Lion Lookout Taken in Maasai Mara, Kenya, a lion looks out from a tree while her sibling lays at the base. © Katie Yarnell/TNC Photo Contest 2022
Immerse yourself in an audio excursion across the African continent in this guided meditation led by The Nature Conservancy's departing conservation director, Chira Schouten. Press the play button below and simply close your eyes and listen, or continue scrolling to follow along with photos.
A Guided Meditation
Breathe deep and join TNC’s departing Africa Conservation Director, Chira Schouten, on a guided mediation across the continent.
Welcome -- Karibu, Bienvenue, Bem vindo – to a sound safari to just a few of the spectacular places that we are working to protect in Africa. I invite you to sit back, put your feet on the floor, close your eyes and take a deep breath. We start our journey on Lake Tangyanika in western Tanzania, an inland ocean of crystal clear waters of the richest blue, filled with brightly colored fish, crabs, snails and the occasional, beautifully striped water cobra found nowhere else on Earth found nowhere else on Earth. An ancient lake, older and deeper than any other in Africa. The Mahale Mountains rise sharply not far from shore, blanketed in lush green forests. Chimpanzees lounge in the canopy above, while butterflies in blue, green, and orange flutter around the dark forest floor.
Now we move to Tanzania’s northern grasslands, where long trains of elephants wade across the Tarangire river, while cheetah lie panting in the heat. Hundreds of species of birds in all shapes and colors decorate trees: lilac rollers – winged rainbows come to life – dart among spiky branches. When rain turns the suntanned grasslands green, wildebeest and zebra march in massive herds along ancient routes to the places they calve and nurse their young, weaving through lands shared with pastoralists since time immemorial.
Now we go to the West Indian Ocean – Tanzania, and the coast of Kenya and of course the Seychelles. This ocean wears many colors – sapphire, turquoise, emerald, amethyst, pink, gold. And yet the world below the surface is even more stunning. Starfish, giant sea turtles, dugongs, whale sharks wearing their constellations, clouds of shining fish and the spectacular octopus, aliens from another world, right here just beyond us. A whole planet that beckons us.
Next we move inland, over dense forests and Kenya’s mighty Tana River, flanked by farms and trees laden with fruit and avocados like jewelry
On to Kenya’s northern rangelands, a vast sea of grass at the feet of mighty Mount Kenya where nodding giraffe graze thorny acacia trees and the feet of dancing pastoralists thump the ground into clouds of dust - herders in scarlet cloth and colorful beads who graze their cattle on the same lands where oryx graze and lion prowl.
Now we move to Zambia, Kafue National Park, where a sea of sun-gold spreads out under a setting pink sun, a dreamlike landscape dotted with antelopes and the regal black sable.
The wide Kafue River whispers and curves unhurried through the savannah, hiding wild secrets below the surface. Pods of hippos rise, ears-first, grunting. Carmine bee-eaters bring a riot of color to bare riverbanks and busy weavers flutter at their nests. Dusk deepens and wild dogs stir, restless for the hunt. And airy miombo woodlands echo with the woops of hyena. Peace and wildness flow outwards from the river, mile after mile, from horizon to horizon.
At the southernmost tip of Africa lies the Cape Floristic Region, a place of extraordinary biodiversity. From seaside to mountaintop, expanses of small, tough plants of fantastical shapes and brilliant hues. Curve-beaked sunbirds wobble atop giant protea blossoms like pink stars. From the iconic flat-topped Table Mountain, small rivers wind through the mountain crags
Just beyond are the cold waters of the Benguela Current, flowing north from the Cape of Good Hope to Angola. Underwater forests thrive here, rippling towers of kelp, cape fur seals and endangered African penguins live nowhere else on Earth.
We move up the coast from South Africa to Namibia, a country of vast open spaces of near silence. Cheetahs trace prints atop soaring dunes. Black rhino, the largest free-ranging herd remaining on earth, make their way across the red desert moonscape of the Kunene region.
Moving north we come to Kalahari region, into the Okavango. Floodwaters from Angola spill across the sands of the Kalahari and the Earth is transformed, a vast, lush oasis comes alive. Great herds of wildlife make their way to the Okavango Delta – the jewel of the Kalahari – by the millions. Great herds of elephants march through head-height water – trunks raised. Giraffes bow to precious water as religious pilgrims. Red lechwes (lech-WAY) speed across the water, carving glittering sprays in the sunshine. Pure white water lilies spread across the water as stars in the night sky. Fishers in dugout boats weave through mazes of rustling papyrus grass, one of Earth’s great poems unfolds.
We move north to Gabon – a wild tapestry of rivers, flooded forests, and savannas, a doorway to the Congo, pulsing with life. The mighty Ogooue moves through tall cliffs of dense green jungle. In the wild maze of trees, forest elephants and gorillas move in secret, gray parrots blend into the shadows.
And at last, the river reaches the sea where hippos and elephants play in the surf of the ocean.
We have come to the end. I hope you enjoyed this journey. Take another deep breath and slowly open your eyes.
