The greater kudus were again waiting for us as we departed on a game drive at 6:15 this morning, and from there it was off see more of the local animals. The Somali ostrich is found here in decent numbers, despite the fact that it is highly endangered, and we watched one large male striding with purpose across the landscape and followed him to a grazing female. He spent about five minutes singing a song and performing an elaborate courtship dance, but when the female finally signaled her acceptance he raised his head high and ran off towards another female further on the horizon. Watching the spectacle of a male pass up an opportunity, Mike astutely commented “no wonder they’re endangered”.
The species rundown for the day was much the same as other days, but I will never be tired of seeing lions, elephants, baboons, and the other animals here. You never know what will turn up around the next bend, or what the animals in front of you will do – when I woke up today I could not have predicted that part of my day would be spent watching a tiny baby elephant roughhousing with its older sibling, or that I would be seeing the wild versions of colorful birds that I had only seen previously for sale in the pet stores back home. Five weeks into this adventure, and every day is still extraordinary.
