Hello all, 

2018 has been a very trying and difficult year for me and I was in much a hurry to see it end... But it turned out that December brought many good news and now 2019 is starting on a roll for me!!

So first, the most important news. I am officially joining the Ongava Research Center (based on the Ongava Private Game Reserve, yeah you could have guessed this one ;-) ) in Namibia as one of their resident researcher! I have no words to describe how happy I am that this job came through. I have been waiting for it for more than a year, so you can imagine the relief... I will get started in March, so from then on, you can find me at Ongava, just South of Etosha!

Second, I am now officially registered as a travel consultant and ShumbAfrica Safaris is in full swing!

And now, for the last one. I am very excited to be joining the editorial board of Journal of Zoology as one of their Associate Editors! It is a big step for me, and I'm looking forward to this new opportunity to spread some good science!

One of my pictures made it to their cover back in 2015 when they published one of my papers on the effects of competition with lions on hyaenas foraging strategies and diet! If you are interested to know more on this topic, drop me an email!

So 2019, let's get started !!!!

I was not in Africa for this eclipse but in my home town, Grenoble, France. And this was hell of a show that Mother Nature offered us!

I didn't get nice shots of the 2 previous lunar eclipses I witnessed (in winter 2015 one in the Kalahari and in July 2018 in the Alps), so I ha d yo make up for these missed opportunities!

Even the clouds played game until almost the end of totality, allowing me to get a complete series of shots from start to half-way through the eclipse.

This is obviously a composite image of 7 shots all taken with a Nikon D5000. The landscape background was shot with a 16mm at f2.8, 2 sec, ISO 800. The moon shots were taken with a 450mm, at f8 to f6.7, 1/1000 to 1/6 sec and ISO 800-2000. Colours were NOT edited, moon shots were resized - but still the moon appears way bigger than it actually was- and images were merged using Photoshop CC.

As some of you might know, I'm currently turning an idea into reality.

I have been thinking for a while about organising customised trips for people to come visit Africa since I know the place quite well by now... And this is how ShumbAfrica Safaris was born!

So if you or your friends and family are dreaming about discovering Africa, but don't want to go through the usual channels of organised tours and travel agencies, drop me an email! 

I will designed itineraries specifically for you, based on your interests and experience. Below are a few examples of what would be possible...

No 5 stars hotels or lodges with me. Everyone night, you will camp under a sky of a million stars and enjoy the Southern Cross and the Milky  Way like never before! You will be as close to the Nature as possible and discover places in a way few people do. And of course, you should have more than enough of opportunities to practise your photographic skills!

 And if you are interested, you can go visit my Facebook page or just drop me an email at shumbafrica.safaris@gmail.com 

 I am looking forward to hear from you!