Thursday 17 April 2014

O is for “Oh my goodness, it’s an elephant.” #atozchallenge

Contrary to popular belief, wild animals aren’t roaming freely all over the continent. This is the real world, not not Jumanji. Yes Africa has loads of  animals, but they tend to hide in their natural habitats which have been shrinking more and more as humans do what they do best and take over the land. 

About four years ago I went to a wild life preserve in the Northern Region of Ghana and got a gander of an elephant on a reserve. Gorgeous. The baboons were not as reclusive as the elephants, they liked to steal so we had to make sure our doors stayed closed and they didn’t sneak up behind us.

Here are some pics from my trip.
The ranger called it a Cobb.

Beautiful animals who paid us no attention as they splashed in the water.
Of course we got no where near them and didn't attempt to annoy them.


The baboons own the place. 


This is a gigantic blog hop so click here to see what other bloggers are discussing for this letter. Have fun.

38 comments:

  1. Love the pix. The elephant looks like its having a blast cooling off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There wer a few of them there. They played a little bit, ignoring us completely. But we were wise to stay away.

      Delete
  2. Okay, but how sure are you that they aren't roaming freely, out, and about? LOL
    Had to, sorry. And it really IS popular belief...anyway! Really cool pics, I love the baboons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, S.K. as I sit writing this response I look out the window and there is a wild animal. Damn crow making a whole lot of unecessary noise. Lol.

      Delete
  3. I saw lots of elephants roaming in the outskirts of town when I was in Zimbabwe. I know that they can be a nuisance to the villagers but I often feel that it is us, not them who are the invaders. I live on the edge of Red Rock National Park in Las Vegas and often hear the coyotes howling at night. I feel that they must be howling at the loss of their territory. Or I could just be an emotionally wrought person! ;) Either that or I could be the next coyote whisperer! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a friend who is worked with the wildlife people. In the villages the forest elephants (did you know there are types?) destroy the people's gardens. We have taken so much away from the animals. Coyote whisperer - lol.

      Delete
  4. I would love to see this sight. I'd like to visit Africa one day. Yes, too many times humans have pushed animals out of their natural habitats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you get the chance one day, Medeia. It's not just animals we displace, but other humans, too. So sad.

      Delete
  5. Nice post Nana. The mention of Jumanji made me laugh. Lovely pictures!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I'm glad you got a chuckle. That movie cracked me up.

      Delete
  6. Great pictures!! This made me want to go and spend some time in the wild!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm curios to know where you'd go for your adventure, Aditi.

      Delete
  7. Hahaa...I'm one of those people! I thought Africa was full of roaming animals....Love them by the way!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you ever seen the FB circulating picture where a giraffe sticks it's head into someone's house? I wonder if it was real or photoshop.

      Delete
    2. I love that pic. I hope it's real?!

      Delete
  8. I have to confess - I'm scared of monkeys and apes. Maybe because they seem very human sometimes, and not always in the best of ways! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good point, Li. The baboons were greedy buggers.

      Delete
  9. Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos. I love your clever title and tying in the letter O.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ronda. I had to get my animal pics in somehow.

      Delete
  10. I'm not an animal person. Sorry! But these pictures are great! Been to Tamale and Damongo but not the game reserve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol. No problem. I bet if you saw them live and in person you might change your mind.

      Delete
  11. Great pics, Nana. Did I tell you my neighbors are going to Africa next month on two safaris? I can't remember the countries, but they are visiting South Africa. I'm very jealous and I would love it if they roamed around within reason. I live in the woods and the other day a bunch of turkeys walked through my yard, followed by a few deer. We have foxes, coyotes but nothing as exotic as elephants and giraffes :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope your neighbors have a good time on the Safari. Chris Rock did a comedy bit about having gone on Safari in South Africa. It was hilarious. Our snakes like to make their presence known to everyone.

      Delete
  12. Love the photos :). So African wildlife is just like British wildlife then, likes to hide when you get the camera out if you aren't really careful :).
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings - AtoZ (Vampires)
    FB3X - AtoZ (Erotic Drabbles)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, Tasha. Interesting how most animals don't like the camera.

      Delete
  13. Beautiful pictures! It's like living in Florida and everyone asks me how many gators I've seen. Well, I've lived here over 5 years, and outside of a cage, the answer would be 1. A whole whopping one. It's funny how we get suck in those misconceptions, eh?

    True Heroes from A to Z

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What do you mean you've seen only one gator while in Florida? That place is a hotbed for them. Lol. I know what you mean.

      Delete
  14. cool !
    I loved the pics. Heard a lot about African animals. Wish I cud explore and click more pics :)
    Hav a good time

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of my life dreams is to go on Safari in Kenya to see Lions and Giraffes from the safetly of a safari jeep.

      Delete
  15. love He pics. Sounds like a fantastic trip.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This reminds me of when I spent a semester in Australia. I loved kangaroos and couldn't wait to see one. I just assumed they were pretty much bouncing around everywhere. Imagine my disappointment when I didn't see one until the three month mark and that was at a zoo. Those baboons look totally in charge - I think I'd be a bit scared of them.

    Hope you’re having fun with the A to Z challenge,
    Jocelyn

    ReplyDelete
  17. I understand baboons can really bite.
    Thinking that you have elephants roaming everywhere is like thinking we have bears, deer, and mountain lions everywhere. They come into cities sometimes, but they'd rather stay in the wild and away from us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, Alex. Baboons can be meaner than people.

      Delete
  18. It's amazing how people are under the impression that the animals just roam the streets in Africa... LOL
    At the game reserve, I've seen elephants up close... they are really huge... and the lions are just gorgeous...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Time to remove the misconception, all of them. I'd love to see an elephant and lion up close. Not too close though.

      Delete
  19. Oh how neat! I'd love to see an elephant in real life.

    I'll admit I'd imagined animals not really in cities but roaming freely through more country locations. *shrugs* I live city-ish and we've had alligators walking up the main roads/around the college/etc. lol So who knows!

    Happy A to Z-ing!
    ~Anna
    herding cats & burning soup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol. Alligators walking around free would not be something I'd ever want to see. But there is a tourist reserve here in Ghana that you can sit on one after feeding it a chicken.

      Delete

I love reading your comments.