Astonishing Photos of African animals will mesmerize you!

The Journey Within by Dinesh Patel

 

From the cover photo of stampeding wildebeest, part of The Great Migration in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, to the last photos of a Somali Ostrich and Vulturine Guinea Fowl, Dinesh Patel brings 50 years of wildlife photography to a stunning close in The Journey Within.

He spent most of his life on safari, all over Africa, hoping to take each of us along to enjoy, appreciate, and hopefully save, these beautiful African animals. With advanced Parkinson’s disease, Patel is no longer able to travel the African continent, so he decided to turn this book into a conservation effort, hoping to bring global awareness to the needs of these amazing animals.

“I am tortured by the probability that in less than a generation or two, some of these exquisite animals I have had the privilege to see will be gone,” Patel said. “This book is but a small contribution, a blade of grass on Serengeti’s vast plains, to the noble objective of conserving Earth’s natural magnificence.”

Without question, this book will inspire you. I particularly appreciated the photo index in the back of the book, identifying each animal. And I liked the fact that he presents these animals without text. The photos say it all.

I wanted to tell you about my favorite photos, but honestly, all 227 pages of photos are stunning. I recently sat with my grandsons, thumbing through the book, and they were absolutely mesmerized. And they took the book home with them!

While Patel gives credit to the governments of Kenya and Tanzania for “taking the difficult and most essential first step for protecting their wildlife: setting aside the land for their survival,” he notes that this is “only the first step. Much more is involved in an effective conservation strategy. I wish I could express some positive accounts about sustaining, protecting and conserving the habitat of the impressive amount of land set aside for wildlife in Kenya and Tanzania. Lamentably, not enough is being done and significant losses continue to be incurred due to various natural and human factors.

“Without concerted efforts to save the environment that supports the vibrant and rich natural diversity of the flora and fauna, these areas are likely to face growing risks of further erosion. Most tragically, several of the species photographed on this Journey are in danger of extinction. My sincere hope in publishing this book is to help increase awareness of that and garner wider support for conservation.”

Something to think about, as you enjoy these photos of a lifetime.

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.