In March 1909, Boyce embarked on a two-month trip to Europe, which included a visit to his daughters, who were in Rome. On returning to America, Boyce organized a photographic expedition to Africa with the innovative aerial photographer George R. Lawrence. Boyce met with safari organizers and outfitters and provisioned his expedition in London and Naples. His son Benjamin and Lawrence's son Raymond were part of the expedition. Cartoonist John T. McCutcheon joined the expedition while they were sailing from Naples to Africa. The group disembarked at Mombasa, Kenya, and was in Nairobi by September. After hiring local porters and guides, the entire expedition totaled about 400 people, about three-fourths of whom were servants. It required 15 train cars to move the people and equipment to the area the expedition was going to explore near Kijabi and Lake Victoria. The expedition was a failure because a telephoto lens was neither brought nor subsequently procured, the hot air balloons were not suitable for the conditions on the plains of East Africa, and the cameras were so large and noisy to move into position that the animals were scared away. The members of the expedition had to resort to buying photographs of big game animals from shops in cities such as Nairobi. The expedition did manage to successfully hunt several species of big game animals.