Lara & Clinton

When you have lived all over the world, the idea of home can be complex. South Africans Lara and Clinton have lived in Hong Kong and are now based in London. Although they haven’t lived in South Africa for quite some time, for them it still feels like home, and the African bush the right place for their family and friends from Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand to visit for their wedding. Bayete Zulu in the Zululand Rhino Reserve north of Durban was the spectacular venue they chose.

When I’ve visited game reserves in the past, I’ve watched the lions and elephants from the safe confines of a vehicle. However, on this occasion I found myself out of the Land Rover, with the bride, groom, their bridal party and two guides, taking photos in a front of 150-year-old fig tree on a dry riverbed. Where lions had been seen that morning, and leopard and lion paw-prints tracked through the sand.

Then there was the moment a bridesmaid posed for a photo in front an elephant and, deciding her bouquet would make a tasty snack, it reached its trunk over her shoulder and briskly snatched the flowers from her hands. When it dropped the bouquet seconds later, I put my camera aside and reached gingerly through the industrial-strength electric fence to retrieve the flowers.

Africa, always full of surprises, made sure that this was a wedding to remember.