We are François and Benjamin, Canadian and French travel enthusiasts and fans of hairy giraffes. For over ten years, we’ve been exploring the four corners of the globe in search of new discoveries, unknown paradises, wildlife, and amazing encounters. If you’re looking for us, we’re probably in a hammock nearby or on a plane somewhere above the ocean.
We’re not the type to chase after 5-star hotels or frequent youth hostels. We’re travelers open to the world who need a minimum of comfort… and a maximum of wild animals!
Thus, we won’t be offering lifestyle advice on how to strike a pose on a Maldives beach or tips on hitchhiking from Paris to Sydney for free. However, we will tell you how to find the rhinoceros hiding behind the tall grass, what equipment to use to capture that parrot couple smooching, or how to avoid getting food poisoning the day before your departure to Machu Picchu!
We prefer sharing our experiences, our favorites, and disappointments honestly and transparently to help you choose your future destinations with full knowledge. Our photos are guaranteed without filters or retouching because we’re not here to make you dream with misleading images. Our photos allow us to share with you the world as we’ve seen and experienced it.
With this blog, we hope to share our passion with all the travelers and dreamers out there, to take them along on our adventures. Over time, we’ll enhance it with our past and present travels. This blog also serves to stay in touch with our loved ones who sometimes struggle to remember where we’re going and ask to see our (many) travel photos.
So, travel the world with us through our photos, itineraries, and travel tales. Get to know us better by reading our thoughts and reflections. Prepare your trips with our tips. Become a giraffe fan yourself and set off to travel the world, one giraffe at a time!
Why ‘The Hairy Giraffe’?
Why a giraffe?
As animal enthusiasts, we wanted to have an animal as our mascot. You can see it as a tribute to the diversity and beauty of nature and its wildlife.
And what’s better than a giraffe, that grand diva, strolling nonchalantly in the middle of the savannah? An animal that’s both comical when it eats, clumsy when it runs, and so delicate when it drinks. And besides, when choosing an animal as a blog mascot, it’s nicer to have a giraffe than a purple frog or a naked mole-rat (we’ll let you look that up for yourself and you’ll understand our choice)!
OK, but why is she hairy?
Poetically speaking, one could say it’s the wind of discovery blowing through her head, creating that rebellious lock, thus making her an outstanding explorer. It gives her that certain je-ne-sais-quoi, don’t you think?
In a more down-to-earth sense, the idea comes from an old French expression, ‘combing a giraffe’ (‘peigner une girafe‘), which means doing nothing, lazing around. Even though our travels are far from inactive, we like the idea that travel is a true break from the everyday. Far from seeking productivity and utility that characterize our daily lives, travel is a time for pause, pleasure, and contemplation. A time to enjoy.
So, is that the link between a hairy giraffe and traveling?
Exactly. Like our hairy giraffe, we aim to travel the world with the wind in our hair, discovering mythical places, making unforgettable encounters, living memorable experiences, and collecting timeless memories. Memories that we will, of course, share with you. In fact, it’s to share our travel memories with as many people as possible that we chose to create a bilingual French-English blog: you can switch between languages in the menu.
Ready for the big departure? We’ll take you along!
