Photos from Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

79 images from an afternoon at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the Brown Farm Loop Trail

Wildlife Refuge on the Nisqually

This is from a very beautiful area of the Puget Sound, where the Nisqually river, which originates upon the majestic snow-clad slopes of Mount Rainier, meets the salt water of the Puget Sound, connecting with the world Ocean beyond...

There is a wonderful 5.5 mile loop trail around what was once a farm. The loop trail is scheduled to close in an effort to further ecological restoration. Gorgeous place.

Recommended Reading: Zarafa

Zarafa by Michael Alinn; I give it two thumbs up and a hearty recommendation as an enjoyable and provocative read. An interesting and compelling historical narrative, Allin weaves the tale of a Giraffe sent from Africa to France in the early nineteenth century. Crossing the paths of important historical events and figures of the day, the book follows the Giraffe, dubbed "Zarafa", on a many thousands miles journey from Sudan to Paris. There's more from Wikipedia:

Zarafa (?1824-12 January 1845) was a giraffe in a menagerie in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris for 18 years in the early 1800s. She was one of the first three giraffes to be seen in Europe for over three centuries, since the Medici giraffe was sent to Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in 1486. In her lifetime, the giraffe seems not have been given a name, but was referred to as "the giraffe". Nowadays she is known by the name Zarafa (Arabic for "charming" or "lovely one"), a name given to her by the writer Michael Alinn in his book Zarafa.

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