I go home to Zimbabwe at least once a year, partly to visit friends and family, partly for a holiday and partly for “work”… and when I say work, there is a whole lot to do – you see for another website that I run (The Safari Guide), it is vital that I have as many good quality bird and wildlife photographs that I can lay my hands on and I can’t think of a much better place in the world to get them than in Zim.

Travel

So every year I “have” to travel all the way across the globe to one of the best places in the world to view birds and wildlife and then whilst I’m there, have to load up the Landrover with all my gear and drive all around this stunning, beautiful country.

Terrible I know!

Patience

But that is just half the “job” done, the next bit is to capture the images and this is where the real “work” begins. Photographing birds and wildlife takes loads of patience as you usually “have” to spend hours and hours relaxing waiting in stunning wild places like Kariba, Hwange, Inyanga or on the Zambezi for the perfect moment to arrive so that you can then take a few photographs of the wildlife you have come to see.

A few examples of this “toil” include the many, many times that I have spent hours and hours on a boat in Kariba in the boiling heat with only cold beer, a fishing rod and my camera to keep me going whilst waiting for the perfect opportunity to photograph a Fish Eagle, Kingfisher, Swallow or an Elephant.

Or there are the times that I “had” to camp in Chirundu or down the river at Mana Pools to get some more Elephant, Buffalo, Wild Dog and Little Bee-Eater shots.

Then there was the trip to Vumba and Inyanga where I spent the cold evenings curled up in front of a log fire in my cabin to keep me warm, just so I could go out in the morning and get the chance to photo a Samango Monkey, Blue Duiker, a Purple-Crested Lourie (or Turaco as they are now called) or even a Redfaced Crimsonwing (Cryptospiza reichenovii).

Ogh and not forgetting the trips all the way to Hwange and Victorial falls for those all important Ele, Giraffe and Trumpeter Hornbill photos.

I also distinctly remember spending hours in Hwange National Park watching and waiting for a lioness and her cubs to get up from under the shade of a tree so that I could get a decent photograph of her walking through the long grass.

But wait, there was also the time in Matopos, with the Rhinos…

I think you get the idea, it’s a tough job and I have to do it!

Equipment

To get really great close-up photographs of wildlife, especially birds means I have to play with use loads of toys complicated equipment – things like cameras, tripods and binoculars, which are incredibly mentally demanding…

Ok, ok…I think I have to stop there as I can’t keep this up any more. Visiting Zim is something that I really look forward to every year and my wish plan is that one day soon… I will stop having to visit and will spend all year round in such a beautiful country.

Until then… my next visit is in a few weeks time. I have a few incredible trips lined up whilst I am there and a whole bunch of new equipment toys to play with, on top of that I am taking my four month old daughter to visit her grandparents for the first time and to spend some quality time with friends and family and I can’t wait!

For those who are interested – I have a shiny new camera to play with and hope to come back with a whole bunch of new Elephant, Hippo, Imapa, Kudu, Crocodile, Hornbill, or any other birds and animals that will hang around long enough for me to take their portrait! You can read my Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR Review here.

You can aso take a look at a few of the photos I took last year: Beautiful Zimbabwe – March 2010

Gloriosa superba
Common name: Flame Lily
Family: Colchicaceae

The Flame Lily is a wild deciduous perennial, that is the national flower of Zimbabwe. It is a protected plant species, and there is a law prohibiting the picking of them.

Photographer: EssjayNZ

Video of some short clips from my trip to Kariba in 2009

I only take video when not taking photographs or fishing, so there is plenty that I missed and I just use the video mode on my camera, so sorry for the camera shake! You can take a look at the photos I took on my last trip here: Beautiful Zimbabwe.

A few people have recently askd me about what equipment I use:

Binoculars
As well as a camera, I always have a good pair of binoculars with me and I would go as far as to say that they are as important, even more important than the camera. I mostly use a Steiner 10×26 compact when I travel or walk in the bush as they work well and fold up small enough to easily put in your pocket:

Best Birdwatching Binoculars

Camera
Believe it or not, I don’t use an SLR camera for my photos or a video camera for the films – rather just a single Digital Compact SuperZoom or Bridge camera and in particular the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ series of cameras (The model has been upgraded through the years). The main reasons for this are cost and size. They cost a fraction of a good quality digital SLR and that is not including the telephoto lens that you would have to buy for the SLR as well and they are also far smaller an lighter – therefore much easier to take on holiday with you. I also like the Panasonic’s because you can also get Telephoto Conversion Lenses for them to increase your zoom even more.

For more information, take a look at some article I have written on the Safari Guide website:
Best Digital Camera for Safari and Travel

Music is “Dreaming” by Bud Cockcroft and has been used with his permission – Go to www.budcockcroft.com for more of his songs and to buy.

I have just returned from my latest visit to Zimbabwe where I had an excellent time catching up with family and friends.

Every-time I go back I am stunned by just how beautiful the country, the people, it’s scenery and the wildlife is. Below are a few of the many, many photos I took either in my parents garden in Harare, at Mazvikadei Dam just outside Banket or on Lake Kariba.

Whilst in Kariba I went to see the dam wall because I knew that they had opened a few gates, I had not however expected to find three gates open! The power of the water coming through is incredible and you could even see the spray rising over the town of Kariba from Antelope Island in the early morning!

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

I hope you enjoy the photos, if you would like to use any please feel free to contact me. I have also recently had a few people ask me about what equipment I use:

Binoculars
As well as a camera, I always have a good pair of binoculars with me and I would go as far as to say that they are as important, even more important than the camera. I mostly use a Steiner 10×26 compact when I travel or walk in the bush as they work well and fold up small enough to easily put in your pocket:

Best Birdwatching Binoculars

Camera
Believe it or not, I don’t use an SLR camera – rather a Digital Compact SuperZoom or Bridge camera and in particular the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ series of cameras. The main reasons for this are cost and size. They cost a fraction of a good quality digital SLR and that is not including the telephoto lens that you would have to buy for the SLR as well and they are also far smaller an lighter – therefore much easier to take on holiday with you. I also like the Panasonic’s because you can also get Telephoto Conversion Lenses for them to increase your zoom even more.

For more information, take a look at some article I have written on the Safari Guide website:
Best Digital Camera for Safari and Travel

Below are a few great Coffee Table type books on Zimbabwe: