Often times we look at dead trees and frown. I had a different reaction recently when my friend Elaine echoed my thoughts after passing a very dead dry tree during a game drive in Maasai Mara. Shelley, Elaine’s daughter, was quick to assure me that I would get this reaction for the rest of the trip. Dave, Elaine’s son-in-law, also made sure to let me know that Elaine would stop and photograph all the beauty along the way. As anyone would expect any foreigner’s reaction to a lion, cheetah or leopard sighting, it was refreshing to listen to oohs and aahs of a dead tree sighting. And for once during my outdoor activities, I knew I was bound to have the greatest time of my life with this lovely crew.

We came across many of these beautiful skeletons

Back to the dead trees, they often stand out in far away landscapes and decorate them in the most awe striking beauty I have ever witnessed. The importance of dead trees in the ecosystem has rarely received the consideration that it deserves. It has been found out that the removal of dead wood and dead trees may seriously affect the long-term availability and viability of habitat and diversity. It may also threaten primates, reptiles, insects and birds, which depend on dead wood and forest litter for their survival.

A gorgeous dead tree in Maasai Mara landscape

A Lilac Breasted Roller perched on a dead tree branch

My appreciation for gorgeous dead trees and other nature’s beauty was renewed during this trip. Like Elaine says, continue to enjoy dead tree skeletons as much as you can; they are the mirror of their past and each has a story to tell.

If i had a bumper sticker it would read “I love gorgeous dead trees”