This is Amboseli: the land of elephants.
The green swamps and marshes that exist alongside white dusty plains and dry salt pans make this place wonderfully diverse. The fact that elephants live here simply makes it magical.
Beyond here is the tallest mountain on the continent, Mt Kilimanjaro, who oversees not just the elephants, but all of Africa.
In the middle of some of the largest expanses of wilderness in the world, and near hundreds of some of the largest creatures on earth, I was drawn to this tiny stalk. It stood motionless, fragile- easily crushed by the next elephant that came chomping through the grasses. Though small, it was growing- and blooming- and had as much of a place in amongst these giants than the next acacia tree, kopje, lion, martial eagle or elephant. From small to large, everything in nature is perfectly connected and in balance.
The stalk reminds me of a Truffula tree from the film The Lorax. One of the quotes sprung to mind. The author had intended it to apply to the environment and all the creatures that we share this earth with. And how right he was. It’s in our hands to protect it.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot Nothing is going to get better It’s not.” -The Lorax