I can’t quite believe that I’ve been here four weeks now – the time has flown by and I feel as if I’ve hardly had a moment to breath. My working day starts at 5.30 most days, and finishes at 6.30 at dinnertime, or 10.00 if we have a night drive once a week. I had a one-week handover with […]
We’ve heard spectacular claps of thunder in the middle of the night which have made us nearly jump out of our skins, and then stayed cosily tucked up in bed listening to the rain hammering on the thatched roofs of our cabins. Other nocturnal noises have included the whoop whoop of hyenas outside the boundary fence, the throaty croak of […]
Whilst here, the volunteers have the option to go on various trips at weekends. A couple of weekends ago I was on the rota to go to St. Lucia with them in order to be their contact person and organiser whilst there. I have been there just once before, (last November, whilst I was a volunteer myself,) so apparently that […]
The golden hour’ is the term photographers use to describe the beautiful light we have when the sun is low in the sky. I’ve only ever made use of it when photographing weddings in the summer, that time in the evening when the sun casts a golden glow over everything and everybody, and we can take gorgeous photos of the […]
One of my duties here as photography volunteer coordinator is to produce a monthly newsletter. All the coordinators contribute, as do some of the volunteers. I ‘just’ have to put it together. I’d seen previous newsletters and was determined to produce something more contemporary and fresh – it only took a day and a half!! For anyone interested in what […]
Lean, Mean, Killing Machine I’ve gone off lions a little bit. Gasp! Sorry Elsa! (If you don’t understand this reference read my ‘About me’ page) Early last week we were excited to find three lionesses by a water hole. Not far away buried in the bushes by the side of the track were the remains of a kill, and the […]
Following on from my previous posting about how a guide knows where to go, they also need excellent eyesight. The photo below is of a distant hillside, and from this position, our guide spotted a couple of elephants! And here they are! My camera long lens is fully zoomed in. Even harder to see in the second photo due to […]
Good eyesight, camouflage, and why zebras have stripes.Read More »
One of the duties of the volunteers on the photography project is to prepare and deliver two lessons for the students at a local school. As I have arrived in week three of four, my group was already well underway with planning their lesson for this week. I have five photographers, a German girl, an Italian girl, an American lady, […]
It always fascinates me how a guide knows where to take us when out on a drive. Sometimes he or she will have spoken to other guides on Thanda and been given information about animal sightings. Other times s/he will ask the clients or volunteers whether there is anything specific they would like to see, and then head in the […]
9 months after I finished a volunteering project at Thanda Game reserve in South Africa, I’m back again, but this time I’m working here for 3 months as Photography Volunteer Coordinator. So, on Saturday, I said goodbye to my lovely family, and set off on a 26 hour journey to get here. The landscape is brown but once the rains […]