New land

We had a couple of "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore" moments yesterday. First, we drove on the wrong side of the road. It is a bit unsettling for the first couple of km. The turns are the worst part. You actually have to think about where to turn. It has been a while since I had to really think and concentrate on driving. It is just one of those automatic things you do.
Second, we drove out to the Daan Vijoen game preserve--think national park like Yellowstone. The game preserves are open, protected areas. The animals are wild and not fenced in. There are none of the big predators at Daan Vijoen so there are hiking trails. Anyway, we had just come through the entry gate and I was driving around a curve, when we came across a tower of giraffes both in the road and along side. Just like in Yellowstone, I immediately stopped the car for Bruce to take pictures. Unlike, Yellowstone, we were the only car around so it did not cause a traffic jam.

Least you think I am very smart, I had to look up what a group of giraffes is called. A tower of giraffes is so appropriate.

We realized that this was out of our norm, but oh so cool! There were about six or so giraffes there. We then proceeded down to the main office of the park to pay our entrance fee. We decided to go on the 9.5km hike around part of the park. It was a nice day, not as hot as some. As we were hiking, we heard many different birds, but where unable to locate many. They hide very well. 

I don't know what kind of bird this is, but it is the only one we got a picture of. 

We also kept hearing a grunting, growling kind of noise and was not sure what it was. It seemed to be sort of following us. It was a bit discerning and we kept hoping that the guide books were right in that there was nothing in the park that would consider us lunch. About half way through the hike, we finally discovered that it was a troop of baboons. The pictures are not very clear or good, but this groups was maybe 100 yards away. They were yelling at us, at each other and generally making a bunch of noise. They climbed  and played in the trees around. So now we know what baboon calls sound like. 

Again, I had to look up what a group of baboons is called. One of the funniest "fake news" items about baboons said that a group was called a congress, and doesn't that explain a lot. However, it is not true, and we should not continue to insult baboons by referring to them as a congress. One site said, "But the fact remains that a gathering of baboons is not a "congress." When a troop of baboons gathers it usually accomplishes something useful."

That was about it for seeing wildlife. The park is well known for different antelope and zebra populations, but we did not see any. Lots of scat and evidence that they were around, but this is the closest we came....

All in all it was a wonderful day. We were very tired at the end of the hike when we had to climb out of a dry river bed up onto the top of the ridge. They should not put steep climbs at the end of a hike. It is just mean. We also learned to take more water than what you think you will need. The sun is hot and you just kind of dry up quickly. Here was just some pictures of the landscape.

City of Windhoek in the distance

                Just to prove I was there!