Andrea “Andy” Crawford began her career in law, earning both a BA and LLB from Wits University, but the courtroom could never compete with her pull toward the wild. After a year of diving the Red Sea and months exploring India by motorbike, Andy traded legal practice for life in remote corners of Zanzibar, Malawi, and beyond—always chasing water, wilderness, and freedom.
In 1999 she left law behind completely, joining Aquavision Television Productions to specialize in underwater documentaries. A year later, she met filmmaker Brad Bestelink and moved to Botswana, where together they built the Natural History Film Unit, one of Africa’s leading wildlife production companies.
Drawn to the hidden world beneath the Okavango, Andy became a pioneer of underwater exploration in the Delta—filming, studying, and being the first with Brad to dive alongside and film Nile crocodiles. It was during these years, working in the eerie green light of crocodile country, that she developed her instinctive eye for remarkable photography—learning to frame fleeting moments of grace and raw power in an environment few had ever seen. Their work has attracted international attention, from 60 Minutes Australia to Anderson Cooper, Steve Backshall, and Ben Fogle, and continues to shape how the world sees Botswana’s wilderness.
Today, Andy is turning her lens fully toward photography, with Underwater Okavango as her new chapter—revealing the quiet, dreamlike world below the surface of Africa’s most iconic delta.
