One of the joys of travelling is coming home and going through your photographs.
There are some travellers who end up with thousands of images. These are people with state-of-the-art digital cameras; ones for whom photography is an art, and who can appreciate the subtleties of different lenses and focus range.
These aficionados bring home beautiful shots, rather than the sort of blurry, out-of-focus snaps I return with.
One of the women on our cruise was our resident paparazzo. She wasn’t dressed unless she had her camera slung around her neck, and was always prepared for the unexpected. When a wind farm appeared spookily and eerily through the mist in the middle of the North Sea, Leanne was the girl on the spot who got the best shots.
By the time I’d thought to run downstairs to the cabin to grab my iPad or my cheap and cheerful, the moment was gone and the wind farm had vanished into the mist.
The Swedish town of Visby was the most perfect little medieval spot I had ever seen, but I hadn’t been able to get my camera to charge and the iPad was too cumbersome to cart around.
So, I wandered the cobbled streets, utterly enchanted by the roses growing up the walls of the miniature homes; awestruck by the cathedrals with foundations that were laid in the 11th century; intrigued by the way 500-year-old cottages had been adapted for modern families. And all I have when I’m trying to describe the perfection of this little town is words… they simply don’t do Visby justice.
I tried desperately to find a book or calendar in a souvenir shop that would give me the opportunity to share the beauty of the place with friends back home, but I just couldn’t find one anywhere.
Every single town or city I’ve visited overseas has a souvenir book – the one time I wanted one, I couldn’t find it. However, Leanne has promised she’ll share some of her gorgeous shots and I can’t wait for them to arrive.
While I have my memories, photos instantly transport you back to a place.
I’m pleased with my safari pics, though. I only had my iPhone for photos.
The camera was hopeless and, again, the iPad was a bit cumbersome when you’re bouncing across rough terrain in an open Jeep.
I felt like such an idiot going out on a photographic safari with only my iPhone to capture the magic. Who goes to Africa without a decent camera?
But I hadn’t reckoned on getting so close to the animals. We saw a beautiful young lioness and I could literally count her teeth. When we chanced upon a sleeping lion, exhausted after devouring half an unlucky wildebeest, we were near enough to smell his breath.
To be fair, he could probably smell mine – it had been a long day. The giraffes were practically on top of us, and although you could have got right underneath the feet of the elephants, you wouldn’t want to.
Elephants are pretty stroppy, and our ranger told us they’d be quite happy to take on our vehicle if we brassed them off enough. To be so close to these magical creatures was a wonderful experience – I couldn’t get enough of watching them in the wild.
I did wonder if they got the same enjoyment – one lioness saying to another, “Oooh, I see a plane’s landed. Must be a new crop of tourists. Excellent. The others were getting a bit boring.”
The brilliant thing about being so close to the animals is that even though I was dependent on the most basic of cameras, I did get some amazing shots. And when I look at them, I’m transported from Grey Lynn right back to the Serengeti.
Listen to Kerre on Newstalk ZB, Monday to Thursday, 8pm to midnight.
