The Great Trek is now over, we have travelled from Capetown to the Mozambiqu and Eswatini borders and skirted Lesotho and now returned to Capetown. We have seen all the large animals except for whales and added at least 6 bird species to add to ebird. Walked with elephants, played with monkeys, flirted with parrots! We saw great scenery, camped under the stars, endured a storm deluge, drove in a small car on roads suitable only for 4x4s, dived in the Indian ocean and met great people. When I return to the UK I will reveal all.

Right, here's how this works. Share your photos. Good ones, mediocre ones, "I have no idea what went wrong here" ones. All welcome. If you're waiting until you've got the perfect shot before posting, you'll never post. We all started somewhere rubbish. Tell us what you were trying to achieve. Context matters. "Here's a robin" gets polite thumbs up. "Here's a robin - I was trying to freeze the wing movement but it's blurry, what did I miss?" gets actual useful feedback. Include your settings if you want real help. ISO, shutter speed, aperture. If you can't remember, that's fine - just say so. But if you want to know why your heron looks like a grey blob, settings help us tell you. Celebrate other people's wins. When someone nails a shot, tell them. We're not competing here. Their success doesn't diminish yours. Community means genuinely being pleased when someone gets it right. Equipment doesn't matter as much as you think. I've seen stunning shots from phone cameras and terrible ones from £3,000 setups. Technique beats gear every single time. So don't apologize for your camera - just show us what you captured. One rule: Be kind. Critique the photo, not the photographer. "This composition would work better if..." is helpful. "You clearly don't know what you're doing" is not. We're here to get better together, not tear each other down. I'll kick things off with a few of my own shots - including some disasters - so you can see it's safe to share the imperfect stuff. Who's posting first? Gareth

I am popping my head in to say hi! We have been on the road and are now midway. Sitting down and having the timetable contribute here is a luxury with bird and wildlife watching, exploring, setting up camp and then breaking it down and then of course the road travel.Hippos, elephants, giraffe, buffalo, hyena, monkeys, baboons, warthogs and much more besides are everywhere. Then the birds, 200 species already ticked up. What's not to love.

Hey y'all! I've been a birder for 5 years now and recently upgraded to the Nikon Z6 III which has got me really into bird photography. I've dabbled in bird photography before this, but never been quite this serious. Anybody else here big on birding? ~Caleb

I was asked which cameras and lenses are best for wildlife photography. The truth is, there’s no single answer — every photographer has different needs, budgets, and shooting styles. What I can do is show you what’s available, how each option fits into the wildlife world, and what strengths they bring to the field. From mirrorless bodies to DSLRs and bridge cameras, and from versatile zooms to specialist primes, here’s a clear overview of the tools you can choose from.