Biodiversity Wonderland, But the Dog…

But the dog… the special dog of Peru is the Peruvian Hairless Dog or Peruvian Inca Orchid Dog Breed. I do not have a photo (which is odd given how many photos I take — but when I googled “dog” and “animal” in my photos, I got some interesting results — corn — but no hairless dog. The one in the jeans and striped top is a French one, I think) so I include a link here. There are several types of Peruvian dog but the most noticeable is the hairless one.

I first saw one and in an “adding injury to insult” sort of way, this particular hairless dog not only had a skin disease,  but also has a “job” where s/he interacts with lots of people all day long. Actually, maybe the skin condition helps keep people from petting him/her?

The Peruvian Hairless Dog looks a lot like Anubis, of ancient Egypt.

In my part of Lima, I don’t see that many street dogs, but I see many other pooches! There are several dog parks and even a dog fair (I don’t think they sell dogs… adopt! Just accoutrements.) on the malecon.

Some gelaterias even sell gelato specially made for dogs. As I wrote in November, I am predicting that the new trend in restaurants will be dog menus (no, not menus made of dog).

Lima doesn’t seem quite as pooch crazy as Bogota but perhaps it will become so.

Like in Bogota, the vets will make house calls. Dr. Cols makes calls and he speaks English (and canine — oh, and feline and whatever).

Really, this blog posting was just to show some photos of dogs.

NOTE: I do not receive any monetary remuneration for any of the businesses (like the dog cookie business — get ya fresh wholesome all natural 100 percent ancestral grain puppy treats NOW!) whom I “advertise” (in the verb sense) on my blog.

The term for pet is “mascota” in Spanish and aren’t they just?

 

Long Necks and Head Butts – Giraffe Feeding in Kenya

This year I had a few amazing animal encounters. I was touched by a manta ray, “trunked” by a baby elephant, and slobbered on by a giraffe.

Soft and slobbery.
Soft and slobbery.

I had never imagined just how soft and gooey a giraffe lick would be. I guess the goo factor helps make the leaves stick when the giraffes eat from trees. But what surprised me most was the sound. As the giraffe swallowed the pellets I was feeding her, she greedily sucked them in. Then all of a sudden, a deep sound like that of a didgeridoo, rumbled near my ear. It was all those pellets falling down the giraffe’s throat.

Funny but true.
Funny but true.

Touched By A Manta Ray

True blue color therapy in the Maldives.
True blue color therapy in the Maldives.

I have never been into sand or sun or beaches but visiting the Maldives changed my mind. It seemed as if the water was not as salty as in other tropical places. But, maybe the fact that I was touched by a giant manta ray, has influenced my opinion. We paid the $48 for an outing to swim with giant manta rays, sea turtles, and fish. When we got into the water, the giant rays swam around us like a flock of kites gliding around our amateurish flailing limbs. I assumed that this was a popular feeding ground that the guides knew about and I also assumed that seeing the rays was a guarantee. Apparently it is not. So I feel even luckier. I am fairly sure that I was touched because I had stopped flailing around and was simply floating away on my back, totally ignoring the manta rays. Once I had been patted on the back by the ray, it had all my attention!

A colorful fish in the shallows.
A colorful fish in the shallows.