I love animals. Taking pictures with animals always creates a special connection. It has been a very long time since I passed the car safari at the Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, more specifically twenty years. I noticed a lot has changed since then: the welcome office looked new and they build complete new hiking trails next to the animals. There was a lot to discover!

As always, I wanted to take my cameras with me. When I take the pictures with my new Leica cameras, the atmosphere is more authentic to me. When I took pictures with my DSLR cameras, everything needed to be done quickly. Now I only work with manual focus cameras and lenses so I need to take more time to have that perfect shot.

I was able to take some fantastic photos on my walk in the park. I love some expressions from the animals and bring a soul in the pictures. I am very grateful that they allowed me. Here are some images I took in the park.

The next pictures especially touched me. I can’t express it. Some people will think it is nothing. But for me, there is something happening in these images. When you think the same you can always leave a comment. It’s always nice to have some feedback.

Some images on the other hand gave me the feeling of sadness. Not able to be free and missing friends. Other photos gave me the power they still have inside but are not able to use it because the animals are sitting in a cage.

My camera did allow me to take images I never took before. I love my Leica camera and it feels like an extension of myself. I never expected to have this feeling while taking photos. 

Not everything looks best in black and white. I felt like I needed to take a picture of the rhino in color. The sun was giving such a nice flair over the animal. When the rhino put his horn in the air combined with the sun flair, it created something special. I loved it!

The park is only 30km from my home, so it’s a shame I didn’t pass the park earlier. It was a great adventure with my lovely family and they did enjoy it as much as I did. Sometimes it is just sad to see some animals in cages that should be able to spend their lives in the wild where they belong. Not spending their lives in cages to please people. The next picture show exactly what I mean.

I think a giraffe has not been put on mother earth to be a personal carwash 😉 just saying

Have a nice safari when you go there, it is very beautiful and people work hard to make the animals as comfortable as possible. Congrats on their superb job.

Check out: https://www.beeksebergen.nl