“East African Safari,” New Era, Feb. 1974, 20
East African Safari
At age 17, Kevin Knight, a priest in the Valley View Tenth Ward (Salt Lake City), has already proved himself to be a young man of unusual accomplishment and ability. This past summer Kevin was awarded third place in the Exploring Magazine Contest. Because of Kevin’s accomplishments as a student, Church member, and Scout, and because of his penetrating essay on East Africa, he was chosen to make a safari into East Africa to view the people, the country, and the wildlife. Kevin feels deeply about the problems and challenges of African people and wildlife and expresses his feelings through some beautiful photographs and thoughts that he now shares with you.
“The spectacular wildlife of Africa will leave a lifelong imprint on my mind. I more fully feel the value of God’s creatures and the need to preserve them.”
“Experiencing the animal wonders of East Africa is an excellent way to see the beauty in all living things. The aesthetic sense of man can be dulled after centuries of life in cities. Seeing the beauty of an area untouched by civilization instills a sense of destiny and a feeling of respect for the Creator of these natural wonders.”
“The traditional attitude of the Africans toward game animals has been that of depending on them for food and other necessities. This attitude is evident in the Swahili phrase ‘nyama ya mungu,’ which means ‘meat of God.’”
“East African wildlife reserves are some of the last places remaining on earth where man is still an intruder.”
The famous Treetops Hotel is built some forty feet above the ground and is surrounded by Cape Chestnut trees. From this vantage point, visitors can view elephants, rhinos, buffalo, and a variety of smaller animals that come to drink at the nearby waterhole
The hotel railings often provide a perch for welcome visitors. A baby monkey clings tightly to its mother while visiting Treetops and hopes soon to be leaving for a less conspicuous place
A beautiful male impala emerges from the bush near Lake Manyara
In this photograph, Kevin captures a poetic feeling that is reminiscent of a Rousseau painting. The animals in the photograph rest peacefully near the waterhole at Treetops
The dark mane on this lion is typical of the male “king of beasts” that roam the plains of the Ngorongoro Crater region of Tanzania
At Treetops Hotel watering hole a small herd of elephants files by in proper order on its way to a noontime drink and a pause at the salt lick
A group of young Samburu warriors living on Mayers Ranch in Kenya have dressed themselves for ceremonial dances and games
Africa is a continental aviary that displays a myriad of colored birds like these three
Silhouetted against the sky in the Nairobi National Park a lone giraffe reaches for some last morsels of an evening meal
The beautiful coloring of some impalas is reflected in the bright African sun near Lake Manyara
At Keekorok, zebras and elephants graze on the plains grass. Zebras must keep a wary watch out for lions who may be looking for an afternoon meal
Although vultures may seem a foreboding sight to many, they play an important role as scavengers in the ecological cycle of the African plains
Appearing precariously perched on the edge of the canyon, the Lake Manyara Hotel looks out over the Nairobi National Park