This spring I had the great opportunity to visit South Africa, as well as Lesotho and Swaziland. The genesis of the trip was an invite from a friend who was going to visit another friend in Kruger National Park, who is a researcher there. This afforded some behind-the-scenes experiences, including going along for buffalo captures (brief captures to collect data and then release them). In addition to our time with the researchers, we had several days on our own in Kruger, as well as time in Johannesburg, Swaziland, and Lesotho.

Since I typically shoot landscapes, it was a fun change of pace to have such a strong focus on wildlife (later in the trip, in Lesotho, I did predominantly shoot landscapes). As with any trip, no matter how new or familiar, I always take away a few lessons learned, or at least confirmations of past lessons. In no particular order…

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Earlier this fall I was fortunate enough to take a trip through Nepal. While my dream was to do a trek in the area, for a few reasons that wasn’t in the cards this time, so instead I took more of a grand tour of the country. This ended up being great as I saw more of the country than I probably would have had I only trekked.

Travel, especially to a Third World country, can provide certain challenges. That’s part of the allure, but I believe knowing a few things before departing can help you make the most of your trip, while not necessarily taking away the excitement of dealing with challenges along the way. Below are a few lessons learned that may help in your own planning for a similar trip.

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