david korte photographs

Enchanting, mysterious, timeless. The lowland coastal forests of Gabon are inundated with pools and lagoons. They trickle into streams of fresh, tannin-stained water coursing to the sea. Diverse little habitats where fish begin their lives, hippos find sanctuary, elephants and buffaloes pause on a sweltering afternoon.

Monkeys feeding high in the Uapacas drop fruits to the forest floor to be scavenged by duikers. A few crocodiles lie silent, haunting the larger lagoons. Distant cries of the ibis and turacos echo above the drone of crickets, crickets in turn suddenly hushed by the galago’s trill. Not a trace of relief breaks beneath the canopy. The sole evidence of a breeze in the heavens, the intermittent and lazy settle of leaves dancing to a muddled grave. A saturated atmosphere vibrating with the pulse and cycle of life.