Namibia

Catherine Phillips, a new member of the Travel Group, wrote in response to our request for some of your favourite places:

I am a teacher of Modern Foreign Languages and part time translator with a passion for travel. I love to explore new places and cultures, discover fascinating landscapes and become acquainted with the people who call these destinations their home. I have been privileged to visit many different parts of the world together with my husband and son, and favourite travels have included the USA, Southern Africa and different parts of Asia.

In my spare time I am a keen amateur photographer. I rarely leave home without my camera, and I greatly enjoy spending time walking, exploring the local countryside, visiting different places both in the UK and overseas, and of course capturing its beauty photographically. I joined the Royal Photographic Society a few months ago on the recommendation of a good friend who shares my passion for taking photographs. I am hoping to apply for my licentiate in the coming months.

I visited Etosha National Park in Namibia as part of a three week tour of southern Africa. The park has a diverse variety of natural landscapes. There is a salt pan so large it can be seen from space. Yet there is abundant wildlife that congregates around the numerous waterholes. We visited some of the waterholes on more than one occasion, and each time there were different wildlife sightings.

In my collection here, I have aimed to show some of the variety of wildlife in a variety of different locations/natural settings. One of my shots is of zebra visiting one of the largest waterholes contrasted against the desetr scrub, and also with part of the salt pan in the far distance.

Many of the animals were not easy to spot, initially at least. One example of this is the owl camouflaged in the tree.

Deadvlei in Namibia. One of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, and not just on account of the endless opportunities for photography!

What I loved was the mood. Spiritual and almost surreal. The vast white clay pans provide a breath-taking contrast between the pitch black dead trees and the rusty red sand dunes. The trees are said to be around 900 years old, but have never decomposed due to the dry environment. I tried to capture a sense of scale - the vastness of the pan and the size of the dunes - by including the trees and other people taking in the beauty of the area.