Do You See What I See??!?

I headed out of town a few weekends ago ... and thought of this title, given Christmas' approach, I thought I'd give a nod to a Christmas carol with a twist!

Do you see what I see?

Can you see it??  Need a hint??!?
Think speckled!

Got it??!?

Okay - here is a bigger hint:

I love going searching for the giraffes - like a safari ... but only with one wild animal to see!  When I first arrived in the Niger ... the desert ... I was looking forward to seeing all sorts of wildlife, including the zebra.  Until my friend informed me that the zebra is a grazing animal ...'nuff said, guess I'll have to go to Kenya to see a zebra.  In another national park we do get to see elephants and baboons which are also cool.  But back to the giraffes ....

The giraffe reserve is located close to where I live - and is the last existing herd of wild giraffes in West Africa!!  I love that I can just drive out from the city and see such beautiful creatures!  They live in a national preservation park dedicated to the herd survival: they've grown from near extinction of around 50 giraffes to well over 600!!

This herd of five we saw had five adults: one male and three females, all over 12 years of age; and a teenage giraffe of about four years.

The information at the ranger's station, where we payfor a guide to help us find the giraffes, indicated that the males can stand up to 5.8 metres tall ... and they can reach tree leaves over six metres with their tongue ... WOW - long tongue!  The giraffe on the right (above) - the one which is taller and has darker spots, is the male. 

This specifies of West African Giraffe is called: Giraffa camelopardalis peralta.  Which I found neat to see the word "camel" in the title ... for the Fulani people, with whom I work, call the giraffe: Golloba Ladde ... "Bush Camel"!!!   Who knew the Fulani spoke Latin??!?

Sometimes we drive around for hours looking for the giraffes and sometimes we find a herd in close to the ranger's station.  I always love watching the giraffes - They are so majestically beautiful ... awkwardly graceful when they walk! 


And a new experience for me ... I've never climbed a termite mound before, so this was exciting!  As well as slightly challenging, partly because of the skirt and mostly because, for those who know me well, you know that I am scared of heights!  Hence, my not being at the top of the mound!