Awkward
Took these in April 2011 in Mikumi, Tanzania…..a wildlife reserve. Giraffes were of special interest to me. But I have to say, the sky and the landscape plain took my breath away.
And the giraffes spot me!
We passed this sign, and then just a kilometre or so later we encountered veritable HERDS of giraffes!
Imagine my delight….
Don’t you just love their curious expressions?! And those distinctively patterned coats against that vivid lush greenery….
Rapture.
Spot the giraffe!
We spent all afternoon driving along dirt roads crisscrossing the wildlife reserve. We spotted a lion early on, an old, scarred one, but a real life lion in the wild nevertheless. I had already seen quite a lot of zebras, but I could never get enough of those.
It was as our guide/driver Erik was taking us on a quest for an elusive cheetah that we trundled over a wooden bridge, making as much of a ruckus as a herd of elephants would, that I spotted my other favourite animal…grazing by itself, looking supremely picturesque against the gorgeous landscape that is Mikumi.
Steps
Daressalam University is built on lush green hills, the terrain undulates and leads to various buildings, crossing bridges, traversing slopes, and many tree-shrouded steps need to be climbed along the way….
blue-y sunny poolside morning
Not in the mood to swim, but just sit outdoors and study my new camera, I found my way to the hotel pool, there to potter about taking pictures of things and peruse the manual. No one there except me, blue sky and gorgeous East African clouds…
(click on image to enlarge)
It was fun setting the timer and dashing back and forth several times to get a ‘reasonably good’ shot of myself. I just hope no one was watching from their windows…..
creature comfort
Nothing like travelling thousands of miles across ocean and continent, weary from lack of sleep, dying for a shower and a snooze, to check into a hotel in a foreign country, travel some more in an elevator, walk down a carpet-muted corridor, slip a card into a slot in the door….open it, and find this…..
I do confess I was a happy creature in Tanzania last March, exactly one year ago 🙂