A Tower of Giraffes

Did you know that a group of giraffes is called a tower? Every animal,  it seems,  has a group name. Some make sense, some are whimsical,  and some seem strange. A group of crows, for instance, is called a murder.

 A tower of giraffes seems appropriate.  

Of all the African  animals, the one I wanted to see most were giraffes. I wasn't sure we would because they weren't mentioned in the literature for the trip. 

But we have seen them, many times often at quite close range.  Tower after tower of them. 

On our first day of the two day pre safari we were totally unprepared and astonished by the quantity and variety of wildlife we saw. There were zebras, giraffes, a variety of antelope species,  and perhaps more impressive of all, a herd of elephants that we saw first from a distance and then later, they came in a procession up the hill to right beside our land cruisers. They were literally close enough for us to touch them, although we didn't.

The thirteen of us agreed that nothing  could top this first day, and perhaps we were right. But no day has been a disappointment.  We have seen more and more species, and more of each one, every day. On the second morning we saw a pair of lions close up, just at the edge of the path. They seemed as docile as pet cats, lounging and not a bit concerned by our presence.  We sat watching for quite a while. it could have been fifteen minutes,  or a half hour. I lost all sense of time. Eventually  the male stood up, and mounted the female. The mating took perhaps five seconds.   Our guide Nixon (yeah he was born during Nixon's presidency) said they would mate repeatedly, every half hour or so. So we watched and waited until they did it again. Easy to miss if you had not been watching closely.

We've seen lions a few times since then, at times a pair,  other times a couple of males. Each time they have been equally languid, although they probably wouldn't be if we ventured beyond our vehicles. We wonder if they have just become used to humans.  

Where the wildebeests roam, and the zebra and the antelope play

The wildlife we have seen on the trip have been incredible, far beyond my expectations. I tried to keep my expectations low, or not to really have any expectations. But if I thought about it I would have said we'd maybe see wildlife from time to time from a distance, maybe just from a distance.

Instead it's been almost constant sightings, of individual and group sightings. We've seen more species than I can remember. But I will try to list as many as I can. There have been lions, cheetahs, elephants,  giraffes,  warthogs, antelopes, baboons, rhinos, storms, wildebeests, hippos, hyenas, and ostriches , jackals, and more. There are 20 species of antelope in the country of which we have seen about a half dozen. Not sure I could name them all, quite sure I could recognize them all.

Yesterday we saw our first kill. We didnt actually see the animal being killed,, but the immediate aftermath was impressive enough.  First  we saw a heetah, then two more.  We later found out that they were three males known to the rangers and referred to as the three brothers. We could see blood on their faces. Then we saw the victim, a wildebeest,  although unrecognizable as one. We could see the ribcage and some of the innards. A black backed jackal slowly approached, taking its time, cautious.  It then took its time picking the parts it wanted.

Meanwhile an eagle circled overhead. More big birds approached, vultures and storks, more and more of them. The birds waited their turn patiently, while the jackal continued to pick at the carcass. When it had its fill the jackal moved off and the vultures moved in. In turn, the storks waited until the vultures were finished. The storks attacked the wildebeests' intestines with a couple each pulling on an end, stretching it out between them. It was almost comical to watch, but also rather unsettling to the stomach. 

I will continue with account tomorrow.