The elephant in the landscape

About 20 minutes walk along green lanes and through a narrow bush-lined path brings you out to open moorland under a dome of sky. The menhir is just under 8 feet tall, noduled with lichen and weathered by time. It was only my third visit. The first was in the company of my half-brother, the second with my dog, both dead now.

For a moment as I approached,  the standing stone resembled an elephant seen from behind, standing alone in the savannah. I think this may have been because I had been reading earlier about a project in Mozambique to regenerate the Gorongosa National Park where the elephant population  was decimated during the civil war of the early 70s. As a result of the killings the elephants became fearful and aggressive and the park deteriorated  into a no-go area. Now funding and research have turned it around with girls and women in particular are being encouraged to participate in research and conservation in order to provide them with new opportunities that will improve their lives and their prospects. 
You can read about this excellent initiative here.