WELCOME TO MY
WILDLIFE BLOG
Trip Report: Bespoke Luangwa | Track & Trail and Lion Camp | May 2022
The Luangwa Valley is a special place to visit at any time of the year. I love the early dry season months of April, May and June for the clear light, cool mornings and the active animals which do not have to take shelter from the intense heat. There is more vegetation around which limits the viewing at times, but generally, this is a superb time to visit. It's also considered shoulder season by many camps [...]
Photo Safari Report: Bespoke Botswana x 8 | Okavango Delta | May 2022
I just returned from leading a 12-night adventure through 3 camps in the Okavango Delta with a group of repeat guests from the USA. It's a familiar story, but this trip had been planned in 2018 for 2020, then been postponed twice and finally taken place in May 2022. The group had to carefully consider the risks of travelling again, even as COVID begins to impact the world less heavily, but decided to go ahead with [...]
Wildlife: Spider-wasp takes on a large baboon spider
I was walking with my family yesterday and I heard an aggressive, hissing, rattling noise in the bush just off the path that we were using. I stopped and quickly found a large pompilid wasp dragging a huge baboon spider carcass. The wasp had hissed at us in defence of its prey. I went to collect my camera, and a flash since it was getting dark, and returned to find the wasp preparing to cross the [...]
Black Rhino Rescue in Zambia – 8 April 2022
It was a huge thrill and a privilege to be part of an operation to recover a black rhino called Chilunda and return him to the North Luangwa National Park. Over more than a decade living in Zambia, documenting this memorable day is a massive highlight. The success of this audacious rescue is a credit to the expertise and dedication of individuals and organisations in Zambia (and beyond) who are committed to conserving wild landscapes and [...]
Wildlife: Luangwa’s Changing Seasons
It is a time of dramatic seasonal change in Luangwa; the days are shortening, the evenings are cooling and there is a freshness in the air. I start to think about dry season, and make ill-advised comments like "it feels cooler today; maybe the rains are coming to an end...!". Inevitably, there will be more rain, but the showers are less frequent and there is certainly a dry feel which has been absent for months! The [...]
Tour Info: Gonarezhou National Park
It's been a long time coming, but it looks like we will have a safari season this year! I can't express my excitement about this, and also my gratitude to all my guests who have stuck with me over the last 2 years while we've navigated through the ever-changing challenges of the pandemic. Special thanks to Emma Seaman at People & Places Travel in Lusaka who has flawlessly juggled the thousands of emails which have been [...]
Wildlife: African Green Pigeons
I spent a very enjoyable hour at a fruiting Bird Plum tree yesterday. There was soft light, created by a haze of low cloud over the morning sunshine, and an array of fruit-eating birds were feating on the ripe green plums. Initially, I was focused on a Grey Go-away Bird which was making faces as it tried to swallow the large fruits...but then I saw that the African Green Pigeons, which are usually so shy, were [...]
Skills: Making great silhouette photos
Silhouette images - in which the subject is defined mostly or entirely by its shape - convey huge visual impact if they are created successfully. Certain elements are important in creating this impact: the subject should be recognisable by its shape; the subject's shape should ideally be clear and "unbroken" by other elements in the image; the background against which the subject is shown should enhance the shot, ideally having its own value and interest. The [...]
Life in the Bush: the Annual Flood
I wish more people could visit the Luangwa Valley in February. There are many good reasons why you shouldn't; including, but not limited to, the fierce storms that lash the landscape and thrash the trees; the hot weather and proliferation of insects; the intermittent road access governed by the water levels; and the ever-present chance that your accommodation will be flooded overnight. But along with the unpredictability and the occasional discomfort comes a beautiful, impressive wildness [...]
Wildlife: Birds of Malawi
With a wide variety of habitats, ranging from floodplains and river courses to montane forest and high-altitude grassland, Malawi has a fantastic diversity of species in a relatively small area. I just returned from a 2-week trip, split between the lakeshore, the highlands of Nyika Plateau and the mid-altitude forests of Viphya Plateau. The diversity of bird species across these 2 habitats was incredible and I enjoyed searching for and photographing as many as I could [...]
Through the Lens: 2021 in Review
A second year of living with the covid-19 pandemic was dramatically better than the previous, but also far short of the rich, full year that we had all dreamed of during the depths of 2020's dark days. I hope that you are all well, your friends & family are healthy and you have found ways to cope with the frustrations of the last 12 months. Over the last 22 months, around the world, everyone has faced [...]
Photo Safari Report: Earth Ark Travel | South Luangwa | Dec 2021
2021, a second year of disruption and uncertainty for the travel industry, as for the whole world. Those who have been able to travel have met an industry ready to receive guests again, and desperately hoping to do so. The strain that 2 years of dramatically reduced income has stretched even those safari camps with the best protected contingency plans and rainy-day funds — who could have predicted what 2020 & 2021 have thrown at the [...]
EDWARD SELFE
I organise & run photographic safaris in the finest wildlife areas on Earth.
