Meeting the Giraffes in Africa!

in life •  7 years ago 

Hi I'm Danny! I'm travelling around the world! Follow me.

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I'm staying in one of the many wildlife conservancies that border the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya. For the next couple weeks I'm going to try and post each evening from The Naboisho Conservancy.


Giraffe

On todays game drive we saw some giraffes from our vehicle. They are a little skittish so we couldn't get too close without them stopping what they were doing to stare at us. The giraffe calves stayed really close to the mother and she appeared to be quite protective. The male giraffes are also territorial and will fight to keep and win over the female giraffes.

Giraffes have the same amount of bones in their necks as human and they also have a special valve in their head which no other animals have. Being so tall they need a valve to regulate the pressure of their blood to stop their head exploding when they lower/raise their neck to drink water.



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The channel 4 series Inside Natures Giants had an episode about Giraffes. In the episode Richard Dawkins showed that the giraffe is at the absolute brink of evolution. They used to have small necks and feed on small bushes - evolution has transformed them into what they are today. You can watch the clip here.

Scientists have done a lot of studying on this and even NASA has studied the valve and how it affects blood pressure. They are a fascinating animal.



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Follow me here and check out my old posts!

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Wow, I have seen and even been close to giraffes , but I never knew about the anatomy of the of the giraffe's neck.

It's fascinating, and humbling, how even after landing on the moon, we still look at nature for inspiration.

Those giraffe are so butiful @dannystravels

Bet you never saw a Giraffe with a Donkey before! Here's a snap from my private collection:

Please don't share though.. Donkeys aren't as liberal about gay rights yet.

Hee Haw! Steem on bro!

It is real...!! Or photoshop...!! Looks crazy....!!

What an amazing experience that would be! I also never knew about the valve in their necks!

This is great. Keep doing great job. Follow you.

Hi Danny, you must be having fun. Welcome to my country, there is so much to see in the Maasai Mara and elsewhere in Kenya. I have to rush and go vote. It will be a "meet-up" next time!

Hi @gigpen, am a fellow Kenyan, voted earlier too :)

Cool @practicaleric, good meeting you here!

Hello. good post, excellent Animal experience. follow me

Cool One day I go too there :) And Very cool post :)

Excellent post and beautiful pictures. I didn't know that about giraffes, nice tidbit. There is actually a place in Nairobi that is dedicated to giraffes only called giraffe center . I visited there some years back. You can actually get close to the giraffes and even feed them :)

This deserves some attention. Upvoted and resteemed :)

Danny your post is great. One day I will go to Africa.
I upvoted you and followed. I am new. If you like my post pls do the same . Thanks.

Hello Danny,
Pictures are awesome as always but what I enjoy the most is your excellent writing. It is great inspiration for me to get better. I am looking forward to read more.
With love,
Lucie

Beautiful photos.

stunning photos! voted and followed

beauty

How cute are those baby giraffes! I saw lots of wild giraffes on Safari in Uganda, but there were no babies to be seen unfortunately!

wow amazing

Amazing photographs. Giraffes are very cool creatures. Thanks for the informative post.

Wow never knows these things about Giraffes.
You have good photographs.
Thanks for sharing

Amazing shots! Following you to keep seeing more such stories and pictures. I am also a traveler and would love for you to check out my #traveltheworld pictures.

Nice...!! I like the pics....!! Nature is part of our life and we must care for it.

This is awesome! What a journey! I would love to experience this one day :) Thank you for sharing!

Awesome, too bad humans are killing all the beautiful animals on the planet :(

beautiful :OOO

Amazing posts! What fascinating experiences you are having! Following you.

Exzellent pictures and nice Text. We follow you and your Story. Our plan ist too, to Afrika. currently in Malaysia. Greetings , Timo

Really nice post and pics, I always wanted to be this much close to nature like you look in these pics. Anyways following you for more. :)

This is great

Nice blog and trip. following you now. Seeing wild giraffes must be pretty cool.

Jó, Salzburg a Afrika... Tam jsem taky nikdy nebyl.

we loved meeting the giraffes up close!! 😍




wow, wonderful landscapes and pictures,and I bet experience too!

very beautiful, I would love to travel the world. Hopefully one day. Feel free to follow me @belalh

Amazing photos. Wow! I would love to go there. Thanks for posting. Followed.

Wow, Awesome bro... what the name this river?

Beautiful! This looks like a great place to go!:) Please check my little journey that I made soon. I hope you enjoy my photos. @nakedchef89

https://steemit.com/travel/@nakedchef89/travel-challenge-24-aladzha-monastery-2017811t214916488z

Beautiful pictures and giraffes!