On African Plains

The plains of Africa are lush with wild beauty and drama, from the tense wariness of a Masai Mara cheetah family to the stark contrast in Amboseli between verdant swamps and nearby dusty lake beds or pans.

Over the course of six visits between 2012 and 2018 to various parts of Africa, I’ve experienced and photographed its wild drama. In this exhibit, I share with you some favorites among those images and hope to inspire you to care about and support the conservation of these ecosystems and their wild inhabitants.

One organization that supports wildlife conservation around the world in very effective ways (and has raised tens of millions of dollars to fund those efforts) is the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN).

The framed images in this exhibit are pigment inkjet prints. All the images are available for purchase. To inquire about buying an image or for other questions or comments, please contact me via the contact button on the left.

Serengeti Icon
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Acacia trees are silhouetted by a sunset.
Headed for Hunting Class
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. A lioness and her cubs traverse the Mara, quite likely headed out for an early evening hunt. Additional members of the pride lounge in the background,
Ngorongoro Tableau
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania: Common zebras, with Lake Magadi flamingos in the background.
Land of Giants I
Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. Elephants pause at a water hole before moving on. One basis for Mashatu's "Land of Giants" motto: it hosts the largest elephant herds on private land in Africa.
Reflective Foraging
Lake Masek, Tanzania: Greater flamingos foraging for brine shrimp, algae, and mollusks; they get their bright red colors from organic pigments in their food.
Dazzle on the Pan
Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Late in the day, a dazzle of zebras crosses the dry bed (or "pan") of Amboseli Lake. In the wet season, rain water can flood the lake, but the soil is so salty that there is little year-round vegetation. Dazzle is the collective noun for a group of zebras.
Land of Giants II
Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. A baobab tree is silhouetted against the sunset. These trees, often massive, are iconic in southern Africa and another basis for the Mashatu motto.
Curious
Vumbura, Okavango Delta, Botswana. A young hippopotamus appears to float vertically in the water. There is some mystery about how this is happening, since the water here is believed to be too deep for the hippo to stand on the bottom and hippos aren't known to float well. One possibility is that a robust lungful of air might be enough to temporarily support a curious young hippo.
Perched for Action
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: A lioness is perched in an umbrella thorn acacia tree. Lions are not as naturally suited to tree climbing as some other cats, such as leopards.
Serengeti Stealth
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. A leopard scans for prey, screened by tall grasses.
Amboseli Sunset
Amboseli National Park, Kenya. A solitary giraffe traverses a dry and dusty lake bed (or “pan”) at sunset.
Towers of Grace
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. A pair of Masai giraffes feeding, with towering yellow-barked acacia trees in the background. "Tower" is the collective noun for a group of giraffes.
Mara River Crossing Relief
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Two zebras groom each other after they and these wildebeests have successfully crossed the dangerous Mara River during the annual migration. This behavior is called allogrooming; it is mutually beneficial to both animals, but can also act as a bonding session.
Topi Tapestry
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. A solitary topi scans the nearby Mara from a ridge during sunrise.
Kilimanjaro Harvest
Amboseli National Park, Kenya. An elephant harvests lush greenery in one of the swamps of the park. The water in these swamps originates in glaciers atop Mount Kilimanjaro (the tallest mountain in Africa at about 20,000 feet). Glaciers are visible atop "Kili" in the background.
Plains Sprint
Masai Mara National Reserve. A common eland runs across the grassy Mara. Though they are the slowest antelope, common elands can reach peak speeds of 25 mph.
Lion Alert!
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. A cheetah mother and her five cubs monitor the plains for lions, a dangerous cheetah predator, especially for the cubs.
Crocodile Alert!
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Migrating zebras at the edge of the Mara River prepare to cross, wary of the crocodiles that may be hidden in the water.
Mud Fun
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. A juvenile elephant plays in the mud at the edge of the Ewaso Nyiro River.
Mara Silhouette
Masai Mara National Reserve. Towering September evening clouds and Mara wildlife on the horizon provide the backdrop for this solitary greenthorn tree.
Powerful Repose
Lake Nakuru, Kenya. A majestic male lion relaxes in the grass near the lake.
Life Support
Kwara, Okavango Delta, Botswana. A massive baobab tree is silhouetted against the setting sun. A pair of African fish eagles is perched in the top branches on the right and a large red-billed buffalo weaver nest occupies the upper branches on the left. This icon of Africa is also known as the Tree of Life.