2025 was a busy and rewarding year of travel, photography, and creative growth for Margie and me.
We visited the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park twice during the year—first in May, when the park was exceptionally green, and again in October to assess the condition of the Rooiputs and Polentswa lodges on the Botswana side. The primary motivation for this visit was the increasing congestion and traffic at the South African campsites. Staying at some of the more remote bush camps on the South African side, as well as at Rooiputs and Polentswa in Botswana, allows one to avoid the first one to two hours of heavy traffic and photographer pressure each morning—an important consideration for future trips.
Our most memorable journey of the year, however, took place in August/September 2025, when we returned to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (Botswana) and Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe) after an absence of nearly 20 years. Hwange impressed us once again and is already planned for a return visit in 2026. The Central Kalahari proved far more challenging—particularly the road conditions—which were extremely demanding on both our vehicle and caravan. Despite this, we were rewarded with unique and meaningful images from both destinations.
In 2025, I once again actively participated in several major international photographic competitions, including the UK Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Nature Photographer of the Year. I was fortunate to reach the finals in all of them with selected images (see the Awards section of this website). One image was also selected to represent South Africa as part of a team entry in the international Four Nations competition (South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), as well as in the FIAP International Biennial.
I am currently thoroughly enjoying the transition from still photography to video. It is a steep and demanding learning curve, but also deeply rewarding. Alongside this, I have begun using AI-based tools for voice-over assistance—producing podcasts from selected publications and personal reflections, as well as creating short narrative pieces around curated still photography series and videos. The intention is to launch a YouTube channel in the near future.
Below is a sample podcast based on my earlier publication: “My ABC for Wildlife Photography.”
Johan