Photos from Safari 2023

After driving through an area filled with zebras and spotting a few warthogs, we saw one of the most interesting animals on the planet… a giraffe.

It is surreal to see these amazing creatures roaming through the land. Towering over all of the other animals, and over many of the trees, the giraffes just gracefully walk across the plains, minding their own business while chomping on tree leaves (and the occasional fruits and grass).

When I think about giraffes, and elephants, and camels, and zebras, and so many other wild animals (including human beings), I simply cannot understand how someone honestly could conclude that all of these amazing creatures came from the same primordial soup. 

I suppose that idea would serve as a legitimate theory, but I personally ascribe to a very different idea. I look out and see such obvious beauty, complexity, and order in an otherwise seemingly chaotic world, and I can’t help but think, “There must be a Creator!”

Did you know:

• Giraffes were once believed to be a cross between a camel and a leopard. In fact, that is how the giraffe received its scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis.
• A fully grown giraffe will typically stand between 15 and 19 feet tall. Unsurprisingly, male giraffes are both taller and heavier than female giraffes.
• Giraffes walk differently from how they run. When walking, they will move both legs on one side of their body, then move both legs on the other side of their body. However, when they run, they will move both front legs in unison and both back legs in unison.
• Giraffes can run quite fast—up to 35 mph—but only for very short bursts of time. 
• Giraffes are herbivores. They can eat grass and berries, but prefer leaves—especially leaves from the acacia tree. A fully grown giraffe will eat up to 75 pounds of leaves per day. Like cows, they have four different compartments in their stomach for digesting food, and will spend most of their day chewing cud. 
• Giraffes do not sleep much at all. In fact, they are known to sleep less than 2 hours per day, and they typically do so by laying with their feet tucked under them and their head resting on their hindquarters as a sort of pillow. Giraffes can also sleep for a short period of time while standing up. 
• The acacia tree leaves that they enjoy so much contain a good bit of water, so giraffes do not need to drink a lot of water throughout the day. This is obviously a good thing for them, since water can be hard to come by, and bending all the way down to drink it makes them vulnerable to potential predators. Giraffes can go days without drinking water, and when they do stop to drink, they often do it in a group for protection. Captive giraffes, however, like those found in a zoo, are known to drink up to 10 gallons per day.