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| A waterbuck with it’s circular-shaped marking on its rear end. |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Only 3% of birds on the planet have penises. For a scientific perspective, in an article entitled “Ostrich penis clears up an evolutionary mystery,” please click here. |
Yesterday on the N4 Highway not far from the entrance to Marloth Park, a male lion was spotted on the highway and reported as follows:
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| Ostriches strutting their stuff! |
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| Crossing the road… |
None the less the situation caused quite a stir on social media in Marloth Park, and of course, we enjoyed reading about it throughout the day.
Also, yesterday a Marloth Park resident posted the above photo of a venomous boomslang snake devouring a lizard from her veranda. Quite an interesting sight to see.
This morning when the power had been out for several hours, and we weren’t able to finish the post, we jumped in the little car for a drive through the park.
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| Giraffes, like most animals in the wild, are always on the lookout for food. From this site: “In Africa, there is a rainy season which allows giraffes to feed on fruits, leaves, twigs, and water, but there is also a drought season when they will try to forage for all that they can, mainly acacia trees and bushes. During these rainy months, they eat deciduous plants, and during the dry season, the evergreen plants are more consumed. They eat between 34 and 75 kg of vegetation every day.” |
At the Crocodile River, we spotted five lions, but we were too far away for good photos. Now back at the house at almost 1:00 pm, we’re settled in for the remainder of the day and evening.
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| From this site: “The giraffe’s main predator is the lion, which can accelerate to almost 50 miles per hour. His second worst enemy, the hyena, can reach 35 mph. If a lion and a giraffe ran a race side by side, the lion would beat the giraffe to the finish line. However, the giraffe is not about to give a predator an even start. He uses his great height and excellent eyesight to spot a pride of lions as far as half a mile away and gets a head start. Lions can sustain their top speed for only about a hundred yards, so they run out of gas before the giraffe does. Hyenas can be more dangerous because they hunt cooperatively. They can take turns sprinting to keep the giraffe from slowing down to catch his breath.” |
It’s not as hot today as it had been several days last week. It’s a paltry 30C (86F), but oddly, with no rain for months, it’s humid today. The holidaymakers are beginning to leave after the long weekend, but many remain.
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| Giraffes move quickly, so when we spot them, we always stop for photos and observe their fascinating behavior. |
There are many cars on the road, and more will come when the school holidays begin this week. As a result, we’re hardly seeing any visitors other than bushbucks, helmeted guineafowl, mongooses, and a few warthogs.
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| Giraffes crossing a dirt road in Marloth Park. |
Once the commotion thins out in a few weeks, it will be quiet and peaceful, with visitors clamoring in our garden for pellets, carrots, apples, and eggs. We’ll stay busy in the interim doing our favorite pleasurable activities; daily drives to the river; dinner out each week at Jabula Lodge & Restaurant where the food and companionship are divine; socializing and entertaining friends for dinner (this coming Saturday); and continuing to post stories and photos every day.
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| It’s dark in our bedroom. Upon awakening, with Tom already outside on the veranda, I looked out the window to see if we had visitors. Then I noticed this and backed up slowly and calmly. |
As for the above photos of what, at first, appeared to be a snake, I called Tom into the bedroom, and he grabbed the huge telescopic pole he uses to chase off monkeys and baboons and carefully approached the scene.
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| When Tom grabbed the telescopic pole to pull this out from behind the wooden chest, he discovered this. See the story below. |
Oh, good grief. It was his belt that had fallen behind the wooden chest. We couldn’t help but laugh out loud, especially as we’ve recalled the situation several times since that morning.
Do we ever get bored? Never. Certainly not in this environment. But, like many other retirees throughout the world, we occasionally conjure up some added activity to keep us enthused and thoroughly entertained.
Oops, gotta go! Ms. Bushbuck just arrived. The pellets are ready for her, along with some iced cold carrots, apples, and lettuce…her favorites.
Have a spectacular day!
Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2017:
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| Elephant topiary on the church’s grounds and topiary in Costa Rica. For more photos, please click here. |