And now, part two of the massive photo update - there will be two such posts today. Much like my big post-Kumasi and birthday posting, this one will come in two waves. First up, trip pictures from Mole and Togo, Benin, and Niger! Photos courtesy of Ginnie Seger and Jenna Gatzke.

1. A nice little prelude to the Mole trip; this is the full eclipse of the sun as seen around 9:15 from the parking lot outside my hostel in Legon.
2. An elephant at Mole National Park...as DK, our guide, would say: "Thank you, elephant, you are kind."
3. Me with bathing elephants in the background.
4. If you've ever been curious as to how an elephant gets down into a watering hole...here you go.
5. The mud-and-stick mosque in Larabanga; it dates to 1421 and is the oldest standing building in Ghana (probably).
6. No, this is not a shot from the whorehouse in Niger; this is our friend, Charlie, waking up at the Hotel la Galion in Lome. He was passing through Togo at the same time as us, and we ended up at the same hotel.
7. Jenna on our first moto-taxi. These things are FUN, and easily the best way to get around a West African city.
8. Ginnie in the Serpent Temple in Ouidah. The python had gotten a little TOO friendly with Ginnie and was trying to crawl into her shirt. Suffice it to say that Ginnie did NOT appreciate the snake's advances.
9. The house of the serpents in the Temple.
10. A Beninese gas station; you just pull up, say how many liters you want, and they whip out a bottle and funnel and fill 'er up.
11. The beach end of the Route des Esclaves in Ouidah.
12. The Point of No Return, Ouidah.
13. Yes, we were that out of it - it was early. The beginning of our trek through Pendjari.
14. Baboon at Pendjari. They got really close to us, which is a bit alarming given the size of their teeth...
15. A hippo at Pendjari.
16. Chillin' on top of the safari wagon with Alexa and Ginnie.
17. The lower pool at the waterfall just outside the park at Pendjari.
18. The main pool and waterfall.
19. The Beninese hill country just outside Pendjari.
20. A Sahelian village in Benin.
21. Cattle in Benin.
22. Our outdoor bedroom at Alfa Koure in Benin; we slept right beneath the tree after dragging out mattresses outside.
23. Boats on the Niger River just after crossing the border; the opposite shore is Benin.
24. Emerging from the Hotel Moustache, Niamey.
25. The group of us at Zanzibar, a restaurant run by an Aussie expat in Niamey.
26. The giraffes I didn't get to see in Niger...bah.
27. What my friends do in their spare time...