There is something magic about flying across Africa, bound for the world’s largest wildlife reserve. The little aircraft, buffeted by tropical turbulence, drones low over an infinity of sparsely-wooded savannah. Somewhere down there are 32,000 elephants, herds of buffalo and a handful of endangered black rhino. The sprawling Rufiji River twinkles in the sun as we approach, before that alarming surge down, down, thud, thump, onto a gravelled airstrip.

Out on the water… It is eerie to chug past the wake of a submerged hippo – at any moment our flimsy flat-bottomed craft could be gliding over the back of an animal big enough to capsize it. The river has risen overnight, bubbles belching to the surface. A grassy bank swarms with saurian shapes. African fish eagles perch on dead branches; white cattle egrets perch on the glistening backs of hippo browsing by the shore.

These images are scanned from 35mm Fujichrome or Ektachrome transparencies. Please visit my website for more pictures and stories from Africa and elsewhere.