Text and Photos by Galen Rowell

African Lion, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Prides of lions live out their days on the floor of the 2,000-foot-deep volcanic caldera, which is about 15 miles across at its widest point. Even so, male lions on the move are not easy to photograph--they spend about 20 hours a day sleeping and three-and-a-half more lying around. Just as I was leaving the crater one evening, a large male got up and walked across a clearing, only to plop down again moments after I caught this shot.

"Necking" Giraffes, Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Botswana. Though this appears to be an amorous couple, it's actually a pair of bulls fighting over a female. It looks like a far more gentle way of sparring than, say, bighorn sheep butting heads, but it's also hard to tell what they're doing unless you know the inside story.

Wildebeest, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. One of my most striking shots from this safari happened when several members of my group were in rebellion: too much concentration on animals and too much time in vehicles. We asked our guides if we could take landscape photographs one morning at dawn and then move on to animals later in the day. We drove to a spot outside the park and set up our tripods in front of an acacia tree profiled against the rising sun. Just as the crimson orb began to rise, a herd of wildebeest came single file across the horizon.

Elephants Beneath Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Kilimanjaro had been hidden in clouds for almost a month when it suddenly came out the evening we arrived at Amboseli. Knowing that the weather might not last, I led three vehicles of photographers out well before dawn to be at the park when it opened. Two groups decided to hang back to get the sun rising through acacia trees; mine moved on immediately after catching the first shots of the sun on the horizon. Minutes later, we came across this herd moving toward us from the highlands below Kilimanjaro. Morning light was on the mountain and--well, suffice it to say that the scene sums up why we all came to Africa in the first place.

Zebras, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. On my first visit to Ngorongoro, tourists were allowed to camp on the crater floor. Now it's one of Africa's most regulated parks, and vehicles are required to be out before sunset. This time, alas, we had to leave a pride of lions on a kill to get out before the gate was locked. But just as I was silently cursing our luck, I spotted another group making its exit--zebras crossing the floor of an acacia forest to put some distance between themselves and the stalking lions.

In his 30-year career, Galen Rowell has photographed on all seven continents. He has journeyed to both poles, and has become well known for his extensive coverage for National Geographic of the Himalayan region, including Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet. His photography have been collected in 15 large-format books for major publishers.