“I want to go someplace where I can marvel at something” 

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

I found my Safari on Instagram. Yes, the online mobile visual-sharing and social newtworking service you might have on your phone right now.  My friend Kari Pricher, Editorial Producer for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, mentioned uber-talented photographer Christopher Michel — along with me and others — in the same Instagram post last September. She got to know Christopher during a story she was working on. I looked up Christopher right away. He was on a Great Migration Safari with Wild Eye, a top photographic travel company in Africa run by Gerry van der Walt, Andrew Beck and Jono Buffey.

Seeing his photos and Wild Eye’s amazing offerings inspired me to book my safari. An added treat was following the work of others including Susan Portnoy, an avid photographer (The Insatiable Traveler) and travel writer based right here in New York. Her work is extraordinary. I was hooked.

By the time you read this I’ll be on the plane to Amboseli and the Masai Mara in Kenya. I’m taking off two weeks from my Public Relations business to immerse myself in my amateur photography hobby.

I am sharing with you some of the wildlife photographers I have engaged with on Instagram, Facebook and Google+ over the past year. Some photographers I now know in person, and two Wild Eye guides I will be meeting in a few days — Morkel Erasmus and Marlon du Toit.

Also check out wildlife photographer Andy Biggs who also leads his own safaris (Andy Biggs Wildlife Safaris) and writes smart articles that I have read over and over again. He spent three hours with me in New York City over lunch and gave me generous suggestions for  my upcoming safari. We own three of his photographs that are now being framed. You will love all of their work. Soon, I will have some of my own safari images to share and I just can’t wait.

Christopher Michel

Susan Portnoy

Morkel Erasmus

Marlon du Toit

Andy Biggs

My Mom, Elizabeth Kramer

This blog is not complete without adding my mother’s photograph from her safari with her husband Buddy. I’m impressed with how close they got to this zebra! Plus, she didn’t use a big telephoto lens!

I’ll likely be on instagram from time to time, so if you want to see my images, you can go there.

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