Celebrate Mother’s Day this year with a gift of The Wisdom of Elephants ! Elephants are devoted mothers – family is everything to them.

Spring is here in Southern Ontario. The early daffodils are appearing like bright yellow spotlights highlighting the coming season. Daffodils are like a hallelujah flower chorus shouting Yes! Life! I plant a couple of hundred daffodil bulbs every fall. It’s a ritual I’ve carried out for close to 40 years.

Happy Earth Day! I’d love to hear how you celebrate. When we lived in the country, we planted a tree each year to mark Earth Day. Our earth friendly actions impact nature, whether it’s planting insect and bird friendly perennials in the garden or making conscious choices at the grocery store, collectively our actions make a difference.

Last week I got some exciting news. I learned the name of the adult female elephant on the book cover is Hatsy! Dr. Winnie Kiiru, who wrote the Foreword to The Wisdom of Elephants, asked researcher Dr. Cynthia Moss if she could identify the lead elephant on the cover.

It’s decision time in my book project. Last week I uploaded 20 test pages to the printer in Calgary AB. I was thrilled to open the front door a couple of days later and find a package on my doorstep. This project is no longer living on my computer – it has entered the next dimension of publishing reality.

The world has lost another Big Tusker. These animals represent a group of African elephants with huge tusks unique to the Amboseli and Tsavo regions of southern Kenya.

This is a dark time in world history. My heart breaks to read about the senseless murder of innocent people and mass destruction. Here’s the good news, as humans we are more inclined to help and be compassionate than to kill and be cruel.

My book, The Wisdom of Elephants is back from the book designer and the pdf draft is in the hands of beta readers in Kenya. I never imagined I would publish a book. It is happening, it’s coming together!

I am sad to report that beautiful Fig, my favourite leopard was killed by two male lions March 5th. Leopards and lions do not get along. I don’t know the details of what happened, but if she was ambushed by two mature lions, Fig would have little chance of surviving.

You know how to spot a leopard? asked Kupai, as we bumped down the track in the Toyota Land Cruiser. “Look for a tail hanging in a tree!” I replied triumphantly, feeling the flush of pleasure of showing the teacher she’d learned something about finding leopards.

“Wildcat!” Kupai and I exclaimed in unison. We’d only rolled a few yards down the road from the lodge on our first game drive when we spotted the resident warthog, aka Pumba, snuffling at something on the road. I scrambled for my camera to capture the small grey cat strolling ahead of the curious warthog.

Do you think animals can feel love? I sure do! With Valentine’s Day this week, let’s talk about love. One of my goals in photography is to make images that touch people’s hearts. Watching African wildlife’s interactions is a reminder that these animals are sentient beings who care about each other.

This week, I’m busy preparing an online presentation for an Ontario Camera Club about Visual Story Telling. So, in the spirit of sharing with more than one audience, here are some of my pointers for photographers and storytellers.

This week I’m turning my story telling over to David Kupai Senchura, my Maasai guide extraordinaire on the Mara Game Reserve. We set our goal one morning to visit the Musiara Marsh Pride of lions.

If you come across a herd of Cape Buffalo on a game drive, you will usually see red or yellow-billed oxpeckers perched their bodies. The birds provide a valuable service - they eat insects and ticks. The symbiotic relationship between the oxpecker and the hooved host is known as mutualism.

Welcome to Sarara Camp, there’s a giraffe in the bathroom! Robert Lemayian, my Samburu guide and I laughed out loud when we encountered a reticulated giraffe munching the shrubs beside the outdoor bathroom as he gave me a tour of my accommodations.

My Maasai guide, Kupai, and I came across a mother elephant and her tiny newborn out on a game drive on the Maasai Mara last month. The little calf was full of personality and confidence. When we approached it flared its ears and raced towards us in a mock charge…

The gates opened for the next feeding at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, but the orphans were nowhere in sight. The region is experiencing a devastating drought, the keepers and their young charges were forced to walk further out into the bush to find enough to eat. Finally, the first group of orphans arrived. They raced across the compound for their bottles.

Karibu – welcome to our school, said Terri, a Montessori teacher at the mobile preschool in the Sarara Valley, Northern Kenya. Her classroom is a large, screened tent with a wide awning shading the door. This school is unique, it moves with the people.

The Maasai woman pressed a handful of necklaces against my window when we pulled up to the Musiara gate exiting the Mara Game Reserve. A young girl nudged her aside with a handful of colourful shukas (Maasai shawls). Their eyes said it all - buy my crafts.