Whale Sharks

Well here is another Djibouti post. This was probably one of my best days here. On Veterans day Bryan and I went on a whale shark excursion. Whale sharks are the largest living fish that can be up to 12 meters or about 40 feet. Great white sharks get up to about 6 meters. The whale sharks are filter feeders and some migrate into the gulf of tadjura here in Djibouti during the winter months.

We took this schooner pictured above on a 3 hour tour west further into the gulf from the port de Djibouti. It was quite relaxing. A gorgeous day to begin with let to plenty of lounging, napping and reading. After arriving at our destination, we got into a smaller skiff that went even further in the gulf and we were on the look out for the semi-lunar tail of the shark. when one is spotted then the boat positions itself and we all jump in the water with snorkel and fins. As a disclaimer ALL of these pictures are pulled off of the web. we took our photos on disposable underwater camera and have no way to develop them until we get home. there are close enough.

The sharks are slow swimmers to be able to filter feed but they still swim faster than i do with fins on my feet. When i first heard about this excursion i thought it would be a nice leisurely activity where you would just get in the water and there would be 100's of these sharks around. Not true. you have to search for them and then you have to swim after them to be able to get more than a quick look. man it was exhausting. awesome but exhausting. when you get tired you just swim back the boat and he will move you closer again and you can jump back in.

We saw at least 4 different sharks and jumped in the water about 8 separate times. One the ones we saw was ginormous. it was swimming right at me. i didn't really know what to do. so i slowly started backing up and he swam on by. another one swam right under me. he was just past my arms length away. It was quite a memorable experience.


We also were able to snorkel around an amazing reef. i have never been snorkeling before so i had nothing to compare it to but apparently this was a great reef. saw tons of colorful fish, sea slugs, giant clams, sponges (no square pants though), and a bunch of other stuff i don't know what it was. then we had another 3 hour journey back to djibouti with more lounging, reading and napping. on the way back we saw tons of dolphins swimming along with us as well. It was a kick ass day and a needed break from the day to day.

T - 8 milk shakes

Cheetah Refuge

I guess it is about time a blogged about something from djibouti. Djibouti is where i deployed to after all. i try so hard not to think about this lovely place though. Well one afternoon we went to a cheetah refuge. It is only a few miles from our camp on the way towards the somali border. we also got to pass the city dump and the burning trash piles on the way.

The refuge is a nice little place. It was more of a zoo than with a wide offering of animals rather than just cheetahs. It is run by a French vet. (veterinarian not veteran) and i think they take in orphaned or stray animals. prior to coming to Djibouti i was discussing with someone what kind of animals would we find in an African zoo. Do they have cats, squirrels, chickens, pigeons and cows. well i finally found out.

So there you have it. they do in fact have chickens in African zoos.


There are some other more exotic animals as well. they have a small section with a few in cages.



I love the Dora ball.




I am not sure this guy knows quite what he is doing. maybe he does and i just don't know turtle anatomy that well.

Hyena chillin. i think we woke him from his nap.

The Cheetahs have a nice spacious fenced in area to play around in. unfortunately you couldn't get very close to it so you depended on them walking up to the fence to get any photos of them. this one is from about 30 yards away with a zoom lens.

there is also a section where you(people, not cheetahs or hyenas) can walk around amongst some of the animals.

I know what the ostrich and the zebra and the oryx are. i am not sure what the tiny deer thing is called. i just called him tiny deer.

the ostriches were ornery creatures. nipping at shirts and fingers. the other animals just kind ignored everyone.

This was a nice ending to a nice day. i love that they have chickens!

T -11 days