Other Laikipia wildlife

We were constantly surrounded by beautiful animals while we were at camp, out with the baboons, or driving in between:

 

 Superb starlings are the most common birds seen around camp.

 Thomson's gazelles near sunset at camp.

 My first open field encounter with elephants! They are gorgeous, but actually quite dangerous in the area. As soon as I snapped a few shots, I jumped right back in the truck. 

 This handsome male ostrich is commonly foraging around camp. 

 Gerenuks might be the most interesting ungulate I've seen. 

 We even found a hippo in the nearby dam! (That's the dark spot in the water behind me...)

 Eland are very majestic animals, this was a large herd that watched us for at least 

5 minutes before moving on.

 Giraffes have always been gorgeous in my eyes, but seeing them in the wild was an experience of a lifetime. 

 What could be better than seeing giraffes in the wild? Seeing giraffes AND zebra in the wild :) 

 The more giraffes I saw, the more I fell in love.

 Not to mention the babies are incredibly adorable!!

 These elephants were a little more nervous of us, and us of them. They began flapping their ears in agitation and we skedaddled to give them their space.  

 These gazelles are always hanging around camp.

These are rock hyrax, the closest living relative of the elephant, but more reminiscent of marmots. We run into them all the time on the boulders at baboon sleeping sites. Luckily, they are not considered a decent meal to the baboons and move freely around them on the rocks. 

Ok, that's all my posts for a few weeks, I'm heading back to Filoha. Hope everyone back home is enjoying the last of summer!