ANIMALS IN AFRICA

As a photographer, perhaps my greatest experience was a trip to the countries of South Africa and Zimbabwe to go on a safari to photograph the African wildlife. (I thank my wife for this for she was the one who convinced me that we should do this.) Our trip consisted of three days in Cape Town, South Africa, a five day safari outing at the Madekwe game reserve, and an additional three days in Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls.

The trip was well worth the time and expense. We saw a lot of Cape Town including an incredible botanical garden with flowers like we'd never seen in the U.S. At the Madekwe game reserve we went on game drives twice a day and had the opportunity to see and photograph some magnificent wild life. Baboons, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, impalas, and zebras were in abundance. Lions and rhinos were a bit more scarce but, there were still enough around to make it exciting. In Zimbabwe we saw Victoria falls and took a boat excursion on the Zambezi river to see the hippos.

As with wildlife anywhere, a telephoto lens was a necessity because, for obvious reasons, you couldn't get too close to the animals.