Zambia Safari 2022
I'm frequently asked what a photo safari in Africa is like. In this gallery I'll try to give you an idea of what we do. This photo, with gorgeous light over the river, is an example of how we start our mornings in search of wildlife.
When we arrive at a camp we would receive a greeting from the staff. And when we leave they often sing a goodbye song to us.
This is a central lounge area and our separate cabins are spread out around this central area.
This is one of our bedrooms. Not too shabby. At night the doors were closed to keep out the wildlife. Julie said though that I could stay inside!
Here is the open toilet. We had a wonderful view of the elephants cavorting outside our cabin. Only in Africa.
Here's our bedroom in one of the bush camps. As you can see we are quite comfortable. The rooms are screened in but no heat or air. At night it would dip to the low 40s.
Here is another one of our bedrooms. The mosquito nets were lowered at night, but we didn't see any mosquitoes at this time of year.
Our day-to-day itinerary was: Leave at 6:30a for the morning expedition. Coffee and potty break about 9:30a, lunch at 11:30a, back at camp until 3p for afternoon tea, 3:30p afternoon safari, sundowner in the bush with drinks and snacks at about 5:30p, dark at 6 pm, search for wildlife at night until 7:30p, and then dinner at 8 pm. Repeat the next day.
Here you see our two drivers and half of our intrepid photographers in our two landrovers.
People often ask if the animals get close. Yes they do! That's Paul Renner staring down the lion, or is it the other way around.
This is one of our friendly guides. They were all very helpful in finding wildlife in the bush.
Here's Julie photographing a giraffe along the river. That's Deb Komatsu behind her. She was not masked for Covid, but for the dust.
I find the trees in southern Africa to be fascinating. Here's an example.
The silhouette of a tree against the rich red sky of Africa. It's seductive.
Here we gather for our morning break. Women to the right, men to the left to use bush toilets.
Here is another gathering of our photographic team getting ready for lunch to be served out in the bush.
I'm thanking our lovely ladies who prepared our lunch.
Another view of that beautiful morning golden light. It's easy to get too focused on the wildife and birds and forget to enjoy the scenery.
During the dry season this is the way the natives built a road to cross the river. It's a series of sandbags. During the wet season all of this area floods, including the camps, which then have to be rebuilt for the next tourist season.
Parts of Zambia are quite modern, but parts are also quite poor. Here is a shopping strip mall nearby our first lodge.
Julie was eager to help the Zambian economy by shopping. The Tribal Textiles was a store where the locals made hand-painted crafts.
Julie searching for the perfect gift.
This is one of our spacious accommodations. Really cool don't you think!
From inside our cabin I photographed this elephant who came to visit. In the early mornings we were often greeted with the deep sounding roars of lions just outside our camp. We indeed are in the wild here.
This is how we get hot water. Outside each cabin is a solar heating unit like this. All of the bush camps had minimal electricity generated by solar panels.
Nothing like sitting on a comfortable toilet seat and looking at the stars or showering outdoors. Very cool, especially in the early morning.
This is a shower head made from a log.
Relaxing in our living room.
Julie is rolling her own pizza dough. We each then put our ingredients on the dough and gave it to one of the cooks who placed it in the pizza oven which is shown in the background. This all occurred out in the bush. Inconspicuously there was a guard with a rifle, just in case a hippo or elephant got a whiff of pizza.
Our team enjoying dessert after our pizza lunch.
For one of our lunches, we pulled up to the river to see this. Our local cooks preparing a meal for us to eat sitting in the river. We were glad there were no hippos nearby, which were common in this river.
Can you say you've had lunch served "IN" the river!
Do you get the sense that life is very strenuous here in the wilds of Zambia?
Hey, I need to shave, but who cares, we're in the bush.
The roads we traveled to find wildlife were consistently rough. Here's the local road maintenancee crew supposedly maintaining the roads.
A "panorama" from one of our lodges along the river.
The local lodge where we stayed buit this well so that the locals would have fresh water rather than taking it from the river.
Julie jumped right in and helped pump the water. The owners of the lodge have installed over 200 of these wells around the area. What a gift!
Away with the water, usually carried on the head.
Another beautiful tree.
The wide, shallow river. Imagine it during the wet season flooding the area.
The end of a beautiful day with the hippos floating in the river.
Let's call this a "sunset" tree.
One evening we did some star gazing. Here you see the Milky Way.