Two Horses graze on the sparse vegetation on the edge of the Namib desert - see the red sand dunes in the background.
A Namaqua Sandgrouse
A gang of Gnus - 'Blou Wildebeest' in Afrikaans.
This is the largest group of Ostriches I've seen.
Their bobbing heads looked too funny as they trotted away - Ostriches are known as 'Omo' in the Owambo language.
A family of Meerkats look ghostly as they peer at me through the dry white grass.
An Oryx - those horns are dangerous - I've heard about a wounded Oryx swatting bullets away with his horns but I'm sure that's a tall story.
Warthogs.
A Baboon scampers away as I try to get a pic. These rascals have been shot at so many times by angry farmers that if you aim anything at them, they scatter.
A fake Zebra at the entrance to a farm - I'm surprised that it hasn't been pock-marked by poachers ...
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Beautiful photos, Graham. Just stunning.
ReplyDeleteTo deal with my photo problem, I've adjusted the html code so that my photos are automatically saved in a smaller size to blogger and picasa. Apparently when you post a photo on blogger even if it is saved on your computer, it takes up picasa space. I also deleted a number of posts and a lot of picasa albums that weren't that important. I'll be deleting a lot more albums as currently I have hundreds there that I'm not using on blogger. Hopefully that will do me good for some time.
As for the shoes on the wires in my photos, you see that fairly often around here. I think mostly young people playing around like to through shoes up on the wires. These are usually old cast off shoes but I think it tells you that people aren't so poor that they don't "play" with their shoes.
Thanks for stopping by :-) Have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Penny - I'm glad your photo problem has been sorted out ... hehe I wonder how many tries it takes to get the shoes onto the wires?
ReplyDeleteParadise on earth. My eyes tear up. Thank you, thank you Graham for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGraham this is a lovely post showing Africa at its best with the wild animals. Having said that I also love the photo of the horses.
ReplyDeleteThat is a huge group of ostrich I am sure I have never seen to many except at an ostrich farm.
I love meerkats they have so much character, and that Oryx is just beautiful. I have to say I would not fancy being charged by that guy with his head down :((
Take care Diane
Thank you Fazlisa - sometimes I wonder if it's worth the trouble blogging but it's when I receive responses like this that I know that it is ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane - y'know, I've never been out of Southern Africa and I really have no desire to go anywhere else ... probably a narrow view but, I still haven't properly seen my own country ...
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised to see horses out in the field. I would have thought they would be bit by snakes. Wonderful photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks Callie ... the animals are in no danger because there are only two species of snake in this particular area where they were, the Sandsnake and the Horned Added, neither of which could harm a horse ...
ReplyDeleteI was never interested in visiting Africa , but you make more and more inviting .
ReplyDeleteThank you Graham
Thank you Monica - I do hope that you make it to Africa someday ... and to Namibia in particular ... :)
ReplyDeleteHi Graham .. what great photos - I love the Oryx one .. they are so graceful and stunningly beautiful - but my favourites are the warthogs - always loved them.
ReplyDeleteHowever all animals out in the wild are special .. the gnus .. and those ostriches - masses of .. commune of - perhaps?!
Fantastic shots .. makes me 'homesick' for Africa ... cheers Hilary
Thanks Hilary - yeah, a 'commune' sounds appropriate ...
ReplyDelete... yes, the Oryx are special hey ...
I couldn't even imagine running into all these critters on my way to town!
ReplyDeleteI love the ostriches -- all are very fun and informative pictures.
Hehe ... thanks Inger - glad you enjoyed the pics.
ReplyDeleteNamibia. Now thats an idea that's starting to grow for me. What strikes me about the photos is their beauty. Which you see and many people would not, when travelling along.
ReplyDeleteThanks FoG - if you're planning a trip to Nam please be sure to let me know ...
ReplyDelete... since I've had my camera I'm aware of so much more because I'm always looking for photo-ops ...
What an interesting post with stunningly beautiful photos, Graham. You took them all in your stride, as it were... Blessings, Jo
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo - I love travelling the back-roads because I can sometimes drive for hours without seeing another car ... this means that if I see something interesting I can usually just stop in the middle of the road ...
ReplyDeleteI just love the ostrich photos Graham. Wonderful scenery behind all those feathery bottoms....
ReplyDeleteHave looked at your photos again. They are all so good but I esp. like the family of Meerkats peering at you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Coral - yes, it was so strange coming upon such a large group of Ostriches in the middle of nowhere ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny - the Meerkats were quite far away and I had to trim the image to get them to show up better ... I'd love to get some close-ups of these cute creatures ...
ReplyDeleteGreat photos as usual, Graham. It's amazing what you get to see from the road. Meerkats do look rascally cute and that fake zebra was quite life like.
ReplyDeleteThanks Calvin - yes, the Meerkats are cute, some people keep them as pets ... I must confess that the Zebra had me fooled for a moment when I first saw it ...
ReplyDeleteHi Graham, stunning photos of wildlife.I love the ostriches too as we only see a few of them at a time here in the wildlife park at Fota. We also have those rascally Meerkats and can spend ages just watching their antics.
ReplyDeleteA pair of shoes hanging on the wires over here are a sign that drugs are for sale in the vicinity!
I just saw a program on television about the meerkats. I've never seen any program about them before.It was quite interesting and also sad as I watched two females vying for dominance. One killed the other's new babies. I know it is the animal world not the human one so I don't cry over it but it is still a bit that tugs at one's emotions.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peggy - yes, the meerkats are adorable ... those Ostriches are big when you stand next to them hey? ... and they can kick like a horse ...
ReplyDeleteYeah Penny, it's difficult to keep perspective when viewing the 'cruelty' in nature ...
ReplyDeleteQue beleza de fotos;e que maravilha de viagem que deves ter feito.Foi ótimo passear pelo seu blog e vêr tanta beleza.Grande abraço.
ReplyDeleteThank You Suzane - gracias
ReplyDelete