This was my fifth trip to South Luangwa with Ed and one that I’d been eagerly anticipating, particularly with the 3-year gap since the last one, due to Covid travel restrictions.
This trip was a little different from the other four, in that I had decided to bring my 84-year mother with me. She loves all things nature/wildlife, so for her this was literally the trip of a lifetime. My main objectives for mum were for her to have a wonderful trip and of course stay safe. I certainly needn’t have worried about the latter. Ever resourceful, Ed had not only made sure there were steps for mum to get in and out of the 4WD but he had also fashioned a bush toilet so that mum didn’t have to worry about long drives with no bathroom breaks!
Of course for me it was slightly less ideal, not sitting down low in the passenger seat, but being up higher was sometimes advantageous too depending on the subject. We also managed on occasion to get out of the 4WD to get down to eye level. It’s obvious which images were taken this way and I think they work well.
Whilst the focus this year was less on photography, I still of course had a number of things I wanted to capture. Being mainly a landscape photographer back in the UK I was particularly keen to find subjects (whatever they were) that made for a good composition in the landscape, and with favourable lighting conditions. I also wanted to capture some actions shots, where I particularly like the panning shot of the baboon. Of course there are still a few what I would call portrait shots, of beautiful animals, and no image set would be complete without the odd cliché picture e.g. the Giraffe head at sunrise. The final image was literally as the sun set on our trip, which sadly happened all too soon!
As ever Ed was the perfect host and I hope I’m able to visit again in 2023.
