School tortoise, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

Not many schools can boast having their own resident tortoise. Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa can boast six of them. The school has a closed compound with a high fence surrounding the campus and a guarded gate only opened to allow car and foot traffic through.

It was my observation that the tortoises do a good job of keeping the grass and weeds trimmed to manageable levels, so they certainly earn their keep. The children tolerate these large creatures, especially when they slowly wander across the oval during soccer matches. The students just play around them.

Bingham Academy was where my daughter taught last year. We visited her in December. I will add more about our visit to Ethiopia in coming days.

School tortoise, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

As a treat for my many readers, today we will have something a little different. Instead of an article about somewhere I’ve travelled to, I want to share some photos of my favourite places.

Enjoy.

If you’d like to leave a birthday message in the comments section, that would also be great.

Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria

Ama Dablam, Nepal

Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour

Giant Panda, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens

Life size statue of Curio at Marrabel, South Australia

I’m not into the world of rodeos and buck-jumpers, but I do admire the one-and-a-half life size statue of the famous Australian horse Curio shown in the photos on this post. This wonderful piece of art work stands at the northern end of the main street of the little town of Marrabel in the mid north of South Australia. We often pass by this statue on our way to visit our daughter in Clare.

Curio was evidently a buck jumping horse to be reckoned with, one that unseated every attempt at riding her for eight years. No rider could stay seated on the horse for more than 3 seconds until a famous day in 1953 when Alan Woods successfully rode her for ten seconds. He is also featured as part of the statue which is based on a photo taken during the famous ride.

The tiny town of Marrabel holds a well attended rodeo every October and has done so since 1935.

You can read more information on the sign shown below (click to enlarge) or on an article on the Marrabel Rodeo website.

Sign about the horse Curio at Marrabel, South Australia (click to enlarge)

Life size statue of Curio at Marrabel, South Australia

Life size statue of Curio at Marrabel, South Australia

Tribute to Clydesdale horses, Angaston, South Australia

When travelling from home through the famous wine region of the Barossa Valley here in South Australia we regularly go through the old town of Angaston. This region was settled by German settlers escaping religious persecution in their home lands and included my forebears in their number.

We often stop in the park at the western end of the main street to have a break or a cuppa and sometimes even lunch. The bakery in the main street is also a favourite stopover place. The park has a wonderful tribute to the Clydesdale Horses which provided essential help for the local farmers and businesses in the early days. I’ve featured this statute in the photos on this post. At the bottom of the post you can read more about these wonderful animals from the plaque next to the statue (click to enlarge).

Tribute to Clydesdale horses, Angaston, South Australia

Tribute to Clydesdale horses, Angaston, South Australia

Tribute to Clydesdale horses, Angaston, South Australia (click to enlarge)

Western Grey Kangaroo, Pondalowie Bay, South Australia

Just as we were leaving the camping grounds at Pondalowie Bay we came across a small mob of Western Grey Kangaroos right next to the road. Being in the Innes National Park this would be quite a normal sighting. In fact, this group was not at all perturbed by our car just a few metres away as they are quite used to vehicles moving through the park every day. During the summer months vehicles probably pass this way every few minutes.

Various forms of kangaroos and wallabies abound in rural Australian regions (pun intended). They are a hazard to fast moving vehicles on country roads, especially at night when they tend to come out to graze. I have experienced first hand the damage a ‘roo can do to a car with no protective bars. The damage is not only to the car; many hundreds, perhaps thousands of kangaroos and wallabies become road kill statistics every year. Sad but true.

As we drove back to our motel in the dusk that evening I slowed done. I didn’t want to add to those statistics.

Western Grey Kangaroos, Pondalowie Bay, South Australia

Western Grey Kangaroo, Pondalowie Bay, South Australia

Historic Elephant House, Adelaide Zoo

The beautiful old 19th century building shown above used to house the elephants at Adelaide Zoo. The zoo no longer houses elephants here and it has been converted into an historic interpretive centre (see photo below).

I can remember going for a ride on an elephant at the Adelaide Zoo when I was a child (more than 50 years ago). The last elephant held in this zoo’s animal collection died at the Monarto Zoo section a few years ago. While neither section of the zoo currently holds any elephants, I understand there are plans to re-introduce some to Monarto Zoo in the next few years.

Historic Elephant House, Adelaide Zoo

Meerkats at Adelaide Zoo

Both sections of the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia have a god collection of Meerkats on display. These delightful animals are always a favourite with visitors to the main zoo in Adelaide as well as the Monarto section of the zoo.

Meerkats at Adelaide Zoo

Meerkats at Adelaide Zoo

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Adelaide Zoo

The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat can be found within about an hour’s drive of my home. Despite having driven in that area many times over the  last three decades, I’ve only ever seen one in its natural habitat on a handful of occasions. Being nocturnal accounts for the main reason for not having seen it more often.

Mind you, I’d rather not encounter this lovely animal on a dark night on a lonely country road. I’ve almost hit one while driving along late at night and would rather not do so. Not only would a car fatally wound a wombat (which is something I’d hate), but the car would not be in a good state after a collision with one of these solid, dumpy animals. It would be like hitting a rock.

This species is also found in other parts of southern South Australia and Western Australia. See the photo below for more information. There are two other species of wombat: the Common Wombat and the Northern Hairy-nosed wombat, the latter being critically endangered.

Further reading:

• Wombat - information on the Adelaide Zoo website.

Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Adelaide Zoo

Tammar Wallaby, Adelaide Zoo

Tammar Wallabies are found in south western Western Australia. They inhabit coastal mallee scrublands and eucalypt woodlands. They tend to stay in dense vegetation during the day and feed mainly at night.They were previously also found in South Australia, but land clearing and introduced pests like foxes and cats are thought to have made them locally extinct in this area.

A feral population was established on a New Zealand island, and in the last decade a large number of these had been repatriated to Monarto Zoo (a part of Adelaide Zoo) and then reintroduced into Yorke Peninsula where they have established breeding populations.

You can read more about this species on the zoo website here.

Tammar Wallaby, Adelaide Zoo

Sleepy Koala at Adelaide Zoo

Some people… er… animals have the best jobs. This sleepy Koala caught my attention on a recent visit to my home zoo in Adelaide. All he has to do is sit there and entertain the zoo visitors. Not a very difficult job, really. I’m sure I’d cope with such a demanding position – though, to be honest, I think I’d be asking for a slightly more comfortable seat.