Building A Photographic Hide
Now when it comes down to getting that shot, We at Untamed Photo Safaris provide our clients with one of the most unique experiences out there. We present to you the Underground and overnight hide of Shompole that offers you the chance to obtain the most unique photographic results out there.
So how did the Shompole Hide become one of Africa's most unique hides here in Africa and how was it designed, constructed and made into a wildlife photographers paradise that has been one of top attractions here with Untamed Photo Safaris.
Untamed Photo Safaris - Shompole Hide
This year our team at Untamed Photo Safaris have spent some time at Shompole Wilderness Camp in Kenya’s Southern Rift Valley and have fallen in love with this wildlife photography hotspot.
We at Untamed Photo Safaris are here to give you the history of the Shompole Hide that we are very proud to use in order to capture those iconic photographs that us photographs dream of. As most of you know, the Shompole hide was built by professional wildlife photographers and is designed for day and night waterhole photography for professional, intermediate and beginner wildlife photographers with the help of our team. The construction of this hid is most interesting and inspirational for most of us enthusiasts and will almost make you want to discover and get involved with this photographic hide yourself.
The Location
The Shompole conservancy is a privately owned concession situated south of the Great Rift Valley and located just above the border of Tanzania in Kenya. This wildlife hotspot holds some of the most harsh terrain and would almost seem impossible for anything to survive here. The area seems rather inhospitable and you would ask your self how would this area be so good for wildlife photography? This location is one of Kenyas most dusty areas that comes in handy for us wildlife photographers, but we will talk about that later. The location of the hide & lodge is very easy to get to and requires only a three hour drive from the Jomo Kenyatta international airport of Nairobi and may also be accessed by a private charted plane. The location that houses the lodge provides a stunning river called the Ewaso Ngiro River that flows through this dry area supplying water to the local people and the surrounding wildlife.
The History
Shompole conservancy is a rather unique area that holds a plentiful abondance of wildlife that has over time co existed with the Massai community. The relationship between the conservation team and the masai community located just outside of the area is quite unique. The team here have helped protect the wildlife, especially predators from farming conflict. The conservation teams here monitor big cat movements and report them to the cattle massai community where they can herd their cows to far destinations and safely store them. The evening, people return to their bomas to safeguard their livestock behind impenetrable barricades of acacia thorns. Lions are of course one of the main threats and Will spent several nights tracking them with the SORALO monitoring team. In this area, the African lions seem to rule! This location of kenya is home to the rare and completely wild lions that have not been homed into national parks. The Maasai community have learned to co exist with these large predators and thus has made this area a big cat paradise for us wildlife photographers.
The Story Behind the Hide
A wildlife photographer known as Will Burrard-Lucas set visited shompole wilderness and noticed the vast abondance of wildlife that thrived here. He placed a camera trap close to the Ewaso Ngiro River hoping to record the nocturnal action of the area. Over a few days he was astounded with what he ad captured on camera.
Will Burrard-Lucas Explains His Story:
Over the course of just one week my camera photographed an incredible diversity of creatures: cats, hyenas, jackals, foxes, civets, genets, porcupines, honey badgers and owls to name just a few. It seemed that all night there was a constant queue of animals waiting for their turn to drink. It was the most prolific camera trap I have ever set up.
It was clear that this area had a great deal to offer photographers and safari-goers alike. Sam and Johann du Toit, the owner-managers of Shompole Wilderness Camp, had always recognised this potential and we decided to team up. We would build a new waterhole – away from all other sources of water – and a hide from which people could watch and photograph animals as they came to drink. The waterhole would give wildlife a new place to drink year-round, away from people and livestock, and this would hopefully help to reduce human-wildlife conflict as well.
Johann found an ideal spot for the waterhole, in a wildlife-rich area, with Mt. Shompole providing a stunning backdrop. I relished starting with a blank slate and refining every detail, such as angling the hide for the perfect light at sunrise and sunset, and ensuring the waterhole itself looked as natural as possible.
In December 2021, we started by digging a shallow depression and filling it from drums of water transported on the back of a pickup truck. I set up a camera trap and over the coming days the wildlife started to show up.
Images By Will Burrard-Lucas
Next, two shipping containers were converted into a spacious hide with windows, a toilet and fold down beds. In April, the containers were lowered into a large hole so that the windows were just above the water level.
Images By Will Burrard-Lucas
Thirty Maasai people from the Shompole Community helped construct a 5km pipeline from the river and a solar pump was then installed to keep the waterhole permanently topped up. By July, Shompole Hide was ready…
My first nights in the hide were challenging! The wildlife was skittish and my movements were clumsy. More often than not, animals would get spooked and disappear in a cloud of dust before I could take a photograph. Over time, however, I got better at moving around silently and the wildlife got used to the new occupant of the hide.
At night I learnt to work in complete darkness and I figured out how to light the waterhole without disturbing the animals. Lighting was as critical as the design of the hide itself. It was important to me that this would be totally flexible, so that any photographer could illuminate the waterhole in their own style and capture photographs that didn’t look the same as everyone else’s. For me, experimenting with lighting is one of the most challenging and exciting aspects of working at night.
Images By Will Burrard-Lucas
At Present Day
The Shompole hide in the year of 2024 has boomed in the wildlife photography industry. This pro wildlife photography hide has supplied many of our photography guests with many unique photographs to be proud of with the help of our photographic hosts from Untamed Photo Safaris, Mark A Fernley and Jaren A Fernley.
The wildlife that drink at this waterhole hide have become used to the hide and the wildlife photographers that are in it. Lions, Cheetah, Spotted Hyena, Leopard and much more, have become so used to the hide that images during the night have started to get easier for our photography guests.
Join us in Shompole with wildlife photographers Mark A Fernley and Jaren A Fernley where you can get to experience this photographic hide for yourself, where you can capture some remarkable images of a lifetime. Due to the high demand, we are now accepting enquiries for 2026!
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