| I
am sitting in a dry, but not so cool Johannesburg
and hear of the soaring temperatures in Botswana.
The bush stands tinder dry while being fanned with
a hot northerly wind devoid of moisture. Ravished
by unnecessary fires, the once dense bush is sparse
and scarred. Little grass shoots push desperately
between the burnt stubble obeying Nature's rule
of regeneration but it too, can only survive on
what is available.
At
sunset, the temperature drops a little and the tiniest
droplets of moisture gather on the wind. The deep
rooted acacia draw on subterranean moisture and
bloom with life saving pollen. The scent wafts on
the breeze and the beauty of the African bush awakens.
The cool of evening revives all creatures and soon
the bush babies, crickets, bats, civets, gerbils
and so many other creatures take over the night.
The Sausage tree hangs its blooms on a chandelier
of deep maroon velvet. The flowers form deep cups
of hidden sweetness that attract the fruit bats
as they fly and pollinate the beginnings of a fruit
that will sustain so many after them.
The
long magical dawn before sunrise unfolds and one
has to experience it to know how refreshed one's
soul can feel. One feels at peace with the world,
relaxed and ahead of everything and everybody. It
is a tonic in itself. Lloyd and I have enjoyed another
busy year of running safaris all over Botswana.
We have enlarged our circle of clients that soon
became friends we communicated with, all through
the year.
Our
safaris have been a great success, documented by
the wonderful letters we received from our clients.
There are so few places or companies that offer
the freedom of isolation, if that is the word I
can use. To sit at a lion kill, with not another
vehicle around or wake up to the sounds of a beautiful
morning, devoid of other vehicles starting up or
campers packing up, is indeed a valuable privilege.
It is only when we are in National Parks or Game
Reserves, we occasionally have to camp in the proximity
of others. However, as members of the Botswana Guides
Association, we are afforded private campsites at
most places.
Khwai
North Gate is one such place, where we can camp
on the banks of a hippo pool on the Khwai River.
The hippo are far enough not to be disturbed, yet
close enough for us to observe their daily cavortings
of playing with one another, or grazing on the new
grass shoots of the opposite bank. Their sand wallows,
with heaps of dung, mark their favourite places.
The hippo paths to their grazing haunts are also
demarcated with scatterings of dung, flung against
low bushes or stumps of dead trees, as they back
up and wag their tails. This little river has held
a steady level these past few years and reminds
me of what the Savuti channel used to be. A precious
stream of water runs through a dry acacia belt,
over diminished flood plains that will probably
never recover their original width of water lily
glory. It attracts so many animals in the vicinity
and with it, the predators. We have had such good
sightings of lion and leopard in this area. Being
up and out on a drive very early before other vehicles
from the Reserve get going, certainly pays off every
time. One morning, on an early drive (with no other
vehicles in sight) Lloyd heard the feint distant
calls of a jackal giving an alarm, which only with
a learned ear, will one realize it was not an alarm
of fear, but rather a way of letting all know, a
predator was walking by. We followed the calls and
sure enough, we could see the jackal, sniffing the
ground, he himself hunting, as a lone leopard walked
by like a dandy with a cane . Totally unconcerned
with us, this leopard ignored our following and
carried on as if he owned the morning. I swore he
was deaf, as he never even looked around at us.
But, having no sooner said that, a squirrel gave
the alarm from its perch high up in the Mopani tree
and the leopard swung around as if to guard his
back. Their territories overlap with lion who compete
for the same food source. They therefore, have to
be ever watchful of walking into a resting pride
of lion who have the full advantage of lying quietly
and listening to the various alarms given out.
At
the end of a late afternoon drive, we sighted a
herd of buffalo in the distance. We photographed
them against the sunset and then waited for the
cover of darkness. Lloyd was sure that lion would
be following. A distant bush fire was fast catching
up to the herd who ignored the bright orange flames
and plumes of thick white smoke of burning grass.
I was able to get some stunning "night shot"
footage of the herd slowly moving in front of the
fire, some with their heads down grazing, others
chewing their cuds as the sparks flew upwards. A
little embankment with palm tree silhouettes provided
a stage of jostling buffalo as they clambered over
and down the other side. With a full moon in our
favour, we waited quietly for any signs of lion
activity. It wasn't long before a sudden stampede
confirmed that predators were around and we all
watched with binoculars as a pride of 7 male lion
began harassing the herd. Lloyd positioned the vehicle
in such a way that the herd continued walking in
our direction. We all sat absolutely still hardly
daring to move. The lion would rush at the buffalo
with a great show of bravado hoping to flush a young
calf in the commotion. The buffalo would stand their
ground and in turn, chase the lion with a guttural
bellow. These attempts at trying to outrun each
other carried on for 2 - 3 hours, the lions being
just too intimidated (or inexperienced)to rush together
and make a kill. Our eyes became so accustomed to
the bright moon light that we didnt even have to
use our binoculars. Our night vision was honed to
catch the slightest movement. At about 11:30 pm
we called it a day and returned to camp. After a
good cup of tea, we all went to bed, content to
have watched how buffalo and lion react naturally
in the wild. The following afternoon, the buffalo
were at least 20 kms further south, where again
they were harassed by a different pride of lion.
Just before dusk, we opened the bonnet of the vehicle
to attach the spotlight, when suddenly we spotted
a lone old male lion lying in the open, watching
the herd. He never made his presence known and kept
his distance from the other pride. We left the buffalo
and made our way back to camp using the spotlight
in search of any night life.
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Grant,
Katie and Saskia are with us for a short break before
they go down to the coast for the festive season.
Saskia turned one year old on the tenth of December
and is just the sweetest little girl. She brings
us all so much joy.!! Claus continues to fly all
over the world and will join me at Santa this Christmas.
We have a lot of children of friends and family
joining us and I look forward to seeing the delight
on their faces as they light the camp fire or catch
their first fish in the lagoon. Tent zips will be
up and down as they explore their surroundings,
claiming their beds and seats on the game drive
vehicle. The traditional pine Christmas tree will
be replaced with an indigenous thorn tree and the
children will spray natural seed pods with gold
paint for their tree decorations. This is always
such a special time of year.
."......We
had a few big herds of buffalo hanging around camp,
being hassled by lion from one end to the other.
Their black bodies, standing chest deep in the long
green grass was a sight to see. I watched a herd,
peacefully grazing, all with their heads buried
in the grass. A storm started blowing whipping up
the wind as it rolled black clouds towards us. The
buffalo started running and I was sure that something
had spooked them. They stopped and settled again
but were milling around in a somewhat strange fashion.
I watched thro binocs only to see them very content
and in a playful mood.! The back of the herd would
start running, even overtaking the sides of the
herd, kicking up their legs as if full of the joys
of spring. The storm had got the whole herd, who
were as fat as butter from all the grass seed -
running around in circles and butting each other.
I am so used to seeing them dragging their feet
along in sand to look for some green grass, being
harassed by predators, hating the heat, that I had
forgotten how like a cow they can be. They were
happy and content with life. We kept our distance
from them so that they would stay around camp.
When
I drove back to camp after having fetched Claus
and friends in Maun, we crossed through the buffalo
fence and headed for those open flood plains. I
had driven down the day before in good rain so there
were lots of puddles in the road and deep hollows
that the elephant scour out. I wondered about my
return journey and hoped that it didnt rain too
much through the night, otherwise I would battle.
We have a lot of that black cotton soil and when
it gets wet, it is just pure trouble.!! As we approached
the flood plains, I could see a really large herd
of buffalo in the distance standing alert and watching.!
My eyes focused closer to hand and as we drove up
I saw 7 lion on a buffalo cow carcass. Again I surveyed
the area and down the road about 200 yards further,
were another 7 lion of a buffalo calf, all from
the same herd and pride. A shy, big male lion with
a beautiful mane, slunk off to some thicker mopani
scrub and disappeared from view. I positioned the
vehicle at many angles, providing such great opportunities
for our friends on the back seat to view the kill
from every angle. He had recently spoilt himself
with 500mm lenses and great photo equipment and
couldn't wait to use it.! Well he certainly got
that opportunity.! At camp, we had 7 wild dog chasing
impala and catching it. We sat with the wild dog
for about an half an hour while they finished every
bit. One female was on heat and the dogs wouldn't
leave her alone - didnt even try to take her larger
portion of the impala away. But she just kept lying
down and they couldn't get to her. Interesting how
they inter reacted with each other - always gentle
and no fighting.
We
found a Martial Eagle sitting on a fairly low branch,
having devoured all but the skeleton of monitor
lizard. The head was still intact, hanging down
one side with the tail down the other. He glared
at us calmly, but defiantly as his crop was too
full to be hurried off. We let him be and as we
pulled off he flew up to another low branch, pooping
a big plop of white wash before take off!! So typical
of all raptors!
Most
of the pans are full of water - even the one at
the end of the airstrip. One pan which is a fair
distance from the river, even has a little croc
in it - probably living off doves and other little
things that come to drink. Crafty.! Most of the
elephants have scattered south of us - towards the
buffalo fence on the way back to Maun. I passed
a big breeding herd on the way to camp ........."
Love
to you all
Lloyd
and Daphne
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