Returning to the Wild

My relationship with Botswana began in the Okavango Delta. From the first journey through Moremi and the Delta's waterways, I understood why this country has such a powerful attraction for anyone searching for wildlife and extraordinary photographic moments.

One of the most memorable experiences was travelling by mokoro, gliding silently through the shallow channels with nothing but reeds, water and the sounds of the Delta around us. Even the unexpected became part of the experience, including the remarkable bullfrogs that appeared along the waterways.

In Moremi, five lions climbed into the same tree and remained there for hours. It was an extraordinary sight, completely different from the behaviour we normally associate with lions. Wildlife has a habit of ignoring our expectations.

We continued through Savuti and Chobe, eventually taking a boat along the Chobe River. Elephants crossed the water around us while the day ended beneath an extraordinary African sunset.

I returned to Botswana for a much longer expedition of around forty days, moving between tented camps and lodges. This time the journey began in the Kalahari, where the vastness and solitude contrasted sharply with the waterways of the Delta. Baines' Baobabs, flamingos and the open salt pans created some of the most distinctive photographic landscapes of the journey.

From Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi, we returned to Moremi, Khwai, Savuti and Chobe. Along the way, Botswana repeatedly placed us directly inside the action.

At one point, our vehicle became completely stuck in the Okavango swamp. We spent hours using ropes around trees, fighting to free ourselves from the mud. On another occasion, a confrontation between hyenas and African wild dogsunfolded almost beside the vehicle, with a hyena coming so close that I could photograph it at remarkably short range.

Then came a very different kind of encounter.A bull elephant in musth charged our vehicle.

There is a moment when the camera becomes secondary and instinct takes over. The animal's size, power and determination make you suddenly aware of how little separates you from the wilderness.

Looking back, Botswana was never simply about finding animals. It was about entering their world, sometimes silently by mokoro, sometimes waiting for hours, sometimes stuck in the swamp, and occasionally finding yourself much closer to danger than you ever intended.

That unpredictability is what keeps drawing me back.