While in Nairobi for Thanksgiving we took the opportunity to visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Langata Giraffe Centre. Poachers are a big problem here and when they find young ones without mothers, they are brought to one of these places to keep them alive until they are slowly, over several years, reintroduced in the wild.
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| Sister Linda Knecht our new neighbor in Dar |
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| Pam and Bruce at the Elephant Orphanage |
Giraffe saliva is antiseptic, that big, 18 inch purple tongue is covered in saliva and kills all kinds of germs. They are truly such beautiful and graceful creatures. Being so close to these gentle giants was a spiritual experience. We also learned that female Giraffes give birth standing up and the baby falls out from about 6 feet up. The fall breaks open the sack. In about an hour the baby is on its feet and can run 35 miles an hour...Mother Nature's way of protecting them against predators. The kick of a giraffe can crush a lion's skull but big cats are their major predator.
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| I actually kissed a giraffe! |
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| Yep, Bruce got a good lick! |
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