Still More Trees

And then there were more trees. I got really into the ones that had been swallowed by smaller vines, creeping up the trunks like the souls of the dead in some Dantean vision of the underworld. In the other post, you can see the little dendrites that hold them together. Sometimes there are branches that grow straight up from other branches like big spears. Unfortunately, blogger seems adamant that I only put up two pictures per post. But, since videos seem to be okay, here's one slightly in keeping with the theme: an elephant eating a baobab. Through the morning, we'd seen lots of scarred up trees and wondered what had been doing it. The guide said that it (along with countless felled trees, and one baobab that had a round hole all the way through to the other side) was elephant-damage, but it was hard to believe. Until we saw this. Meanwhile, the power here is going off a lot lately which limits my posting capability. Who knew passing up an opportunity for a hot shower one night would mean going without for the better part of a week?

Hyper-Arboreality

Hello again. So I've been mostly in office the last few days (with a nice respite at the UN Rwanda Genocide tribunal) which means fewer pictures. Still, there is a healthy reserve from days past. I realize that there has been an animalist bias on the site thus far, so, in response, here are some nice looking trees. These trees are mostly from the Arusha area - a local state park and a neighboring town called Tangiru. I didn't really get any good baobab shots, as I couldn't explain to the initial safari team, particularly the Arushans among it, that I wanted to photograph trees, not just animals. Nonetheless, there's some good growth out there. Enjoy.

Some more hippos, you know, for kids

Look at the consumer response time! For those clamoring for more, here are some additional shots of the hippos chilling in the hippo pond. The earlier image didn't really show just how many of these massive cow/pig/fish hybrids were around since most of them are simply lying in the water, occasionally taking a break to slap mud around, roll onto their backs (notice the pink belly), or twirl their ears. So, even though I like the walking shot from before, especially since you can see a herd of zebras/wildebeast in the distance, these pictures probably capture the life of the hippo more precisely. (The video shows some of these things too, but I'm not sure how well that technology works. There is a baby hippo swimming as well as some more general largeness/laziness. Don't mind my internal commentary)

Safari TIme

Here are some safari pictures. I realize now that the blog posts are from latest to earliest, so, if you want more introduction, go to the initial safari time post... This time we have a pair of hippos walking around, a giraffe reaching up for some leafy goodness, and a wildebeast scratching his chin. If you have any special requests for animals, let me know and I can introduce/extend some species.

More safari pictures

Here's a video of an elephant parent leading a smaller elephant to some food. There were lots of elephants about - playing in mud, smashing up baobab trees, and even, at one point, charging our vehicle. But baby's are probably cutest.

Safari TIme

Hi everyone. So this will be my first post of pictures from my ongoing travels in Africa. I'm not sure how much I will post around, but hopefully I'll be able to at least get some pictures online from time to time. Maybe some journal ideas too. I've been up to lots of things here in Arusha (Tanzania, not yet Madagascar) - safari was my first weekend, but since then I've done some work in nearby villages and some teaching at a local orphanage/primary school.
Feel free to write me if you want more details than that. The only pictures I've really made thus far are of the safari weekend, and I'm not sure how many I can post, but here are some highlights.
These images are of small things: a dik-dik - sort of a tiny deer but with bigger eyes and lots of hops; a mother lion and her 2-week-old cubs as they work on a zebra; and a black-faced monkey cradling her baby.