Looking the part…

As John F Kennedy almost said, “Ask what you can do for your driver - and ask what your driver can do for you!”

Drivers and guides are there to help you on safari, and it’s worth getting to know them so that you can benefit from their knowledge and experience—but it’s important to try and give something back.

When I go on safari, I make a point of doing deals with all my guides: I teach them about photography, and in exchange they teach me about the wildlife.

What you can do for them

Let’s start with what you can do for your guide or driver. Game drives, meal times and the whole safari experience are much improved if everyone gets along, so it’s important to make life easy for the staff.

You can start by being on time, dressing appropriately and generally being willing to help. Safari lodges and camps are generally run according to a predictable routine in difficult circumstances, so asking for special treatment or complaining about unavoidable hitches won’t get the staff on your side.

Yes, it’s true that the the Wi-Fi might not always work or you might not have any hot water or electricity for a while, but you can’t always expect all the mod cons or amenities you get at home. That’s just part of the deal when you go to Africa or India.

In my experience, the local staff at safari lodges are exceptionally friendly and helpful. The word ‘no’ doesn’t seem to exist in their vocabulary, so the least you can do is thank them when things go well and when things go badly just take the will for the deed…!

Punctuality is not something you should always expect, but game drives and meals usually happen pretty much on schedule—and it’s nice not to have to worry about being five minutes late!

On the game drive itself, you can also help out your drivers or guides by telling them what you’d like to see. This is not just an exercise in wish fulfilment. They need to know where to take their guests, so if you say you want to see leopards rather than cheetahs, say, they’ll take you to their favourite trees rather than the open plains.

You can also let your drivers know when you’ve finished taking pictures so that they can move on without delay. Just bear in mind that some guests need longer than others to get the shots they want!

Most drivers have a lot of experience guiding, and they’ve usually had to go through pretty rigorous training to get to where they are. The qualifications vary by country, but guides should know a lot about the local wildlife plus a few basics about where to position the vehicles to help photographers to get the best shots.

Having said that, it’s always worth asking for what you want— rather than complaining about not getting it afterwards! If your view is blocked or you want to get a shot from a particular angle, just ask your driver to position the vehicle accordingly.

The same goes for calls of nature. If you need to ‘check the tyres’, it’ll usually be possible to stop somewhere for a toilet break—although you might need to cross your legs for a while if you’re near a pride of lions…!

Safari vehicles come in all shapes and sizes. Some are open with no protection from the elements, and some have flip-up roofs. If you need to stand up, just ask your driver. It’ll usually be fine—although you may have to take off your shoes…

Equally, if you experience rain or other bad weather, you can often ask the driver to cover the vehicle by rolling down the canvas sides. The only issue is that it might make it hard for other people to take photos, so it might have to be a group decision!

When it comes to drinks, you can help your driver by taking your personal water bottle with you and placing any orders for ‘sundowners’ before you go on an afternoon game drive. It’s easy to get annoyed if there’s no G&T waiting for you at sunset (!), but all things are possible if you place your order in advance…

Finally, it’s important to remember that the bush can be a dangerous place. Your guide is responsible for your safety, so it’s best to follow instructions at all times and not do anything stupid like getting out of the vehicle without permission or reaching out to try and pet a lion!

What They can do for You

As I say, safari guides are very knowledgeable, and some of the ones I’ve met have worked for the same company for 15, 20 or even 30 years! That’s a huge source of knowledge, so feel free to ask any questions you need answering.

The most common questions I hear on game drives are usually asked about the identity of a particular species—either animals or birds. Guides are pretty good at spotting the big animals and letting you know what they are, but some tend to forget about the birds.

If you’re a birder or, like me, you like to keep a list of all the species you see on safari, it’s worth explaining the situation to your driver and asking about any bird or animal you don’t recognise.

Guides will also be able to give you a good idea about the behaviour or habits of individual species. That might include how long lionesses look after their cubs, what they eat and how often they hunt.

The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask…!

If you’re a keen photographer, your driver can be immensely useful. Certain shots are just plain hard to get, so if you want to capture a bird in flight or get in position for a cheetah kill, you’ll probably need a little help.

Birds can be very uncooperative. I often have to wait for five or even 10 minutes for them to fly towards me—and that can be very frustrating for any other guests in the vehicle! At a certain point, I might give up, but most drivers are willing to ‘encourage’ birds to fly by starting the engine, slamming the door or even getting out and walking behind them.

When it comes to photography, most drivers won’t be able to give you much advice, but that can change if your trip is a proper photographic safari, led by a professional wildlife photographer, such as Paul Goldstein or Andy Skillen. I’ve been on a few trips with both of them, and they’re always worth listening to.

If you have access to someone like that, you should do all you can to ‘download’ as much knowledge as you can. It obviously depends on the guide, and some are more willing to share their secrets than others! However, it’s a great opportunity to learn from the best, so don’t worry about holding everybody up or showing your ignorance.

Even if your guide tells you which shutter speed, aperture or other setting you need to use, the advice will be a lot more valuable if you understand why. Again, you might have to be diplomatic, but the chances are that one or two other people in the vehicle will be wondering the same thing, so it’s worth asking.
Different photographers have different ways of working, so you might just need to take a view on which one is ‘right’ for you:

• Paul Goldstein is obsessed by slow pans, but that might not be your kind of thing.

• If someone suggests you work in aperture priority, you might prefer to stick to manual with auto ISO.

• If everyone else is using back button focus, you might decide to continue half-pressing the shutter—especially if you have a mirrorless camera.

The point is to benefit from the knowledge of your guide while not compromising on what you want to achieve. It also takes time to assimilate technical advice, so there’s always a danger of trying to run before you can walk!

Finally, if there’s something not even your guide can help you with, you can always Google it when you get back to camp. Cameras and lenses are complicated things, and Sony, Nikon and Canon cameras all behave differently, so very few people will know all the ins and outs.

Verdict

In order to get the most out of your safari, it pays to get to know your driver or guide. You can help each other out by sharing your knowledge, and both sides can benefit. The more you can communicate your needs, the more your driver can take them into account and learn how to behave in future. Equally, the more questions you ask, the more you’ll learn about wildlife, photography and more.

If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.

If you’d like to book a lesson or order an online photography course, please visit my Lessons and Courses pages.