Soul of Africa photo competition winners

With camps in six countries across southern and East Africa, Wilderness Safaris hosts thousands of safari-goers every year, who come seeking close wildlife encounters. As a result, the company has been able to support various conservation and education initiatives.

It’s annual ‘Capture the Soul of Africa’ photography competition offers an opportunity to showcase great images that celebrate the world’s most exciting continent. This year, submission fees generated R225,000, which will be directed to Children in the Wilderness, Namibia’s Desert Lion Conservation Project and the new Gishwati Reforestation Project in Rwanda.

We’re pleased to share with you the winning images, announced this week, and you can see additional images and learn more about the competition at https://www.wilderness-safaris.com/photo-competition

Overall winner (pictured above):
‘Framed by and Ankosi Watule’, by Trevor Cole
Terekeka, South Sudan
A young Mundari herder in the midst of cattle in his care.

Overall guest winner:
‘Father and Son’, by Claudio Macchetto
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
A mountain gorilla silverback gently nuzzled his infant son under his chin, his huge head and hand dwarfing the baby who`s tiny foot stuck out in marked contrast to the father`s size.

Wildlife category winner:
‘Hippo fight’, by Dennis Stogsdill
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
“We were watching a pod of hippos relaxing on the edge of the river when all of a sudden these two males started what turned out to be an epic, bloody battle for territory.”

People / Cultures and Community category winner:
‘Red warrior’, by Sushil Chauhan
Samburu, Kenya
Portrait of a Samburu warrior.

Plants and Insects category winner:
‘Mantis fire’, by James Kydd
Cuando River, Angola
A praying mantis is silhouetted by a fire in a remote part of Angola.

Conserving Africa’s Wilderness category winner:
‘Collaring a lioness’, by Morgan Trimble
Kafue National Park, Zambia
On safari in Busanga Plains, guests got to help the Zambian Carnivore Programme fit a darted lioness with a GPS collar. The collars help keep tabs on Kafue National Park`s predators, both for research and to rescue any that accidentally get caught in bushmeat snares. The guests were blown away by the experience of helping take measurements and seeing the lioness up close and pleased their safari helped cover the cost of the collar. So far, the 38 lionesses that have been de-snared by ZCP in Zambia have given birth to nearly 150 cubs.

Landscape category winner:
‘Starry starry night’, by Udo Kieslich
Cederberg, South Africa
This Milky Way pic was taken in the Cederberg. The foreground was enhanced with a torch light, and taken as a second shot after sunrise to obtain a deeper depth of field and more detail. The sky and foreground images were subsequently blended together in Photoshop.