Good guides- worth their weight in memory cards.

Before you can take your shot, you need to find your subject and get into position. So a good guide is as important as a good lens- arguably more so. Fortunately the guides in Zambia enjoy the well deserved reputation of being the among the best in Africa. And they really turned up trumps for Anna and me on our trip. All our guides were great (as hopefully the photos here reflect) and it's unfair to single out anybody in particular...but I will.

Abraham Banda, the guide manager for Norman Carr Safaris, has just reached the final 3 in the prestigious Wanderlust worldwide guide awards. And it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. That's him pictured. He's the one without the tusks. 'Abes' listens carefully to what you're after and then goes hell for leather to deliver it. He doesn't always pull it off- this is wildlife photography, after all- but even when it doesn't come together perfectly, you don't really notice because he makes it all so darned interesting. You can find Abraham in the South Luangwa National Park at one or other of Norman Carr safaris impeccably organised camps. It's worth seeking him out. And best of luck at the awards in September, fella!

The other standout guide that we encountered was the formidably passionate Etienne Oosthuizen, who manages Old Mondoro bushcamp in the Lower Zambezi with his wonderful wife Leana. When I developed an obsession with snapping white fronted bee eaters in flight (there's a sample above), Etienne, a talented photographer himself (here's his blog), rose majestically to the occasion by producing a makeshift hide (by which I mean a bit of old tarp) for us to lie under.

As we lay full length on the dirt of the riverbank in increasingly ovenlike temperatures, two thoughts occurred to me. The first was 'what a great guide Etienne is'. And the second was 'what the hell is crawling up my leg'? Whatever it was, it soon transferred itself to Etienne, judging from the stifled expletives. And that's what I mean- taking bites for the team; what more could you want from a guide?

Respect.