There is magic to be had when you head far away from the cities into the more remote regions of the world. The sounds of the natural world seem to call to our more primitive sense, and our awareness heightens to those tiny little sounds that in normal day to day life seem lost to the hustle and bustle of big city life. It’s not until you arrive to those regions that you realize that “quiet” is a relative term when you are anywhere near a metropolis. A journey to Namibia helped remind me of this.

Most of my photography involves capturing moments revolving around human life and emotion. This includes trying to capture the struggle of man vs nature, where sadly, nature seems to be losing out more and more everyday. Namibia, on the other hand, seems to have found a perfect harmony where man and beast not only coexist, but also seem to have come to terms on how to share this desert country, where resources are already scarce.

It was my first African Safari Experience, and I had no idea what to expect as we made our way to Etosha National Park; what what I found blew me away. Lions, rhinos, elephants, zebra, antelope, ostriches, wildebeest and giraffe all living in close proximety to each other. Even in a zoo I would have to travel further than what I did in Etosha to be able to see all of these majestic animals. It was incredible. I was like a kid in a candy store whose grandmother had just told him he can have anything he wants. My camera batteries and memory cards were struggling hard to keep up with my excitement, and my arms and shoulders were moaning at having to constantly hold up my 400mm 2.8 lens. Every day there was something new to see, and at the end of every day, I was exhausted, but completely satisfied.

I experienced a variety of activities ranging from the safari to cultural interactions, and even went on an overnight horse ride through the Namib desert, but my favorite feeling happened daily, as I lay in my bed at the end of a long day, resting my weary muscles and eyes. During these times, I would hear the sounds of natural silence all around: the sounds of the winds blowing through dry grasses as it travels over ancient sand dunes, the occasional sound of hooves moving towards the nearby watering hole, and even something as little as listening to myself breathing. I found it truly magical.