Big . . . . like a giant!

I begin with a photograph taken of Jasmine the giraffe. She was orphaned when she was 2 weeks old and her mother died. One of the guides at Pamuzinda bottle-fed her for the first few months of her life, and she was then weaned off milk, and introduced to horse cubes. She comes to the Pamuzinda reception pretty much every day at around 2.00pm for her daily ration of cubes.

This was Jasmine (and me) some 8 months ago . . . .

Oh - we both looked so young in those days!

And another picture of a dainty Jasmine wandering down the road. She really was all legs and eyelashes.

In the time I have been at Pamuzinda - Jasmine has grown. In fact, because of the nutrients she gets in the horse cubes (or horse nuts, depending on where you live) she is about a foot and a half taller than her siblings - the calves born at the same time as her.

She really is getting quite tall. This photograph was taken this afternoon . . .

As I was watching, Jasmine moved off into the bush, and then I noticed another giraffe quietly browsing in the bush beside the horse pen by our entrance gate - a huge, dark bull. She went straight up to him (possibly her father), and rubbed her head on his haunch. In this photo she is actually touching him - and you get some idea of the size of him. That's Jasmine on the right . . .

Finally they came out into a clearing, with the big bull in the foreground - and Jasmine behind. She was about 5 paces the other side of him . . .

So here - in all his glory, is the bull giraffe. And, believe or not, Jasmine only just can see over his back. The top of her horns do not reach the top of the bulge at the base of his neck.

What a magnificent sight - and something that I was fortunate to see. I spent about half an hour roughly 20 paces from him as he fed, and I think the fact that Jasmine was not afraid of me somehow calmed him.

Truly magnificent . . . . .

One of those days that makes me feel great to live in Africa.

Again.

Have a great day, y'awl!