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Scenes from a Kenya Safari
Text and photographs by George W. Stone
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To me the most important lesson a safari teaches is that while the world may be infinitely complicated, it can also be understood. Perhaps never completely, but at least a little bit. This may even be the most important lesson that travel teaches (a "safari," after all, is the Swahili word for "travel"). Above all a safari teaches you to see.
Of course, the more you observe something, the more complicated it becomes. This reticulated giraffe, which I photographed from atop our Land Cruiser, is clearly visible against the dry savannah. But while on game drives we often failed to spot entire families of giraffe silently hiding behind high foliage. In the bush, effective camouflage is a key to survival, and, amazingly, even enormous elephants can vanish miraculously before your eyes.
Reticulated giraffes, in herds of two to 40 animals, are found on the dry savannah and open woodlands of northeast Kenya. Pronounced white lines divide the giraffe's coat into warm brown polygons. Wild giraffes, which live between 10 and 15 years, spend about 65 percent of their day feeding, 20 percent standing around looking at stuff, and 15 percent wandering hither and yon. Giraffes are generally voiceless, but they have extremely expressive eyebrows.
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