Perhaps the most inescapably African mammal is the giraffe. For much of the day they stand pensively, observing from their airy penthouse. Giraffes are such a fixture that despite their height they can be underappreciated. Not at Kicheche they are not.
Open plains rather than thick bush are the finest locations to view this grassland sentinel, therefore there is nowhere better than the Conservancies in Laikipia and the Mara.
So many animals let you down by posing poorly, sleeping forever, lying on obscured branches and hunting in inaccessible areas. Not the giraffe, they have outstanding manners, often showing up just at sunrise or sunset, perfectly turned out and often their ‘tower’ (collective) is in perfect formation – witness Bernard’s video last week from Naboisho.
He filmed this gorgeous segment in the open, close-cropped rolling plains ten minutes from camp, his conservancy having the highest population of giraffes in the world – there really is a beauty in numbers.
The magnificently patterned reticulated ones also have the same altruism, often pausing in the false dawn in front of Mt Kenya.
Rarely predated, giraffes rely on their height for early warnings of enemies …. perhaps where the phrase ‘safe journey’ (also a collective) came from.
