Senegalese Safari

There are supposed to be big game animals in eastern Senegal, but it's a pain to get over there and, for the effort, one would be better served just going to Kenya. But about 90 minutes south of Dakar there is a private park called Bandia; it's probably more like Bush Gardens than Yellowstone, but at any rate you get driven around in a cool little safari truck



and get to see animals that could run away from you if they felt like it. Sometimes, as much as we hate to be a part of it, the tourist thing just WORKS.

We saw zebras



and giraffes (my favorite)



and a white rhino.



The white rhinos are endangered and are deadly animals during the "time of copulation," according to our guide (who was chased by this rhino during said time earlier this year), but this one, as you can see, seemed pretty unlikely even to lift his pretty little head off the ground.

Speaking of copulation, 'tis the season for tortoises, apparently.



This was a strange sight. The male was shouting out what sounded exactly like "WOW" every four seconds for the entire time we were standing there. (Which, for the rest of my family was about 30 seconds, but for me was about 5 minutes. I was fascinated.) The guide said they go on like that for up to two hours. Lordy.