About Carole
Hi, I’m Carole
I’m Carole Deschuymere, a wildlife photographer whose first trip to South Africa in 2003 changed everything.
The light, the sounds, the raw beauty of wild animals in their natural habitat stayed with me long after I flew home. Africa became more than a destination – it became my second home.
On every journey I photographed what I experienced. Those early images won awards and led to exhibitions, but more importantly they confirmed what I felt so strongly in my heart: this was where I belonged.
Today I organise intimate wildlife safaris and photography trips across Africa so I can share that love for the continent – and my passion for photography – with others.
Finding my place between photography and the wild
“I never really knew what I wanted to do in life,” Carole Deschuymere often says.
Nothing quite clicked. Even during a photography course at the Academy in Ghent I struggled to express my creativity. I felt out of sync with the world around me.
Everything changed on a trip to Tanzania with my mother in 2006. Standing on the savannah, surrounded by wildlife, I suddenly knew with absolute certainty where I felt at home. The feeling was so strong that I turned to my mum and said, “Mom, I’m sorry, you will have to go home alone. I’m staying here.”
Back in Oostduinkerke I had my own business and responsibilities. You can’t just walk away from that overnight, but I was craving the next trip to Africa.
In 2009 I travelled to Botswana and joined a South African guide who would be my partner for several years. Together we spent weeks at a time camping in the bush, completely immersed in nature.
He taught me everything about fauna and flora: how to read animal behaviour, how to anticipate what might happen next, and how to move respectfully through wild spaces. That’s how I learned to find animals in the right place at the right time – knowledge that still shapes my safaris today.
Out there in nature, surrounded by wildlife, I felt on top of the world. I worked like crazy, photographing as much as I could, but I was often disappointed with the results. I knew the moments were special – my images just didn’t do them justice yet.
So I kept learning. I pushed my photography further and taught myself how to edit my images, determined to create the photographs I was dreaming of.
The Covid turning point: choosing Africa for good
When Covid hit in March 2020, I was deep in the Kalahari with a group. At first we didn’t take it too seriously – we even joked with Corona beers and took a photo to remember the moment. But when we came out of the Kalahari our phones went crazy. Messages, missed calls, everyone trying to reach us and tell us to come home.
We barely made it onto one of the last planes out of Botswana.
Back in Belgium nothing felt the same. My shop was closed during lockdown and, for the first time in years, I had time to really think about what I wanted from my life. The answer was very clear: Africa, photography, safaris, and conservation.
So I made a decision. I sold almost everything, packed the rest into a container, and in October I boarded a flight with my Jack Russell, Simba, heading to Harare. That moment – sitting on the plane with Simba on my lap, flying towards a new life – is one I’ll never forget.
Life in the bush
I lived in Harare for four years, but eventually I wanted to be even closer to the bush. So I moved to Victoria Falls. Here, with elephants sometimes passing by my house and the Zambezi not far away, I finally feel truly at home.
Now I’m ready for the next chapter: dedicating my time to what I love most – creating fine art wildlife images, guiding small‑group safaris, and sharing real, wild Africa with people who feel the same pull that I once felt.
Giving back: conservation through photography
Africa’s wildlife and wild places have given me everything – a home, a purpose, a life I love. Through my work I want to give something back.
That’s why I actively support conservation projects such as Painted Dog Research, Rescue Dogs for Wildlife, and Victoria Falls Anti‑Poaching Unit. Together with my guests and collectors, I try to turn beautiful images into real, on‑the‑ground support for people who protect the animals and landscapes we all care about.
Photography may be the visible result, but for me the deeper goal is connection: between people and wildlife, between travellers and conservation, and between that first spark of curiosity and a lifelong love for Africa.
