PHOTO FRIDAY: POSING GORILLA IN UGANDA

Glam shots, anyone? 

While the machine-gun toting guard we were with on a gorilla trek in Uganda had ordered us not to make eye contact with the massive primates we'd encounter along the way (apparently gorillas don't like that), it was all we could do not to stare back at the gaze of the female above. 

We managed to follow orders until she rested her chin on her closed hand, a la 1990, and stared longingly into our eyes. What's a person to do but snap a few photos. If only she would've let us brush some of the twigs from her fur and put some powder on her nose, this would've been so much better. 

More on the trek next week.

PHOTO FRIDAY: FRIENDLY FACE IN MADAGASCAR

He may look like he's about to inflict some serious pain on an intrusive photographer, but 70-yr-old Philibert, who worked at the guest house where we stayed, actually had a smile nearly as bright and contagious as the grin on the kid from last week's Photo Friday. 

We caught Philibert in action while he was building a fence out of palm leaves to protect some brand new coconuts he had just planted around the property. If you've got a fence that needs mending or building (or a photographer that needs scaring), this is your man.