2023 Spring / Summer Safari Roundup
...And Breathe... What a Spring / Summer season it's been, with a huge variety of safaris close to home and in Africa. Thank you to all my guests who have made it such a memorable year so far! It's difficult to pick out individual moments, but here are just some of my highlights... SPRING Iceland - a fabulous landscape section of frozen waterfalls, seascapes, glaciers, an ice cave and some unforgettable encounters with Icelandic horses was crowned by heading to isolated Hornstrandir for Arctic foxes - a treat for those who don't mind the cold!
Iceland will be offered again in 2025
Skokholm - Puffin Paradise! These charming birds kept us hugely entertained for a long weekend, alongside guillemots, razorbills, chuffs and manx shearwaters. The advantage of staying here is being able to shoot them in wonderful light, rather than in the high, harsh sun of day trips.
Hoping to return to Skokholm again in 2024 - dates releasing soon.
SUMMER Zimanga provided more unique encounters: up close with elephant, rhino, giraffe, serval, buffalo, warthog and gazelles all drinking at the night hide, plus some incredible stars. On drive the cheetahs were the stars of the show: we crawled to within a couple of metres of a female with a kill and two brothers on a hunt, moments my guests will never forget!
This year's Tanzania tour was a private commission, with an emphasis on exploring on foot as well as on game drive. Joining the last true hunter-gatherer tribe, the Hadza, on a hunt one day, and foraging with them the next, was thrilling (and I must admit pretty challenging physically!) and also brought wonderful chances for candid cultural photography. Walking to the heart of Empakaai Crater for the flamingos on its crater lake was breathtaking too, and of course the mayhem of migration crossings was the icing on our photography cake!
Botswana brought surprises too - mating leopards are not often seen but we had a full morning of them, with the sighting all to ourselves. Mating lions too (something in the air in the Okavango!) As we moved from the Delta to the Chobe River, the specialist photo boat gave us tremendous opportunities to hone many different photographic techniques, and I can't wait to return!
Amongst the bigger trips, I've also been hosting 1 day workshops in Northumberland, and individual tuition sessions for guests wishing to brush up their skills ahead of their own safaris, or embarking on particular projects.
So that's what's been happening lately - check out the next link below to see what's coming up next... I'll be delighted if you'd like to join me somewhere along the way!
