We were amongst the first guests at Angama Amboseli a year ago, and when we recently returned, we were greeted with such warmth that it made our hearts sing. We were told with big smiles, ‘You're our first return guests!’
A year later, the wildlife feels like it has returned, settled and calmed. Every day, several famous Super Tuskers appear on the open plain, completely relaxed. But in the back of my mind, while we travelled to Kenya, I kept wondering, 'Will Craig be there this time?
For those who don't know Angama Amboseli, it's on a small but strategically vital piece of land, the Kimana Sanctuary. This allows elephants to migrate between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks.
I’m an artist and I work from a studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. My studio is unusual in that I work across many mediums — paintings, lithography, linocut, digital prints, sketches and sculpture. I travel a lot, especially on safari, and my observations when travelling feed my artistic process.
Elephants have an especially big place in my heart. In recent years, I’ve realised that my work can make a difference by supporting conservation — both in cities (I’m involved in the restoration and design of public parks) and in conservation (I’ve done several pieces to support conservation, including a life-size elephant in Zambia).
So, in the year between my trips, I worked on a sculpture of Craig and brought two of the editions with me so that they could be sold to raise funds for the Big Life Foundation, with whom Angama works to conserve the elephants and their corridors in the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem.
Driving through this sumptuous greenery and misty mornings of the Amboseli rainy season while watching the shapes of elephants emerge is something extraordinary.
But the biggest highlight of all was seeing Craig himself! He had returned to Kimana a few days before we arrived, and I couldn’t have been happier. Craig is not just relaxed around people but is positively curious. More than once, we would drive to a suitable spot to watch him. Then he’d come over to us, have a good look, and walk past the front of the vehicle so close we could hear him rumble .
Craig stayed there for our three-day stay at Angama Amboseli, clearly enjoying Kimana Sanctuary as much as we did and gifting us the great honour of spending much quiet time in his presence.
I believe he also rumbled a great sigh of approval at the likeness of his sculpture.
James’ sculpture is available from the shop at Angama Amboseli, as a limited edition of 10, each signed and numbered.
Filed under: Stories from Amboseli
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