Inspiring Individuals - Aida Ettayeb

Into the Wild: Aida’s Journey from Luxury Fashion to Wildlife Conservation From the bustling streets of Paris to the untamed wilderness of Africa, Aida’s journey is nothing short of remarkable. Born in Algeria and raised in France, she built a successful career in the luxury corporate world, working with some of the biggest global brands. Yet, her heart was always drawn to animals and the wild. Taking a courageous leap of faith, she left behind her comfortable city life to pursue her dream: living in the African bush as a wildlife photographer and safari specialist. Today, she documents conservation missions, leads tailor-made safaris, and uses her lens to tell powerful stories about the importance of protecting wildlife. In this interview, Aida shares her most memorable encounters, the challenges she’s faced, and her passion for elephants and the wild places they call home. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what first inspired your journey into working with wildlife? I grew up in Algeria in North Africa, where my family is from. I spent ten childhood years there with my mother before moving to France to study. I later entered the corporate world in Paris, travelling extensively as a Retail Education Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for brands such as Giorgio Armani, Saint Laurent and Ralph Lauren in the luxury and beauty space. After a decade, I chose to take a leap of faith and uproot my life and move to South Africa on my own. I left a prestigious and comfortable role in a top luxury corporate industry to realise a lifelong dream: living in the African bush and forging my own path as a wildlife photographer and safari travel specialist, supporting conservation and community projects. For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn to animals, from tiny mice, birds and squirrels in city parks to African elephants. I’m the person who cannot walk past a dog or cat without stopping to say hello; with street dogs it’s even worse, and I’ll happily spend ages fussing over them and making sure they have water and food. I also feel a strong connection with wildlife. I love watching animals for hours, trying to understand their behaviour, their emotional intelligence and how they communicate with each other. That connection deepened when I first experienced South Africa in 2009; everything changed. Over the years I returned three to four times annually, exploring the bush. In 2015 I took a pivotal sabbatical to immerse myself fully in South Africa and spend as much time as possible in the wild. I earned my FGASA Field Guide certification, which further deepened my understanding, and it became clear I needed to pursue this wild dream wholeheartedly. I started photography as a self-taught creative, trying to capture what my heart felt in the presence of wildlife. Photography became the best way to express and share the emotions that arise when you’re with animals in their natural habitat. I began documenting conservation work in the field: elephant collaring for research, rhino dehorning to deter poaching, wild dog relocations, anti-poaching dog units, and education and community projects. It mattered to me to show the reality of what wildlife faces in Africa, and how understanding that reality helps people care and want to protect it at any cost. South Africa became my new home, and my camera the tool to capture its beauty through nature and wildlife. Being able to combine this passion with the tailor-made safaris I offer is a blessing. I create unforgettable memories and capture them while giving guests opportunities to support conservation by backing the NGOs working on the ground. What does a typical day in your life look like when you’re out in the wild? What I love most is that no two days are the same; the unexpected is always around the corner, especially with wildlife. I’m fortunate to live in the bush, surrounded by animals, learning from them all the time. My work varies between documenting conservation missions as a photographer and being on safari with guests, showing them the bush and explaining animal behaviour. There isn’t a single “typical” day; the environment and the animals set the rhythm. With guests, a day might involve tracking wildlife on foot in Big Five reserves, teaching how to “read the bush like a newspaper” and to use all the senses to feel nature’s power. It could be searching from horseback or a game viewer, or spending hours with a single species (especially elephants, my favourite) to observe how they interact and how they communicate. I love using my field-guide training to anticipate behaviour and position myself so something special might unfold, without ever pushing animals. The opposite, in fact: letting them come to us, ready to capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments. Often that means quietly waiting at a waterhole for a herd of elephants or a pair of rhinos to come and drink. As a photographer, positioning yourself for the light is crucial, but so is giving animals space and allowing them to approach on their terms. Working with wildlife demands patience, humility and awareness. Waiting for hours for an animal to choose to come closer is always rewarding. Recently, two rhinos approached us near a waterhole because we anticipated their route and arrived early; we shared an extraordinary time with them just a few meters away, all on foot. Staying alert to alarm calls from birds, monkeys, squirrels or francolin is also part of that constant awareness. I love searching for the Big Five, but paying attention to smaller wonders matters just as much, and I make a point of sharing that mindset with guests. Watching a dung beetle roll a ball up to 50 times its weight is astonishing; seeing a weaver meticulously build a nest while the female inspects it is, to me, fascinating. Capturing these moments is often more challenging than photographing a lion portrait. On conservation assignments, for example with elephants, my day looks different. I prepare kit carefully, choosing bodies and lenses based on the NGO’s storytelling needs. We’re often on site very early to avoid heat stress for the animals. I spend time with the field team, listening to the briefing and planning how to get the content without being in the way. I often begin in the helicopter with the veterinarian, photographing the search and darting from the air. Once the animal has been darted and we’ve landed, I join the team on the ground and document the entire process in photographs and film. Sometimes I’m in private Big Five reserves photographing clients on safari; I’ll set up a romantic sundowner in the bush to create that Out of Africa feeling. If we’re lucky, wildlife appears in the background, like the wedding couple who had elephants wandering past during their shoot. Sometimes I’m simply out in the wild to enjoy the golden light. I’m lucky to live in a private reserve among the Big Five. Every day is different, and that’s exactly what I love. I’m always ready for the unexpected, whether it’s an elephant collaring, a rhino dehorning, a safari with guests or a photoshoot surrounded by wildlife. What has been one of the most memorable or transformative moments you’ve ever experienced in your work? I’ve had many extraordinary experiences, but because elephants fascinate me, my most memorable moment was on foot with a great tusker named Kilimanjaro in the Greater Kruger, during preparations for his collaring. It was an intimate, peaceful interaction I’ll never forget. Before collaring, you first have to find the elephant and establish the area where the pilot will fly the next day for darting. I was on assignment with Elephants Alive to document this. We were struggling to pinpoint him, though we knew the general area of the last sighting. A few of us decided to track on foot. After two hours, effort paid off: there he was, relaxed, feeding on a tree perhaps 20 to 30 meters away. We sat in silence and watched. He clearly knew we were there and was comfortable, occasionally glancing at us while continuing to eat. Then, very gently, he came closer to investigate, using his trunk to smell us without any sign of tension. He came closer still, touching us as softly as possible with his trunk, then stood a meter away, peacefully feeding. It lasted about 45 minutes. It was truly extraordinary to see him so calm. Eventually he returned to the same tree he had been feeding on when we arrived. It felt as if he had simply come to say hello and spend a little time with us, a true gentle giant with tusks that almost touched the ground. It’s an experience I’ll carry for life. What challenges have you faced along the way, and how have they shaped your perspective? Leaving my comfort zone for the unknown, moving to a foreign country and choosing to build a home in the middle of the bush among the Big Five, was not the easiest path, especially coming from city life in central Paris, working in a totally different industry and with no formal training as a photographer. It’s remarkable how passion helps you achieve what first seems impossible, and how facing challenges step by step brings you closer to a dream. The word that best describes how I’ve handled challenges, and how they’ve shaped my perspective, is resilience. You will fail at times, but you have to believe in yourself enough to try again and again until, one day, you see the first results of your commitment and hard work. The first challenge was earning credibility and showing what I could do. As a woman with no background in photography, I practised relentlessly and taught myself, correcting, adjusting and improving. I stayed open to every opportunity, often saying, “Yes, I can do it”, even if I didn’t yet know how. Along the way I met incredible people who each contributed to where I am today. Another challenge was balancing the many roles of a solo creator starting a business: finding clients; marketing and communications; social media; finances and invoicing; guiding safaris; photoshoots; editing; bookings by email, phone and DM. My friends called me the Swiss Army knife, always busy with something. I’ve learnt to be more patient and less demanding of myself (not easy for a detail-obsessed person). I’ve learnt to let go of the small things. Most importantly, I’ve learnt that you can achieve a great deal if you give yourself the means, and if you surround yourself with positive energy and the right people. I also watched my mother start life from scratch when we left Algeria for France as a single mother, and I think she’s the one who taught me, from a very young age, to fight for my dreams. If you could share one message with the world about the importance of wildlife and conservation, what would it be? We only protect what we love. Everyone should have the chance to experience wildlife in its natural habitat, to understand it and to feel the beauty and power it brings to our planet. People must grasp the key role wildlife plays on Earth. Animals are part of a delicate, natural balance in the ecosystem; if we don’t protect them, we won’t only lose them; we’ll lose ourselves. People need to feel that connection so they see themselves as part of the mission to protect wildlife. There are many ways to support conservation: backing NGOs working on the ground; behaving responsibly in nature; making better daily choices; educating younger generations; showing children in Africa, many of whom cannot afford to go on safari, the beauty and importance of wildlife so they can love it and want to protect it; even buying Wild in Africa bracelets to help support NGOs. I cannot imagine a world without wildlife. It’s our responsibility to act and protect it, however we’re able to do so. Every bit counts. Do you have a favourite species or place in the wild that holds special meaning for you? Why? Without hesitation: elephants and Botswana. I can watch elephants for hours without a single moment of boredom. Their emotional intelligence, the way they interact within the herd, the matriarchal structure, their strength and their gentleness. It blows my mind every time. I’m sure there’s still so much we don’t know about them. The low rumble they use to communicate is heaven to my ears. When an elephant looks at me, it feels as though it’s looking straight into my soul; it is a powerful moment I’ve never experienced with another species. Each has a distinct personality: some shy; some cheeky and playful in the mud; some gently shaking trees to reach fruit; youngsters wrestling with trunks they haven’t yet learned to control. I just love everything about them. Naturally, loving these gentle giants as much as I do, witnessing them in one of my favourite places on Earth, which also happens to be the land of elephants, is the cherry on top. For me, that’s Botswana, especially the Okavango Delta. There, elephants are nature’s architects, carving channels through the Delta, swimming and sometimes even leaping into the water. It’s paradise. I wish everyone, at least once in their lifetime, could glide in a traditional mokoro through the Okavango Delta among elephants. In my view, Disney got it wrong crowning the lion as king of the African savanna; the true monarch of the bush is the elephant. How can people best support or get involved with the work you’re doing? Follow my work on social media and my website, and contact me if you’d like me to create and capture memories for you through a tailor-made safari, a photoshoot in the wild, or both. You can also share my work and spread the word to help me gain visibility in the industry. It’s always wonderful to feel supported by a community. My website: www.intomywildafrica.photography Instagram: INTO MY WILD AFRICA @douda_bis Facebook: Into My Wild Africa by Aida Aida’s story is one of bravery, resilience, and devotion — proof that following your passion can lead to a life of extraordinary meaning. Through her work, she not only creates unforgettable experiences for her guests but also shines a light on the urgent need for conservation.

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Inspiring Individuals - Aida Ettayeb

Posted on October 13, 2025

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Inspiring Individuals - Aida Ettayeb

Posted on October 13, 2025