Speechless In Seattle

African Elephant, originally uploaded by andyskelton-a Blog a day http://andrewskelton.net.

(except I’m closer to Settle in the UK than the aforementioned US west coast city ). Well, what can I say.. I’ve been grinning from ear to ear ever since I found out one of my blogs had been featured on the Freshly Pressed section of the WordPress home page. It’s always nice to be appreciated, especially with something as ephemeral as my daily blog postings and uploads to flickr, but the response has been somewhat overwhelming in both cases. People have very graciously left comments which I’ve tried to respond to, making the time taken each evening over the last 6 months seem worth it. A big thank you to all of you, regulars and new visitors, for spending time reading my waffle.

I was in two minds today which image to post; my first choice would be the one of an asian elephant with its ears extended, an iconic as well as clichéd shot, but having uploaded an image of a young elephant in its environment I was totally swayed by it. As with most animals, the young elephant certainly has the cute factor, especially when you see them at play. I was lucky enough to see two elephant chasing each other – I could have videoed the scene but I was so entranced by their play that video or photography was the last thing on my mind… for once!

I was also spell bound when the herd of about 16 animals decided they’d had enough of both us (we were at a far distance – I was using a VERY long lens to take the photos) as well as the feeding spot and meandered away over the plain towards some other bushes. The sight of these huge beasts gently walking away was an incredibly memorable and moving sight and one I will cherish for years to come, or until my next visit to the Masai Mara that is!

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