Finally, A Zebra!

It may have taken 6 weeks, but I've finally seen a Zebra!  And it wasn't the most interesting thing we saw today.

I extended a trip to Nairobi by a day to get a chance to explore the city, and took off early this morning (6 a.m.) to go on a "game drive" through Nairobi National Park.  The park is an amazing place, right in the middle of the city, with widely varying terrain and a huge variety of animals.

Some highlights:

This Black Rhino is (according to our guide) very rare to see.  It even had a bird on its back like you'd see in National Geographic.  You can tell from this picture how close the city of Nairobi is, just across the savanna from where we were stopped.

A Masai Giraffe, framed by the tall buildings of downtown Nairobi.  Apparently the Masai Giraffe is distinguishable by its lack of "socks" as compared to the Somali Giraffe.

The Impala were a dime a dozen in the park, but their horns are awesome.  Of all the horns in the park, these were my favorite.

We saw three of the so-called "big 5" game today, Hippopotamus, Cape Buffalo, and Black Rhino, but didn't see a leopard or lion.  A herd of cape buffalo wandered by our truck -- totally harmless as long as they're not alone, apparently -- and stopped to check us out by sniffing the air, watching us, and generally showing interest.  This guy has a nice little part in his hair.

And finally...Zebra!  I don't understand why they have stripes.  Aside from the enormous ostrich everywhere that look like big black bushes on the horizon, even from miles away, the Zebra were the easiest to pick out by far.  It is awesome to look at.

So who's ready to come visit?

Garrett

P.S. on the Kenya Airways flight from Johannesburg to Nairobi they played the K'Naan song (waving flag), Shakira song (Waka Waka) and the Ricky Martin song from 1998 (copa de la vida) on loop.  I heard each one at least 5 times.  Thank goodness they're so awesome.