About the Author

Kirst Joscelyne

Ranger

At less than a year old, Kirst went to her family’s hut in the Greater Kruger National Park, and has been fortunate enough to continue to go there ever since. Sharing a passion for the bush with her family, led to countless trips ...

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16 Comments

on It’s Written in the Stars

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Kirst, this was so well expressed and I appreciate you sharing. African safaris provide us city dwellers with incredible night skies to view, and for the first time I returned from my last trip with a sense of wonderment and of belonging in the universe. I was shown Orian’s Belt and other constellations that became etched in my mind. Here in Northern California, we see different constellations but the Milky Way is a constant, and finally in the mountains earlier this month I was able to watch it unfold in its entirety, one star at a time. I became so lost in its magnificence, I forgot to click my shutter No matter!!

Thanks Denise, I’m sure that they will be another time!

Very touching and so very, very true! Your final paragraph was brilliant!!

Thank you Melinda!

These pictures should win at a competition. They are mesmerising, endlessly inspiring like a true fairytale

There’s really something spectacular about the stars!

Kirst–we never fail to marvel at the winter Southern sky when we visit. Our rangers have provided several unique experiences including rolling down the airstrip with the lights out and the engine off–totally memorable.
Hawkins was a genius on many levels. James Tyrell did a wonderful tribute after Hawkins passed.
https://blog.londolozi.com/2018/03/15/a-tribute-to-stephen-hawking-1942-2018/
It included this quote:
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
Be curious.
However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.
It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Vin thanks so much for resharing this blog! It really was an incredible tribute !

A beautiful article.
The night sky over the bush is certainly something to wonder at and be awed by and cannot be appreciated too much.

Really is something I can never get used to marvelling at.

Kirst, thank you for your awesome insights. The pictures of the stars were super.

Well said Kirst, gazing up ap the stars takes you away into another world completely. It is captivating and sometimes feels as if you are flying with the stars. To think God created everything and all the stars and He named each one. How precious is that.

So Beautifully put Kirst, there is so much to be greatful for in our natural world, but sometimes the untouchable things, like the night sky or the shape of the clouds on a summers day bring home how small we are in the big picture. It is magical and awe inspiring and certainly makes one appreciate how wonderful the natural world is and how lucky we are to be here to enjoy it.

Thank you for this post Kirst! I have always loved the stars, and followed the various constellations through each season ever since I was a small child. You captured all feelings of awe and wonder in your post – very well expressed!

Having grown up in a rural area stars in the night sky were a constant. Only now, living in an area with so much light pollution do I know how much I took that for granted. David’s photo is beautiful. Thanks for this post!

Senior Digital Ranger

First-Your discussion brought back a lot of memories for me! For those of us that are planetary scientists/geologists and planetary astronomers and have worked in southern Africa, it’s a fabulous environment for a lot of reasons: First, as Pangaea broke apart over a hundred million years ago, everything moved away from Africa. This preserved many of the old rocks of the continent, making it an outstanding place to study early Earth processes. It’s also part of the area where pre-humans and modern humans developed and first inhabited. When I worked in the Bushveld, not so far from Londolozi, I sometimes wondered what early man saw when he looked up at the sky millions of years ago. This is ironic because I’m actively involved in working with meteorites, which are our first examples of materials formed as the early solar nebula condensed and the planets and Sun formed billions of years ago. This desire to understand more about the Earth and its origins is part of what defines us as humans.

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