A new Assouline book, African Adventures: The Greatest Safari, offers a remarkable look at the African continent through the photos of Aline Coquelle, with a testimonial from Robert Redford.
Header Image: © Aline Coquelle
Released this June, the work focuses on four “legendary experiences” across the African continent. The first is Victoria Falls, or Mosi-Oa-Tunya – which translates as ‘The Smoke That Thunders’ in Zimbabwe.
The second is the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sprawling across northern Botswana.
© Xigera Safari Lodge/The Red Carnation
© Mirella Ricciardi/Vanishing Africa Ltd
Also featured is the Great Migration in Kenya, which sees the annual journey of over 2 million animals across Kenya’s Serengeti and Masai Mara, and Rwanda’s population of silverback gorillas.
The book is published by Assouline with Coquelle’s photography complimented by an itinerary from Deborah Calmeyer. For African Adventures, Coquelle captured the photos from hot air balloons, helicopters, wildlife expeditions and a remote, sustainable safari lodge.
© Aline Coquelle
Coquelle has collaborated on numerous books with Assouline in the past, dating back to 2005’s Palm Spring Style. Other topics the French native has photographed include the worldwide reach of polo, the Red Sea and the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of East Africa.
In the book’s introduction, Coquelle explains how the word ‘safari’ was “transformed” by the “West and colonialists to signify an African wilderness adventure. But,” she explains, “for the locals, safari still implies a journey.”
The word ‘safari’ is the Swahili word for ‘travel’.
© Aline Coquelle
© Aline Coquelle
Because, as well as showcasing natural beauty, Coquelle puts pressing issues at the forefront of African Adventures. “Let’s support indigenous people’s fight to keep their ancestral lands. Let’s support education and functioning health infrastructures for all. Let’s encourage permaculture, planting trees and wildlife preservation, as well as anti-poaching patrols. Let’s continue to value African artists, beyond frontiers. We need today’s rising talents to be tomorrow’s new leaders. Fresh perspectives and ethical travel are the future we need. Change is the only constant.”
