Among the Giraffes

Monday August 29, 2005

After we left Crater Lake we drove further into the game sanctuary. From our matutu, Jeff glimpsed a wart-hog and I saw two dik-diks. They are the smallest of the deer family, no bigger than terrier dogs, nestled in the shade under a bush.

Soon we were able to leave the vehicles and take a very unique walk.

This was a very special place because there are few reserves in East Africa where you can travel on foot among the animals without fear of predators.

It is hard to explain how I felt among the giraffes. It was like seeing a mythical animal come to life. Their tall silhouette against the sky was at once magnificent and unreal.They were the strangest and most startlingly beautiful animals that I'd ever seen in the wild. It was like seeing a unicorn that was twenty feet tall.

These were Masai giraffe, and they didn't seem to mind humans very much, regarding us with long-lashed dark eyes as docilely as cows. If someone approached a little too closely, the giraffe would take two or three slow, rocking steps away with its long legs and immediately be at comfortable distance again.

One giraffe sat on the dry savannah grass, its legs folded awkwardly under it. I thought that it must take tremendous effort for giraffes to stand up again with such amazingly long limbs. I sat down on the warm grass too and just watched it for a while in the warm African sunshine. I looked at the giraffe, and it looked at me.

You know when your brain seems to take a snapshot of a particular moment in your life, and you can look back on that moment years in the future and remember it with crystal clarity? I think I'll remember that giraffe like that.

There was also another giraffe I'll remember. It was standing alone in a small sun- dappled patch of forest, stretching its neck up to the acacia leaves and curling its long blue tongue around them. I had wandered away from other people and I was all by myself, listening to the rustle and crunch of its eating. Occasionally it would turn its head with a mouthful of leaves and observe me in turn. I know it sounds strange and anthropomorphic but it really felt like it was a friendly giraffe.

There were other animals to be seen in this preserve, but they proved more elusive than the giraffes. There were several small herds of zebra roaming through the grassy meadows, and small groups of impalas grazing too, but both animals seemed to want to keep their distance.

Our guide took us on a nature walk, pointing out plants and trees and the shiny black volcanic rock that is commonly found in this area.

He also pointed out a shed rock python skin lying in the grass. It was about six feet long. He mentioned that this land was home to Egyptian spitting cobras too. They are seldom seen, he said, but be wary.