Category: Marcus’s Photography
Our Stories:
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Self-Declared Nomad With a Cam
Guess who’s been camping at Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi for a week? Jonathan Fontaine – winner of a 2023 World Press award for documentary photography! He popped by for “just a couple of nights” (famous last words), and ended up sticking around much longer, bewitched by the calm charm of our village haven. Have a…
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How to Get Out of Musanze Caves with Photos You’ll Treasure
It’s always nice to be surprised, to come across something unexpected. A field of wildflowers on your game drive, perhaps. Or a cave system when you think you are in Musanze merely to hike the Virungas and see gorillas? It’s a nice way to spend 2.5 hours with an expert local guide, and you don’t…
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Will Cultural Experiences Feel Commercialised?
11mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO400 Quite some years ago I guided a group of tourists to Rwanda and Uganda for a Swedish tour company. They had a couple of “cultural experiences” as part of the program. They weren’t my cup of tea, to say the least, and most of my guests felt the same way. A…
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Should I Be Cautious of Wildlife?
100mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO640 This is actually a well-worded question. Had it been whether you should be worried about wildlife, my answer would have been no. But cautious? Well, a bit of caution never hurt anyone. Animals come in all shapes and sizes, and people often worry about the wrong ones. Spider and snake bites…
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Should I Expect Very Basic Accommodation Facilities?
120mm, f/8.0, 1/250s, ISO250 Hotels in the Gorilla Highlands region range from cheap and very, very basic — though rarely dirty — to the kind of opulence you would expect to be able to find in most big cities. Outside of urban areas, however, hotels probably aren’t where you want to spend your nights when…
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What Photography Gear Should I Pack for Rwanda, Uganda or DR Congo?
There are a dozen ways to answer this question, and it is obviously very subjective. What kind of equipment do you own? How important is photography to you? What’s your budget like? The Gorilla Highlands region is very diverse, and different activities call for different equipment. Still, there’s no point in bringing more than you…
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Why Choose Uganda and Rwanda over Tanzania and Kenya?
70mm, f/8.0, 1/400s, ISO125 Every place has its charms and attractions, and Kenya and Tanzania certainly received their fair share. For sheer volume of large mammals, the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem is probably unmatched anywhere in the world. Still, Rwanda and Uganda — even if we limit ourselves to Uganda’s southwest as pictured here — are something…
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Not Malaria
24mm, f/2.8, 1/125, ISO1600 Last week I shared my own malaria scare, but since I happened to be staying at a wildlife sanctuary with a full veterinary clinic it is perhaps understandable that I was able to receive help so quickly. Not everyone might be so lucky, right? Well, perhaps not, but the truth is…
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Avoid Kissing Chimps
I generally manage to stay pretty healthy on my travels through a combination of common sense, a robust immune system and precautions such as wearing long sleeves, washing my hands and avoiding travel in high-risk malarial areas. But just like during the rainy season in tropical Africa: when it rains, it pours. I had been…