“It’s so dry here the small animals and birds depend on the elephants for their food.” In a recent conversation Dr. Winnie Kiiru described how elephant dung is helping to keep smaller animals alive during the unrelenting drought in Northern and Southern Kenya. 

You know how to find a leopard? asked Kupai, as we bumped down the track in the Toyota Land Cruiser.

No water, no life. No blue, no green. - Sylvia Earle

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.

This week, I wrote a short children’s storybook about some of my favourite African animal mothers and babies in honour of Mother’s Day. I am grateful to Haya (3) and Mara (6) and their mothers who gave me valuable feedback about which images they preferred. I wrote this book with them in mind.

“Do you know why hippos open their mouths so wide?” asked Daniel, my Maasai guide. “No, why?” I asked, sensing a creation story in the making.

“Come! Come! You won’t believe this.” My friend pulled me to the edge of the bluff above Kenya’s Mara river. My breath caught in my throat. On the opposite shore of the river a baby hippo sniffed around a massive 12’ crocodile. Riveted, we feared the worst.

When our grandson adopted a rhino for his birthday he explained his choice because “they have a really cool way to poop!” He’s absolutely right, they do. A male rhino poops in one spot creating big pile of dung, known as a midden. This marks his territory and acts as a warning to those who might trespass.

My final and 26th game drive in January 2020 and I felt full. My photocards were full. My external drives were full. My heart was full! Steeped and sated in my encounters with the iconic African wildlife and its people, I wondered what this day would bring.