Local Westport Teen Wins the Micato Safaris Photo Contest

Luxury safari operator Micato Safaris (www.micato.com) recently announced the winners of its second annual Photo Contest.

Fourteen-year-old Jenna Levantin, from Westport, Connecticut, was awarded the Gold level prize for her winning photograph of a leopard leaping down from a tree, which was taken while she and her grandparents joined Micato’s Heart of Kenya and Tanzania Safari in July 2011.

While she had no photography training before her trip, Jenna’s photo was selected from a series of images she captured of the leopard.  Leopard are famously elusive, so even seeing this powerful cat is rare, but capturing such an exciting image is a coup for a photographer of any age.

Stops on their itinerary included Tarangire National Park, where unearthly baobab trees define the landscape; the Ngorongoro Crater, a collapsed volcano that is home to more than 2,000 species of wildlife; and Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara National Reserve, which host the incomparable annual Great Migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.

Miss Levantin also enjoyed the rare opportunity to photograph the herds of wildebeest and zebra as they made their pilgrimage across the Mara River.  But her favorite spot was the Ngorongoro Crater, where they enjoyed breathtaking views from their lodge—perched on the crater rim. 

Her mother, Westport resident Amy Levantin, is encouraging Jenna to pursue photography further, “We think she has a good eye for it,” she said.  “She’ll be in 9^th Grade next year, and now she wants to sign up for a digital photography class.” 

Winning contest submissions also included a lioness with her cub, a pair of elephants lumbering across the plains, and a portrait of a young Maasai girl.  To enter the contest or peruse the winning photos, please visit http://www.micato.com/photo-contest/.

For more information or to book a safari, visit www.micato.com or call 1-800-MICATO-1.