Sunset on the Zambezi

This was taken on a sunset river cruise along the Zambezi River, while staying at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge - my first ever trip to see Victoria Falls, and an evening I still think about. As the boat drifted along the river, we watched elephants come down to the banks to drink, a handful of enormous crocodiles slide in and out of the shallows, and then, right as the sun dropped, this: birds crossing in front of a sky that had turned a deep, burning orange, the silhouettes of trees along the bank framing the whole scene.

There's something about watching the sun wind down for the evening from the water, rather than the land, that feels different - quieter, slower, the golden hour stretched out a little longer than usual. This photograph is, for me, the exact moment that sums up that whole evening.