photos and videos like these.

I had no idea if I could get my DJI Phantom into Tanzania, or once I got it in, if anyone would let me fly it. Not only was I able to get it into the country and fly it, the drone made everyone at the camp where we stayed come out and look. Big thanks to our photography guide Randy Hanna for convincing me to bring it.

The first camp we stayed at was Thomson’s Serengeti Nyumba Camp (http://www.thomsonsafaris.com). At one point, all the staff came out looking at the drone. Some were at the monitor, looking at the live feed; others just liked watching it fly around.

Thomson’s Serengeti Nyumba Camp in Tanzania: DJI Phantom and GoPro from Jeff Paradiso on Vimeo.
Well, what is better than a campground? Wildebeests! They all kind of gave this WTF look at first. They thought it was best to run away from it.

Wildebeests! Outside Thomson’s Serengeti Nyumba Camp. from Jeff Paradiso on Vimeo.

When we got to the 2nd Thomson Nyumba camp at Ngorongoro, I was not going to fly the Phantom. Looking at the very small window in the tree tops that I had to punch through, I thought I might crash it. Somehow, word got to the camp that I had a “Flying Bug” and they asked me to fly it. So I scraped up the nerve and took the “Flying Bug” for a flight over the trees.