Chyulu Part II: LOTS of Animals at Kilaguni ~ Our Mission in Kenya

On Saturday, while LeRon drove the hour to Makutano and did the several hours of financial training, I stayed at the Lodge and read and napped and watched the animals. When we were here at Tsavo West Park last December with all the Senior Couples, we saw very few animals. But this time, in June, we saw hundreds. I could sit on my balcony and watch 50 zebras and several giraffes as they came to the water hole to drink. For hours, I soaked in the beauty of the animals and of the vegetation and the lovely red soil. I never knew before coming on this mission to Africa how interesting it is to see animals in their natural habitat. There is beauty all over the world and in every country; and LeRon and I have been to 40 countries. There is not one country we've visited that we haven't loved the landscape and found the people interesting. God's beautiful world is indeed beautiful.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is hard to see in this picture. It is across the border in Tanzania and is often shrouded in cloud and mist. Still, it is exciting to see it from Kilaguni Lodge. It is the tallest mountain in Africa.

And as you know from past posts, I absolutely love zebras. I find their stripes fascinating and beautiful. You'll get tired of seeing them before this post is finished!

More than 10 groups of zebras came down to drink at the water hole.

Interesting to know that the stripes on each zebra are unique. Hard to believe there are that many patterns.

I love the guinea fowl too. They are everywhere in this part of Africa.

Along with the zebras, several giraffes came to the water hole for a sip of water. They are such graceful, elegant creatures.

Two of my favorite animals -- giraffes and zebras.

Interesting to watch as the giraffe stepped apart his gangly legs to reach down for a drink.

Birds are interesting too. This is an Egyptian Goose. Not very lovely, but interesting.

And here we go with more zebra pictures.

I can't get enough of watching zebras. Their faces actually look a lot like donkeys only cuter.

These zebras look awfully fat. Love the stripes on the back of the one on the right.

LeRon teases me that I have thousands of zebra pictures and I probably do.

I decide not to take anymore zebra pictures and then I can't help myself . . .

I counted about 50 zebras this morning.

The giraffes took quick drinks and then left the area. They are always on the watch for predators.

An African Cape Buffalo

Love, love, love the stripes!

In the Nairobi Park and the Hell's Gate Park, we saw lots of buffalo, but here in Tsavo we only saw two.

The brown on these zebras may be reflections of the soil or they may have rolled in the soil. Lots of zebras have hints of brown naturally.

The green splotches are plants that turned into splotches when I zoomed in.

Many zebras have brown tones. This little guy was definitely brown and white. Some people say that they are born this way and then their brown stripes turn black. I don't know if that is true or not.

Good-bye giraffes. They are feeding on the acacia trees.

You can see the needles on this acacia tree. Wouldn't want to run into a tree like that in the dark. The bird is an African Mourning Dove.

Love the acacia trees and the red soil.

I think this is a Black-headed Heron.

We were so surprised to see our friend from Nairobi, Stella, at Kilaguni.

And I thought I was short. Stella is a lovely girl. Beautiful smooth skin!

Stella was at Kilaguni with a family friend who is now an Area Seventy for our church, Elder Miranda. It was really great to visit with him. He was called to be an Area Seventy in April of this year. He has a lovely wife and two sons and he is a great photographer. Showed me lots of his pictures and gave me hints which I have since forgotten, given my senior brain.