Tail Ends

And Tale's End

The backend of some of the animals we encountered were fun to see. 

This hippo, for instance, wanted to show us nothing but his rear end.

Both times we passed by, it heaved itself
up out of the water and into the bush

    This juvenile rhino shows off her curly tail

This zebra has a nice tight … erm ... well-put-together hind legs.😉

    But my favourite of all are these two old friends

    Strolling along in companionable silence.

  

    I must mention a crucial part of any South African experience:

    This is the marula tree. It is native to Africa. It is considered sacred and is a popular place for traditional tribal gatherings, as well as a symbol of fertility

    And, importantly ...

 

    The fruit of the marula tree gives its flavour to Africa's signature potent potable, Amarula. We had it in our coffee during our morning coffee break in the bush. It's one half of the popular shot, Springbok (I mentioned that beverage in this series' first post).

        Now for some parting shots:

      Beautiful sunsets 

        Beautiful kingfishers 

    A tower of giraffes

    

How much fun it was to travel again with my friend (after 30 years!)

    So ends the retelling of this wonderous adventure. What comes next, stay tuned. 

Bush Technology

 Bushcraft and Bush Smarts

We had two genuinely good guides while we were in the bush up north in Limpopo.

But they were also very different in their methods.

First, Phil, our guide in the Welgevonden Reserve:

Phil spent some time managing some of the 60 lodges in Welgevonden, but then Covid hit and he was out of a job.

Now he is a freelance guide. 

He’s pretty canny in the bush.  He doesn’t carry a gun. But he knows how to survive if you find yourself alone and in trouble out there amongst the wild beasties:  

“Follow the baboons,” he says. You can eat what they eat and drink what they drink. After a while, the troop may very well adopt you. They don’t worry too much about the predators for a couple of reasons:  first, their eyes face front.  Predators have eyes that face front. So they don't consider baboons prey (well, maybe the babies if they're really hungry).  Impalas, kudus ... you know 'prey' ... have eyes on the sides of their heads in order to have a better look out for predators. Predators can tell the difference. Second, baboons work together and will often scare off even lions. 

They can relax:

We saw this guy plop down for a nap

Phil taught us about the Weeping Wattle tree whose leaves are so soft you can use them as toilet paper (and not worry about things like poison ivy).  Stuff a bunch of the leaves in a bag, shake it up and hang it in the sun, it will produce water you can drink. It’s also a great shade tree.

    

He also showed how to fashion a torch out of the local flora and fauna.

Phil wrestling a bit of baboon's tail
out of the ground

This is what Phil calls 
"baboon's tail"

You can see how fibrous this plant is. It won't burn. This is the flora.

Next get yourself an ostrich egg. Eat contents (feeds many), and render some of the fat from the ostrich you killed for food in the egg shell over an open flame. (This is the fauna). Dip the end of the baboon's tail into the fat and voilà you have a torch.

There is not, sadly, a natural bush antidote for the bite of a black mamba.  You have about 45 minutes to get airlifted to a hospital, otherwise, you’re toast.

So don’t get bitten. (We didn't but we heard a harrowing story from Phil about one that was too interested in one of his passengers. She's okay too. No bites)

His was a laid-back attitude:

Phil putting on our
morning coffee in the bush

But when it counted, he got us out of potential fine messes (remember the raging bull?)

Now James.  

This young man hails from Johannesburg and graduated from the More Field Guide College, located on the Marataba Reserve. (The More Family owns this private reserve).  It’s a FGASA accredited college (Field Guide Association of South Africa) and it’s a rigorous set of courses that include 520 days of training in areas of wilderness first aid, advanced rifle handling and a lot of those days walking in the bush.  He learned how to handle one-on-one encounters, on foot, with elephants, all the predators; he knows how to track footprints and other signs; birding, anti-poaching (a huge part of both the Marataba and Welgevonden Reserves).

Okay, you get the picture.  

James was clearly happy to share his considerable knowledge of the bush and show us all that he could. 

For instance, after an especially vicious downpour the night before, I noticed several dung beetles pushing their balls of dung across the road.  I excitedly said, “Oh! Look at the dung beetles!”

James didn’t hesitate but told us the several ways dung beetles deal with their dung:

After any rainfall, the rhinos (especially) need to re-mark their territory, so they step all over their fresh dung then piss on it and spread it around some more.

Dung beetles love fresh dung. First they eat some for nutrition.  Then they fashion a little ball of dung in which to lay their eggs.  Then they 1) stuff it deep down into the dung heap, 2) roll it away from the dung heap and bury it somewhere else, 3) invade another beetle’s dung ball and lay their own eggs in it (the resulting hatchlings compete for survival).

Okay you get the picture.  It’s just one example of his depth of knowledge in bushcraft.

James carries a gun.  It’s always on the dashboard, but he never uses it while in the vehicle. He always takes it with him when he’s walking.

We learned so much from both of our guides, a different kind of learning from each of them.

I think I learned more from James, but I'm sure it's because he has been trained to proactively impart his knowledge.

Phil has bush smarts. James has Ranger smarts.

Next up, some end bits

Baby Season

     It's mid-summer in south Africa and there are babies galore. The little warthogs are so very cute, but just too fast to get a decent shot.

    All I could manage is a shot of a very pregnant mama warthog:

    We were very lucky to get close enough to some of the more adorable ones:

This little guy has unusually long legs. He'll grow into them as he matures. This is a genetic advantage because it makes it harder for predators to see him behind his mother.

Same goes for baby wildebeests:

    

These babies are also born the colour of the grass.  They'll grow darker as they mature.  These little guys are probably only a day old.

A momma and baby in the Welgevonden bush:

This mom and her little one are amazing:

    

Giraffes have a very long tendon in their long necks that stretches when they lower their neck. They are at rest when their neck is erect.

    This little guy was having a good old time wallowing in his little mud puddle, until Mum shoved him out of the way and got in herself.

Here's a father and son act:

You've already seen the cheetah cubs ...

    

    But how about the baby jackals? A couple of moms with a bunch of pups

    And this fuzzy cute baby baboon:

    And then there's this wonderfully goofy baby elephant:

This one is so young, he hasn't
figured out how to control his trunk yet;
think of a new-born human how they flail
their arms and legs about

    

The Hunt

 (or not)

Welgevonden Reserve is a big one, with a variety of geography. 

One morning, in drenching rain, we went over the steep hills onto the savannah to see what we could see.

The roads are mostly dirt, but on steep inclines, they have been reinforced by concrete strips so the vehicles can climb and descend without getting mired in mud. 

You see those tiny little orange strings going
up the hill?

Yes, that’s the road we climbed and descended getting onto the savannah. What a fun ride!

Once over the pass and into the grass, we spotted a male lion and then the two females who had just been foiled by a zebra.

We watched on the plains for a bit then we climbed up to the far hill to watch the drama unfold down below.  It was kind of like what spectators used to do during American Civil War battles: people would gather above the fray (think that’s where the phrase came from) had a picnic while the fighting raged below. 

Here we are, having our bush
breakfast, while the lions are
hunting down below

An odd feeling.

Anyway, the lazy male lion just watched, of course. The females do all the heavy lifting when it comes to the hunt and the kill.

But then they reconnoitred and began a strategy of luring the zebra back out of the hills, while we were having our Bush Breakfast.

They took their time so we headed back over the pass.

In the Waterberg, the lions were done, and napping. 

    BTW this is what it sounds like when the lion is letting his family know he’s there:

    Now you can see why the Cheetah Brothers were a little concerned.  And that, folks, is not his real roar. A proper Lion's Roar can be heard for miles. And it gets into your bones.

    One last story about the lion and his kill (killed of course by his mate)

    We saw this fella on our last morning drive and dubbed him "Big Foot" because his paws are so big they'll envelop your head.

    Now. Our intrepid Ranger, James told us a story about his own close encounter with this guy. He was walking with a fellow Ranger and two guests. He was following elephant tracks and not really paying attention to his surroundings when suddenly he found he was between this lion and his food.

    He was too close to get his rifle up. He did not flee. He did not turn his back.  He stood his ground and looked that lion right in the eye.

    Slowly, he took one step back.  Waited.  The lion did nothing.

    Another step back.  The lion did nothing.

    This went on until he and the others were well away and no longer between the lion and his food.

    James learned how to live through that from the intense and years-long training to become a Ranger.

I'll talk a bit more about our two guides in a future post. But for now, the only thing that would have saved his life if the lion charged was if the other guide shot it. (big sigh of relief)