The ostriches of the Kenyan savannah have never been so prized: first by jockeys, who ride them to the delight of spectators, and then by meat lovers, their flesh being reputed to be healthy.
These birds, which can reach up to 2.60 meters and weigh a hundred kilos, can kill with a single blow of their legs.
The ban imposed at the end of 2003 on the sale of meat from wild animals, apart from ostrich and crocodile, has led to an increase in demand for ostrich meat, which is high in protein and low in cholesterol. Only the meat of the legs is marketed. Ostriches are slaughtered at the age of eight months to ensure that the meat is tender.
Ostriches have a life expectancy of 70 years and females can lay up to 35 eggs per clutch, some of which are never fertilized.
The Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchii), also spelled Maasai giraffe, also called Kilimanjaro giraffe, is the largest subspecies of giraffe. It is native to East Africa. The Masai giraffe can be found in central and southern Kenya and in Tanzania. It has distinctive, irregular, jagged, star-like blotches that extend to the hooves. A median forehead lump is usually present in bulls.
D'Arnaud's barbet is a small East African bird that feeds on insects, fruits, and seeds.
It grows to about eight inches, and is equally at home in trees or on the ground. A vertical tunnel two to three feet into the ground with a sideways and upward turn leads to the nest chamber.
In a striking dance the male and female face each on nearby twigs and twitch, bob and sing like mechanical toys.
The Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) in Évora, #Portugal. The words over the chapel entrance say "We bones that are here await yours." It is indeed a place for solemn contemplation of our mortality and the transient nature of existence. But I also found the place to be quite humerus.
Great Rift Valley is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. It is part of the Gregory Rift, the eastern branch of the East African Rift, which starts in Tanzania to the south and continues northward into Ethiopia.
The Mau Escarpment is a fault scarp running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley. The top of the escarpment reaches approximately 3000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and is over 1000 m higher than the floor of the Rift Valley.
The Cité de Carcassonne is a medieval citadel located in the French city of Carcassonne. It is situated on a hill and dominates the banks of the River Aude.
With its castle and ramparts, the city seems straight out of a medieval fantasy novel.
I shot this photo from a very shaky 4-wheel drive vehicle on a bumpy dirt track, so I made sure to have the fastest shutter speed by using my ƒ/1.2 lens…