(click/tap to enlarge)
A herd,
of Desert Bighorn does and kids.
Rare,
shy,
elusive.
Hanging out with them,
proves,
in life,
some days,
are better than others!
Cheers to you from The Desert Bighorns~
Category: TRAVEL REVIEWS
Description of trips we have taken, intineraries, hotel reviews, travel trips & photos.
Did He Who Made the Lamb~
(click/tap to enlarge)
Notice the kids having a frolic on their own?
Not a chance! Clever Mama keeps a covert eye.
It’s best to let them think they’re independent!
The human interloper is quite a curious sight,
even the tiny tots,
pause,
to take,
a peek.
The teenagers have more freedom,
but the herd of ewes and lambs,
always stay together.
Cheers to you from The Southwest Desert Mountain Sheep~
Note: Desert Bighorn Sheep are a sub-species of Big Horn Sheep adapted to desert life. They are a federally designated endangered species.
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Big Horn Welcoming Committee~
(click/tap to enlarge)
Near the Amagarosa Mountain Range Nevada.
Traveling now,
but will catch up soon.
Spent a good chunk of time with these beauties,
and their irresistible,
lambs.
Desert Big Horn Sheep are considered sensitive to extinction in the Southwest.
Beyond thrilling to hang with this herd.
The rain continues and they are healthy!
Cheers to you from The Southwest Desert Big Horns~
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Snow on the Summit: Salt on the Shore~
(Click/Tap to enlarge for perspective)
Despite Death Valley National Park in California holding the record for being the hottest place on earth at 134F, it also has an ancient lake named Lake Manly that appears rarely after excessive and prolonged rainfall.
The rains caused by 2023’s El Nino event formed the lake last year. The continuation of El Nino rains into 2024 have enabled it to remain and grow, a very rare phenomona. Usually rainfall evaporates in the dessicated desert long before it has a chance to collect.
Here is the lake in March of 2024, with snowy summits,
and salty shores.
Rain is continuing to fall in the desert which is remarkable.
The lake is much, much larger than I expected, approximately 6 miles long and 3 miles wide in places.
Lake Manly is a remnant of an ancient ocean,
and is four x’s saltier than seawater.
It lies in Badwater Basin,
the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level.
Maybe the lake will last until next year which would truly be extraordinary.
Cheers to you from lovely Lake Manly~
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Greeting Committee (Tap to Enlarge)~
We are here at Death Valley National Park because the snow and precipitation in California for the past two years has been unprecedented and we wanted to see the wildflower super bloom in the hottest place on earth. We also wanted to see Lake Manly, the ancient lake in Death Valley that only rarely fills during strong El Nino events. We are seeing both of these amazing wonders, but before I show you, we have to acknowledge and thank, ‘The Official Death Valley Greeting Committe.’ (Members are wild and all volunteer, I should add!)
Here is one wild burro diligently performing her greeting duties. No food was exchanged in any of these interactions. Pats and pets, yes, but not by me.
The wild burros are just very friendly critters. I try to keep safe distance from wild creatures, no matter how friendly, which was hard because they kept coming towards me for a pat.
Last time we were here we searched forever to find the wild burros and almost gave up, until we finally found them. I had never seen them before. Here is the post I did about them:
This time, they seemed to be waiting by the roadside to say, “Hello!”
Wild burros,
are winsome creatures.
Playful and affectionate with each other,
and welcoming to humans,
who are respectful towards them.
Cheers to you from Death Valley’s beautiful wild burros~
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Snow Geese~
A massive flock of Snow Geese spooked by a Harrier Hawk (tap to enlarge to see the hawk in the upper right corner),
take to the air at The Salton Sea in Southern California.
Wile E. Coyote hiding, patiently watching and waiting,
finally makes his move,
causing the settling geese,
to panic once again,
and take to flight en masse.
The din is overwhelming as they fly directly around you,
and feathers float like snow.
When Wile E. gives up, the weary geese settle once again.
Soon they will begin their long migration north.
It is not easy being a Snow Goose,
but at least they have a lot of friends! (click to enlarge)
Cheers to you from the vacationing geese at The Salton Sea~
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Chased by a Baboon & Elephant in Africa~
Oliphants River Kruger National Park.
Curious Impala.
I never posted photos of the time I was chased by a baboon in South Africa because they were terrible photos taken in poor light conditions.
It all started peacefully enough, until some people started throwing rocks at the baboons because they were raiding campsites. They were raiding campsites because the same people didn’t properly lock up their food.
We were on a safe raised viewing walkway, behind electrified fencing that looked over The Sabie River in South Africa, as dusk fell, and the situation turned south.
Jim had just walked away. I was snapping a few last sunset shots, when a large furious male baboon, leaped the fence in the tree tops, jumped onto the platform in front of me, and ran directly towards me in a rage.
I moved rapidly backwards, not wanting to turn my back and run, clicking off a few shots as I moved away. A man in an adjacent campsite saw the whole thing and was doing jumping jacks and yelling, trying to distract the baboon. You can almost make him out in the upper right of the photo. I very much appreciated this man!
If the baboon had wanted to kill me, he clearly would have. He was thankfully content to raise my blood pressure and chase me away.
We also got charged by a furious male elephant on a prior trip when our game driver pointlessly harrassed him. If you look closely at the photo, you will see a male elephant in musk. He should have been left alone. We had to jump out of the range rover, face the elephant, while the ranger drew his rifle and prepared to shoot, causing the elephant to stop his charge.
Wise elephant. Unwise human.
We have luckily never encountered any similar problems when self driving on our two trips to South Africa most likely because we always respect wild animal’s space. We spent more than an hour waiting at a reasonable distance in our car, while we respected these guy’s space. It was awesome experience and they seemed to appreciate our restraint.
The moral of this story, don’t harrass wild animals, they are bigger and stronger than you.
Cheers to you from the civilized wild ones~
