PENJARI

Penjari: The National Park
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Damian:
Becky: As shown on the map, some of the northernmost sections of Benin are reserved for national park space. The western half is called Penjari Park, and the eastern half is called W. It doesn't look that large but it took us three hours to drive from the southern tip to the Burkina Faso border. Penjari Park is Savanna. It was very dry ; Damian reminded me that not too much farther north would be Desert desert. It was strange to see such brittle plant life throughout most of the park and then suddenly see palm trees. There was a growth of these kinds of plants as we neared the Burkina Faso border because the two countries are divided by a river. Other plants (I think) we saw were Baobab trees, bermuda grass, elephant grass, Jackalberry trees (which grow on termite mounds - the wood from them, once cut down, is near-guaranteed to be termite-resistant), and river bushwillows.
Fighting on your Knees
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Damian:
Becky: The West African antelope is called the Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus). It is found all over Africa, not just in the south. They are called "roan" because of their reddish brown color. The live in harem groups of five to fifteen animals with a dominant male. A couple of other interesting facts about this animal (I found at http://www.ultimateungulate.com; I had to look it up since the brochure we got was in French...)

• Roan antelope are relatively unwary, running away from a potential source of danger for a short distance, then stopping to look back. However, when pressured, they can run up to 57 kilometers per hour for considerable distances.
  
• Fighting for dominance is prevalent among both males and females, with the most dominant initiating herd movements. Fights occur with both animals on their "knees" (carpal joints) and are almost exclusively horn against horn.

Nestar
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Damian:
Becky: A family of baboons lives near this lake, and pictured below is an alpha male, named Nestar, quenching his thirst. Our guide set his lunch (some bread) on the ledge of the observation deck. Without realizing what was happening, I saw a long dark arm reach up from the ground and grab the lunch off of the ledge. Then I saw something dark and furry scurry underneath the observation deck and off into some nearby shrubbery. Our guide was furious Nestar had stolen his lunch! He threw some sticks and probably what were curse words at him in retaliation. Savanna baboons, Chacma baboons, have been nicknamed Dog-faced monkeys. Some interesting baboon facts:

• When baboon troops travel (a troop is a dominant male and female, other adults and offspring) they have their own specific formation: the dominant male is in the front and the dominant female is behind him. The other males form a circle with the rest of the females and the offspring in the center.
  
• Couples will often stay together to raise an infant and males will even become a foster parent if the mother is killed.

Buffalo
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Damian:
Becky: This species is known as the Syncerus caffer. This animal was HUGE! I didn't find much terribly interesting information about the buffalo. I did think it was neat that they live quite long lives, 18-28 years (longer if they are in captivity). And in spite of their size, they can run up to 57 km per hr for a short distance if they are under attack. Their predators are the lion and crocodile, who go for solitary animals or young calves. They are considered a very dangerous animal to hunt because of their power and disposition. They travel in large herds of 50-500, and one section of a herd is seen drinking at the water in the second picture below.

Why did the Emu cross the road?
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Damian:
Becky: I am not sure, but I think this might be an Emu. They are the largest birds on the African savanna (weighing 80-90 pounds). They can't fly (they used to fly, but lost the ability in evolution), but the only have three toes so they can run very fast.

Baobab
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Damian:
Becky: The large tree in the left side of this picture looks like it might be a baobab tree. The baobab tree is without leaves for nine months of the year. When it is leafless, it is often described as looking like a tree that has been pulled out of the ground and replanted upside down. Some legends and stories surround this magnificent tree:

"The baobab was among the first trees to appear on the land. Next came the slender, graceful palm tree. When the baobab saw the palm tree, it cried out that it wanted to be taller. Then the beautiful flame tree appeared with its red flower and the baobab was envious for flower blossoms. When the baobab saw the magnificent fig tree, it prayed for fruit as well. The gods became angry with the tree and pulled it up by its roots, then replanted it upside down to keep it quiet."

Homo sapiens
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Damian:
Becky: Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: "wise man" or "knowing man") in the family Hominidae (the great apes). Compared to other species, humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and emotional suffering.


Lion Pride
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Damian:
Becky: We were apparently very lucky to see lions on this adventure. Damian told me that some people make six or seven trips to the park and never see a single one. We spotted this lioness and a cub resting in the shade in the mid-morning. Our driver had been tipped off that they were hanging out there, so we quickly abandoned our break by the watering hole and drove down the road, rolling our windows up as we approached. Damian said "Do you have any idea what those things could do to you?" They look like giant cats, and are really beautiful creatures. It is so nice to see them in the wild, rather than caged up in a zoo. Some interesting lion facts:

• Lions are the only cats that live in groups called prides, a community of 4 to 40 individuals. The pride is made up of one dominant male and maybe a few other males, and related females and their cubs. The males protect the pride and the females hunt and take care of the cubs.
  
• When the dominant male is killed or driven off by a new male, the previous male's cubs are killed. This makes sure that there is room for the new male's cubs in the pride.
  
• The lion can be crucial to other animal's survival. When a lion makes a kill and is done eating, there are usually leftovers, or scraps, which scavengers like vultures and the occasional hyena, come and eat, and thus are helped to survive too. So because the lion is endangered, think about all of the other animals that may become endangered, too.

Unidentified Flying Object
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Damian:
Becky: I can't figure out what kind of bird this is, but it looks pretty in this tree.
Elephants
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Damian:
Becky: Well, we didn't see any elephants this time but we sure saw lots of evidence that they were nearby. Elephants trample down the trees so they can eat the leaves. It often looks like a storm just blew the trees over, and they even blocked the road at times. We also saw the large oval elephant tracks, and the gigantic elephant droppings. Our driver told us that one time he saw a herd of sixty elephants all hanging out together.

Camoflaged
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Damian:
Becky: Can you spot the animal(s) in these pictures?
Termite Farts
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Damian:
Becky: These termite castles were absolutely incredible. I couldn't believe that a tiny insect could build such an intricate and enormous (relative to its size) structure. I was really curious about these and so I looked up some fun facts about termites I'll relay to you here:

• "Termites are the cows of the insect world. Their methane flatulence, combined with their staggering numbers, has a remarkable effect on the global climate. Methane emissions from the guts of termites are responsible for approximately 4% of the worldwide total"
• "Termites comprise as much as 10% of the total biomass of all the world’s land animals. The only insects more massive and numerous than the termites are the ants, their mortal enemy"
• "To protect their colonies, the termites evolved a caste of soldiers with highly specialized weapons. Some termite soldiers can spray toxins from their foreheads, others use enormous jaws to destroy invaders, while other have heads so large that they block tunnels and prevent ant invasions"
• "Termite queens live for as long as 50 years, and become more fertile each year. A mature termite queen’s body is mostly reproductive organs, allowing her to lay one egg every ten to fifteen seconds"

Damian:
Becky: Here is a video clip of some of the driving in Penjari. It is really bumpy and dry, as you can tell from the video. I was really, really uncomfortable the latter half of the afternoon - the extreme heat and being inside of a car during the time that we'd usually seek refuge from the sun and nap and read was difficult. But we pushed on through and got back to Tanougou in time to swim in the waterfall to cool off!