Our Storytelling Agency Goes on Safari in Casanare, Colombia With Awake Travel
Our Storytelling Agency explores the wild east of Colombia
As a storytelling agency staffed with passionate adventure sports athletes, amateur naturalists, and tireless explorers, the WhereNext team relishes new filming challenges and the chance to explore wild and off-the-beaten-track destinations. So we jumped on the opportunity to partner with Colombian tourism agency Awake Travel and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on a series of video projects promoting up-and-coming ecotourism destinations in lesser-known regions of Colombia.
Our team was especially excited to work on a ten-day shoot in the eastern plains of Colombia, the Llanos Orientales. This vast tropical plain offered everything that inspires us as a storytelling agency: epic landscapes, inspiring conservation stories, spectacular wildlife, and the opportunity to positively impact a region that has been historically marred by conflict. It also offered the kinds of logistical and physical challenges that our adventure-hungry team relishes. In short: the ultimate WhereNext destination.
Interested in filming in the Llanos? Check out “A Destination Guide to Filming in Colombia: The Llanos Orientales”
The people of the region are known as ‘Llaneros’ - these Colombian cowboys still live a traditional life out on the plains, often herding cattle through the vast wilderness for months on end
Remote Locations: Yes Please!
Our mission was to document the spectacular wildlife of the Colombian department of Casanare. Filming wildlife presents several unique challenges. For starters, our shooting schedule was only ten days, and we had to capture excellent footage of the most representative wildlife of the Llanos in that limited time. Every hour and every animal sighting was precious. Our videographers had to maintain constant vigilance, because wild animals don’t give an advance warning when they’re about to appear from out of the forest. This is no easy feat in the intense heat of the Colombian plains, but our fit, perpetually curious, and willing crew kept their eyes on the prize.
The team had to be ready to move out and shoot at a moment’s notice, even with heavy camera equipment in tow. When one of the local guides radioed in an anaconda sighting, the videographers were able to pack and move in an instant. The giant anaconda is one of the Llanos’ most distinctive and representative species. There was no question of missing the chance to film one in the wild. The final images of this remarkable creature speak for themselves.
We were filming a mixture of wildlife, landscapes, and interviews, the team needed a range of different cameras, lenses, and drone equipment. Although the schedule allowed them time to return to the base to change cameras, the team needed to be prepared for all shooting eventualities. So instead of taking the risk of missing any shots, they carried all the equipment they needed with them. The heat and intense physical effort of this was simply another “training day” on the road for our videographers whose weekly routine includes cycling and climbing in the 8500-12000 ft. high-altitude surrounds of Bogotá.
Heavy Loads: We’ve Got This
While filming at Lagunazo Natural Reserve, the team spent much longer than planned out on the forest trails shooting wildlife. The original schedule had included time to return to the lodge house after the day’s shooting, to switch camera gear to film the sunset. An especially spectacular sunset seemed to be arriving earlier than expected. Our gear-laden and perennially in-shape videographers marched straight from the forest to the lakeside with plenty of time to capture one of the final video’s most inspiring and beautiful scenes. Where a less agile team may have missed the sunset shot, the anticipation and flexibility of the WhereNext crew allowed them to capture the shots they needed.
The vast open plains of the Llanos are famed for their beautiful and dramatic sunrises and sunsets. This one was especially epic!
Harsh Conditions: No Problem
We were filming during the dry season, which meant dust would be a persistent risk to the health of our equipment. If dust and sand contaminate an exposed camera sensor, then that camera can easily be out of commission for a day’s filming. As an insurance policy, and to add to our team’s usual Sherpa-sized burdens, we carried spare lenses and cameras.
Their backpacks also contained everything needed to work in the pulsating heat of the plains. It’s no good if a videographer succumbs to sunstroke and has to miss a day of filming. Our team has worked in these kinds of conditions before. Light, long-sleeved shirts, wide-brimmed hats, and plenty of water and sunscreen were the first things on the packing checklist, and they allowed the team to shoot through the heat of the day and get all the footage our client expected. They also kept the guys thankfully free of ticks. Except for one instance, when they were filming a rare tamandua anteater. Lying in the long grass was the only way to get the shot. At WhereNext, we’re well prepared to avoid bug bites, but our team will also take the hit for the client when there’s no other option!
The remoteness and lack of infrastructure in the region meant that many of the sites we visited had no electricity. During a ten-day shoot, backing-up footage is vital, as is making sure that all the equipment is fully charged for long days in the field. Our videographer and in-house data management expert, Julio Echavarria took charge of this aspect of the shoot.
WhereNext videographer and in-house data management expert, Julio Echavarria, getting muddy for the cause
Often he had to rely on generators for charging the batteries. Generators can be unreliable and often suffer from power surges. One power surge can completely fry an entire set of charging batteries. Fried batteries would have been the end of the shoot; there is no Best Buy or Amazon Prime delivery in the heart of the Colombian plains. Add one more item to the packing list. Surge protectors were the answer, and they allowed our videographers to safely charge all of their camera batteries in less-than-ideal conditions.
The spectacularly biodiverse palm swamps of Lagunazo Natural Reserve made for some truly remarkable drone shots and wildlife footage
After ten intense days in one of the wildest regions of Colombia, our two videographers returned to Bogota with hours of epic footage and a delighted client. They were pretty exhausted, and sporting a few more tick bites than expected. Still, they were energized from the challenge of filming in these remote landscapes and inspired to get out and shoot in more off-the-beaten-track corners of the globe. That’s what our storytelling agency is all about: exploration, adventure, and, above all, doing the best work possible for our clients, no matter what the destination or the conditions. That’s what living the WhereNext Life is all about!