16 February 2015 ~ Giraffes

Listening to: Pink Floyd ~ The Endless River

We've reached a milestone today. This post is number 500. Thanks for checking it everyone over the years!

We had an early start on the safaris, with a wake up call at 5:00am, tea and biscuits, before heading out.

Day 2 started out with giraffes.

Including a youngster.

How cute when they are together.

 Some fun facts:

At an average height of around 16-18 ft., the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world.

Both sexes have skin-covered knobs, called ossicones, on the top of their heads. These knobs are used to protect the head when males fight, which involves swinging their necks at each other in a show of strength called “necking.”

They can reach 35 mph at full speed but only in brief spurts. Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day.  What a contrast to the koala bear which is only awake for 2 hours a day!

This video was taken in Zambia, and the baby had lost track of the rest of the group, also known as a "tower".

http://youtu.be/gWSnyWklK8c