Advertisement
Published: November 10th 2008
Today was another early morning and long day of driving.
Seeing animals on safari is all chance and timing - timing that you can’t control. That was clear yesterday with long stretches of nothing, then suddenly something. And it was confirmed today.
It seemed we saw far fewer animals. But possibly it was just less novelty? Lots of giraffes and elephants. But even impala it seemed there were fewer of. We saw another rhino, this one also far away. A couple of lions way off in the distance. Seemed like most of the animals we saw were farther away. It definitely felt like yesterday was more exciting. But there were still a few highlights.
There were lots of buffalo today and most were very close to the road, whereas before they were quite far off.
Also, I was thrilled to have zebra really close to the road. I still love the zebra!
Out with the animals, you really become away of species survival. It’s all about eating and mating out there. We saw multiple male giraffes sniffing at the rears of females - their version of “hitting on” the women. We saw a baby giraffe so
young it’s umbilical cord was still attached and hanging. And while male elephants’ genitals are normally tucked away, we passed one bull who had it all out to see - honestly, it was bigger than a human leg!
There was also a massive giraffe carcass. Our guide, Stuart, said it had been there almost 2 weeks. When the breeze picked up, you could smell it and it was an awful stench! It was both gruesome and awesome to see. You could clearly see it was a giraffe - it’s back was formed and covered with its trademark skin and the legs were sprawled in our direction. But the body was completely emptied out; you could see all of its ribs - from the inside. We saw the carcass yesterday too, but this time a hyena came along to feed on it. Alive fresh antelopes were only feet away, yet it ate the 2 week old giraffe, or what was still left of it. Takes a long of energy to hunt, especially on your own. Quite the sight.
All of the animal sex and food is so blatant but simple. It got me thinking just how ridiculously complex we
are!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 7; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0395s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
swills82
Sarah Willett
The more I look and your pics and read your stories, the more I feel like I need to leave for a safari this instant! lol. You sure are taking it all in.