Thursday, October 11, 2012

One last post tonight while I still have internet service.  Janet, Rosemary, and I sigh and coo and giggle over all the baby animals while David and our guide ignore us.  When we have a chance, we explore on our own so we can appreciate them in peace.  Today I watched 5 baby stripped mongooses (not mongeese!) learn how to eat a 4 inch black beetle.  Mom captured the beetle and had the babies follow her into the grass where she proceeded to dismember it, chomping on it with relish until the youngsters decided to give it a try.  A great photo essay developed:  mom carring beetle, mom ripping beetle apart, mom displaying a satisfied goofy grin, mom licking her chops, babies imitating mom.

On  the way to the swimming pool a few nights ago, a trio of vervet monkeys ran across my path, stopping beside the nearest bush to turn and stare at me.  The two babies, being quite curious, inched forward, then chickened out, then inched forward a little more, then chickened out--continuing until one of them became brave enough to stand at my feet and touch my pant leg.  These are the same two clowns that showed up in our outdoor shower a little later.

On our game drive this morning, we came across a herd of kobs with one female, several young males, a dominant male and one darn cute baby.  Junior decided to pose next to his daddy, and another short photo essay developed:  dad looks at us so junior looks at us, dad looks left so junior looks left, dad takes a step forward so junior does likewise until dad decided to split and junior took off after him.

We girls have captured as many baby pics as we can:  a baby hippo nuzzling up to its mom on the river bank, a baby buffalo blending in with the dirt, a couple of baby elephants using their trunks like periscopes as they submerged in the river, twin baby baboons clinging to mom--one on top, one underneath, a baby chimp staring down at us intently from the forest canopy, and much more. 

We are astonished by the diversity and plethora of animals and the lush growth everywhere.  We expected desert-like savannas.  Instead we revel in rich jungle, dense forests, cloud covered misty mountains, and large bodies of water ranging from raging rivers to giant lakes to deep craters filled with blue water.  Ernest Hemingway loved Africa until it got the best of him.  The great white hunter's plane crashed at the base of Murchison Falls.  When another plane arrived to rescue him, it too crashed with him on board.  The third plane caught on fire, and he was trapped inside--barely escaping with his life.  Shortly thereafter he committed suicide.  He should have a paid more attention to those babies and spent less time killing off their parents!  Bwana muzungu.

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