A little different view of Belt Butte at sunrise. Those are the Highwood Mountains behind. This was taken after that little dusting of snow we got a few days ago. There is nothing quite like a sunset in Montana. I find that Arizona and Africa both have such short lived sunrises and sunsets where as the colors here last for awhile.
Finally a photo with me in it, courtesy of my friend, Kimmie. Â As you can see, I discovered the wonders of wearing a Buff head covering. I now own 5 of them and love them. It kept the hair in control when driving and semi less dusty. The ones that I have offer sun protection also. I have two that are wool for warmth and one that is lined with polar fleece. The Baobab Trees are very easily recognized with their thick trunks and unusual shape. They are very old and threatened with extinction right now. In drought conditions, the elephants tear them to pieces looking for moisture. They leaf out when the rains come in January and even when the branches are bare have these pretty white flowers that smell horrible. Look closely at the first shot and you can see those flowers. We saw trees that have holes all the way through from the elephants tearing them apart. Somewhere in my files I have some shots of an elephant with its head inside a tree.
I so lucked out when I saw these three water birds and got them all in one frame; Â Sacred Ibis, Â Yellow-billed Stork and African Spoonbill. Not the best shots, but, as I am finding out, when birding, you get what you get and are just pleased that you spotted them and can mark them off in your book. Off to Belt shortly, to take care of Mom and Dad. There is supposed to be another snow storm on the way for the weekend. Yuck!! Sedona, you can not come fast enough.
Sacred Ibis
Yellow-billed Stork
African Spoonbill
Loved this young elephant flapping his big ears to keep cool. I was amazed at how fast they can travel. We saw so many of the young ones moving along with their huge mothers. I am getting excited already about Kenya next year. I already have my bird and mammal books purchased for reference. Tonight I talked to my granddaughter in Wisconsin. Â She turned the big 4 years old on Monday and was thanking me for her gift. I miss her and her brother so much.
Another bird that is very popular to find and photograph; the Hamerkop. It could be either male or female, as they are colored the same. As you can see, he/she is grooming for a nice shot. I was surprised at how much my shot looks just like the one in my bird book.
I was looking out the window this morning and there was this beautiful mule deer buck who managed to made it through hunting season alive. All I had handy was my G11 and a dirty window, but just couldn’t pass up getting the golden light on that regal animal. He saw these two does and it was time to jump the fence. No saturation added, just natural light and how my G11 took it.
Some more giraffes to share. Â The buildings behind are part of the compound for the rangers. On first glance, the grandkiddos thought that was a 2 headed giraffe. These are all part of the ones that Tiffany used in preschool for the giraffe unit. Next the unit is going to be zebras, requested by Bryton.
This is the road to the Serengeti; see it in the background too. You just look for the red dust covering everything, like these trees. I have never seen dust this bad; everything was covered, including suitcases and camera gear. Not the best shot, but considering it was taken from the Land Rover zooming down the road, I was lucky to get anything.
Everywhere we went in the Serengeti it seemed that the animals were on the move. Most were going toward the water source; the river. You can see some of the other safari land rovers in the back ground. Average life of a vehicle was 3 years and that seems long when I remember that horrid roads. These were wildebeest.
I am not sure what African flower this is, but the leaves sure looked like a type of lily. I took it at the Masai village where we attended a wedding. Â Here is wishing all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I think back to all that I saw in Tanzania and am very grateful for being able to have made that trip. It was a truly humbling experience. The people there have so little and yet, seem to be so happy. We could learn a lot from them. A G11 shot.
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