One day we got to go on two kinds of safaris—a river cruise and a land cruise. I preferred the former. It was cooler by the water, and it reminded me of boating in Kachemak Bay—only in Alaska there aren’t any elephants swimming in front of your boat:
A crocodile.
Snorkeling.
Our boat was soooo judgmental of this boat. They were acting like such idiot tourists. We were all dying to know what nation they came from. We hoped not America. They were way too close to the elephants, just to get a picture. Our guide, Dan, said their guide was definitely not allowed to bring his boat that close. We tried to get Dan to ask their guide what nationality his passengers were.
Pumbaa.
Buffalo.
This little guy is an African jacana bird. He is also known as the Jesus bird. Why? Because he walks on water. (…To be fair, his other nickname is “prostitute bird.” That’s because the woman makes the man stay at home and watch her eggs while she flies around philandering.) Jesus hung out with prostitutes, though, so maybe the nicknames go hand in hand.
Whenever Dan wanted to tell us about the animals’ mating habits, he referred to sex as “making Christmas celebration.” It made me laugh every single time. He also asked us how we could tell the difference between a male buffalo & female buffalo, or a male crocodile & female crocodile. One group member suggested, “Lift up the tail?” Dan laughed a lot at that and it became the running joke. It was cool to learn why the animals behave the way they do. Birds spread out their feathers in the sunshine to dry their wings and to kill any bugs/parasites hiding there. Male elephants try to mate with sisters/mothers and consequently get kicked out of the herd by the grandmother (because babies resulting from in-breeding wind up born with no eyes/no ears/no trunk…). Birds perch on giraffes’ necks and feed on the ticks that feed on the giraffes–to the point where the birds make the bloody wounds worse. I enjoyed learning from our well informed guide.
I wish I could have seen animals like that during my visit. Oh well…I’m glad you were able to enjoy the safaris and the stories. What great memories! Thanks for the pictures.
Great photos and thanks for sharing your experiences.
The picture of a crocodile looks an awful lot like you.
Looks like a wonderful adventure. Love the Jesus/prostitute bird.
Sarah,
I’m glad that you are getting to play and sightsee in Africa as well as work and getting to know local people.
Hey! Did you know there’s a crocodile behind you in one of those pictures!!!??!!!??? You have to keep your eyes open all the time because sometimes crocodiles sneak up behind you. And then, if they are in the mood for it, they eat you!!
wow…I wonder what a trunkless elephant looks like? and…I LOL’d when you said Making Christmas Celebration b/c I could just hear you covering your mouth and giggling.
love and miss you Sarah.