Baboons

Captions are below the pictures that follow.

Some weeks ago we were invited to a meeting that was being held away from the city on the shores of Lake Volta, one of the largest man made lakes in the world.  On the way we traveled through baboon country and came across two troops while driving,  In each case we stopped to feed, observe and photograph them.  It was so much fun.  This is the first time I have seen them in the wild.  At the first stop the troop virtually surrounded us.  They were on both our right and left hand sides, and one climbed up on top of the car!  This is a picture of one that was on our left, in the road, but if you look ahead of him there is the shadow of another.  That is the one that was on the roof of the car.



At each stop most of the troop remained on the right side, near the bush.  In both troops there was an alpha male that took the majority of the food we threw from the vehicle.  And in the case of the second troop, he took it all!  Those who ventured too close were quickly chased away.  In the first troop the alpha male shared a little, both with the lesser males, and with the females and even with the little ones.



Some of the rest of the troop.  The picture wasn't really good because they were in the shade, but who can blame them?  Of course, if one has time to make the proper adjustments one can get a good picture in the shade.  We had to take the pictures rather quickly, as you may imagine.  Sooo.  Notice the baby on his mama's back.  The smaller ones are usually hanging on underneath.



This female was running along with us as we drove away from the first troop and toward the second.  She was one of those who had a baby hanging on beneath.



One of the alpha males stuffing his face with bread we threw out of the car.  Baboons are formidable creatures with large canine teeth that could be used to do serious damage to a human, if they wanted to.  Some troops do not have an ongoing relationship with humans, others do.  The two we met clearly did.  Adventurous Sister Emfield got out of the vehicle and took most of the photos.



We looked for more baboons on the return trip to Accra, but saw only one emerging from the bush.  It was afternoon and we suspected that most were staying out of the tropical sun.  It is interesting to note that this one is a different color than the others, which makes me wonder if he belongs to a different troop.

Of course, we are not here to watch wildlife, but to do the work of the Lord.  But, we do enjoy the opportunities when we get them.

Elder Emfield