Masai Mara: A tree, a cloud, and us

 

Masai Mara is one of the world’s most beautiful places. It is here where one can realize how magnificent nature is, and how horrible we, humans, have been to it. I went to the Mara looking for pictures and videos, I came back with those, and with many written words as well. I love all my Mara pictures, but this one has a special place in my heart, mainly because it provoked many words in me.

People visit the Mara to see wildlife. Many, however, forget that wildlife is not only that of moving creatures. Trees and grass are also a wild form of life, a resilient form that has maintained its presence despite our careless and dreadfully destructive presence. This tree has seen tens of thousands of us, and probably hundreds of cars like this one, come and go. It has remained tall, and, strangely enough, forgiving. It still offers us shadow, protection against the African sun that knows how to deal with us. In this picture, the tree unites with the cloud, but it keeps a safe distance from the monster seeking refuge under its branches. To me, the safari car is us, cluttering the Mara with our “stuff”. We come here to experience nature, but we bring all our unnatural stuff: Electronics, engines, devices, cameras and lenses, plastic food containers, tissue paper, radio communication devices, and our own bodies. We clutter the place we come to seeking uncluttered life, and then we complain that it has not given us the serenity we seek. 

I love this picture, because it depicts how I saw the mara in my first visit: A place where everything is beautiful, except us.