September 24th marked Seattle's third annual Global March for Elephants and Rhinos – expanded this year to include Lions in the title. And, let's be honest here, there are plenty of other critically endangered animals also deserving of space on the marquee.
Conceived and started by native Zimbabwean Evans Mabiza, the Children and Nature Conservation Zimbabwe Trust is a young project that primarily revolves around going to schools and teaching conservation lessons. But there is also a wildlife research element to it.
"As a child, I would spin my globe with my eyes shut, then I'd touch it to stop the spinning, open my eyes and wherever my finger landed I said to myself that I would go there." -Barb Hautanen
I'm just about to climb over the top of the gate and into the elephant barn to join Lek Chailert as she softly sings lullabies to Faa Mai and the other elephants in the barn, when Kim loudly shouts my name in a panicked voice. I look down towards the ground just in time to see my backpack – filled with my camera, lenses, audio recording gear, and travel notebooks – get whisked away into the darkness by an errant elephant trunk.
"If anyone wants to know what elephants are like, they are like people only more so." -Pierre Corneille.
"Africa is Africa because of the animals there. But we can no longer take their presence for granted. At this rate, within the next twenty years, they will be gone. Imagine a world where very soon, these animals can only be seen in the sad, drab confines of a zoo."
"Language bearers, photographers, diary makers, you with your memory are dead, frozen, lost in a present that never stops passing. Here lives the incantation of matter, a language forever. Like a flame burning away the darkness, life is flesh on bone convulsing above the ground."
"The wilderness is a really simple place. It is about survival, life, death, and birth. It is about living in the present! Humans have created so many façades that we live behind. We have made life complicated to the point where we have lost touch of why we are here. We are so set on planning for the future, or reliving the sorrows and misfortunes of our past, that we forget to enjoy the 'now.'" -Adam Bannister
“I would say that volunteering and seeing the world can be so eye opening and life changing if you allow it to be. You need to always keep an open mind and put in the time and effort to meet new people and become close with them because that is how your views change and you start to see things in a different way.” -Emma Yuh Coleman
Our last night in Africa. We've seen some gorgeous sights, heard some amazing sounds, traveled to some humble places, caught up with some much-missed lions and friends, and have met and made some new ones along the way. At the same time we leave feeling conflicted, worn out, let down, and haunted by that nagging question: To what end?
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