“Cheetahs are my favourite animal,” said the British guest sitting opposite me at the dinner table. “I’d do anything to have one as a pet.” I paused, stunned, my fork halfway to my mouth. Incredulous, I responded, “You want a cheetah as a house pet?”

I didn’t know about “The Big 5” list before my first safari in 2010. It’s an old term used by trophy hunters in Africa. Five large animals were considered the most dangerous and consequently the most prized: elephant, rhino, leopard, Cape buffalo, and lion. Trophy Hunters slaughtered them by the thousands. As Jane Goodall says, “there are no words” for people who get pleasure from senselessly killing big game.

Photographing animals in the wild involves an interesting dance between slow and fast; patiently waiting for a shot while simultaneously staying ready for that fraction of a second when it all comes together. The drivers and spotters on a game drive do their best to set up photographic shots, but wild animals have a mind of their own.

I chose to visit Sarara Camp in Northern Kenya, after reading photographer Ami Vitale’s National Geographic story about the launch of the sanctuary in 2017. Reteti is the first community owned and run elephant sanctuary in Africa and the first elephant orphanage to employ women as keepers. Not only are they saving elephants, Reteti is creating employment for women and modeling new roles for young girls.

I can’t imagine ever running out of stories, but I confess, I long to fill up my basket of travel tales with more adventures. There’s a voice that echoes in my head “safari, safari, safari.” I want to breathe in the air, the smells of the Kenyan landscape. I long to go to sleep listening to the rumble of elephants or the roar of lions outside my tent.

Can you tell a leopard from its spots? Seeing either a leopard or cheetah on the African savanna is always a special treat. Both leopards and cheetahs have long tails with white tips.

This week’s Heartfelt Story—The Grace of Elephants and What they Can Teach Us About Love—is a podcast interview, with Monica Rodgers. I made an instant connection with Monica in a Seth Godin Creatives Workshop in 2020. Monica hosts a popular weekly podcast called “The Revelation Project.” She believes “what gets revealed, gets healed.”

The world is at a tipping point due to the destructive behaviour of humans. I believe we would do well to ask ourselves as we consider important decisions about the future of our planet, “What would the elephants do?” When I think of the answer, I relive my encounter with the elephants of Amboseli in January 2020.

A spotted cat with long legs like a miniature cheetah slipped by like an elusive ghost. A serval! After dozens of game drives this was my first sighting of this graceful little feline. The serval emerged and crossed the road giving me full view of its lanky body and short tail before disappearing again into the grass on the far side of the road.

What if The Heartfelt Story this week was one picture? No accompanying story, rather an invitation to contemplate a picture in silence at a pace that is slow to middlin.

Breaking news – the case against the avocado farm reported in Stop the Madness on March 31st has been dismissed and the farm’s license revoked. Conservationists and community pastoralists fought back and won!

A Turkish proverb says, “There lies a lion in every heart.” There’s something about lions that is raw, real, and totally mesmerizing. Here’s the story behind the image on the cover of my children’s storybook A Mother’s Love.

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.

When we arrived, our camel train and guides were waiting for us. My camel looked at me calmly, her big brown eyes shaded with two rows of eye lashes, perfect protection from sun, wind, and sand. Camels are perfectly designed for their environment, therefore it’s easy to understand why they are such precious assets for tribal nomads in the desert.

It’s Earth Day this week and I have some good news—over the last several months, a team of rescuers have worked tirelessly to safely move a group of stranded Rothchild’s giraffes off an island on Lake Baringo, Kenya. The Rothchild’s (Nubian) giraffe numbers have plummeted by 80% over the past few decades, so every giraffe saved is an important step in restoring their population.

With the vaccine rollout I’m daring to dream about my next travel adventure. There’s a voice that echoes in my head “safari, safari, safari.” I want to breathe in the air, the smells of the Kenyan landscape. I long to go to sleep listening to the rumble of elephants or the roar of lions outside my tent.

I spotted a rodent-like grey shape, bigger than a squirrel, smaller than a raccoon, with a set of round dark eyes and twitching nose. A cousin of the elephant? Seriously!? An elephant? If at first glance they seem like complete opposites, upon closer inspection, these cousins share quite a few characteristics.

This week the International Union for Conservation of Nature, announced that Forest elephants are critically endangered and Savanna elephants are endangered. Until we see wildlife as a partner in collaboration for the healing of the planet, success in the fight against climate change and preservation of the earth is in peril. How can you help?

The use of the pesticide DDT had a catastrophic impact on the environment. One of its effects was that eagle eggs became so thin they did not survive. As a result, eagles all but disappeared from North America and were declared an endangered species. But there is good news! Nature recovers if we let it—this year I’ve seen as many as 10 eagles circling in the sky at one time.

Elephant species have survived on the planet for 55 million years. Whereas our ancestors have walked the earth for only 6 million. Elephants have similar social structures to humans and show clear signs of emotional intelligence. When dealing with interpersonal conflict, raising families, and caring for the earth humans would be wise to consider “What would the elephants do?”