Meet Your Guide

John Sebastian Witherspoon

was born in 1949 near the equator at Nakuru in Kenya, on the floor of the Great Rift Valley - an area now famous for its lake, which holds over 3 million flamingoes. Africa has changed a lot since those colonial days, but growing up just outside Nairobi was certainly an interesting life.

During his childhood, he was lucky to spend time traveling with his parents - not only around East Africa, but to South Africa, Kenya, the Rhodesias (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Mozambique. John is fluent in English and Kiswahili (Swahili), and is able to communicate in several of the local dialects (Luo, Masai and Tsonga).

John was privileged to have spent time getting to know some of the legendary figures of Kenya history, such as George and Joy Adamson (creators of the "Born Free" story), Dr. Jane Goodall (the renowned chimpanzee authority), and Donald Ker and Syd Downey, founders of the legendary safari company.

In 1971, John completed his Biology degree and earned his pilot's license. For the next 15 years, John led hunting expeditions, quickly establishing himself as one of the most distinguished trackers in the world. As countries began to ban hunting in favor of other forms of tourism, John converted his skills to "Bloodless Hunts" - where the only shots aimed at wildlife came from camera lenses. In 1985, John received his Masters of Science Degree in Photography. Since that time, John has led thousands of people to various game parks in Africa, including Kenya (Masai Mara), Nairobi and Tanzania (Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater). John's lifetime of experience allows him to not only find the animals you want to photograph, but also places you in the best light to shoot it. John will teach you how best to use your lens, and how to capture the most amazing shots of your life!