Larry Laverty

                                                Volcano Cotopaxi While I'd traveled to Europe, to Asia, to Africa, I'd never been south of the border, south of El Paso.  In November of 2021, I finally made my way south for the purpose of climbing a mountain, a volcano known as Cotopaxi, reaching 19,347 feet above sea level.  I've always been fascinated by volcanoes, by their volatile nature and their tie to the power and magic of earth's center. Cotopaxi is a volcano as currently active as any. In fact, over the past 250 years, the mountain has erupted more than 50 times, the latest coming in 2015-2016.  And, an added bonus for folks who make their way to see the mountain, is the privilege of visiting the country of Ecuador and the experience of standing on earth's equator. Of the mountains I've reached the top of so far, Cotopaxi is one of my favorites. What led my fascination was the proximity of the summit to the edge of the crater and the view down into the

                           Mt. Kilimanjaro   It's the highest mountain in all of Africa at over 19,000 feet. For months, the months I'd spent surveying the elephants of Africa for my first book, I'd laid eyes on this huge mountain, all the while never thinking I'd ever climb it. The book complete, it finally dawned on me, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. So for 8 days, I climbed and traversed the mountain on the quiet Northern Circuit Route.  On August 16th, 2021, I stood on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and looked out over the expansive plateau that makes up its topside. Visible from the viewpoint were several of its ice features, the glaciers and icefields. At one time, the entire top of the mountain was covered in a sheet of ice. But over the past one hundred years or more, the ice has melted and melted away quickly. Scientists estimate that at the present rate, all of the ice features on Mt. Kilimanjaro will have disappeared by the year 2050.  So in addition to the gratitude I f

  Where Buffalo Roam , A Film for America's                                      Threatened Buffalo All my life, I've been captivated by the buffalo of Yellowstone National Park. More than 20 years ago though, I finally discovered the longtime, horrific treatment of the buffalo by the U.S. Government and the state of Montana. Over the winter of 2020-2021, I produced this documentary film with my longtime friend, filmmaker Isaac Pingree, to raise public awareness of America's buffalo and the unforgivable way human beings have treated them. Actor Peter Coyote lent his voice to the narration of the text I wrote and we were off and running. The film was released February 10th, 2021 and had its official world premiere at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York City on October 15th, 2021.