Termite mounds, Garamba National Park, Congo (Democratic Republic)

Mounds (also known as "termitaria") occur when an above-ground nest grows beyond its initially concealing surface. In some parts of the African savanna the mounds may be very large, with an extreme of 9 metres (30 ft) high in the case of large conical mounds constructed by some Macrotermes species in well-wooded areas in Africa. Two to three metres, however, would be typical for the largest mounds in most savannas. The shape ranges from somewhat amorphous domes or cones usually covered in grass and/or woody shrubs, to sculptured hard earth mounds, or a mixture of the two. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignement for National Geographic Film and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.