Today is the second day of Animal Week here on Travel Yourself and I am happy to bring you GIRAFFES!!
While on Safari on the Ngala Game Reserve in South Africa one of the things I wanted to see most was a Giraffe. I wanted to see a Giraffe in the wild so bad that I might of also been wearing a Giraffe scarf every day (and Zebra socks) in hopes that it would bring good luck. In my head the South African wild would be vast and wide open spaces, grasslands without much shrubbery and just a tree here and there. A place where you could see for miles and miles and spotting Giraffes would be simple. This my friends was not so true. The place was so lush! Filled with bushes, plants, trees, it was hard to spot anything, even the tallest animal in the world!
After our first game drive we hadn’t seen a single Giraffe yet, I was saddened by their elusiveness and worried we might not see any. However we had 6 game drives in total and our guide almost guaranteed that we would see many before our time with them was over. It wasn’t until the end of our second drive that I spotted one far off in the distance. I wanted to get closer but since they are not considered one of “The Big Five” they weren’t allowed to go off roading to get a closer look.
Sneaky Giraffe as seen from afar. My first Giraffe spotting!
A journey of Giraffes dine on a tasty tree.
Baby Giraffe!
A studious looking Giraffe.
This one was trying to hide on us!
Gorgeous animals, so tall and graceful yet awkward at the same time.
Whatchew lookin’ at? This Giraffe had a bird on its neck searching for bugs and parasites.
Peekaboo! The Giraffes often seemed as curious about us as we were of them but never got too close.
You might be starting to think that a lot of these photos are similar… but I love them all!
A baby Giraffe with only a stub for a tail. We could see when he turned a around that he had a big healing open wound on his back leg and that his tail had been ripped off. Our guides assumed he had most likely escaped an attack by a lion. So sad especially because without a tail he now doesn’t have anything to swat the flies away with.
Baby Giraffe, you can see his short tail here a bit better. So cute and adorable!
If you were to go on a South African Safari what is one of the animals that you would want to see the most out in the wild?
Thanks to South Africa Tourism for inviting me on this trip and to the Ngala Game Reserve.
4 Comments
Chris
March 20, 2013 at 12:54 pmNice photos.
Did you know you can tell the difference between a male and female giraffe from a distance?
This is because of their different feeding styles.
Males tend to feed at full stretch, reaching up to 5, 8 m from the ground.
Females feed lower with their heads tipped downwards and their necks angled forward to reach the tops of low bushes.
This is nature’s way of ensuring that bulls and cows do not have to compete for food.
Alex Gibson
January 7, 2013 at 10:20 amIf you want to see miles and miles of open grassland and a few acacia trees here and there, and giraffes ofcourse, try the Masai Mara in Kenya. I have to say, having watched Madagascar Escape to Africa: you become extra thirsty to see giraffes and zebras :)
Jennifer
December 18, 2012 at 7:15 pmThanks for sharing these great giraffe photos. When I go to South Africa, I most want to see giraffes and lions!
Cailin
December 20, 2012 at 1:12 pmYour welcome! The Giraffes were really cool! We only saw one lioness and it was at dusk so the photos aren’t the best. She was so pretty and we followed her for a while. I wish we had seen a male lion though. I guess it gives me another reason to go back! :)