Our hotel near Mount Kenya is just barely north of the equator, and by that I mean by only a few meters. However, the grounds are fabulous. Here is a photo bomb of the different flowers I saw. I didn’t even take time to identify them.
I took all these flower pictures while walking five minutes to the hotel’s animal orphanage. They take in injured animals, especially those abandoned when young. Most cannot be released back into the wild because they were never taught how to survive by their family. I’ve seen a few of this type of thing attempted, but this one is well done. There even was a school field trip here when I visited.
I have no idea how the llama got here. I got too busy and forgot to ask.
Entering the facility I was inspected by a squad of ostrich. I think they were checking for smuggled cookies…
The Egyptian Geese were running free. Do not get in one’s way when food is tossed to them.
A new antelope for us is the Bongo. It’s one of the more different colored versions.
There was a young reticulated giraffe. Our guide said is was less than one year old, and already taller than me.
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is over 150 years old.
At the rear of the facility is the large mammal section. Below is an adult female lion that was born blind. You can see her grey pupils.
The above picture illustrates the issue I have with attempting “zoo photography”. The need to have cages of chain link fences. I can kind of understand the need for zoos back before television or the internet, but I’m conflicted about it now-a-days. However, having an orphaned or injured animal facility makes more sense. In the end, I’d rather pay the big money and find them in the wild.
For our last night here we visited the hotel’s “nice” restaurant. The hotel has peacock free-roaming on the grounds. Here a peacock took a short cut thru the bar/lounge.
It was nice to have a relax day. Tomorrow we fly to the Masai Mara for our last two nights in the field.