JAREN'S JOURNAL

A personal journal documenting life as a safari guide and wildlife photographer living and working in East Africa.

Stories, observations, and reflections from a life spent guiding and photographing the wild spaces of East Africa.

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In places where resources are reliable, elephants stay close. Herds compress, overlap, and move together, offering a rare chance to see social structure at scale.
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Their strength comes from proximity—from knowing when to stand close, when to shield, when to yield space. This bond to the herd is built over decades, shaped by memory, hierarchy, and shared experience. What looks like stillness is constant communication.
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Tarangire National Park, Tanzania is one of the best places in East Africa to witness this behaviour at scale. With one of the highest densities of elephants in the region, Tarangire offers rare insight into how large herds move, interact, and organise themselves—especially during the dry season when families congregate along the river systems.
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Photographing elephants here isn’t just about size or numbers. It’s about understanding relationships, reading subtle shifts within the group, and recognising that the real story often happens in the quiet moments between movement.
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#wildlifephotography #elephants #photosafari #tarangire #travelphotography

Light falls away and shapes remain.
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Movement, dust, and water doing just enough to tell the story.
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Shompole Conservancy, after dark.
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This is what hide photography allows — time to let scenes build naturally, to observe without interference, and to work quietly as behaviour unfolds on its own terms.
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#hidephotography #Shompole #wildlifephotography #PhotoSafari #untamedphotosafaris

For July 2026, I’m offering a highly limited Best of Tanzania wildlife photo safari, capped at just two photographers.
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This follows the same proven itinerary I normally run as a small group safari, focused on what Tanzania does best: consistent big cat sightings, dramatic predator interactions, and time spent in the heart of the Great Migration. The difference here is simply scale — fewer photographers in the vehicle, more space to work, and a quieter rhythm in the field.
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Over 12 days, we photograph across Tarangire, the Central Serengeti, the Northern Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Expect strong opportunities with lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas, alongside classic Serengeti plains game and seasonal migration movement.
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It’s the same carefully planned group safari experience — just adapted into a more intimate format for photographers who value time on subjects and flexibility when behaviour unfolds.
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📅 10–21 July 2026
👥 Only 2 photographers
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#wildĺifephotography #PhotoSafari #BigCatPhotography #serengeti

Leopards are one of Tarangire’s great strengths.
This park consistently produces relaxed, visible individuals, often moving through open floodplains and river systems rather than disappearing into heavy cover.
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These moments—fluid movement, clean lines, and calm behaviour—are exactly why Tarangire remains one of Tanzania’s most reliable destinations for photographing big cats such as leopards.
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📍 Tarangire National Park
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#WildlifePhotography #LeopardPhotography #tarangirenationalpark #AfricanWildlife #safariphotography

Natron Drift 🥉

Bronze — Aerial | Exposure One Awards (Nature)
Photographed over Lake Natron, a place too caustic for most life, yet vital for flamingos to survive and breed. From the air, their movement becomes less about individuals and more about rhythm, scale, and resilience within an extreme environment.

Honoured to have this work recognised by the Exposure One Awards. A reminder that aerial perspective can reveal stories that are otherwise impossible to see from the ground.

@exposureone.awards

#exposureoneawards #aerialphotographydrone #ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇᴘʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ #conservationthroughphotography #lakenatron

This is what nights at Shompole Conservancy can look like.
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Working from a purpose-built photo hide, moments unfold naturally and often for hours at a time. It’s intense, raw, and completely unscripted—exactly the kind of environment where experience matters and preparation pays off.
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After another exceptional season, there is just ONE space remaining on our October 2026 Shompole Photo Hide Safari.
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If photographing wildlife at eye level, with expert guidance and exclusive access, is something you’ve been waiting for—this is it.
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Link in bio to secure the final spot.
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#wildĺifephotography #AfricanSafari #PhotoHide #bigcats #UntamedPhotoSafaris

A final farewell to Craig.
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Craig’s life was not just extraordinary because of his size or his tusks, but because he survived in a time when elephants like him rarely do. He lived to 53 — peacefully, naturally — in a landscape where super tuskers have been systematically erased. That does not happen by accident.
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Craig IS a success story of long-term conservation, community coexistence, and protection done right. His continued presence in Amboseli was proof that when wildlife is valued, guarded, and respected, even the most vulnerable individuals can endure.
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Seeing Craig over the years was a reminder of what is still possible — and what is still at risk. His legacy now rests with the next generation of elephants, and with us. The responsibility to protect Africa’s remaining giants did not end with him.
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Rest well, Craig. Your life mattered — and still does.
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#craigtheelephant #wildlifeconservation #africanwildlifeconservation #WildlifePhotography

Backlight, reflections, and strong graphic lines: the kind of scene that rewards patience and careful positioning.
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Shompole continues to deliver moments like this when everything aligns.
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#shompole #PhotoHide #photooftheday #nightphotography #PhotoSafari

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@jaren.a.fernley

Jaren’s Journal is a personal record of life lived close to the wild. It’s shaped by long days in the field, quiet moments of observation, and the understanding that meaningful experiences in nature come from patience and respect. These entries are not meant to explain everything, but to document what it means to truly live and work in wild places.

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JAREN'S JOURNAL

A personal journal documenting life as a safari guide and wildlife photographer living and working in East Africa.

Stories, observations, and reflections from a life spent guiding and photographing the wild spaces of East Africa.

Top National Parks in East Africa for Wildlife Photography

A Life Shaped by the Wild

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE

Follow me on Instagram

Subscribe to Jaren's Journal

JAREN'S JOURNAL

A personal journal documenting life as a safari guide and wildlife photographer living and working in East Africa.

Stories, observations, and reflections from a life spent guiding and photographing the wild spaces of East Africa.

Top National Parks in East Africa for Wildlife Photography

A Life Shaped by the Wild

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE

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Follow me on Instagram

Subscribe to Jaren's Journal