One of my current photography volunteers had found a company near to us who offer hot air balloon flights near Kruger National park, so 6 of us left Dumela Lodge at 3.50 a.m. last Saturday to go to the take-off site. I love how it’s dark one minute, and light about 15 minutes later. Whilst the balloon was being inflated […]
I really dislike all the pre-Christmas hype that we can’t escape in the UK. As soon as the schools start again in September, the shops start displaying Christmas goods. Before I left to come here, our local supermarket had tins of Roses and Quality Street piled up just inside the entrance. Being in Africa at this time of year is […]
Earlier this week the photographers visited the local rubbish dump! On the African Impact photography project there is so much more than just taking photos of wildlife. There were a couple of reasons for going; The first was to take photographs that highlight just how much rubbish is created by us humans, so that we can make more impact when […]
African Impact works closely with the local community. We have relationships with several schools, and we have been making an impact at one of them by helping to create a vegetable garden. This was started in June, and is already well established. The school is part of an ‘eco-training’ partnership. Our initial job was to finish some fencing. For this, […]
This week we visited a Reptile centre for some great photographic opportunities and to learn more about these creatures. We were lucky enough to have our own private session, so not long after arriving, we found ourselves all lying on the ground photographing a hooded cobra. (From a suitable distance and with long lenses of course!) This was followed by […]
Morning trip to a canyon. I wondered why we don’t have canyons in England. I have Cheddar Gorge nearby, but what’s the difference between a gorge and a canyon? Is it the area, the depth, or how it was formed? I had to google it, even with the slow internet connection, and according to National Geographic “A canyon is a […]
Monday morning saw the arrival of a coach load of young schoolchildren and their teachers who were here for a conservation education day. After I’d taken loads of gorgeous photos of the children, I learned that due to the child protection policy I’m not allowed to put anything on social media that easily identifies the child so I’ve had to […]
51 hours after leaving home, I finally arrived at Dumela Lodge, my home for the next 12 weeks. I was met with lots of hugs from the lovely people I worked with last year, and after taking my bags to my room I spent a couple of hours out in the garden with them enjoying a braii. (The South African […]
