Taking a Wildlife Photographer on Safari

I’ve never really understood the obsession, nor the idea, of bringing a private guide on safari. I’m not on about the camp guide, I mean their own guide. It’s like travelling with a babysitter.  Now, to be clear, I’ve got absolutely no issue with it if that’s what makes people comfortable.  Some people are nervous travelling in Africa.  Some want everything handled for them.  Some want a familiar face from start to finish.  Some may want the stoic and sick sense of humour the South Africans possess.  Fair enough. You’re spending a lot of money, so do whatever makes you happiest.

But I’ve always found it redundant, because if you’re staying at a good safari camp, you already have exceptional guides.  And they know the landscape perfectly, so know where to head to have the best chance of sightings.  They know all the recent history, so can understand what happened yesterday, last week, or three hours ago.  And they’re often ridiculously experienced, so can identify the sound of some incredibly rare mammal rustling in the bushes, versus correctly concluding it’s just you in the back farting and trying to pretend nothing happened.

So bringing another guide along has always confused me. It’s like hiring a second pilot to sit in the cockpit and occasionally say “yep, still flying”.

Now, I’m sure there are some very good private guides out there.  I’m not here to shit on all of them, although, like any industry, there are definitely some lousy ones floating around too. I’ve heard some brilliant stories over the years of travel agents reinventing themselves as “private safari guides” so they can tag along on client trips for a free holiday.  If I were the actual experienced guide sat next to them in the vehicle, I’d make up a load of bullshit facts just to humiliate them by getting them to agree. “Ah yes, the rare five-legged elephant.” But maybe that’s just me.

But, to my point, the one part where a private guide can offer value is photography.  Because despite doing a stupid number of safaris at this point, there’s still loads to learn, and I’m far from an expert.  Wildlife photography is one of those hobbies where you can spend £15,000 on equipment just to produce a blurry photo of an impala’s arse disappearing into long grass.  Trust me.

So in July, I’m trying it myself. I’ve hired a professional wildlife photographer, who is also a guide, to join me at Singita.  Photography is a hobby where so many people are self-taught — myself included — that I’m keen to see how much I can improve with one-on-one tuition.  Will this guy finally stop my photos looking like evidence submitted to Crimewatch?  Potentially.

And if it genuinely does elevate the experience, then that’s another useful thing to recommend to clients in future.