Giraffes!

Phil and I are currently in Niamey, the capital of Niger,  at a missionary conference for 5 days.  In order to get here, we took an adventurous 8-hour ride in an SUV from Galmi.  I say "adventurous" because this is the first time we have been any distance off the compound, save for a short drive to a neighboring village to attend church.  So, of course there were new experiences, like . . . seeing other villages along the route . . . watching the environment change slightly at regular intervals . . . trying to find old beat-up wrecks to take pictures in (the best we could do was this truck, which was in pretty decent condition) . . . 

We're the same height!

The Zoolkoski Family (above), together with us, made a  full - but fun car!

seeing the "kabobs-to-go stand" along the road . . .

Anyone for hot, toasty intestines on a stick???

finding the ever-present, absolutely adorable children . . . 

These two kept holding hands, and couldn't have been more than 3 years old!

AND . . . what we were hoping to see . . . GIRAFFES!

Niger's Rare Giraffes

Africa may have as many as 100,000 giraffes, but most of them live in wildlife preserves, private sanctuaries, parks, or other protected areas not inhabited by humans.  Niger's giraffes roam freely, living in a 40 square mile area alongside subsistence farmers, competing for the same resources, fighting for survival with the people ranked at the bottom of the UN's Human Development Index.  The endangered giraffe, giraffa camelopardalis peralta, is the one found in Niger, and only Niger. It has large orange brown spots on its body that fade to white on its legs.

Giraffes are hard to "spot!"

It took a bit of “off-roading” and hiring a local “guide” to find these giraffes, but

once we did, we saw many of them, including a young giraffe trotting alongside

the “big guys!”  they seemed fairly unthreatened by our presence, but after they

stared in our direction for awhile, they ambled off gracefully.  What incredible 

animals!

"See you later!"

In case you are asking the obvious question, YES, I DID take these pictures myself, although with the blinding sun, I just did a "point and shoot," and was surprised I actually got some shots this nice!  Phil was especially impressed by how tall they were.  I guess it "takes one to know one!"