Dramatic cloudscape reflected in water
Botswana,  Landscape,  Lens-Artists,  Themed galleries,  Zimbabwe

Gallery: under African skies

May 21, 2023 / 54 Comments

… he walked his days

Under African skies

Paul Simon, Under African Skies

No two skies are the same, and no single sky stays the same for long. Maybe that’s why, as photographers, we are so drawn to capture them? An ever-evolving, ever captivating subject that is available to us all. We only have to look up!

Of course a clear blue sky on its own isn’t very interesting, nor is a dull grey one. What we need are clouds. Fluffy white ones in that blue sky perhaps. Or angry dark ones, edged with gold or silver as the sun tries to find its way through them. A sunrise or sunset sky touched with orange or gold. Or a night sky sprinkled with stars.

As soon as I saw Amy’s prompt for this week’s Lens Artists challenge I knew that I wanted to take you all to Africa and to the skies over Botswana in particular. Immediately the lyrics of one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite artists, Paul Simon, started running through my head. Have a listen:

In the Okavango I was as captivated by the skyscapes as I was by the wildlife, especially when reflected in the waters of the delta. Whether we were setting out early in the morning for walks or boat rides, or relaxing in a mokoro (traditional boat) just before sunset, the skies were magical. But further north in the Chobe National Park too, I found plenty of drama under those African skies. I’ve also thrown in a few from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where we ended that trip.

My feature photo is one of many taken on one of those mokoro rides in the Okavango. You can see the prow of the boat in the foreground, as you can in another of the shots below. For more about the delta and our mokoro outings there, including video footage, see my post from 2021. Some of the shots below are duplicates from that previous post, but too appropriate not to include again here!

Chobe National Park, Botswana
Blue sky with white clouds and river in foreground

Morning sky over the Chobe River

Blue sky with white clouds and river with sandbanks in foreground

Later that day by another part of the river

Sunset with dark clouds

Chobe sunset

Dramatic sunset clouds with bird flying

And another Chobe sunset

The Okavango Delta, Botswana
Blue sky with white clouds reflected in water

Sky reflections, mid-afternoon

Dramatic cloudscape reflected in water

Sunset approaching

Dramatic cloudscape reflected in water

From a mokoro

Dramatic sunset clouds reflected in water

Sunset on the lagoon

Dramatic sunset clouds reflected in water

Five minutes later, sun sinking

Dramatic sunset clouds reflected in water

A wider shot of the same scene

Pink sky and clouds reflected in water

After sunset

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Dramatic cloudscape with large tree silhouetted

Early morning view from our hotel, spray rising from the falls

Sunset over a wide river with several boats

Sunset on the Zambezi River

Sunset sky with foreground trees

Clouds at sunset over the Zambezi

Sunset sky with river

And after the sun had set

I visited Botswana and Zimbabwe in 2018

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