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Kenya
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Tanzania B en Suliteanu
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hen it comes to East Africa’s wildlife preserves, the name of the game is survival. Survive long enough to reproduce and protect kin at whatever cost necessary. Within the context of Kenya and Tanzania, this word survival could not have more varied connotations. For elephants, survival is eating monumental amounts of grass and tree shoots to support a body large enough to protect it from virtually any predators. For cheetah, it is bolting speeds to attack and also escape. Still others, such as termites, live in underground colonies and come out at night to retrieve sustenance from decaying organic matter. Each of these methods of survival for the thousands of species that call East Africa home transcend far beyond human ability. The animals are specialists, and their specialties make them spectacular. However, I encourage viewers of this magazine to see not only the beauty of individual organisms and adaptations but also to see these creatures in context with one another. Their true beauty is derived from the way that they survive to fill a niche that no other species has filled. The individual components of the food chain are incredible, but all of their intricacies melding together in such a way that it creates what we call equilibrium, is beyond human comprehension. It connects to something much larger than us, than the animals, than even the massive plains that contain it all. It lends itself to a force that is far beyond this world.
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photo by Hector Garcia-Molina
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Ben Suliteanu started taking photos during his second year of high school for his high school newspaper’s sports pages. Now 18 years old, in his first year at Stanford University, his portfolio has grown to include landscape, wildlife, and portraiture. He shot the photos in this publication on a Canon 50D body with a Canon 500 mm f/4L lens and a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L lens. In addition, several photos were shot on 35 mm film and scanned to digital files.
Table of contents zebra
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giraffe
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ostrich
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elephant
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cheetah
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wildebeest 3 4 lion
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Zebra
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ur mornings began early. Get out in the vehicle as the sun is rising to capture the gentle light that the first rays of sunlight provide. No matter how early we awoke, Kenya was always awake before us. On this morning, it was a group of zebras that was grazing silently into the first light. Zebras lack camouflage. Their black and white stripes are meant to confuse predators that attempt to single out weak members from the pack. This morning, draped over their coats of black and white, was a golden glow so strong that the zebra nearly blended into the dry grass surrounding it. A group of zebra is commonly known as a dazzle.
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Giraffe
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he blood pressure of a giraffe is roughly double that of a human. Its two foot diameter, 25 pound heart is faced with the task of pumping blood almost seven feet into its head, while a human heart pumps hardly more than twelve inches into the brain. A giraffe is not just tall. It is a biological skyscraper in every respect. Its respiratory, muscular, and skeletal systems are accommodated to a life on stilts. All of this to reach the delicious tree shoots that are perched just out of the reaches of nearly all other herbivores. A group of giraffes is commonly known as a tower.
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ostrich
ur guide Brad recounted the true story of one Safari participant, who upon sighting an abnormally large bird walking briskly on two legs, exclaimed, “Look! Look! A new species! I’ll be the first one to discover it and name it!” To his defense, an ostrich really is a strange looking creature. A group of ostriches is commonly known as a flock.
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Elephant
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uring our two week Safari, we were fortunate enough to have some close wildlife encounters with cheetah, lion, buffalo, etc. In all of those encounters, I never felt an ounce of fear until our vehicle rounded a bend in the path and stumbled upon an adolescent bull elephant. Upon our arrival, he let a trumpet sound that I suppose was meant to serve as a warning or threat. However, hardly a moment passed before he was charging towards our vehicle. Our driver, James, was quick with the clutch, and we darted forward to evade. These hulking creatures, creatures that knock down trees with little effort, sometimes for food and sometimes just for sport, are creatures that demand respect. A group of elephants is commonly known as a parade.
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Cheetah
cheetah has a maximum stride length of nearly 23 feet, roughly equal to the stride of a horse. While a horse can pace at 2.5 strides per second, a cheetah does 3.5. The combination results in speeds upwards of 60 miles per hour, making them the Ferraris of the reserve. They are built for speed and nothing else. No compromises. Their noses are built to intake extreme amounts of oxygen and legs are designed for firing with perfect efficiency. Of course, such uncompromised speed comes at the price of fragility. A simple joint sprain could prove death. A group of cheetah is commonly known as a coalition.
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Wildebeest
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here is nothing wild about a wildebeest. Out of all the animals of East Africa, they would be top nominations for the least cunning and, further, least interesting. Never, in all of nature’s glory, have I ever seen anything as lackluster as a group of wildebeest contemplating crossing a river. As uninteresting as the individual is, the migration of 1.2 million of them serves as a mystery. In a matter of days, miles of once empty plains are littered with wildebeest in every direction. They stumble into Tanzania’s Serengeti with the grace of a drunken uncle late for a family dinner. And then, just as mysteriously arrive, they abandon the Serengeti like a ghost town, leaving only hoof prints and several rotting carcasses of those that didn’t make the river crossings. A group of wildebeest is commonly known as an implausability.
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Lion
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s first time Africa goers, we were eager to catch our initial glimpses of lion. By day four, we had heard them outside the window of our lodging during the night, but we had not yet seen them. Our first glimpses were to be a teaser of what was to come. That evening, as we were heading back from a long game drive, our driver spotted ears and eyes dipping gently in and out
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of the tall grass just off of a herd of zebra. It was then that I realized that these lords of the savannah are patient killers. Lacking speed, they use their cunning, their camouflage, and their patience to surprise prey. If they are not starving, they attack in only very opportune times. When they do attack, they rarely miss. A group of lions is commonly known as a pride.
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This lioness has just killed a young waterbuck and calls her cubs to come feed on it.
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...Meanwhile, a couple miles a w a y, t h e c u b s a r e n o t a n x i o u s to get moving.
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After some coaxing, the mother g e t s h e r c u b s t o f o l l o w.
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But a stop at the airplane runway
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f o r s o m e p l a y i n g w a s n e c e s s a r y.
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W h e n m o m b r o u g h t o u t d i n n e r, the cubs went from cute to v i c i o u s v e r y q u i c k l y.
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or the tribes of East Africa, survival is not taken for granted like it often is in the United States. The humans are not separate from the environment, dominant over it like tyrants. They are part of it. They must show respect for the power that the land holds, because when faced one on one with an elephant, the human might as well be a sapling tree that the elephant is brushing out of its path. The life is simple. Wake up. Raise cattle for food. Rest in preparation for doing the same tomorrow. They know nothing else. Upon first glance to a westerner, this life seems coarse, but on second glance, he will find in them a satisfaction that he may struggle to find in his own life.
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Š 2013, Ben Suliteanu