Saturday, October 3, 2020

Rhinos and Baboons

These photos are from my archives and were taken in Nakuru, Kenya, East Africa. 

The first photo  was taken from the north side of Lake Nakuru on a return trip to see the Menengai Crater.  You get a glorious view of the lake as you approach the city from the north.  I will try to share photos of my visit to the crater in another post. Today's post is about Lake Nakuru and the wildlife park situated there.

 

The next view of the lake is from Baboon Cliff Point in Lake Nakuru Provincial Park.  The point is situated on the western side of Lake Nakuru and the views from the top are fantastic.  It's one of my favourite spots in the park.  The name derives from the fact that so many baboons are living in this particular area of the park.

I'm only sharing two of the photos of the baboons. There were so many baboons and they are quite mischievous. They will enter your car and take things if you are not keeping a close watch.  The monkeys do the same.

Here you can see baboons climbing all over the parked cars.


The rhinos in the next two photos were an awesome site. These rhinos are called black rhinos though the colour can range from brown to grey.  The World Wildlife Fund for Nature Kenya  has been working with the government and other organizations and people of goodwill, to save the black rhinos from poaching and loss of habitat and so the population has more than doubled over the past 25 years.  You can read more about black rhino conservation needs and efforts here. Sadl, the Northern White Rhino is virtually extinct. Just over a year ago, Kenya harvested the eggs of the two last white female rhinos in the northern part of the country.  They are hoping to fertilize them with the sperm of the last male white rhino that died in Sudan in March 2018.  You can read more about white rhinos here.

I took a little time to see many wild animals both in zoos and in their natural habitat while I've been on missions trips to the very poor in Kenya.  I feel so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see many of these wonderful creatures in their natural habitat.  My hope is that through the good will and good work of people in Kenya and around the globe, these majestic creatures will not go extinct while we can still do something to save them. The largest threats to their survival are poaching and loss of habitat.  If you love wild animals please consider a gift to those that work in conservation.  If, like me, you are interested in alleviating the suffering of the very poor who barely eke out a living, kindly read more at the various links on the side bar and consider being a change maker along with me. During this global pandemic they are suffering even  more than usual.


I hope you enjoyed this brief post on Kenyan wildlife. I'm joining up with Eileen's, Saturday's Critters meme today.  Please come and visit this space again soon.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Fall in Vancouver

 I'm continuing the Fall theme in this post. 

The trees photos were taken on Tuesday late afternoon when I was out running errands. I was looking for one small item and ended up having to go to four (4) different stores to find it. It is a simple little thing called a plate or tray hanger. You used to be able to find them almost anywhere.  Now I think they are becoming extinct though you can buy them on Amazon.  I found what I wanted at Michael's. The fact is, I knew that Michael's carried what I needed because I looked on line first.  But I was hoping to find them in one of the small stores near to where I live.



In the short video I am standing in the parking lot of a grocery store and looking down over Broadway Avenue. One block to the west (to the left of the scene in the video) they are connecting the street with a subway line that will eventually go out to the University of British Columbia.  This transportation option is long awaited and long overdue. The building of it has already started.

Once I picked up what I needed at Michael's, I was famished and had this lovely Teriyaki Beef Bento Box for dinner. The small restaurant where I ate was packed with diners.  They were mostly police officers on meal break but I was too tired to look for another restaurant.  At least the restaurant did have hand sanitizing and social distancing measures in place.

The next few photos are of my garden  and were taken Thursday, October 1st. The blooms are hanging in there so I haven't plucked anything up yet.  In fact, if I have time in the next week or so, I hope to try out my brother's camera lenses again.  I think the photos below were taken with my camera and the prime lens that came with it.







Here are a few more photos from Tuesday night's outing.




I found these apples growing on this tree amidst the high rises. I didn't pick them.

This blue sky photo was taken on Monday night.

 A book I recently completed and can recommend is:


It's a book about slavery, the underground railway and the magical, mystical powers of some of the people who helped their own as best they could. I did not know before reading this book, that the author and journalist, Ta-Nehisi Coates, has also written a Black Panther series for Marvel Comics. That was a happy connection for me as I very much enjoyed watching the movie, Black Panther.  I was saddened by the recent loss of one of it's lead actors, Chadwick Boseman, who by all accounts was not only a fabulous actor but a very fine human being. The more I read about him and what he did in his short life, the more I realize what a great loss it really is.  May his family and loved ones be comforted and may his legacy continue to impact many people around the globe. ♥♥♥

 

 Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to you all. Stay safe.


Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

The Last Weekend

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, I hope you are all doing well.   We've had a few beautiful days of sunshine. Now we are in the very l...