We sit silently, watching the setting sun play with shades of grey, highlighting every crack in the young elephant bull’s skin. He pulls a patch of grass from the soft earth underneath his feet, then swings it gently, ridding it of excess dirt, creating clouds of dust that swirl in the late afternoon light. He is calm and we are content, taking in every detail of his majestic form. It’s not often that you get to sit with an animal in its natural habitat for that long, yet, here we were, in the middle of the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in the Greater Kruger, focusing on the bull’s lashes glistening in the sun. Few safaris afford its guests this type of luxury: the slow kind where you get to zoom in, breathe out and take the time to engage with the bush from a different angle.
At Amaya, a newly opened lodge that prides itself on offering its guests a quiet luxury experience in the Greater Kruger, you get to view your surrounds from behind the lens of one of Too Wild’s impressive video cameras, geared for professional wildlife videography. The lodge is host to Too Wild’s three-week wildlife film course, launched by industry experts, Lauren (Arthur) Eastaugh and David Eastaugh. Lauren (a zoologist and marine biologist by degree, and an experienced television presenter and naturalist) and David (a well-known wildlife videographer) have worked on a variety of television shows. While Lauren has presented live for WildEarth across South Africa as well as being featured on various channels, including Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, SABC, CGTN and Disney+, David’s videography skills have landed him gigs with BBC, Disney+, Nat Geo Wild and producing conservation stories for the WWF. These incredible experiences are also what brought them together and, now, the recently married couple is creating memories for travellers wanting to try their hand at wildlife videography.
While staying in an exquisitely designed tented suite, the all-inclusive film course allows you to immerse yourself in the magic of the African bush. With accommodation, meals and game drives included, Too Wild’s course encourages you to tune into your creative side and let nature decide the story you’ll create by allowing you to capture the zoomed-in moments so often miss on habitual twicedaily safari game drives. On Amaya Lodge’s unique morning and afternoon game drives, Lauren anticipates animal behaviours from behind the wheel, adding valuable insights to novice videographers on their quest to get the best shot. David assists in mounting the cameras, experimenting with angles, understanding camera settings and finding the perfect light. The couple’s combined skills are invaluable when it comes to learning wildlife videography, and the showreels the students walk away with at the end of the course are proof of that.
While the unique wildlife videography course promises to transform your passion for nature into cinematic art, the experience is also a reminder to look harder, deeper. A bird unleashing a chorus of battle cries as it chases an eagle from its nest; a terrapin, eyes half-lidded, surrendering to the golden heat of the sun; and a lilac-breasted roller, the fashionista of the veld, trying to maintain an air of sophistication as its fringe flutters wildly in the wind, reminiscent of a high-end fashion shoot gone awry.
by Renate Engelbrecht
