A Rustington grandfather with a passion for photography travelled to Botswana to follow his dream.
The 91-year-old waited patiently through the restrictions of the COVID pandemic until he was finally able to head on his African adventure. Jim Anderson travelled with his grandson David Anderson, 30, from Epsom to share the wildlife experience of a lifetime on a photographic safari.
Jim said: “It was well worth the long journey and it seemed like we got so close to so many of the animals. We saw cheetahs, lions and even a leopard sleeping in a tree from just metres away. I have been on safari in Kenya before but this is so much different. It was everything that we could have imagined.”
A retired IT director, Jim is a member of the U3A and it was through the photography group that he fell in love with capturing nature on camera. The trip to Botswana gave him the opportunity to photograph wild animals along the Chobe River, travelling with Pangolin Photo Safaris. Jim and David received expert one-on-one tuition, which gave them the skills they needed to capture the stunning beauty of the African creatures. For Jim, it was his image of an African fish eagle as it swooped out of a tree that made him most proud.
He said: “The African fish eagle shot was taken from a boat on the River Chobe and we were there to take pictures of the animals which were grazing on the land around the river, and the crocodiles.
But I spotted the eagle and waited quite a long time for it to take off from the branch. Because I had spotted it early, I was ready with my camera the moment it set off, and I am really pleased with the result.”
To get to Botswana, Jim and David embarked on a 12-hour journey from Heathrow Airport, via Johannesburg, and then took a connecting flight to Kasane, where they were met at the airport by members of the Pangolin team.
Jim said: “It was a wonderful experience to share with my grandson, and the tuition from our teacher Sabine was outstanding. It really couldn’t have been better, the training and facilities were so good. It was an experience that we will never forget, and we have the pictures to prove it.”
The pair returned with hundreds of images, which have wowed friends and family.
