This morning we woke
up earlier than we have before, with an expedition on the horizon! Our amazing short-term welcomer had arranged
to borrow an automatic vehicle from a friend, and drive us out the main road,
to pick up a guide, in search of Giraffe.
We had our eyes peeled as we drove out hoping to just see the giraffe
near the main road, but alas, we did not.
Multiple times
little kids, women, men, whomever would come up to the vehicle, but we knew we
weren't yet to where we needed to be. At
one point, the kids came up, all jabbering away, and when we asked them about
the giraffe, they pointed in the opposite direction of where we knew we needed
to go. We thanked them, but continued on
down the direction we were going. After
locating the guides and paying our fees, the guide, indeed, directed us back
the direction the children had volunteered freely to us! We went back to an area where you could see
tire tracks leaving the main road onto the hard clay, and within 5 minutes or
so, we caught a glimpse of our first baby giraffe! We drove a little further, and saw 3-5 eating
away at the top of acacia trees, in small groups dotting the horizon. Interestingly, there was a lot of other
vegetation around, including corn, that looked a lot more lush than the acacia,
but they passed up everything else in favor of the trees! I don't know exactly how many we saw in all,
but at least a few dozen.
They are cute, but
funny looking. They have long faces with
some harsh features. The little nubbins
atop their heads look either comical or misplaced, sitting right next to their
ears, but look somehow important. Their
backs are so slanted anyone not tied on for a ride would slip right off, I
guess, unless holding on to those nubbins!
As they walked with their long strides, their front left foot would
still be planted at the time the back right foot would come right beside
it. The footprints seemed to be two by
two by two right next to each other, as opposed to alternating like our
prints. There were huge prints - bigger
than our feet and way wider, and baby ones - about half the size of the palm of
our hands. After we were watching the
giraffes for a while, some local farmers came to watch us (it seemed), and they
brought along their herds - cows and goats; which would explain some of the
smaller prints, probably, more accurately.
When all was said and done, the adventure cost about $10,000 each -
6,000 for the guide, fees and admission for the car load, and 4,000 for the gas
used during our safari! It was lower
than previous estimates we had heard! Of
course, that figure is in cfa, and therefore 500 fold less in USD.
After being in
Kenya, and the Wichita zoo, I was 0/2 of zebras, giraffes and elephants, but
not anymore!!! Thank you Niger!
We came back in time
for lunch - fresh baguette and some pseudo-laughing cow cheese with eggs. It was a wonderful lunch, and this evening,
we will venture out for Indian food!
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