August 20: 3rd Day – Afternoon

Giraffe, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.

As Andrew and I relaxed on the deck overlooking the watering hole, we had a pleasant interruption to our lounging. There in the open grassy plain in front of us was a lone giraffe who had come in to drink some water. Though we had seen plenty of giraffes by then, it was our first time to see one drink. It approached the pan cautiously and once it thought that all was well, it bent its two front legs and then brought down its enormous neck to drink some water. After every couple of seconds though, it would suddenly stop and stand up. At first we thought it was because it was being alert and cautious. However, it was later explained to us that when giraffes bend down to drink water, blood from their head comes rushing down. So that they don’t get hurt, they only drink for 30 seconds at a time.