Big Game

By Bill Caulfeild-Browne
April 2003
After reading Scott Robinson’s excellent article Digital in the Desert, I thought I’d add to it with some of my observations on shooting in East Africa, where conditions are somewhat different. My wife and I traveled through Kenya and Tanzania this winter, and our experiences may be useful to those readers who are joining Michael’s trip to Africa next winter. We visited Tarangire, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Manyara parks in Tanzania, and Amboseli and Samburu in Kenya.

Sunset, Mount Mera, Canon 1D, 300mm IS with 1.4X, 1/350 at f8. ISO 200
First, equipment. Don’t take more gear than you can carry with you at all times. All the safari operators we met warned us repeatedly not to leave expensive gear in hotel rooms. There is even a sign in Nairobi Airport that warns of pilferage of checked luggage, so take your cameras as cabin baggage. (In fairness, I must say that several in our party did leave stuff in hotel rooms and checked baggage and did not ...