Diverse Citizens of Kenya

The tallest of them all.

"Big Brother" is watching you !

A true relationship in height.

 The Serval Cat

This long legged, beautifully spotted, shy cat 

hunts most often during the night hours, 

is  rarely seen during the day and I consider myself

very fortunate to have bagged this picture.
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                     The Lapped faced Vulture...

...ranks as the longest and largest vulture.

It attains a body length of up to 115 cm 

and a wing span of an astonishing almost 3 meters.

This one seems to survey the countryside in the hope 

of seeing or smelling some carrion.

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The Hippopotamus 

gladly tolerates the cleaning crew, 

sent by the "Oxpeckers Corporation".

One would think that this Hippo was yawning.

One would be wrong, however.

This Hippo, in fact, is warning you not to come any closer.

up to 120 km/h on four legs

From a distance we spotted a Cheetah chasing down a female Impala at full sprint, finally catching up with this very fast gazelle, slaying her in seconds and dragging her into the underbrush.
We approached this efficient killer slowly and cautiously, coming close to where she lay panting underneath some protecting bushes.
For a long while we observed her as she scanned her surroundings. The one thing she obviously did not want, was competitive company at her dinner table.
After several examinations she must have accepted us as "not dangerous" and concentrated her vigil in the opposite direction.
We had remained in place for almost an hour, when the Cheetah disappeared into the bush, re-appearing at once, dragging the carcass of the slain Impala.
She began to feast, always casting suspicious glances in our direction.
Afraid that we were a bother to her, we slowly and cautiously backed away and gave her her well deserved peace and comfort  for a leisurely dinner.
During this entire episode I shot well over 100 pictures.
Here are a very few of them.

(I have not urged this for a long time, but with these images I will ask you to click on the image to enlarge it.)

Cheetah keeps watch over her Impala-victim

Having been assured that no dangerous competitor lurks nearby

she dragged the Impala from her hiding place in the underbrush.

Shortly after she started devouring her catch, we left the scene

to give her peace and quiet.

Nature's Coloring book

A Baobab in the Sunset.

In the Pottery

Along the road from Zimbabwe to Botswana:
Proud Potters display their ware.
Unfortunately it is most difficult to transport such large and heavy items in our Land Cruiser and then, per plane, back to Europe or Canada.

Two Batswana amidst their creations.

There is a Showman in all of us.

John, the Potter, Ant (our guide) ( from l to r )

Saddle-billed Stork

I promised you a better shot of a Saddle-billed Stork.
Well, here it is:

                      As promised: A good image of a Saddle-billed Stork.

Bleiburg 1:2 Gmünd

I haven't been at a Bleiburg soccer game in quite a while.
So, today I grabbed my camera and went to see the local team
play against the team from Gmünd.
It was just one of those things, which I have witnessed time and time again.
Bleiburg clearly was the better team, but Gmünd scored two goals to Bleiburg's one.
Superior individual skills, 65 % ball possession... all this counts for nothing !
It's how many goals you score. That's the only thing which means anything.
In that department Bleiburg got the short end.

It helps with the high balls if you are 6'2"

but this low ball... oh my...

it got away for the 1:0 for Gmünd

Good looking birds

The "Wattled Crane" in the tall grass.

At a height of up to 175 cm 

and with a wing span of 230 - 260 cm

is one of the largest  African Cranes.

(Except for the ones in Harare, which they use to build skyscrapers)

Little Bee Eater,

as the name suggests, lives mostly on

flying insects, predominantly on bees, wasps and hornets

This most colorful Saddlebill Stork

attains a height of 150 cm and a wing span of 270 cm.

I will find a better shot of this one.

Blacksmith Lapwing