Into The Wild

The sight of a zebra laughing - with its eyes clenched shut and mouth wide open – will stop anybody in their tracks. As will the vista of unbroken grassy plains at Masai Mara, with a cheetah curled lazily under the morning skies. But the real attention-grabber here, is the Great Migration, the annual migration of thousands of zebras, wildebeests and gazelles from the Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the Masai Mara plains in Kenya.

Ten amateur photographers bring these scenes to the city, straight from their travels in Kenya, in an exhibition titled 'Untamed Africa'. Between October 24 to 28 and November 2 to 4, the exhibition will feature 110 photographs by these artistes, including shots of vast landscapes and the teeming wildlife there, along with some candid snapshots of indigenous fauna such as African elephants, chimpanzees and rhinos.

"Africa is a dream destination for every wildlife enthusiast and you can see why from the pictures in this exhibition," says one of the photographers, Devendra Gogate. "Africa has a very different eco-system and the amount of wildlife there is unbelievable," he adds.

The exhibition features pictures taken at large game reserves such as Amboselli, Sweetwaters and Samburu, along with scenes near Lake Nakuru which is visited by lakhs of flamingos. Incidentally, Amboselli is the only place in Kenya where chimpanzees can be viewed. "Chimpanzees are amongst our closest biological relatives and they actually have very complex actions and expressions. But to us, sometimes they just look funny. So we have a lot of shots which give insight into their lives and there are also shots which will simply make you smile," says Gogate.

The collection boasts of several candid captures, such as the laughing zebra. "I'm not sure whether it was actually laughing; it just looks exactly like that and it was such a funny sight," says Gogate, who took the picture. There are photos of lion cubs gambolling and of a mother cheetah with her cubs – scenes only the most fortunate of travellers can claim to have seen.

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