Meru is a remote park with few visitors so the animals are still wild and do not walk up to cars to get photographed the way they do in the Masai Mara, so each photo is a bit more of a victory as it is also more of a challenge. On the other hand it is so pleasant not to have 10 cars clumped together around a lion pride or a chetah family…
I will post photos I took in no particular order, from the smallest bird, the lilac-breasted roller:
To some of the biggest, the Goliath heron:
From the small animals, like these guys somewhere between a squirrel and a rat, who were all over the resort :
To the humungous hippos :
And all the in betweens like the giraffes, which are reticulated giraffes (or Somali giraffes). Their coat consists of large, polygonal liver-colored spots outlined by a network of bright white lines. The blocks may sometimes appear deep red and may also cover the legs. The extraordinary height of giraffes is attributed to a ritual known as “necking” where two males fight for reproduction rights by slamming their necks into one another. The giraffes with the tallest and strongest necks are victorious and allowed to reproduce, thus passing these genes on to future generations
My other favorites are of course the elephants. The elephants of this area are known for their exceptionally long tusks. We saw small groups of males together, and very large groups of females with their young. They are so impressive!
Another star for me is the zebra, the Grevy zebra is a lot more photogenic with its Mickey Mouse ears and its fine markings.
One animal that I do not recall seeing last year was the ostrich. The female is brownish in color while the male is black and white. It is said that their brain is smaller than their eyes…such strange looking animals…a bit prehistoric looking to me ( like the rhinos which we DID see as there is a rhino reserve in Meru but I did not get good photos of..)
The one animal we saw the most of this time was the water buffalo. I am not a big fan as I find their face and horns just ridiculous. Having said that I did catch one who turned out to be quite photogenic.
The variey of water bucks, antilopes, gnus etc etc is phenomenal. Here are some of them…Their horns fascinate me.
This is the water buck
This is an impala
This is a lesser kudu
Here is another water buck
These are more impalas…
à
We did not see any cheetas although our guide tried and tried to find one for us but we DID see lions. They will be the subject of the next entry.