Kouré

Kouré is bush country an hour east of the capital that holds the last wild giraffes anywhere in West Africa, a population that survives here because farmers came to tolerate them rather than because the land was ever protected in any formal way. A local guide walks visitors out among the acacia to find them on foot, which is close enough to feel the size of the animals properly. There is no fence and no gate, just scrub that the giraffes wander through between the fields. The whole province carries a serious security warning at present.