mozambique burns

while camping out last week on the big dunes north of maputo in mozambique, big fires were burning. the wind changed direction and it just carried on ...

much of mozambique burns each year and in some places, more than once a year. mozambicans are obsessive pyromaniacs and if there's a little dry grass and a box of matches in their pocket, they simply cannot help themselves. this is an ancient trait but the long term consequences are a loss of diversity in the woodlands of the country and nutritional declines of the plants for herbivores. virtually all the trees are fire resistant but, as elsewhere, if the fires burn at the end of the dry season (i.e., towards october) the hot fires are much more devastating.

this is made in the full moon last week and the fire was throwing a large glow in the sky. another image is included below.

d700, 17-35mm, no filters, tripod.