Recently I prepared a slide show with some video clips for a presentation. It's about the Africa trip, but for some reason I posted it on my other blog and not here. So if you came looking for it, click the title of this post, it will link there. If that does not work, you can cut and paste this URL:
http://generally-patton.blogspot.com/2008/12/africa-video.html
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Day 4 - Evening
Flying southwest over Krueger, we saw paved roads and some small communities, then quite large communities surrounded by cultivated fields and a wet river that seemed to flow from southwest to northeast. The landscape became greener and wetter, but not so much that there are any "lawns." It seems that water is reserved for crop land.
There was one interesting area, a large granite ridge along our route. To the north of the ridge, the land was broken out into large green cultivated fields with few houses. Just on the other side of the ridge the plots were smaller, and brown and each one had a house on the corner. My initial thought was that the river ran on one side and not the other, but then the ridge tapered away and ended and the green fields took over. It would be interesting to know what that was all about, but suddenly the farmland ends and we are flying over the bush again, but greener this time.
Phinda, our next "Camp" has a much nicer air strip. Not only was it paved, there are even a few buildings with restrooms, just in case that was a good idea after the two hour flight. (Karylinn will have to tell the story of her froggy friend; I dare not steal her thunder.)
On the way to the Phinda Mountain Lodge (There are seven lodges on the Phinda property) we met our first Nyala. This is an antelope that is a bit larger than an impala. Here at Phinda they are as ubiquitous as the impala are at Ngala. This pair is a male and female. At birth, both are the lighter brown color. As they come to adulthood, the males get darker and they get horns. We also saw crocs in the watering hole, warthogs and a cape buffalo; all before we got to unpack!
The accomodations at Phinda are even more plush than Ngala. On arriving at the lodge, we were greeted at the edge of the driveway with cool wet towels (warm in the cool evening) and a cocktail or juice. The lodge is another open air affair, with a courtyard surrounded by dining room, gift shop and lounge. Out the far side of the lounge, multiple decks and stairs down to the sinuous path that leads to the individual cabins.
The cabins are large thatch roofed buildings, nicely appointed inside. This is ours, and yes that ceiling is the underside of the thatch, waterproofing, insulation and decoration all in one.
I keep calling them "cabins" and perhaps someone can suggest a better word. But these are really for couples or at least very good friends. The shower is glassed in, there is a glass wall to the private deck from the bath, an outdoor shower and plunge pool also on the deck. The area is fenced so each unit has privacy, but as we found out later, this does not keep the animals away.
We had met our ranger Sibu on the way from the airstrip. I asked whether we chose him or he chose us. It turns out the answer was "yes." At the airstrip, Amanda had listened to the rangers chatting and thought that Sibu sounded like a smart, experienced guy. So she chose our ride to the lodge. On the way, all our family was acting out like our usual selves. (Those who know any of us, start imagining combinations and permutations and you'll be about right) At any rate, Sibu must have thought we'd be entertaining and asked if we'd like him to be our guide for the rest of the week. I think it worked out quite well.
After we had a chance to freshen up, and afternoon tea of course, Sibu and our tracker Joel (pronounced Jo-el) took us in search of lions. There is a full grown giraffe that had died, (they think of natural causes) a few days ago. There had been a male lion feeding on it, so we went to check it out. (I'll spare you the photo of the carcase. It was not really gory, but I can tell you it stunk to high heaven. Apparently, since it is somewhat under cover and Phinda does not seem to have a large hyena population, it has not attracted much attention from scavengers.)
When we arrived, there was no sign of the male, but there was a lioness laying in the grass near the carcase. We sat for quite a while just watching her. Sibu let others know and another Land Rover or two showed up, watched a while and left. Still we waited. After a bit, she got up and was on the move. Again, I was surprised that she seemed unperturbed by our presence. Here, she turned and looked at us, but she didn't run away, just stuck to her mission.
She was able to take a fairly direct route. We were forced to detour around some fairly dense thickets, but eventually we found her near four cubs. She arrived, plopped herself down, and one of the cubs walked over and barfed right in front of her. "Hey look mom, I ate too much." A bit later and they all lay down for this family portrait.
It turned out that there was another kill just behind them in the bushes. We could never see it, but one of the other vehicles said it was a warthog. We sat and watched for quite a while. Mom mostly lay still, but the cubs were back and forth, playing, rolling around, being kids. Eventually we needed to leave. Phinda has a strict rule that there can be only three vehicles at a sighting and we needed to give others their turn. (I presume this is mostly for the animals benefit, but I think it benefits us too. Some of the great feeling of such a place comes from being alone, not 5th in a line of cars.)
After we left, Sibu took us up to the top of "Pride Rock." Ok, that's not what he called it, it has another name that I can't remember that is something like "place of the chiefs" in the Zulu language. But look at this place! Giant granite outcrop, commanding view of the area, there have been lions or leopards spotted there. I think "Pride Rock" is a great name. (Unless you have not seen the Disney movie or the Broadway show, then you have no idea what I am talking about.)
Never the less, the view was spectacular, the sunset gorgeous and even those of our group with a fear of heights just had to go and take a look.
After sunset, we took the usual night drive back towards the lodge. As we travel, Sibu suddently stops in the road. Joel has seen a glint of eyes up a side road. Carefully backing up, Sibu turns right, down a short slope through what looks like a small dry creek bed and through an archway of brush. Truly this is the "road less traveled" and we are all alert for more shining eyes in the darkness. Alas, there are none. The narrow track opens into a small clearing, and Sibu turns around. There is not enough room to turn in one go, so he backs and fills but a hiss and a rumble tells us we have a flat tire. Well, we have a spare . . . right? Uhhh, no. They had a flat earlier in the day, and Phinda is large and the repair shops are far away. We've gone out without a spare.
Ok, it's dark, not twilight, full dark, no spare and . . . what was that part about staying in the vehicle so we don't look like prey? Sibu gets on the radio and tells someone or other that "we are on Blahdeblah north of MBleh and could they please . . .." Hold on, you mean this crummy little dirt track has a name?!? "Oh Sure. You can drop me down anywhere in this place, I'll know immediately where I am." Sure enough, within about 10 minutes another Land Rover showed up, some of us held the lights while the tire was changed and we were on our way.
Dinner in the boma and I am determined that I will record the day's experience and write to the blog. After all, I have a private deck, some lovely Amarula in the minibar (Ngala had a complementary decanter of sherry, at Phinda it's whatever you want) and . . . and . . . gosh! sorry. It's 9:30 and I'm crawling under the duvet, barely able to keep my eyes open. Fortunately, the wake up call is not until 6:00 here. WooHoo! an extra half hour!
There was one interesting area, a large granite ridge along our route. To the north of the ridge, the land was broken out into large green cultivated fields with few houses. Just on the other side of the ridge the plots were smaller, and brown and each one had a house on the corner. My initial thought was that the river ran on one side and not the other, but then the ridge tapered away and ended and the green fields took over. It would be interesting to know what that was all about, but suddenly the farmland ends and we are flying over the bush again, but greener this time.
Phinda, our next "Camp" has a much nicer air strip. Not only was it paved, there are even a few buildings with restrooms, just in case that was a good idea after the two hour flight. (Karylinn will have to tell the story of her froggy friend; I dare not steal her thunder.)
On the way to the Phinda Mountain Lodge (There are seven lodges on the Phinda property) we met our first Nyala. This is an antelope that is a bit larger than an impala. Here at Phinda they are as ubiquitous as the impala are at Ngala. This pair is a male and female. At birth, both are the lighter brown color. As they come to adulthood, the males get darker and they get horns. We also saw crocs in the watering hole, warthogs and a cape buffalo; all before we got to unpack!The accomodations at Phinda are even more plush than Ngala. On arriving at the lodge, we were greeted at the edge of the driveway with cool wet towels (warm in the cool evening) and a cocktail or juice. The lodge is another open air affair, with a courtyard surrounded by dining room, gift shop and lounge. Out the far side of the lounge, multiple decks and stairs down to the sinuous path that leads to the individual cabins.
The cabins are large thatch roofed buildings, nicely appointed inside. This is ours, and yes that ceiling is the underside of the thatch, waterproofing, insulation and decoration all in one.
I keep calling them "cabins" and perhaps someone can suggest a better word. But these are really for couples or at least very good friends. The shower is glassed in, there is a glass wall to the private deck from the bath, an outdoor shower and plunge pool also on the deck. The area is fenced so each unit has privacy, but as we found out later, this does not keep the animals away. We had met our ranger Sibu on the way from the airstrip. I asked whether we chose him or he chose us. It turns out the answer was "yes." At the airstrip, Amanda had listened to the rangers chatting and thought that Sibu sounded like a smart, experienced guy. So she chose our ride to the lodge. On the way, all our family was acting out like our usual selves. (Those who know any of us, start imagining combinations and permutations and you'll be about right) At any rate, Sibu must have thought we'd be entertaining and asked if we'd like him to be our guide for the rest of the week. I think it worked out quite well.
After we had a chance to freshen up, and afternoon tea of course, Sibu and our tracker Joel (pronounced Jo-el) took us in search of lions. There is a full grown giraffe that had died, (they think of natural causes) a few days ago. There had been a male lion feeding on it, so we went to check it out. (I'll spare you the photo of the carcase. It was not really gory, but I can tell you it stunk to high heaven. Apparently, since it is somewhat under cover and Phinda does not seem to have a large hyena population, it has not attracted much attention from scavengers.)When we arrived, there was no sign of the male, but there was a lioness laying in the grass near the carcase. We sat for quite a while just watching her. Sibu let others know and another Land Rover or two showed up, watched a while and left. Still we waited. After a bit, she got up and was on the move. Again, I was surprised that she seemed unperturbed by our presence. Here, she turned and looked at us, but she didn't run away, just stuck to her mission.
She was able to take a fairly direct route. We were forced to detour around some fairly dense thickets, but eventually we found her near four cubs. She arrived, plopped herself down, and one of the cubs walked over and barfed right in front of her. "Hey look mom, I ate too much." A bit later and they all lay down for this family portrait.
It turned out that there was another kill just behind them in the bushes. We could never see it, but one of the other vehicles said it was a warthog. We sat and watched for quite a while. Mom mostly lay still, but the cubs were back and forth, playing, rolling around, being kids. Eventually we needed to leave. Phinda has a strict rule that there can be only three vehicles at a sighting and we needed to give others their turn. (I presume this is mostly for the animals benefit, but I think it benefits us too. Some of the great feeling of such a place comes from being alone, not 5th in a line of cars.)
After we left, Sibu took us up to the top of "Pride Rock." Ok, that's not what he called it, it has another name that I can't remember that is something like "place of the chiefs" in the Zulu language. But look at this place! Giant granite outcrop, commanding view of the area, there have been lions or leopards spotted there. I think "Pride Rock" is a great name. (Unless you have not seen the Disney movie or the Broadway show, then you have no idea what I am talking about.)
Never the less, the view was spectacular, the sunset gorgeous and even those of our group with a fear of heights just had to go and take a look.After sunset, we took the usual night drive back towards the lodge. As we travel, Sibu suddently stops in the road. Joel has seen a glint of eyes up a side road. Carefully backing up, Sibu turns right, down a short slope through what looks like a small dry creek bed and through an archway of brush. Truly this is the "road less traveled" and we are all alert for more shining eyes in the darkness. Alas, there are none. The narrow track opens into a small clearing, and Sibu turns around. There is not enough room to turn in one go, so he backs and fills but a hiss and a rumble tells us we have a flat tire. Well, we have a spare . . . right? Uhhh, no. They had a flat earlier in the day, and Phinda is large and the repair shops are far away. We've gone out without a spare.
Ok, it's dark, not twilight, full dark, no spare and . . . what was that part about staying in the vehicle so we don't look like prey? Sibu gets on the radio and tells someone or other that "we are on Blahdeblah north of MBleh and could they please . . .." Hold on, you mean this crummy little dirt track has a name?!? "Oh Sure. You can drop me down anywhere in this place, I'll know immediately where I am." Sure enough, within about 10 minutes another Land Rover showed up, some of us held the lights while the tire was changed and we were on our way.
Dinner in the boma and I am determined that I will record the day's experience and write to the blog. After all, I have a private deck, some lovely Amarula in the minibar (Ngala had a complementary decanter of sherry, at Phinda it's whatever you want) and . . . and . . . gosh! sorry. It's 9:30 and I'm crawling under the duvet, barely able to keep my eyes open. Fortunately, the wake up call is not until 6:00 here. WooHoo! an extra half hour!
Day 4 - Morning
Hey Patton! These posts are out of order! Yup, see the A Note on Method below.
The morning of the 4th, Mark said, "you guys haven't seen our river yet." So off we went, not so much to see the river (Nothing more than a dry channel with sand in the bottom. It probably gets water when the rains come).
Once there, we met this female elephant, the first of our trip. Mark says that she is very old. As elephants age, there temple glands tend to recede. Take a look at her and you can see that she has dents above the eyes. Elephants usually travel in family groups. This one being alone is another consequence of her age.
Elephants have six sets of molars. When they feed, they will eat both the woody parts of trees as well as the leaves. Their molars need to be able to grind it all up. When one set of molars is worn down, the next set is pressed into service. Since a set of molars lasts about 10 years, elephants have a life expectancy of about 60 years. Once all the molars are worn away, they can no longer eat enough.
Apparently this old girl is out of teeth and just doing the best she can. What you can't tell from this picture, but was apparent once pointed out to us, was that she was just stripping the leaves from the branches and not eating the branches themselves. She was not moving fast, and Mark said she seemed tired, not hungry and didn't really seem interested in her food, she was just feeding from habit. In his estimation, she only had weeks or a month to live and would have separated herself from the family group because they needed to cover more ground and find more food than she needed. Every now and then, though, she would stop and cock her head ever so slightly as if listening. Apparently elephants communicate in two frequencies. At close range, they "talk" in low but audible grunts and grumbles. Over longer distances, they communicate at a frequency that is inaudible to human hearing, but that caries over long distance. Mark assumed that even though separate, she would be talking with her family.
So, do elephant's cry? Some of the literature I have read says that it only looks that way. Elephants don't have tear ducts, so their tears run down their faces. But sitting there, watching her feed and listen, looking into that sensitive face, it is hard to believe that she does not miss her sisters and daughters; that she is not aware of her fate.
The rest of the herd, Mark says, will know where she is, will know when she falls silent and know that she has died. They will go to her, surround her, and one at a time each one, from youngest to oldest, will touch her with their trunks, paying their respects or perhaps convincing themselves that she had really died. Then they will mourn, and though they will not stand guard over her, they may cover her with brush to keep the predators away.
After leaving her, we found the family. They would not let us get too close, the adults were keeping their little one behind them and away from us. They tolerated us for a while, but eventually they disappeared down an impossibly steep bank into the dry river, hardly making a sound.
Since it was our last day at Ngala, we had heard that the rangers had been instructed to deliver us back to camp at a particular time. After the elephants left us, we made our way back in that direction, looking for nothing in particular - - when Solly spotted a male lion on the move. When tracking a lion, the tracker gets off of the jumpseat and into the benches so that the vehicle will have the correct profile. Then it was off the road and into the brush again.
The lion was completely unconcerned with us, though he did glare at us from time to time. But not enough that he would divert from his mission. In fact he did not even stop to consider the large kudu female not 50 yards away.
She, however was quite aware of him, barking alarm calls and looking all around. At first I wondered why, if she could smell the lion but not see it, she didn't just run away. Of course, if you don't know where it is, you could just as easily run into it as away. Once she spotted him, she kept her eyes to him and calmed down noticeably. Apparently the predator you see is not to be feared, especially if you are fast!
We learned that this male is one of a dominant coalition of brothers. The three will split up at night and patrol the boundaries of their territory. This morning he was moving to rejoin his two brothers. Mark and Solly could hear him calling, though I could not, and followed him through the dense brush to see if we could see them all.
(I made the mistake if trying to ward off a knob thorn branch with my arm. This particular shrub has thick cruel thorns the curl back into the center of the bush. Once hooked, an attempt to pull away just digs them in deeper. I was jabbed pretty well in the palm of my hand and the moving truck did the pulling. My jacket also got snagged in half a with half a dozen thorns and, unlike my hand, there's not a mark on it. I really must write to REI and let them know!)
In spite of the brush, we were able to get pretty close to the big guy. How close you ask? Well a
gain a picture is worth . . . This is one I took from the back seat of our truck with fellow passengers in front. The other vehicle is some of our compatriots who joined in the chase. Notice how the vehicles are set up with strong doors, windows and cages to keep the animals away? It's good to have faith that they care more about other things than trying to eat an entire Land Rover. Eventually our friend crossed the road into Krueger where we could not follow, it was time to head for our normal morning coffee break and then back to breakfast.
This was a day of surprises though. Remember how "Day 1" was the first of July? We thought nothing of it since we were half a world away from the U.S. of A. We hadn't counted on the ingenuity of Paul and Christine. Somehow, in their luggage allotment, they brought all the trinkets and trappings of a July 4 celebration and then enlisted the camp staff to put on a bush breakfast. As we entered the clearing, there was the camp staff, tooting noise-makers and waving flags.
We were greeted with a place to wash up and mimosa's for breakfast, along with just about everything else you could possibly have wanted. Naturally someone lead us in patriotic songs, God Bless America and the National Anthem. I explained to Mark that the it is almost tradition to sing the latter poorly since the tune is so hard. His rejoinder, "yes, but at least yours is not in the country's 12 official languages!"
Mark and Solly rode back to camp wearing the red white and blue headgear to much amusement, well, Mark's amusement anyway. Solly had to be talked into it, but between the kids and Mark they prevailed on him and he seemed to have a bit of fun with it in the end.
Here's the Fourth of July toast of the day:
"He who goes forth on the fourth with a fifth, may have trouble coming forth on the fifth."
(We had to explain that one to the folks who measure their liquor in liters.)
By the time we got back to camp, our bags had been picked up and delivered to the airstrip. All we needed to do was settle accounts and head out for the next adventure.
The morning of the 4th, Mark said, "you guys haven't seen our river yet." So off we went, not so much to see the river (Nothing more than a dry channel with sand in the bottom. It probably gets water when the rains come).
Once there, we met this female elephant, the first of our trip. Mark says that she is very old. As elephants age, there temple glands tend to recede. Take a look at her and you can see that she has dents above the eyes. Elephants usually travel in family groups. This one being alone is another consequence of her age.Elephants have six sets of molars. When they feed, they will eat both the woody parts of trees as well as the leaves. Their molars need to be able to grind it all up. When one set of molars is worn down, the next set is pressed into service. Since a set of molars lasts about 10 years, elephants have a life expectancy of about 60 years. Once all the molars are worn away, they can no longer eat enough.
Apparently this old girl is out of teeth and just doing the best she can. What you can't tell from this picture, but was apparent once pointed out to us, was that she was just stripping the leaves from the branches and not eating the branches themselves. She was not moving fast, and Mark said she seemed tired, not hungry and didn't really seem interested in her food, she was just feeding from habit. In his estimation, she only had weeks or a month to live and would have separated herself from the family group because they needed to cover more ground and find more food than she needed. Every now and then, though, she would stop and cock her head ever so slightly as if listening. Apparently elephants communicate in two frequencies. At close range, they "talk" in low but audible grunts and grumbles. Over longer distances, they communicate at a frequency that is inaudible to human hearing, but that caries over long distance. Mark assumed that even though separate, she would be talking with her family.
So, do elephant's cry? Some of the literature I have read says that it only looks that way. Elephants don't have tear ducts, so their tears run down their faces. But sitting there, watching her feed and listen, looking into that sensitive face, it is hard to believe that she does not miss her sisters and daughters; that she is not aware of her fate.The rest of the herd, Mark says, will know where she is, will know when she falls silent and know that she has died. They will go to her, surround her, and one at a time each one, from youngest to oldest, will touch her with their trunks, paying their respects or perhaps convincing themselves that she had really died. Then they will mourn, and though they will not stand guard over her, they may cover her with brush to keep the predators away.
After leaving her, we found the family. They would not let us get too close, the adults were keeping their little one behind them and away from us. They tolerated us for a while, but eventually they disappeared down an impossibly steep bank into the dry river, hardly making a sound.Since it was our last day at Ngala, we had heard that the rangers had been instructed to deliver us back to camp at a particular time. After the elephants left us, we made our way back in that direction, looking for nothing in particular - - when Solly spotted a male lion on the move. When tracking a lion, the tracker gets off of the jumpseat and into the benches so that the vehicle will have the correct profile. Then it was off the road and into the brush again.
The lion was completely unconcerned with us, though he did glare at us from time to time. But not enough that he would divert from his mission. In fact he did not even stop to consider the large kudu female not 50 yards away.
She, however was quite aware of him, barking alarm calls and looking all around. At first I wondered why, if she could smell the lion but not see it, she didn't just run away. Of course, if you don't know where it is, you could just as easily run into it as away. Once she spotted him, she kept her eyes to him and calmed down noticeably. Apparently the predator you see is not to be feared, especially if you are fast!
We learned that this male is one of a dominant coalition of brothers. The three will split up at night and patrol the boundaries of their territory. This morning he was moving to rejoin his two brothers. Mark and Solly could hear him calling, though I could not, and followed him through the dense brush to see if we could see them all.
(I made the mistake if trying to ward off a knob thorn branch with my arm. This particular shrub has thick cruel thorns the curl back into the center of the bush. Once hooked, an attempt to pull away just digs them in deeper. I was jabbed pretty well in the palm of my hand and the moving truck did the pulling. My jacket also got snagged in half a with half a dozen thorns and, unlike my hand, there's not a mark on it. I really must write to REI and let them know!)
In spite of the brush, we were able to get pretty close to the big guy. How close you ask? Well a
gain a picture is worth . . . This is one I took from the back seat of our truck with fellow passengers in front. The other vehicle is some of our compatriots who joined in the chase. Notice how the vehicles are set up with strong doors, windows and cages to keep the animals away? It's good to have faith that they care more about other things than trying to eat an entire Land Rover. Eventually our friend crossed the road into Krueger where we could not follow, it was time to head for our normal morning coffee break and then back to breakfast.This was a day of surprises though. Remember how "Day 1" was the first of July? We thought nothing of it since we were half a world away from the U.S. of A. We hadn't counted on the ingenuity of Paul and Christine. Somehow, in their luggage allotment, they brought all the trinkets and trappings of a July 4 celebration and then enlisted the camp staff to put on a bush breakfast. As we entered the clearing, there was the camp staff, tooting noise-makers and waving flags.
We were greeted with a place to wash up and mimosa's for breakfast, along with just about everything else you could possibly have wanted. Naturally someone lead us in patriotic songs, God Bless America and the National Anthem. I explained to Mark that the it is almost tradition to sing the latter poorly since the tune is so hard. His rejoinder, "yes, but at least yours is not in the country's 12 official languages!"
Mark and Solly rode back to camp wearing the red white and blue headgear to much amusement, well, Mark's amusement anyway. Solly had to be talked into it, but between the kids and Mark they prevailed on him and he seemed to have a bit of fun with it in the end.
Here's the Fourth of July toast of the day:
"He who goes forth on the fourth with a fifth, may have trouble coming forth on the fifth."
(We had to explain that one to the folks who measure their liquor in liters.)
By the time we got back to camp, our bags had been picked up and delivered to the airstrip. All we needed to do was settle accounts and head out for the next adventure.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Day 3
5:30 am again. Those who know me well probably can't believe I could be up at this hour. But the jetlag and the baboon barking outside meant I had slept fitfully since about 3:30 anyway.
A word or two about the camp. Saying "Camp" really does not do it justice. The main buildings are open walled, thatched roof, and the guest cottages are of similar design, but closed to the "night life."
I'm told that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are three thousand or so.
This is the main dining area. It is even larger than it looks. The inside view below is from the left corner you see here but at lunch time.
Finally, here is the cottage that Karylinn and I are in. Somewhere I have a picture of the inside of this one too.
On the day's activities:
First thing in the morning, Solly spots lion tracks in the road. These tracks are on top of wheel tracks they knew were only 20 minutes old, so time to start tracking. But no dropping off Solly without a gun. Lion are taken a bit more seriously. We crisscrossed several roads looking for where the lion must have gone. Then off road, following tracks. Every now and then, Mark and Solly would both get out and follow the tracks, taking the gun of course. "Don't worry, you'll be fine, just stay in the vehicle . . ." It sure is quiet out here, except for the nervous giggles!
Down toward the dam, following the watercourse from the upstream side, the trail turns, well not cold, but into the path of a herd of cape buffalo.
We get to see them come to water, but they will obliterate the tracks of the lion.
Once we were no longer in front of the giant buffalo, this truly became one of those "National Geographic" moments!
Wow! That's quite a lot before breakfast! (Uh, yeah, there's more day, but it will be in the next post)
A word or two about the camp. Saying "Camp" really does not do it justice. The main buildings are open walled, thatched roof, and the guest cottages are of similar design, but closed to the "night life."
I'm told that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are three thousand or so.
This is the main dining area. It is even larger than it looks. The inside view below is from the left corner you see here but at lunch time.
Finally, here is the cottage that Karylinn and I are in. Somewhere I have a picture of the inside of this one too.
On the day's activities:
First thing in the morning, Solly spots lion tracks in the road. These tracks are on top of wheel tracks they knew were only 20 minutes old, so time to start tracking. But no dropping off Solly without a gun. Lion are taken a bit more seriously. We crisscrossed several roads looking for where the lion must have gone. Then off road, following tracks. Every now and then, Mark and Solly would both get out and follow the tracks, taking the gun of course. "Don't worry, you'll be fine, just stay in the vehicle . . ." It sure is quiet out here, except for the nervous giggles!
Down toward the dam, following the watercourse from the upstream side, the trail turns, well not cold, but into the path of a herd of cape buffalo.
We get to see them come to water, but they will obliterate the tracks of the lion.
Once we were no longer in front of the giant buffalo, this truly became one of those "National Geographic" moments!
Wow! That's quite a lot before breakfast! (Uh, yeah, there's more day, but it will be in the next post)
Day 3 Noon
Was it Kipling who said "Only mad dogs and Englishmen venture out in the noon day sun"? Beats me. The usual routine has been morning drive, breakfast, spend some down time, then evening tea and evening drive. But today, I decided to go on the 11:00 nature walk. For a day that started out so cold, it is surprising how warm it is. (Like the central Oregon desert in summer).
Our guide is another of the rangers, Lyson, who's goal is not to make a hike of it, rather to show us some of the small things that are missed while we are rumbling around in the land rovers. So here are a few things I learned:
Now you see the picture, and I know what you're thinking, that's not Patton standing by Lyson holding the smoldering poo. He must have been too smart to fall for that one, right? Naah, you just can't see the smoke in that picture.
Our guide is another of the rangers, Lyson, who's goal is not to make a hike of it, rather to show us some of the small things that are missed while we are rumbling around in the land rovers. So here are a few things I learned:
- The bark of a thorn tree can be made into a very good rope.
- The twig of the "magic bush" makes a good tooth brush because of all the tannins in the wood and also is used by water dowsers.
- Burrowing spiders can live up to 20 years, but teasing them out of their holes with a stick can be deadly for them. Apparently they make one hole, but if it gets broken, they forget how to make another.
- Termite mounds are the exhaust vents for the entire termite colony - the inlet vents have no mounds - and are used to carefully maintain temperature. The termites don't dig for wood, they haul that stuff down underground, defecate on it, it rots and grows a particular fungus, and THAT is what the termites eat. Basically they are farmers.
- Aardvarks dig holes to get to termites, but they don't live in them, warthogs do live in them when the aardvark leaves - until the hole gets filled with warthog parasites, then the [oops forgot to write it down] that likes the paracites moves in, followed by badgers, bats, snakes. Basically the aardvarks are construction contractors for everyone else.
- The Marula tree (the classic "leopard tree") has many uses, the leaves can be made into a poltice for bee stings; the bark makes a tea that will stop the itch of chicken pox; the root can have the sap blown out and if put into the eyes, will wash out cobra venom and prevent blindness; and the fruit us used to make a liqueur called "Amarula" which looks like Baileys, tastes different and is great in coffee.
- Elephants like the Marula fruit too and will eat it when they can. Their digestive systems are so poor, that they cannot digest the seed, which they then distribute, ensuring the continuing populations of marula trees.
- And, as if that were not enough, elephants when they eat things other than Marula fruit, only digest about 30%. The rest is excreted and the dung looks mostly like a chunk of twigs; guess what, it gives the termites a head start. And, if the termites "bug" you, then a "smudge pot" of elephant dung will drive them away along with other bugs.
Now you see the picture, and I know what you're thinking, that's not Patton standing by Lyson holding the smoldering poo. He must have been too smart to fall for that one, right? Naah, you just can't see the smoke in that picture.
Day 3 Afternoon
For the end of day 3, just some more thousands of words compressed into images.
Very little if any narrative at all
This guy is a little blurry, but fast!
No, no, not the truck. See who's sleeping in the foreground?
I'm really glad this is a yawn and not something else!
Our last night in Ngala . . . But still more to come!
Very little if any narrative at all
This guy is a little blurry, but fast!
No, no, not the truck. See who's sleeping in the foreground?
I'm really glad this is a yawn and not something else!
Our last night in Ngala . . . But still more to come!
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