I recently came back from a two week long trip in the heart of Zimbabwe, Africa. I accompanied a group of college students that were helping aid with medical and health work.  We also supported a local orphan network by taking them many necessities they had a hard time getting there such as backpacks and personal items.

While I was there, I was able to spend some time focusing on the nature and wildlife of the beautiful country of Zimbabwe.  From colorful birds to powerful lightning storms, they had it all!  I also had the opportunity to spend a day in a game park, photographing many kinds of wildlife, which you will see pictured below.

Equipment

In case you were wondering what equipment I took on the trip, here is a list of the cameras and lenses I took along:
D300s
70-200 VR II
12-24 Nikon
35 1.8

For those of you who are considering going to Africa, keep in mind you may want to consider bringing a general zoom lens (ie. 16-85 or 24-120).  Obviously light is not a problem in Africa, so a higher f-stop is not a huge problem.   On the other hand, I found my 70-200 to be just perfect for larger wildlife such as giraffes and zebras, but significantly too short for the very abundant bird life – hence the shortage of bird pictures.
For the truck ride in the game park, the VR II system of the 70-200 worked amazingly!  There’s no time (or space) to setup a tripod, so I was very grateful for the excellent vibration reduction system.

Monkey

Giraff

Lion in breeding facility

Zebra

Swallow

Highway through the savannah

Kingfisher

If you’ve had the privilege of experiencing Africa, feel free to tell us about it in the comments below, and share a link to your pictures!

Africa, Birds, Nature, Wildlife, Zimbabwe