Gallery
If you are like us, then you can’t get enough of pictures of African big game and the like. It’s the next best thing to actually being out there.
The images shown here are not intended to match up to the stupendous wildlife shots that the top professional photographers can achieve (a glance at the Wilderness Safaris’ brochure will illustrate what we are talking about). However, and more realistically, they are an indication of what you, yourself, hopefully could aspire to, given luck and a good following wind.
Leopard Story
This opening sequence, taken by Jette in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, is recalled by Henry Southworth as one of the most emotional experiences of his time in Africa (and which is recounted in his Safari Diary, Day 10).
This leopard sighting was made on an early morning game drive from Tena Tena. This leopard had obviously attempted to cross the (very low) Luangwa river, but had failed to make it all the way across, being ‘treed’ by a number of crocodile on the stump of a dead tree about two-thirds the way across.
This magnificent beast was then trapped for the whole day, in the baking heat, on top of this stump, unable to escape, with about a dozen evil looking crocodile waiting patiently for her to try, on all sides of the tree.
The penalty for making a mistake in the bush is that you die, and she clearly knew that she had made a mistake. Periodically she shifted her position, snarling at her persecutors. The guides explained that it is an irrevocable rule that you cannot interfere in such a situation (unless it has been brought about by some human fault). This did not stop the safari guests coming up with a variety of strategies for saving her – ranging from shooting all the crocodiles, through killing an antelope to throw in to divert them, to floating some logs down to provide a bridge.
We revisited her at intervals during the day, and our final view of her, at the end of our evening game drive, was a highly charged and emotional moment, with not a few tears being shed. The news was then brought back to us the following morning that she had gone – and fresh leopard tracks had been seen on the near bank! So it looks as though she made it after all.
Gallery categories
- Introduction - Leopard Story
- The Big Five
- Birds
- Other Wildlife
- People & Places
- Victoria Falls
- Transport
- Sunsets
Please click on thumbnails to enlarge
All pictures have been taken by (good) amateur photographers, using medium range equipment.
Jette Franz is a gifted amateur photographer, married to a former New York dental practitioner. More recently the Franzs have moved to South Africa, where they have built their own wonderful home, within half an hour’s driving distance of all the ‘big five’. Jette’s work includes photographs taken in Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania, as well as in South Africa.
Adam Lloyd originally worked directly for AfricaAway as our New Media Designer, and was responsible for designing and implementing the highly regarded Version One of our website. A talented amateur photographer in his own right, Adam made a couple of visits to Zambia, during which the images reproduced here were obtained.
Rebecca Blyth, Juliet Gutiérrez and Stuart Hunter are all AfricaAway staff members, again using good, but not expensive, equipment to secure a number of exciting and compelling images. Henry Southworth is AfricaAway’s Chairman and Managing Director.
The following pictures are credited and captioned where appropriate, but their principal function is to illustrate the wide diversity of sights and images that can be discovered in this magical continent.
