A Life Changing Experience
Exceeded Every Expectation
My first Africa safari ended some time ago but I’m still struggling to process the experience, not to mention the over 8,000 photos I captured there! But it’s hard. Not because of the mountain of images to plow through, but because Africa exceeded my expectations in every way. From the mind-blowing quantity and diversity of wildlife everywhere - herds of elephants or giraffes around every turn, thousands of antelope and gazelle, dinosaur-sized birds flying around like pigeons, uncountable numbers of zebra and wildebeest - to the unbelievable quality of the photo opportunities - lions in sublime light, cheetahs so close they sent me scrambling for a wide-angle lens, observing the drama of the hunt from start to finish multiple times - every day had our group convinced that it just couldn’t get any better. But it did. Right up until the final morning when we witnessed two male lions chase down and kill a hyena with a savage vengeance. In the aftermath, there was no doubt that this act was more about hatred than hunger. But even then, it wasn’t over. Like a conductor bringing her audience down from the emotional climax of a symphony, the next movement began with the slow-motion swaying of a group of giraffes in mock battle, the entire ballet mirrored in a pool of still water. If I wasn’t busy focusing, composing, and firing frames, I would have cried. Minutes later we were at the airfield, waiting for the plane that would begin our journey home.
Find a Way
My first trip to Africa won’t be my last. I’m thrilled with the shots I got, but the misses are going to eat at me for some time. But honestly, photography is just an excuse to experience moments like these. I’m already planning another crack at the Great Migration for February 2021 with fellow photo workshop leader, Leighton Lum. But I’m pretty sure that will only mark the first of many return trips to this wildlife nirvana. If you share my passion for observing and photographing wildlife, come to Africa. Come with us, come with someone else, come on your own. Find a way, plan it, and do it. I promise you won’t regret it.
Changing the Story
If you can, bring a child. Because it will be their generation that decides the fate of places like this. Pessimism about the survival of the natural world abounds and it is justified. We’ve lost so much already. But there’s also reason for hope. To save a thing, you need to first fall in love with it. My generation fell in love with the big black eyes of seal pups on the ice, the idea of oceans with whales, and seeing the majestic symbol of our nation not just in zoos. Maybe these are isolated success stories and maybe it’s wrong to draw attention away from the battles still before us. But ideas are powerful...even stronger than fear. Fear freezes, but inspiration fuels action. Sparks are needed to ignite the fires but we can’t count on YouTube and Xboxes to set young minds ablaze. Before I stared out across the Serengeti, over the backs of a single herd of wildebeest so vast I couldn't find its end even with binoculars, the stories millions of bison once roaming our Great Plains were just that, stories that lived in my head. After seeing the Great Migration with my own eyes, I understand in my heart what we once had and lost. We may never recover all that we’ve squandered but perhaps young hearts inspired by the sight of a world that once was will be foolish enough to try. And that might just be enough to change the story of life on this planet.
