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Gallery: under African skies
No two skies are the same, and no single sky stays the same for long. Maybe that’s why, as photographers, we are so drawn to capture them? An ever-evolving, ever captivating subject that is available to us all. We only have to look up!
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Gallery: making eyes at me
Giraffes’ eyes are beautiful but they can look rather mournful. Maybe that’s a touch of anthropomorphism, attributing human emotions to an animal? And yet …
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Gallery: taking a wider view in Botswana
Looking for the ‘ah-ha’ seems to me to be an excellent mantra for any photographer. Although in truth I sometimes search for that not by stepping back but by zooming in. For me the important thing is not to settle for the obvious, for the first angle that occurs to me.
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The sun sets and the sun rises over the Chobe River
The wide waters of the Chobe River form the northern boundary of the national park of the same name. They divide Botswana from its neighbour Namibia to the north. But of course the wildlife that teems on its shores, in its waters and in the skies above knows no national borders. And nor does the sun, which sets and rises on all.
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A walk on Sausage Island: it’s all about the elephants
While the safety of a jeep is comforting and often necessary on safari, there is nothing to beat the experience of walking through the African countryside on foot. A slight frisson of danger accompanies you as you step carefully through the long grass. The only sounds are those of the wildlife around you and the breeze through the trees; the only scents those wafted on that same breeze.
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A walk on Palm Island: hippos, hogs and crocs
It was early morning in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. As we stepped ashore from the small boat our guide, Slade, immediately stopped to load his rifle. It was a somewhat disconcerting start to our walk, to say the least. He then gave us a short briefing on how to stay safe during our time on Palm Island, one of hundreds that dot the delta.
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Video: flying to the Okavango Delta
Sometimes how you travel to a place can be as much fun as the place itself. The small planes that serve the various camps in Botswana’s Okavango Delta operate much like buses, dropping off and picking up passengers along the way. For some people, a flight in a small prop plane would be their worst nightmare; for me it was almost as much of an attraction as the destination itself!
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Gallery: mokoro rides in the Okavango Delta
Please don’t ask me to pick my favourite landscape – it’s impossible. I love the drama of high mountain ranges, and the huge open skies of the desert; the haunting light that illuminates certain lands close to our poles, and grassy savannahs strewn with baobab trees; gentle green rolling hills, and roaring waterfalls.
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Wherever I lay my hat … (continued)
What makes a place to stay special? Is it the location? The people? The building itself? Maybe in the best places it is all of these things, plus a small helping of ‘je ne sais quoi’.