Beware, once you’ve spent the first night under a blanket of brilliant stars snuggled safely in your bed while listening to the roar of a distant lion or the rumble of contented elephants you may never want to go home…

I’m celebrating on several fronts this week. I was thrilled to learn The Wisdom of Elephants is a semi-finalist in the North Street Book Competition for self-published books! It was very encouraging to learn the book was among the top 4% of 1,946 books submitted.

Restoring and preserving the environment has a positive impact on the people, the wildlife and the land. When this orphaned black rhino was rescued he was so tiny the staff at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary could carry him in their arms. He thrived under the care of his dedicated keepers and is now released back into the wild under the protection of community members.

To witness an elephant in the wild is thrilling. To witness a giraffe in the wild is enchanting. To witness a rhino in the wild is to be catapulted back to prehistoric times.

This note is a special thank you and update about how your support is helping youth and wildlife in Kenya.

Photography can play a role in positive change and climate action. A world without elephants is unimaginable. Your vote helps put conservation and saving elephants in front of a wider audience.

You cannot get through a single day without having impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference. You just have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make. - Jane Goodall

“The world is your oyster when you are educated.”  Nellie Cheboi Kenyan award winning social entrepreneur, co-founder of Techlit Africa and CNN hero of the Year.

Girls are part of the solution for climate change. They want to help their communities and their wildlife. They are the conservationists of tomorrow.

There is something so engaging about giraffes, their elegance, their size, their huge eyes, their beautiful spots, their graceful movement and sweet nature.

Research shows that patients who have a room with a view of nature take fewer painkillers and recover faster from surgery. If a room with a view is good for the spirit, going on safari is like a wellness retreat for the traveler.

How many of us have tried to console a toddler’s separation anxiety? A tiny baby elephant, days, weeks old at most, stood anxiously at the edge of the road waving its tiny trunk for mom who was out of reach and up to her elbows in water!

Nature is an unending source of delight for me. From an ostrich playing peek a boo to laughing cheetahs, there’s always something that captures my imagination and lifts me up.

Nature is an unending source of delight for me. From an ostrich playing peek a boo to laughing cheetahs, there’s always something that captures my imagination and lifts me up.

Stories about the power of nature to heal both ourselves and our environment, is one of the goals of my wildlife photography.

The choice to process an image in black and white comes with experimentation post processing. What is my intention? How can I best convey the mood, the emotion? Here’s the story behind my decision to choose black and white for this image of a magnificent bull elephant from Amboseli.

There is a visceral sense of joy and healing that comes with African singing and dancing. When I’m in Kenya and people begin to dance, I can’t help but join in. My feet tap, my head and shoulders bob to the music. I sing along even when I don’t know the language. It is contagious! It is joyful. It connects us to others. It builds community.

If Audrey Hepburn were an animal, I think she’d be a giraffe. Giraffes win the prize for elegance, beauty and grace. Those big eyes, those long lashes, that neck and super long legs! The tallest mammal on earth, it amazing to see them grazing the acacia treetops in the wild.