I’ve needed to get a new camera for a while now. My old camera has been serving me well for nearly 10 years, but for the last 5 or so of those years, it’s been temperamental. It only takes photos on its own terms; “Anna, you’d better use your phone to photograph those zebras because remember the peanut butter incident of 2009? Well, you didn’t deal with that properly at the time, so yeah, here’s a ‘lens error’ instead of a zebra photo…”

Thanks camera.

And also, over the past 10 years I’ve really changed the way I take photos. Gone are the days I’ll take 4826 photos of the same animal. I’ve learned that when you do that, you don’t actually see anything at all. It isn’t real.

I don’t like photography, but I do need a camera.

So what’s the solution?

Being a safari guide, I get to see every camera on the market. Big ones, little ones, expensive ones, cheap ones. It’s the best way to research before a big purchase. And I’ve been researching for about 2 years.

In the end, I decided I should upgrade my old Canon and get the new version. 60x zoom – now that’ll be fun for safaris! I almost gave in and bought one…

Except then people started bringing GoPros on safari. They never just bring a GoPro- they usually have something bigger and better as well, but it got me thinking…

How darn awesome is a GoPro?! If ever there was a camera suited to someone who is ‘anti-photography,’ it’s an entry level GoPro.

There isn’t even a screen!

You point it vaguely in some direction and push a button. Simple. What does the photo look like? No idea.

How fun is that? It adds a level of mystery to photography that I’m rather in love with.

So after my last safari guests let me play with their GoPro (thanks Trudie and Libby!) I was decided.

“I’m buying a GoPro tomorrow,” I said. And for once I meant it.

So here’s the end result. 

New camera to play with. There are only 3 buttons, one of which I still don’t understand, so technically it’s just 2 buttons to master. I can drop it in the ocean (already done- tick) and thanks to Cape Union Mart’s ‘buy this for R400 more than the shop next door and we’ll throw in a free roll bar mount’ deal, I can attach it to my game viewer too. That’s coming in time…

I didn’t buy the cheapest model. Mine has a fabulous wifi connection so I can literally control the entire thing from my phone. Technology is magnificent! Who knew?

So expect more photos on Safariosophy, because this girl has a camera, and she’s totally in love with it.