Donkeys in front of Brandsberg

While hiking Brandsberg mountain in Namibia, we made friends with this nice group of donkeys:

I am sure they were wondering why we were as crazy as to go hiking in 40C heat (no shade, no water) up the big mountain:

Goats at the Temple

The smart dog watching goats from the shade of the temple:

Goats are not shy in the presence of gods:

They only care about their food!

Be Aware of Giraffes on the Road!

Giraffe Crossing:

For such big animals as they are, the giraffes are surprisingly shy:

Monkeys in Hampi Temple, India

Not only cows, but also monkeys (and other animals) like to rest in or near Indian temples:

Deer Crossing

There are plenty of "Deer Crossing" signs on the road leading to Grand Canyon, but we did not encounter any "real" dears there:

Cows in Hampi

I'm watching you...




In India, the cows not only freely move around on the streets of cities and villages, but they also frequent the temples:

Himba Woman on a Donkey

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo... I couldn't have really asked this Himba woman to stop and pose for me:

Zebras in Black and White

Birds not only like to make friends with cows, but also with zebras:

Friends Forever

A message for the New Year: make piece and friends, not war :)

Picture taken in Hampi, India.

Chameleon in Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa

Happy New Year!  

Might it bring you the cleverness of a chameleon to adapt to the situations that can not be changed :)

One of the chameleons that we encounter while hiking in Drakensberg Mountains NP in South Africa:

Watch Out for Kudu!

Kudu Crossing:

And a well-masked kudu hiding in the bushes:

Be Aware of Ghosts!

I took the following picture precisely a year ago in the Polish Mountains. It warns the visitors that the nearby castle is inhabited by ghosts from 9 pm till the rooster's morning call :)

Giant Jellyfish in Namibia

Somewhere on the beach between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in Namibia, we saw huge jellyfish:

Cows in the Cities

Another classic: Cows on the streets of Indian cities.

Here you can see a cow in Hyderabad, a city of 4 mln people:

And here are cows that we saw in the village called Daulatabad:

Zebras on the Road

The classic: Zebra Crossing!

And a couple of zebras on our road in Etosha NP, Namibia:

Dolphins

We got very lucky to meet a big group of dolphins who were following our boat on the way back from Channel Islands NP to the coast. Dolphins love to jump in the waves created by boats, so they followed us for a good 10 minutes! That was a wonderful treat for us and a great way of finishing a great day:

Tarantula in Sunol Wilderness, California

A month ago, while hiking in one of the parks (Sunol Wilderness) in California, I almost stepped on this tarantula!:

Prairie Dog Crossing

In case you started to wonder, there are interesting road signs in the US too! One cute example is this "Prairie Dog Crossing" road sign that we saw in Bryce NP recently:

Drying Beans on the Road, Mt Elgon, Uganda

Beans are not animals, but I find this photo pretty funny, so I decided to post it here. Imagine how surprised we were to see a blanket with the beans spread like that in the middle of the road... Clearly, the village must see very little motorized traffic...

All people on this picture belonged to our group. The guy in front (the one with a big backpack) is Jochen, the guy looking back into the camera was our guide, and the other people (with luggage on their heads) were our porters:

Running Ostriches, Namibia

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of an "Ostrich Crossing" sign when I had a chance, and the second chance never came...

But I did take quite a few pictures of Ostriches, most of them running, like the ones on the photo below in Sossusvlei Dunes NP in Namibia:

Oryx on the Road

Oryx crossing:

Oryx in Etosha NP in Namibia:

Dinosaur in Polish Mountains

An unexpected find - a statue of a dinosaur on top of Jaworzyna Krynicka (a mountain in Southern Poland):

Hmm, I did not know that dinosaurs liked winter and climbed mountains... ;)

Gecko in Kampala

I was not happy about sharing my cabana with geckos. After several days of backpacking, I was hoping for a bit of luxury. But maybe I was looking at this problem the wrong way, and should have been as happy about geckos in my room as Elena was:

Chameleon in Mt Elgon NP, Uganda

While hiking in Mt Elgon NP in Uganda, we saw this beautiful perfectly-masked green chameleon:

I was very impressed that our guide spotted it from a distance of more than 7 meters (25 ft)!

Huge Earthworm, Mgahinga Gorilla NP, Uganda

We did not see any mountain gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla NP, but instead we met this impressive earthworm:

Green Mamba, Mgahinga Gorilla NP, Uganda

According to wikipedia, the green mamba is highly-venomous and its bite is potentially fatal. I am glad that I did not know that when we were a mere meter (3 ft) away from it...

This beautiful specimen we met in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda (close to the border with Rwanda and Kongo):

Monkey on a Leash

Sadly, the boy on the pictures below had a little monkey with him that he was showing to the tourists in a hope of extorting money. Have no doubt that we did not support his "business".

With all likelihood, the little monkey's mother had to be killed for the boy to take its baby... We tried to explain that to the boy, but neither he understood us, nor he cared.

These photos were taken in Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Karnataka, India:

Zebras in Hell's Gate NP in Kenya

Hell's Gate NP is one of only two Kenyan national parks that can be explored by foot:

Passing next to zebras is nice, but next to a big group of buffaloes watching you, not so much... But that's a story for another post.

Ground Squirrel at Fish River Canyon in Namibia

This ground squirrel was just few centimeters away from me when I was taking its picture:

Fish River Canyon is the second (or third, depending on the metrics used) biggest canyon in the world.

Donkeys and Kilimanjaro

We encountered many interesting animals on the road leading through Masai land near Amboseli NP in Kenya. The first animals that we met were those two donkeys, who kindly enough posed for us in front of Mount Kilimanjaro:

Elephants in Masai Mara, Kenya

My two favorite photos of elephants from Masai Mara National Park in Kenya: