Bibi the Oldest Lioness in the Mara, Killed by Cattle Ranchers!

One of my favorite lionesses as I followed her story in the big cat diary.
Just short of her 18th birthday, she was poisoned to death and it's absolutely heartbreaking.
Will post the link below of where to read more about the precious Bibi,that survived some of the toughest tribulations and amazingly ended up living as long as she did but unfortunately her fate was never due to the rough Mara wild she roamed, but rather the insatiable human greed that will eventually lead to barren lands with little or no wild animals!

http://www.jonathanangelascott.com/main/wordpress/2015/12/the-marsh-lions-end-of-an-era/

Relax the Brain

How about a day to not think at all, they should have a day dedicated just for that and be called something like a no thinking day.

Humanity is just thinking too much and the stress levels have skyrocketed.
There's got to be a solution somewhere, just not sure where and how.

SHAKA ZULU!

Shaka the king of the Zulu,was an absolute formidable military leader during colonial Africa.
His ability to unite and form one of the largest military ever formed by any African leader during or before colonial Africa,was the reason Shaka became a headache to the British.

For the first time in history,an African leader that actually defeated the well armed British soldiers in a battlefield.
Even though the British strategy worked for them in long-run,there's no denial that had more African leaders done what Shaka was able to do,the British would have never had a chance.
Who knows,maybe even slavery would have never happened.

During colonial Africa,there's one critical strategy that really worked to the advantage of the British,and that was dividing African tribes even more and finding ways to make them fight against each other,weakening them further and obviously that led to the British having an upper hand in most parts of Africa.
That's the history that unfortunately made it easy for the British and other nations to colonize Africa.

Don't get me wrong,there's a positive that colonisation brought Africa like,education,modern medicine and so forth.
On the downside,the mostly weak Africa,was deemed too easy by just about any modern nation and became sort of like the weakest kid in school that everyone always bullied!

The interesting thing,is even today in an Africa that is more educated and modernization increasing rapidly,the same strategy that worked for the British during colonisation might work today,God-forbid there was another colonisation,not sure from where but just a thought.
All they will have to do is get all the rebels and governments to fight each other and come in later when they're tremendously weakened,sad but true.

So what Shaka Zulu managed to achieve over a century ago still isn't easy to be achieved in Africa today.
Unity in most parts of Africa is extremely hard,there's tribal divisions in thousands,religion,politics and many others that seem to divide Africans even more.

Africa is probably one of the most beautiful and resourceful continents left today but yet one of the most difficult in using the resources to build wealth,mostly due to the reasons I mentioned earlier.

After all these problems,it turns out that not that many advanced nations take Africa seriously as a place to sell products or invest in.
The chinese have seen some potential due to the amount of resources but still not as much as most modern countries probably should.

I don't like talking politics because it's almost like going in circles,boring and nothing new and nowadays you don't have to be smart to be a politician,there's nothing worse than listening to a politician's opinion that isn't that smart.
The reason I don't watch news,almost nothing is factual anymore or its opinionated journalism.
What happened to the days when a reporter just reported the facts and let the audience decide.
I just want to hear the facts and see what's happening,I don't want to know your opinion.
Anyway enough said,I didn't mean to go almost off topic but it's crazy and glad there's a lot of other things to watch like comedy,its interesting because I personally think comedians are smarter than journalists and politicians today.Comedians actually tell it like it is and they live in reality!

Enough said though about the new world we live in,I do love history though and that's why I sometimes indulge myself in it,like in this case Shaka.
I try to think what the world was like at those times,how difficult was life for people struggling to survive against all odds,it's fascinating.

Why's the Lion "King of the Jungle."

I don't know why male lions have had this symbol as the king of the jungle for centuries.I mean we can have a big debate as to why or why not they shouldn't be symbolized that way or why elephants aren't after all they're the largest land mammals today with no much threat other than humans.
I can't pretend to know why they had that symbol but here's my personal opinion,first of all the appearance of a male lion with it's huge mane,kind of resembles a king with a crown of some sort and just like kings sat on their golden chairs for hours doing nothing,that's pretty much a male lion sitting on an old termite hill for hours on end,doing nothing but watching the horizon and hoping some herbivores tiptoe along the horizon.

On the other hand a king's life in the past like we see it in movies today,probably involved swords and constant civil wars to protect a monarchy as well as territories and just like lion society like i have mentioned so many times,is brutal and a male lion has that responsibility to fight off enemies to protect a pride and it's territory and if you can't see the comparison,I would like to know any other wild animal that lives like lions.Obviously male elephants don't sit there waiting to be served and am sure a king does and so does a pride male.

BRUTAL LION SOCIETY VS THE LONE TIGERS!

Why are there no tigers in Africa,surely Africa has the largest diversity of land mammals and if the world was joint as science makes us belief then what happened to tigers assuming they once roamed Africa.

If you can find a variety of other cats,from the small African wild cat,serval cats,caracal,cheetahs,leopards and lions then why not tigers.

A lion and a tiger can be similar but yet so different and by that i mean their social lifestyles are so different.

You could argue they came from the same ancestor but somehow lions just evolved to have a very complex social life unlike any other cats and extreme brutality that comes with it as they forge prides and territories.

Lions live a life full of constant warfare between each other as males fight for rule and territories and dire consequences for their young if males fail to defend their prides.

Did lions somehow evolve to be so violent due to the brutal African wild,that i don't know but it's a possibility.Think about it,there's dangerous prey everywhere and hyenas which live in social groups as well that can be extremely dangerous to lone lions.A lone lion in the African Savannah is as good as dead,and i personally believe a lone tiger would face the same fate and maybe that's why there aren't tigers.The first biggest threat to a lone tiger in the African Savannah would be a pride of lions,especially male lions defending territory,followed by hyenas that show no mercy to a lone cat!

My assumption is the reason other non-social cats have managed to survive is first of all the cheetah is the ferrari of land mammals and can outrun any danger and the leopard and smaller cats have the advantage of climbing trees to run for their lives,otherwise they would all be toast in the dangers that face every corner of the African wild.

Tigers for sure could not survive the African Savannah as huge and strong as they can get,the African wild is merciless and seems that the never ending wars in lion society has managed to make them the fighters from a land,where danger never sleeps.

Check out this documentary of the mighty 6 male lions of mapogo pride and it will blow your mind as far as the violent nature of lion society!
It's definitely not for the faint of heart,extremely graphic!

Original Traditional Maasai Warrior Songs

I don't know how many times i have watched this video and each time i seem to think of amazing things about the maasai culture in general and more so the past than present.

If u could just take a look at the background and probably will notice a maasai village which is perfectly camouflaged to the environment.

Maasai people have managed to live in such harmonious ways with the wildlife surrounding them that in the past,it would have been more likely to find wild animals gravitate towards maasai villages.
There could be many debatable reasons for that but what's undeniable is the amount of comfort that wild animals seemed to have around the maasai.

The magnitude at which the maasai found comfort in their culture is truly magnificent.They cared less about material things or expensive lifestyles and all that mattered to them is a simple village,their cattle and the surrounding natural habitat.

I think it's really sad that trying as hard as maasai have,to keep their culture and environment intact has had less appreciation and only led to their demise.

Just to give you a rough idea,of how much role the maasai have played in wildlife conservation,today the largest population of herbivores in the world roam the Serengeti-Mara plains that maasai people have inhabited for centuries.

No one really cares to understand why maasai culture has been so crucial to the world we live in,but imagine the world without the largest mass migration of herbivores in the world,imagine the world without almost more than 30% of African lions left in the world.Imagine an Africa without the Serengeti,Maasai mara,Ngorongo crater,Amboseli and others.

The maasai culture deserves a lot of credit in playing such a huge role in wildlife conservation.
Great culture,great people and thanks to their lifestyle we still have the Serengeti-Mara to enjoy for a generation,and hopefully longer.

There's a lot of shows that describe maasai as lion killers and so forth,but let's be honest,lions are now extinct in north Africa and west Africa has barely any lions left in the wild.

Before we discredit the maasai for practicing the culture they have known since before christ,in my opinion a conversation should start by first thanking them generally for co-existing with wildlife for a very long time.

Of course now there's bigger problems than just the maasai doing what they have done for more than 400 years.

The maasai and lion conflict is much different today,most of the lions habitat is no longer there,and that ain't maasai's fault and as a result lions end up trying to get an easier prey from their livestock and that's now the biggest problem.

Solving that problem is complex and only the smartest minds that understand the real issues will be able to solve it.


Maasai mara pictures below,

Great News!, Jericho Wasn't the Lion Killed

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/01/world/cecil-the-lion-brother-jericho-illegally-killed/

It was mistaken identity,Jericho wasn't the lion killed.
Still very sad that another lion has been killed and no one probably knows who that lion is,but for now at least we know Jericho might be able to buy their cubs sometime.

What really happened though because obviously Jericho was missing for a little while and my theory is he was wandering all over looking for his brother Cecil.

Brotherly love for lions is deep and Jericho is probably extremely depressed and traumatized to have a brother he's known just disappear off the face of the earth.

He's probably going to keep looking day and night calling for his brother and hoping he's still alive.

Below is a photo of lions in Masai Mara.

Cecil's Brother Jericho Is Also Shot Dead!!

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/01/world/cecil-the-lion-brother-jericho-illegally-killed/

For sure now, Cecil and Jericho's pride is in a very dangerous situation.
Jericho alone wouldn't have been able to protect the pride's cubs from other males for long,but what could have been possible is he could have bought them some time for cubs to possibly be a little older and possibly increase their chances of survival!

Now, unfortunately, what everyone was dreading is just around the corner.
A dozen cubs left behind by Cecil and Jericho have less than 20% chance of survival.

Any other males that take over the pride will kill the cubs and by any chance, if the cubs escape that, they will not be able to survive on the run, it will be hard to get food or they could just get killed by other predators like hyenas and so forth.
What a sad story!

CECIL THE PRIDE MALE

I absolutely agree with Jimmy on this horrible situation where killing lions whether for sport or pleasure goes to the extreme.

Cecil was a magnificent pride male in Hwange National park, Zimbabwe.
Not only was he important to a university research team but also had another pride male and both played a big role in protecting a group of female lions and cubs.

Lions have evolved to be the only cats that live in social groups and in the African wild, that is extremely crucial and for a very good reason.

Hyenas live in social groups and a pack of hyenas is extremely dangerous to female lions and their cubs and not only do they kill them to get rid of competition but also eat them when necessary and that's where pride males come in to protect the females and cubs, from the serious threats of hyenas and other male lions that kill cubs when they take over a pride.

The dangers faced by a helpless pride of lions in the African wild is endless and the pride males have a huge role in protecting them and paving way for the survival of their young and without them, their young are almost guaranteed to die as nature plays the role in very brutal ways.

Now speaking of that, don't know if it's any different in how brutal this lion killer, killed Cecil, extremely inhumane. Shooting an arrow into this magnificent animal and letting it suffer in excruciating pain for 40hrs before getting shot again!!

What's going to follow now is the rest of Cecil's cubs getting killed as other male lions realize there's no longer force against them. Approximately a dozen cubs and if you could just process that for a minute and ask yourself, is it really worth it!!

A Bird Flying

So beautiful seeing a bird fly in the blue skies and a little bit of clouds in the background.
Whether you're in a vacation somewhere or just happen to be sitting on your balcony enjoying a cold drink and watching the blue skies and a bird or birds fly about, it's so much more refreshing.
Nature is art and if you like either, it's hard to separate.

AN AMERICAN LADY MAULED BY A LIONESS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN LION PARK

The story is really sad and not to forget that Katherine Chappell had so much love for wildlife and that's why she went to the lion park, to begin with. In situations like this where such a horrible tragedy happens, it does bring a lot of questions as to why it happened.

Some questions bring legitimate concerns while others might just be finding something to blame.I was watching this story on the news and I thought to myself, you know two things happened here that led to someone losing their life.

Who's to blame because obviously many people make mistakes and we continuously see tourists in African game parks breaking rules at even much larger magnitudes than just rolling the window down.

Certainly, I don't believe it was her fault and I don't think it's the lioness's fault either, everything seemed to have gone wrong at the time it did.

Just to exclude this story for a minute and focus on some very unruly tourists that get out of cars in game parks and really almost harass wildlife and personally those are the kind of people that I believe should face some severe punishment.

On the other hand, a lion's curiosity never leads to a good outcome. Their survival in the wild depends on taking down prey or competition and they have adapted that way for generations.

Semi-taming lions which I believe is what this park does probably has benefits like some good zoos of educating people and creating awareness but also brings along some really dangerous situations.

Naturally in the wild, lions do not associate humans with food or competition and in this case, they do, because they get fed by humans on a daily basis. In most cases in the wild, lions really don't bother humans and if more focus is directed at their conservation in the wild, which is where they belong, tragedies like this will be very rare.

African Buffalo vs the Eland.

The African or Cape buffalo is just one of those wild animals you do not want to encounter while taking a walk somewhere in Africa and for wherever reason if that ever happens,then you better have a tree in sight and close proximity to climb. They are extremely bad tempered and anything they view as a threat and that is especially humans and lions,then be prepared to face grave repercussions because the one and only plan they have is wiped you off the face of the planet,literally. They're brave, resilient and more than half the time will always face their opponent face to face and that sometimes especially when isolated from their herds or weaker for some reason plays against them and no better predator has mastered that,than lions.

On the other hand,the Eland which is the largest antelope on the planet,is always cautious and wary and like most of the smaller antelopes in Africa,the Eland hardly grazes for more than five minutes without looking out for predators.A mature male Eland weighs up to 2,000 lbs which is about the same for a mature buffalo,but the advantage the Eland has over the Cape buffalo is it's wary nature added with speed.Even with the same weight,the Eland is just way faster than a Cape buffalo and that is a big challenge for lions.

The Eland still does have some weaknesses over the Cape buffalo and some of them are living in much smaller herds and it isn't hard to find most just wandering on their own,which is what most predators aim for,especially lions.Cape buffaloes can have as many as 300 animals in one herd,and are very effective especially in protecting their young and maybe that's why so many of them exist today,despite so much predation.

It's pretty clear just looking at the numbers and obviously numbers don't lie,is that the disadvantage the Eland have in protecting mostly their young which is the most dangerous times for any wild animal in the African wild,might have led to so many not making it to maturity.Am not sure between the two species,who's more suited for survival in the dangerous African wild and am sure the debate will continue.

I thought it's interesting that the savannah buffalo is almost twice as big compared to the forest buffalo and the forest Eland is larger than the common Eland,mostly found in the African savannah.A fully grown male common Eland still weighs up to 2,000 lbs,while the forest counterpart might way about 200 lbs more.

It's always important to know too,that most forest animals in Africa,like the forest elephant,buffalo or eland are mostly found in Central and West Africa while their savannah counterparts are mostly found in East and Southern Africa.The confusion comes for instance when you find buffalo or elephant in forested areas of East or Southern Africa,and in that case they're still savannah animals.

A BLUEBERRY is Larger than an OSTRICH'S BRAIN!!

There's so many things that defy the regular assumptions when it comes to this bird's anatomy,I mean was it supposed to be a bird,obviously there's a lot of birds that can't fly like penguins but there's nothing on land that walks on two legs that could possibly get any closer to the speed of an ostrich. The ostrich is the Ferrari in the world of bipedalism reaching speeds of 70km or 43miles/hr,that is 20km/hr faster than an emu.The emu is kinda strange too and incase you didn't know it's meat is completely black.

The ostrich and emu obviously look related and probably survive some of the most unforgiving landscapes of Africa and Australia respectfully,but am not here to talk about the emu today so let's move on to the ostrich.What's even more interesting is how could such an enormous bird with a brain the size of a peanut be so intelligent,even it's eyes are larger than a peanut.Am not relying on any scientific data here but if you actually see the eyes,they appear larger.The regular assumption is the smaller the brain,the less space there is,I suppose to store or process data.

As an animal in the African wild the law of nature is you better be more intelligent and physically fit or you are prey and no one is above the law of nature. While drinking from rivers, crocs look beneath the waters and territorial hippos will be more than happy to get rid of anything that gets too close.On land there is lions, hyenas, leopards and cheetahs constantly looking for prey.The ostrich though somehow has managed to outsmart a lot of these predators and actually survive pretty well compared to most herbivores that obviously have much larger brains.The intelligence of some predators especially lions is undeniable but still even finding a healthy ostrich as prey in the African savannah remains a rare sighting and that is a testimony of the intelligence that these birds possess.

Just thought I would share this video of an ostrich chasing cyclists,it's so hilarious!

SALTWATER CROCODILE VS NILE CROCODILE.

Saltwater water crocodile is widely known as the largest crocodile followed by the Nile crocodile as the second largest,but what's interesting is the aggressive nature of these different species makes them one of the most lethal killing machines in the world.

Their ability to pretty much classify anything and everything that walks or swims as food has made them one of the most deadliest creatures ever,no wonder they've managed to live as long as they have from the age of dinosaurs.

Lolong the largest saltwater water crocodile ever caught,20ft 3inches long and weighing 2,370lbs and unfortunately later died in captivity and the largest  male Nile crocodile ever measured was in Mwanza,Tanzania at a mind blowing 21ft long and weighing 2,400lbs.

Despite the fact that generally saltwater crocodiles are known as the largest,some Nile crocodiles have been mentioned in some parts of Africa as larger than real,for instance Gustave the man-eater crocodile in the northern shores of lake Tanganyika in Burundi is claimed to have killed 300 people and claimed by locals to possibly reaching 25ft and today its whereabouts are unknown.If Gustave left Rusizi river into lake Tanganyika there's no doubt that he's probably still alive in the second deepest lake in the world and second largest freshwater lake in the world and last but not least the longest freshwater lake in the world,ambushing prey and the hunted might never see it coming.

In some parts of Africa for instance in the Mara river,bordering Tanzania and Kenya,some very large Nile crocodiles probably upto 19ft long inhabit this waters,no one has ever captured one to measure them but if you have seen them feeding on wildebeest,zebra or antelope.It's hard to deny their size when you see a gazelle getting swallowed whole!

Potentially in some very remote parts of Australia,Philippines or Africa there could be a giant crocodile that's living beneath the waters.

Warning:Video below may not be appropriate for some viewers.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/news/gustave-primeval/Copy%20of%20article.html

Vervet Monkeys

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO FASCINATED BY MONKEYS, COULD IT BE BECAUSE WE ARE SO CLOSELY RELATED AND WE JUST CANT RESIST THE CURIOSITY TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM. THESE DAYS EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, ESPECIALLY WITH KIDS APPAREL YOU WILL FOR SURE SEE A SMILEY MONKEY FACE ON A LOT OF PRODUCTS AND THAT DOES SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HOW MUCH WE LOVE THEM AND NOT TO MENTION PROBABLY 90% OF PEOPLE ON THE PLANET EAT BANANAS EVERYDAY,THE MONKEY’S MOST FAVORITE FOOD.

THERE’S A LOT OF DIFFERENT SPECIES IN THE WORLD EVEN SOME NEW ONES STILL GETTING DISCOVERED TO DATE.ORIGINALLY FROM EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA THE VERVET MONKEY IS ONE VERY INTELLIGENT PRIMATE AND EASILY ADAPT TO MODERN SOCIETY.IF YOU HAPPEN TO TRAVEL TO CITIES IN AFRICA THAT ARE CLOSE TO NATIONAL PARKS OR LODGES THAT HAVE VERVET MONKEYS ROAMING AROUND,YOU MIGHT WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BELONGINGS BECAUSE THEY COULD EASILY GET INTO YOUR HANDBAGS OR SNEAK INTO YOUR ROOM THROUGH UNLOCKED WINDOWS AND STEAL YOUR STUFF.THEIR INTENTION IS OBVIOUSLY TO STEAL SOME READILY AVAILABLE FOOD,BUT MISTAKEN IDENTITY OR JUST IN PURE RUSH WHEN THEY GET CAUGHT COULD HAVE YOUR VALUABLE STUFF STOLEN.TO AVOID SUCH A SCENARIO FROM HAPPENING,ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LEAVE WINDOWS OPEN EVEN IN CARS WHEN YOU AREN’T THERE OR JUST KEEP YOUR BELONGINGS SAFE AND SOUND BUT OTHERWISE THEY,RE REALLY SOCIAL AND HARMLESS HAPPY CREATURES.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/animal-culture-list-130425.htm

Pan Fried Egg with Diced or Sliced Potatoes

There's times where cereal or bread for breakfast don't seem to make the cut and at those moments where you can't seem to think of something fast and easy to make,here is a quick breakfast recipe that more than likely will make you happy and ready for the day as you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

For one serving,here are the ingredients:
-One medium sized potato
-2 eggs
-1/4 cut from a stick of butter or just enough to make the potato not stick on the pan.
-A pinch of salt and pepper if you prefer.

Peel the potato and cut along in half and thinly dice each potato half then take the diced potatoes and spread them in a hot flat pan with butter.

For the diced potatoes to come out nicely browned try to make sure they aren't on top of each other and as each side is nicely browned and mildly crispy,break the eggs and spread them evenly on the pan or if you don't like hard fried eggs you could scramble them with the potatoes and take them out as soon as desired and if you don't mind hard cooked eggs just let it cook till you can feel it intact and gently flip and do the same on the other side and maybe am talking kitchen language but what i mean by feeling the pan is when you're holding your pan and  gently rotating it on the stove you can feel the movement of eggs and potatoes in the pan,if you can't feel the movement then it's not ready to flip.

If u prefer salt and pepper try adding a pinch of it as soon as you crack the eggs just because if you prefer to scramble then you will get it a little more evenly spread but its up to you.
You could serve your breakfast as is or if you're a meat lover,ham or bacon would go great with it.
For anyone that works hard you know you need not only a great  breakfast but one that packs a punch of protein to get your day going much smoothly than a piece of toast or bowl of cereal would.

The pictures below shows both hard fried and scrambled eggs with diced potatoes.

Hyenas Are Crucial to Disease Control

It's easy to assume as a visitor why is the hyena even important at all in the African bush and it probably is the most important carnivore roaming the African bush.

Mostly nocturnal which means they're more active at night and can smell dead carcasses as far as 25 miles away and with their bone-crushing teeth they would eat everything including bones and leave the surface as if nothing was ever there.

Lions, leopards, cheetahs and other carnivores in Africa rarely wipe clean a kill or eat one that's been sitting in the sun for days or another carnivore except for the leopard which sometimes does eat other carnivores like the jackal or cheetah, but still are picky eaters compared to the hyena.

The vultures are extremely important too when it comes to scavenging and helping prevent the spread of disease but what makes the hyena exceptionally unique is their super strong jaws that have the ability to open up dead animals with the thickest skins and crush bones, therefore, wiping clean everything.
No other carnivore in the African bush has the ability to do what a hyena does well,which is do a thorough job of cleaning the environment.

http://www.animalplanet.com/video-topics/wild-animals/eating-giants/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=AnimalPlanet

LIONESSES THE SUPREME FEMALE POWER.

Without the lioness in the wild the male lion is pretty much a puppet and not only do they bring the bacon home 95% of the time,the strength of a pride begins from female lions on how organized they are on so many levels.If you happened to be on a safari in the African savannah and came across different prides of lions and for some reason you're curious which pride might be stronger just take a good look at the female lions.

More than likely a very strong pride carries a significant number of lionesses with a very strong bond for each other as well as highly skilled and successful when it comes to hunting and just like in humanity where in most cases strong leadership comes from the bottom-up,the strongest of male lions are supported by a powerful female pride.For centuries in a lot of different cultures around the globe the male lion has been used as a symbol of power and personally if there was a way I would vote for the female lion. 

THE STRENGTH OF A LION COMES FROM A LIONESS!

NGORONGORO CRATER, TANZANIA.

The best way to truly have a life-changing East African safari that you will live to remember forever and there's a lot of wildlife conservation areas that probably would take quite a bit of reading but these places are the ultimate top three:-Ngorongoro crater, Tanzania.
-Serengeti, Tanzania.
-Masai mara, Kenya.

The largest migration of herbivores on earth have their migratory routes crossing these areas and the magnitude of African wildlife you could enjoy watching here are just out of this planet.

Be Careful where You Have Your Car Oil Changed!

First of all before i write a whole story if you live in the Spokane area the Northwest Auto and tire on division road is really a place i have personally come to really trust over the years every time my car needs an oil change and before you walk in make sure you call to make an appointment at least 4 days early because they're always packed and that in itself says something.

Not to mention it's probably the cheapest place and one of the fewest auto repair shops that won't end up selling you a bunch of crap while all you needed was an oil change.

They would do exactly what you ask for and that's what really gave me the confidence to take my car there doesn't matter how long i have to wait.

On a personal note i have learned big lessons over the years taking my car to unfamiliar auto repair shops and i remember a few years back when i took my car to a place in Pullman and am not gonna call names but anyway i dropped my car off for an oil change and as i picked it up to drive back home i barely made it and parked on the side of the street and got out to look and immediately noticed antifreeze oozing out and radiator cracked.

I couldn't believe what i was seeing and immediately called them and they completely denied it and they even had the guts to tell me to bring it back and that it would cost me approximately $600 dollars to get it fixed.

I was speechless and appalled,i mean how could something like that happen suddenly and did they really think i would take my car back there!

To cut the long story short am very careful now where i take my car for service or repairs and the place i mentioned prior is one of the best.
I posted a link to their webpage as well.

HUNTING NOT SUSTAINABLE!!

First of all, I personally don't care for anyone that hunts for food I think people have hunted and gathered food for millennia but here's the problem with that it's not a long-term strategy and we could actually learn some important lessons from our ancestors.

After centuries of hunting sheep, goats, chickens, and most domestic animals kept for food today they realized that sustainability would only arise if they are domesticated and bred for food and the same is true today.

Am not an expert but the way I look at it is the best and healthiest of any particular wild game hunted are probably taken out fast and doesn't take rocket science to tell that that particular genetic line would slowly be lost leaving behind the less impressive or productive if you like to put it that way.

Is A Gluten Free Diet More of a Nightmare.

Celiac disease is definitely becoming more common than ever but can't imagine trying to avoid wheat when it seems like everything you've ever loved about food is made from wheat and most of our everyday lives revolve around wheat.

Getting up in the morning you probably start your day with toasted bread than a little later a cookie or some wheat pastry for a snack then a hamburger for lunch and another wheat snack mid-afternoon and dinner probably ends up being some meal with noodles and rolls and then cake for dessert!

Obviously there are all these gluten-free products now but am sorry some of them taste like crap,i tried gluten-free noodles and honestly, they suck!

How do you get away from gluten products and actually be happy about it!

Boran Cattle

Originally from Ethiopia and Kenya this breed of cattle is a surviving machine in some of the most harsh environments in Africa and can literally live on little grass and supplement its diet by browsing on locally available vegetation.

Most ranchers in East and South Africa have come to really respect this breed for having some of the best qualities in cattle like their ability to grow fast,disease and drought resistance compared to most local breeds and the quality of beef it produces is excellent.

Ribeye Steak Benefits.

Rib-eye steak is one of the best steaks you can ever grill and what makes it really great for grilling is the fat rings that make the steak appear pink as you can see in the photo below and the flavor that those fat rings create in the grilling process.

If you can't find a ribeye for grilling, you could also check for prime rib and cut it to portions or a cheap option could be the top sirloin which has a good amount of fat in it as well and flavorful,but what you do not want to get for grilling is any dark red meats like the chuck steak which gets really tough and the flavor isn't the best unless used as stew meat or roast.http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-rib-eye-steaks-4413.html

Visit the link below to learn how you could help Maasai people around the Mara.

Visit the link below to learn how you could help Maasai people around the Mara.



http://www.naretoiangcbo.org/

Easy French Toast Recipe

Learn the Easiest French Toast Recipe 

Ingredients:
-Eggs.
-White bread or texas toast.
-Milk.
-Vanilla extract.
-Cinnamon and Nutmeg(if required)
-Syrup and powdered sugar(if needed)

Preparation:
-Break an egg for each couple of slices of bread.
-In a bowl for each egg add about 3 table spoons of milk and stir the mixture well.
-Depending on how much you would like to make I will say about a drop of vanilla extract for at least 4 eggs.
-Stir the mixture and add half a tsp of both cinnamon and nutmeg if needed.
-Take a slice of bread and dip it in the mixture and make sure both sides are covered then transfer it to an oiled hot flat grill or pan.
-Make sure to avoid turning each side too soon while still sticky coz that can ruin the toast, wait till its brown and then do the same for the other side and there you have it!
-Serve it as is or you can sprinkle powdered sugar and add syrup if you like.

Note:Would rather use oil than melted butter because butter has water content in it and so i try to avoid a situation where the french toast first absorbs the water in the butter and can easily stick in the process as you might have to constantly add more butter and secondly i always use less milk to make it less soggy while you dip the bread in it as well as making the toast crisp faster.

2015,Not A Good Start for Lion Conservation!

STOP THE SERENGETI HIGHWAY

SPECIAL REPORT: NOT A GOOD START TO 2015
SERENGETI TEAM IN TANZANIA REPORT LION KILLINGS

While I had hoped to usher in the new year with a beautiful photo of the Serengeti, instead we are reporting on the killing of six lions outside of Tarangire National Park. Two of our Serengeti Watch team members happened onto the Maasai village where there was much chaos going on. When our team inquired it was learned that 6 lions had wandered out of Tarangire into a Maasai village and they were immediately killed. When one of our team went to the headquarters of the park to report it - he was told they already knew but had no intention of doing anything since the animals were outside of the park.

At the same time as I was getting the report from our team another team member pointed out that the following was posted on the TANZANIA FOR WILDLIFE page:

"New Years Day, Started with a SMS from my chair lady (TATO Conservation) Vesna Glamocanin Tibaijuka :informing me that Peter Lindstrom s Maasai Watchmen have told him about the Lion Killings that took place yesterday in Lake Burunge Area. Followed it up and the sad news is that 7 Lions have been killed related to Human/Wildlife conflict Area Lake Burunge
I have called a friend who works with Big Life in Sinya to get hold of the Chief Ranger in Burunge but could up date me on this issue Could not get hold of him but got his assistant and he has confirmed that 7 lions have been Killed by Maasai".

OP ED
So not only is Africa's wildlife threatened by cartel based mass poaching - but - also human/wildlife conflict. This will be something that the new president when elected in Tanzania in October will have to address. Humans living up to, and by some reports IN national parks is a huge problem which pushes the animals into contact with humans thus causing conflicts - whether it is a herder that has lost a cow - or a farmer that has had his crops trampled by elephants. Animals need protected corridors around the park so that humans are not living right up to the edges. Recently 7 lions were poisoned outside of the Serengeti.

Population BoomThe habitat wisely set aside for protection at independence was done when the population of Tanzania was only about 10 million people. Now the population is pushing 43 million, Should Tanzania's current population growth projection remain intact, the country's population will hit 51 million in 2016 straining the provision of basic services, new data shows. 

By definition, protected areas restrict access by people, while protecting wildlife. It is easy to see why these areas are now under threat – human population increasingly restricts wildlife habitat, and human needs put pressure on the government to justify the existence of protected areas.

We do not have a photo from this incident yet - the photo posted is from the 7 lions that were poisoned outside the Serengeti in early December.

We will report more information as soon as we have it and may issue a call to action for our fans. Keep tuned.

PHOTO CREDIT
Poisoned Lion:
Citizen article: PHOTO | ANTHONY MAYUNGA