Capturing the Moment

  Of all the Big 5 (leopard, lion, rhino, buffalo, and elephant), the one who has suffered the most from poaching bringing it to the edge of extinction in the 1990's is the rhino. Experts calculate that there were only 400 black rhinos left in Kenya at that time. Solio Ranch was approached to become the first rhino sanctuary in Kenya, and was so successful that it has become not just the model for rhino conservation, but also where most rhino in other parts of Kenya have originated.    The rhino is doing quite well at Solio now living alongside lots of other wild animals such as oryx, gazelles, giraffes, leopards, buffalo, and lions. It was beautiful to see baby white rhinos among the 31 we saw grazing up in the plains, as well as a rare gathering of 6 black rhinos just inside the dense bush where they live in usual seclusion.  In the 2000's the rhinos at the ranch become a target for professional hunters with 9 black rhinos being shot or caught in snares....

Bear Food   Fresh off an overnight in the Seattle airport I landed in Juneau, Alaska. Luckily the fog cleared before we ran too low on fuel, we had to circle for about a half hour before the visibility opened up enough for us to land. Typical Juneau. Once I was settled in my room at the Goldbelt Hotel I had a choice, head out for adventure or rest up for my next stint of four weeks without a day off. As you may have guessed, I picked adventure, and boy did it pay off!   I jumped on an old white schoolbus that takes people out to the nearby Mendenhall Glacier for $10. I expected a cool glacier view from across the lake, but what I didn't expect to run into was a family of black bears!   A mom and two cubs were frolicking in a salmon stream that luckily had a boardwalk over it. It was tough jockeying for position with all the other tourists and their iphones but i managed to put myself in a good spot for several passes. Mom on the hunt Like mama like son...