This portfolio is part of a group exhibition by Image Crafters Santa Cruz in August/September, 2025. The portfolio celebrates both the beauty of wilderness Africa and its potentially crucial role in mitigating the climate crisis, while also acknowledging the jeopardy of the wilderness and its indigenous inhabitants in the face of that crisis, in addition to other pressures. See the nearby About the Portfolios page for more background.
A lioness and her cubs traverse the Mara, likely headed out for an early evening hunt. Additional members of the tribe lounge in the background. Masai Mara National Park, Kenya, 2017.
Mana Pools is a jewel of the Zimbabwe park system. Elephants are an active and vital part of the ecosystem and winter-thorn trees are a primary food source for them. This morning encounter was remarkable for its serenity. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, 2021.
Acacia trees make a sunset statement. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, 2014.
A lone lioness surveys a meadow at sunset. Hwange is Ziimbabwe’s largest national park, with over 3.6 million acres, famous for its lions. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 2021.
For Suri young men, body painting is a whole-body tradition for special occasions. These young men in the tegay age set just finished their painting at the Kibish River. Suri District, Ethiopia, 2021.
Lion siblings just finished their afternoon rest, high in the branches of this acacia and now consider hunting possibilities on the plains around Lake Nakuru. Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, 2012.
A baobab (often known as the tree of life in Africa) silhouette. A pair of African fish eagles is perched in the top center branches and a large buffalo weaver nest is on the left. Okavango Delta, Botswana, 2016.
Two Suri young men add final touches on their clay-painted bodies. They use finger tips to make patterns on their own or a peer’s clay-covered body. Suri District, Ethiopia, 2021.
Elephants dust-bathe as a form of skin and overall health maintenance. Here, the late afternoon sun has set the dust ablaze. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, 2021.
Gonarezhou (“The Place of Elephants”) is the 2nd largest park in Zimbabwe. The Chilojo Cliffs rise 180m above a 20km stretch of the Runde River. Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe, 2022.
Sunrise color silhouettes an impala under winter-thorn trees. Winter-thorns are a crucial part of this rich ecosystem along the powerful Zambezi River. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, 2021.
A Maasai herder guides his cattle back to the protection of the boma. The SORALO Maasai collective successfully shares this land with wildlife, including predators. SORALO Lands, South Rift Valley, Kenya, 2018.
A leopard scans for prey, screened by tall Serengeti grasses. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, 2014.
The vast Okavango Delta is one of the few intact interior delta systems that don’t flow into an ocean or sea. The Delta’s unique hydrologic properties create one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife during its high season; Cape Buffalo are a keystone species there. Okavango Delta, Botswana, 2022.
A solitary topi scans the Mara from a ridge before sunrise. Masai Mara National Park, Kenya, 2017.