Wildlife Photography

On top of the focus of food and experiences with my trips, I also use these adventures to take photos of local wildlife as often as I can.

I find this aspect really opens up another side of the natural beauty around the world.

Whether it is wildlife photography in Ajman UAE, or wildlife photography in Tobago, I always try to incorporate it into my trips.

Some locations are literally built around wildlife viewing and wildlife photography, such as Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, while other locations are not set up for wildlife photography with tourism infrastructure at all, such as Dubai.

I have found in recent years that instagram hashtags have become an amazing resource in finding the best wildlife photography spots, where as websites with “the best wildlife photography locations in Ajman” etc. are mostly clickbait.

I will add locations or options for the destinations written about on this page.

Wildlife photography can be a rewarding (yet often painfully dependant on luck) hobby. I try and incorporate into my travel plans where I can, and I regularly plan whole segments of my travel around wildlife.

I’m not a fan of zoos when I can avoid them (with exceptions) and prefer to photograph wild animals.

How do you find wildlife photography locations while travelling? Where are the animals in a certain country?

Well, it depends mostly on where you are going. Some destinations are set up for the wildlife viewing and wildlife photography tourist market. Trinidad and Tobago has been a birder’s paradise for decades, so there are whole books dedicated to wildlife viewing. Mexico City is not known for wildlife, but I found beautiful birds, squirrels and snakes with little effort.

Besides searching the internet, and avoiding clickbait tour links, there are always books. Nature documentaries are a great source of information, depending on the age, and it’s easy to find what David Attenborough series covered Red-billed Tropicbirds being attacked by Magnificent Frigatebirds on Little Tobago (The Trials of Life - Episode 3). I was lucky enough to watch that display in person in 2019.

Besides typical resources, I like to search for hashtags on instagram and also I have had increasing luck with using ebird hotspots.

Birders are known for their meticulous documenting of species seen, so looking through the ebird hotspot maps for a destination can often provide valuable information about recent species seen and exact locations.

Finding instagram hashtags for specific locations can be fruitful. While #birdingdubai has relatively few hits, #uaebirding has a couple of thousand, for instance. Try a few hashtags, scroll through feeds and find what you are looking for.

In my experience, wildlife photographers are often happy for you to reach out to them for help with locations, and often will offer to take you out. For more sensitive locations, they may be less willing to disclose information, but respect and understanding goes a long way.