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Tanzania Day 5: Giraffe Kills (Still) and Giraffe Thrills

It was our last full day at Ruaha and we were hoping to see some different animals. Ruaha is known for its large elephant herds as well as having the second largest population of lions in Africa and those were our main reasons for coming there. I was itching for a little variety and we would get that today.

We were up and out at 630a (again) with Hennessy joining us (again) and we started out at the giraffe carcass (again). It was cold (again) so we were all wrapped up in our blankets.
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One of the male lions was having some 3-day old giraffe for breakfast.
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He had his fill and sauntered off for a rest somewhere.
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A jackal was waiting in the wings to get in on that breakfast.
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The baboons were having theirs as well, relatively calmly for baboons.
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Harrier Hawk on the lookout (our guide's favorite bird)
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When it was getting close to time to eat, we stopped off at a picnic site by the river.
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Our first crocs of the trip.
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We hung out at the picnic tables for a while talking to our guides. Jimmy told us that when he goes home on leave, he has to take a bus and that it takes him several days. They have mandatory time off and then they come back for weeks at a time. His dream was to buy his own safari vehicle and be his own boss. He was young and playful, definitely giving off the vibes that he wasn't too interested in going the marriage/kids route any time soon. But for someone so young (early 20s), he was highly educated in the ways of a safari guide. We jokingly called him the Professor because he was a great teacher of information.

Before leaving the picnic site, we asked another guide to take a pic of all of us.
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We continued driving by the river and Jimmy found another place where it was safe for us to get out and explore a little.
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The hippos looked like big, lumpy rocks in the river.
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Fleeing female kudu
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A tree that looked like something with large teeth had eaten around the sides. I believe Jimmy said this was the damage that elephants do to the landscape.
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Lilac-breasted roller
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Some female lions were relaxing by the river.
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We came upon a group of what we first thought were some innocent-looking giraffe.
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It soon became obvious that things were not so innocent. The male very obviously was trying to mate with one of the females.
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HIs first attempt failed. I guess she needed more courting.
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So he kept trying to woo her.
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And trying.
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We were all waiting for what seemed like forever.
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Me with my finger poised on the shutter ready for action.
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The male was obviously ready.
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Finally...success!
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Twenty seconds later we're all like...that was it?
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Even the warthog was unimpressed.
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Just down the road, our eagle eye guide spotted a serval cat hunting in the tall grass. It's pretty rare to see that during the daytime so we were pretty excited.
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Unfortunately, Hennessy encouraged our driver to go off road a bit and get too close which, in our opinion, interrupted the serval's hunting. This greatly upset us (especially Brenda) and we were both quiet the rest of the way back to camp.

This adorable baby zebra helped though.
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Back at camp in time for showers and dinner, I confirmed with the office our leave time for our 7a flight the next morning. They had us incorrectly listed as booked on the noon flight so it took some effort to get that straightened out. We had our last dinner here which included a pesto linguine starter, beef with tomato sauce, green beans, potatoes, and spongecake. As usual, none of it was very good but it got the job done. We spent the rest of the evening packing and getting ready for our early morning departure. Brenda made cards by flashlight to give to our guides with their tips.
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Just as she finished, the light went out.

Posted by zihuatcat 22:04 Archived in Tanzania Tagged tanzania brenda ruaha

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