Day trip today to Soumenlinna, the inhabited sea fortress about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki. Weather was perfect, and the place very interesting - a really pleasant area for walking.
The African buffalo is not an ancestor of domestic cattle and is only distantly related to other larger bovines. Its unpredictable temperament means that the African buffalo has never been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the water buffalo. African buffaloes have few predators aside from lions and large crocodiles.
A characteristic feature of the horns of adult male African buffalo (southern and eastern populations) is that the bases come very close together, forming a shield referred to as a “boss”.
Forgot to upload any phone photo from our #cruise on the day we were anchored near South Queensferry, #Scotland. We ditched our original plan to head to Edinburgh with the masses and instead booked a local boat trip out under the three bridges (Forth Road and Rail, and Queensferry Crossing) and then to Inchcolm Island where we explored the 13th century abbey and engaged in a battle of wills with the population of angry gulls around.
The Rhino Sanctuary in Lake Nakuru National Park was the first Rhino sanctuary in Kenya and is currently home to the largest number of black rhinos in the country. The rhino sanctuary was established in 1984 when the first two rhinos were introduced to the lake Nakuru National Park grounds.
Lake Nakuru National Park was chosen as the first Rhino sanctuary because it was already a bird sanctuary and it had the needed land for the rhinos to be relocated at the time. Also because rhinos need water every day, the presence of the lake made it advantageous for rhinos to make their life in the park; the vegetation in the park is also suitable for both the white and black rhinos, so Lake Nakuru National Park was and still is the perfect place for the rhino sanctuary.
Olive baboons have a greenish-grey coat covering their bodies. Infants are born with a black natal coat that changes to the adult coloration as they age.
Olive baboons are widespread throughout equatorial Africa and are found in 25 countries.
Olive baboons live in a variety of habitats across their broad range. Baboons are generally characterized as savanna species, inhabiting open grassland near wooded areas.
The mantled guereza (Colobus guereza), also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west central and east Africa.
It has a distinctive appearance, which is alluded to in its name; the long white fringes of hair that run along each side of its black trunk are known as a mantle. Its face is framed with white hair and it has a large white tail tuft.
These European larch are an exception among their kind. They shed their needles in autumn, which turn yellow, red and brown before dropping. It is the only conifer in Europe to do this.
It is sometimes called the mountain oak, because of the exceptional wood it produces. Slow-growing, it is the most durable and strongest of the coniferous woods.
Rot-proof, it is used for boat design, roofing frames, shingles and railway sleepers.
We're in Le Havre today, resting our feet in a craft ale bar (surprise!) after walking around for several hours with no firm plans. We've seen some very nice sights and great architecture but none nicer than the Église Saint-Joseph designed by the mentor of Le Corbusier, Auguste Perret. It is absolutely incredible and really difficult to describe, sorry.
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.
🖊 JRR Tolkien
There are many lakes along the length of the African Rift Valley, which runs from the Red Sea in the north to Mozambique in the south. Kenya’s eastern Rift Valley has a string of eight lakes.
The Rift Valley is subject to ongoing plate tectonics and crustal movement that can affect the lakes. The recent rises, though, are directly associated with above-average rainfall. The lakes have been even higher in the past, and with rainfall in the Rift Valley Basin being on a rising rainfall trend, higher lake levels can be expected in the future.
Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria, and Baringo have risen to their highest levels in decades, inundating roads and building infrastructure, yet they also are not as high as they were in the early part of the last century.