From Kingston to Atlanta, an overnight, then Atlanta to Chicago, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and from Ethiopia to Nairobi, and 48+ hours in flight, J’can photographer Robert Johnson was in the motherland.
He’s travelled to New York, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and England for conferences in his ongoing study in chemistry, but nothing compared to this trip he’s been dreaming of for over 20 years.
The senior lecturer in chemistry at UTech, Jamaica, who’s also a fashion, landscape, and wildlife photographer, held a 20+-year-old dream of visiting Africa.
In an interview with Loop News, Johnson mentioned a years-long desire to visit Africa. It was developed circa ’95, when Johnson saw a documentary on the migration of the wilder beast in Africa at an IMAX Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. He was hooked. Speechless, and in awe.
And as an active member of a few online photography groups, Johnson’s kept the fervour for travel alive over 25 years later. In July 2021, he journeyed to Kenya and Tanzania for a two-week tour of the African states.
“I went to Africa to experience [and capture] an African safari. I’ve always wanted to experience the eighth wonder of the world – the wilder beast migration across the Mara River.”
In addition to several natural movements in nature, Johnson captured a cheetah hunting and killing a gazelle on the plain, a lion and lioness mating, and entering the Ngorongoro Crater at the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority site, home of the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera.
Years after travelling to Canada, America, and Europe, Johnson decided that “Africa was my next stop”.
At the time, he was not eligible to travel to the continent, but the dream to go back to Africa never died.
When he decided to take the trip in 2021, he started his research and decided on Kenya and Tanzania for two reasons: To see the Maasai Mara National Reserve and to visit the Serengeti National Park.
In addition to the photos and videos captured, Johnson shared his most treasured experiences and things that stood out the most from the much-anticipated sojourn.
Johnson’s most treasured experiences from each stop
– The expanse of the Savannah. “I didn’t know the Savannah was so large. On the map it just looks like an area in eastern Africa where you can experience wild animals [in their natural habitat]”.
– “I was in awe of the Serengeti (which, he confirmed, was over 30,000km2 of land), it was like a sea of grass.”
– How smart the wild animals were. “Most of what they did were calculated and well-timed”. Johnson likened the Serengeti to an organized community.
– “I visited the village of a Maasai tribe and I was impressed with how the people lived. I went into their houses to see what the living structure looked like…how it’s constructed…the apartments that were in there…just how they live in general. I’ll never forget the Maasai tribal dance, where they would jump…I got to experience that by myself.”
Three things that stood out the most, according to Robert Johnson
1 The culture of the Kenyans in Kenya is very similar to the culture of Jamaicans in Jamaica.
2 I’ve always thought that Africa was a very hot place. But, I found that it’s not necessarily so, it depends on the time of year that you [visit] and where you go. In Kenya, where I was, it was their winter in July, which meant cold mornings and warm afternoons, then back to cold nights.
3 My learning of the history and life of Danish author Karen Blixen, about her life in Africa and the way she made a life for herself after moving there in the 1800s.
Johnson, who goes by the name Flowys Creation (for his photography business) plans to create a calendar for 2023, and other plants to mount an exhibition with several of the images he’s captured in Africa. He also plans to return to Africa very soon!
kadeem@trend.media
